Chapter Four
The room was silent, save for the soft footsteps that sounded off the walls. No alarms had gone off, Erik noted idly, but the steps were far too light for Nadir. He glanced back from his place at the organ and caught Christine Daaè's eyes. He glanced at the clock on the shelf. "Nadir and I were not suppose to meet you for another hour at least."
Christine ducked her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry… I know I'm intruding."
"You are never intruding," Erik responded, never really meaning to.
This brought a smile to the former diva's lips. "I've missed you, Erik… I've been having these dreams lately. They were of you… singing to me like you used to, but they always end with you saying that it's over." She sniffed back the tears that threatened. "It's not over, is it, Erik?"
Erik stood slowly. "You will have to be more specific, child. Many things have ended since you've left, but many things continue and have begun."
"The music, Erik!" she cried, wiping her own tears away. She stepped closer and held out her hand to touch the left side of his face. "It's not over, please tell me that."
"It… lingers," he said at last. "It lingers here in this place only because I am unwilling to let it go." He sighed and turned his back to her, pulling from her touch. "But after this is over, I will leave it behind. Perhaps I will travel again."
"You'll leave this place?"
"What do I have left?"
"Me," Christine whispered, her voice barely audible. "Oh please don't leave me, Erik!" she pleaded, latching onto his flowing cloak.
He spun, his eyes sharp with unreleased fury. "Don't toy with me, Christine! Go back to your Raoul before I fall too fast to stop myself!"
"What if I were to say that I didn't want him? I made a mistake!"
"I'd say you were a very fickle child."
"But I'm not a child any longer, Erik! Please! Angel…" she cried. "My soul was weak, forgive me! Enter at last, my love."
Erik turned back to her when she began to sing, his hands shaking slightly with the emotions coursing through him. "Flattering child, you shall know me. See why in shadow I hide. Look at your face in the mirror, I am there inside."
"Angel of Music, guide and guardian. Grant to me your glory! Angel of music, hide no longer. Come to me strange angel…" She reached one slender hand towards him, beckoning him.
"I am your Angel of Music," Erik sang softly, moving toward her. The roles had been reversed. It was now she who had he in the trance. "Come to me Angel of Music…"
A smile broke out across Christine's face as she clasped her hand in Erik's own gloved one, slipping the black glove from it and kissing his fingers. "In sleep you sang to me. In dreams you came. You are that voice which calls to me, and speaks my name. And my Phantom of the Opera is here, inside my mind."
Erik pulled her closer, running his now bare hand across her smooth face. "Sing once again with me, that strange duet. You have a power over me, that grows stronger yet. You do not turn from me, to glance behind, and here I am once more, inside your mind."
Christine reached a hand to his face, holding it over his mask for a moment before slipping it off gently. He seemed not to notice as he fell deeper intothe sound of the music. She caressed hisdeformed face lightly."And though I have seen your face, I love you still. I am the mask you wear. It's you they hear. Your spirit and my voice, now intertwined. The Phantom of the Opera is here, inside my mind."
"In all this time, you always knew, that love and devotion."
"Would come from you."
There voices melted together in the empty house, echoing off of the walls. "And in this labyrinth, where night is blind. The Phantom of the Opera is here, inside my mind."
Erik leaned next to her, kissing her softly. "Sing for me, my Angel of Music."
"You're here, my Phantom of the Opera."
"Sing," he whispered once more, and sing she did. Her voice reached the furthest part of the house and over the underground lake. When she closed her mouth, she melted into him, her eyes closed in contentment. He seemed to stiffen at once, realizing that during the time she had kept him in her own trance, she had slipped his mask off. He reached for it and she placed a hand over his.
She whispered the words she had replaced the lyrics with. "And though I've seen your face, I love you still." Standing on her toes she kissed his rough, deformed cheek and he felt as if his knees might give way under him. He held her close and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I have come here, to that moment where words run dry. Where speech disappears into silence. Silence. I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why." She smiled up at him at him. "I am here with you. No second thoughts. I have decided. Decided." She let out a breath and leaned her head against his shoulder. "It's taken me so long, my love, but I have decided. I'm sorry for the pain I've caused."
Erik shook his head as he buried his face in her hair, forcing a sob of pure delight back. "As long as you are here with me now, Christine."
She pulled away from him gently. "I have to tell Raoul…" she whispered. "Erik, he's been good to me, and he deserves that much."
"He will take you away, telling you what a horrible murderer I am."
Christine choked on a small sob that made its way to her throat. "Then we'll prove it," she whispered. "We'll prove you are a good person and he can't say anything against you. We can do that, Erik. If you help the police catch these murderers, he can't say that you are horribly wicked, can he?"
Erik chuckled as he kissed her gently. "He still could, but I understand what you're saying. We'll do what we can, but for now I want you to be safe. It is not safe with me."
She nodded slowly. "I love you," she whispered as she started for the stairway that would lead her upwards to the dressing room. She would always love him, she was sure. Raoul would just have to understand.
As she made her way up the stairs she heard his voice echoing behind her. "You alone can make my song take flight... Help me make the music of the night."
A/N: I went singing crazy again, kind of like in "Angel of the Opera." Oh well, I like doing that, using lyrics from the play and changing them to fit my story. It's much fun. Please feed my addiction and review!
Lynx Ryder: Haha! Two long reviews! I was out of town and pulled up and was thrilled! I'm sorry to hear that you cannot find Kay's novel for a descent price. I got it from the library. (how much is 50 pounds – assuming that's what the symbol meant - in dollars, do you know?) Oh! Your comment about "go rich boy go!" sent me rolling on the floor laughing last night when I picked it up! It was great! Sadly enough, though, he didn't believe the shah that he WAS the shah, therefore he really didn't have much of a backbone… ah well… Yes, the collar is a book reference. Erik made it a habit of stealing in Persia for the simple pleasure of knowing he could. The shah kept a diamond collar on his favorite cat, and Erik stole the cat, collar and all, and returned the cat, but the collar mysteriously disappeared… Ayesha (Erik's Siamese cat) now wears it. I'm glad you like Nadir. I do too. In the book he's tracking down Erik and he always has this little notebook he's looking through and I found it rather humourous (sp?) to have him using it now.
Sue Raven:Oh! I'm so glad it's original! So few things are anymore it seems… Hope I updated quickly enough for you :)
Elizabeth: No problem! I'm on break from school right now so I should have some time at least to update. I hope you liked this chapter!
