Christine was so lost in the music of the rain that she didn't even feel Erik's hand upon her cheek. Since she was a little girl, Christine had loved the rain. She remembered the days that she and her father would run through the fields in the middle of a storm. He lifted her high over his head and let her sit on his shoulders. She would turn her head up towards the heavens and stretched her arms out like the wings of a bird. She remembered the sweet taste of rain upon her lips. When she finally opened her eyes again, Christine realized that it wasn't rain that hung upon her lips, but Erik's own warm mouth. She pushed him back and stood up with such force that he almost tumbled out of his chair.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked, outraged. "I, monsieur, am an engaged woman!"

An engaged woman? Erik couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What?" he growled in a low voice.

"Erik," she started gently, "I know that I agreed to live here with you, but in my heart I still feel that Raoul is my fiancée."

"I see," he said quietly, looking down at the floor. "So you play along with my game, bide your time until you can return to your precious Vicomte?"

"Erik that is not fair," Christine replied, her voice growing increasingly angry. "You knew when you brought me here that I loved Raoul. Did you expect me just to forget everything that I felt for him?"

"I… I thought if I could take you away, his face would fade from your memory. I love you, Christine. I know that you love me too. I thought after some time here that you would come to realize that. What you feel for him isn't really love, it's just attraction; you think you love him but you really just love to look at him!"

Christine eyed him incredulously, "Do you really think me that shallow? Do you believe that his face is all that matters to me? Tell me this Erik, do you think Raoul will still look as handsome as he does today 30 or 40 years from now?"

Erik watched her angry face, waiting for some inclination that she would soften towards him.

"Of course he won't. But that is no matter to me. That's not why I love him!" Christine turned her eyes away from Erik's face, her voicing growing gentle. "I love him because he has a beautiful heart. I love the way my hand fits perfectly in his, the way he takes me in his arms and makes me feel safe. I love the way he looks at me, like I am the only thing he sees. He's the most generous man I've ever known. He would do anything for me."

Christine had a distant look in her eye, like she was seeing through the walls, past the fields and the hills, across the distance that separated her and Raoul. "I'm sure that even now he is searching for me. He won't stop until he finds me."

Christine's last remark pushed Erik over the edge. So, all this time she had just been waiting for Raoul. "And what will you do when he finds you? Run away together? Live your happily ever after and leave me here to rot?" he yelled, standing and fiercely knocking over his chair.

Erik picked up a vase that sat on the end table and threw it violently against the wall, shattering it into thousands of pieces. "Did you have any intention of fulfilling your promise! You have played with my heart too many times mademoiselle!" Erik shouted, advancing on Christine like a charging bull.

Christine backed herself into a corner, her eyes squeezed shut and her arms around her head, trying to protect herself from Erik's wrath. For a few tense moments, she stood like that. But Erik had suddenly become very calm. He ran his fingers through his hair, straightening out the strands that had become tousled during his rant.

His voice was very cold and calculated, "It seems to me that you have broken our bargain. You were to give me a real chance to love you, but all the while you harbored thoughts of rescue by your betrothed. As such, I am not required to uphold my end of the deal. You will stay here with me Christine, forever."

With that, he turned and walked back towards the kitchen. Christine slowly sank to the floor. The realization of the true consequences of her words sent her spiraling into a panic. Christine couldn't control her tears; she didn't really want to. She wanted Erik to hear her cry so that he would know what he had done to her. Why didn't she just keep her mouth shut? Everything was going along so well. She could have stayed with Erik until Raoul came for her. She had seen in her mind how perfect it would all be. She and Erik would spend their time at the cottage becoming friends again. That part of her dream had come true; at least it had been for a while. No matter how angry she had been with Erik, Christine could never hate him. And when at last Raoul came for her, Erik would understand. He would know that the love Christine felt for him was different than the love she had for Raoul, but it was still special. Erik would know that he would never truly lose her. And so he would give them his blessing. He would kiss her forehead and wave as she left with her knight in shining armor. It was all the foolish hope of a naïve girl, Christine understood that now. It didn't matter anymore; now all her hopes were shattered. He was never going to let her leave.

"Oh God," she prayed silently, "Please guide Raoul's footsteps towards me. Don't abandon me to this hell."

"Christine," Erik called to her from the kitchen. "Dinner is prepared. Come join me at the table."

She did not respond. She hugged her legs to her chest and froze herself to that spot. She was not going to eat with that monster.

"Christine, did you hear me?"

Erik walked out of the kitchen holding a plate of food. "Christine, will you be joining me in the kitchen?"

Again she did not respond. Her eyes seemed to be focused on something across the room; she wouldn't even look at him. Erik a laid plate of food down in front of her and sat down next to her.

"Come now Christine. Eat before it gets cold."

Christine kept her eyes fixed on that invisible object on the other side of the room.

Erik's voice became forceful. "We will not begin this game again my dear. You will not win my sympathy this time. Now, you will eat or I will force it down your beautiful throat."

Christine gave him an angry glare and picked up her fork. She would give in to his demands, but she wouldn't yield her heart to him. He wasn't going to take her hope. She wasn't going to let him break her.