Well folks, the next chapter is the last. I hope you liked this whole story. I'll be sad to say good-bye to this. So, read this one last action-filled chapter and be sure to say your adioses and good-byes to me!
Chapter 37: A Night To Remember
Amile let herself get drawn into the play, just by hearing it. She could see the play in her mind. Almost like a swirling pit of fire with no end. That was exactly what it sounded like. The music was a little out of wack sometimes, but sometimes, it was perfect. Erik had really put much of his mind into it. Her eyes closed, taking it into her. It was entrancing. She heard Christine come on and opened her eyes suddenly. With so much hatred built up over the years, Amile had become immune to Christine's 'perfect' voice. Amile made a small hissing noise. She hated Christine now more than ever. Maybe it was just that fact that Amile's mind was changing. She had killed a man. It was so unlike her that she hardly believed herself. But now she had someone else to go after. Raoul. Her mission was now to assault Raoul and possibly kill him.
Christine's voice stopped for Piangi to begin his playful little act. Amile looked at the crowd to see a variety of expressions. Confusion, disgust, and amusement. The temperature had risen in the room, so heat may have played a part in the confusion. Vents usually kept the place cool by bringing in the brisk night air, but not that night. Amile was curious as to what caused it. She went into thought about it, but was interrupted by a voice from the stage.
It was Erik. Her eyes widened. He hadn't told her he was going to actually be in the play! He had just said he was going to wreak some havoc. But with him on stage gave Amile a very uneasy feeling. His voice carried through the opera house majestically, like some sort of infection spreading through the opera house. The expressions of the audience changed at the same time into a look of entrancement. Men were looking like they were being hypnotised and the women were all leaning forward, trying in vain to get closer. He went from a soft whisper to almost an angry howl, filled with wanting. Amile could feel Christine's shock. This wasn't right at all. But Christine gave in and answered to Erik's call.
She sang back like a tropical songbird, exotic and full of life. Erik loved it. Christine was all his. Her voice went through the opera house and the trance became enhanced. All of the audience were now leaning forward, just wanting the two acting lovers' voice as their own. Raoul was standing up now, chatting madly to the policeman beside him. No use. Nothing could be done now. Everyone who knew what was going on also knew that the end of the night rested on Erik. Now the two were in a duet, their voices mixing angelically. Amile's muscles tensed. She had to do something.
Her instinct led her to peek behind the column supporting the box. The stage seemed frozen except the two ascending the stairs together and meeting at the top to dance together. Erik held Christine lovingly in his arms, touching her as though she was a fragile porcelain doll. Amile didn't want to watch, but she had to. It was all she could do now.
Suddenly, Erik's song changed to one Amile knew. The desperate and mourning song that was sung on the roof on that night after Buquet's death. Now it was directed fully at Christine. Amile's heart practically stood still as she waited for the result.
"Christine, that's all I ask of-"
He was cut short by one of the most horrific mistakes made by Christine to date. She took of his mask and revealed him. His whole face, no mask or any cover whatsoever. Amile gasped in horror. Not because of his face, but because of what Christine had done. Now Hell would open. But Erik merely smiled an evil smile and grasped Christine around the waist. The floor collapsed and the two went through the floor. Everyone's attention was diverted by a slight tinkling noise. They all looked up to see the chandelier swinging dangerously. Amile held her breath. Then, the ceiling cracked.
"It would be a disaster if this chain broke or came undone, wouldn't it?"
"I imagine it would be most disasterous,"
She should have known. It was all too obvious. And it became more obvious as the chain suddenly ripped its way out of the ceiling. Screams filled the air as the chandelier slid down the chain and rammed into the seats. Raoul had already left the box awhile ago. Amile watched with nausea as fire ignited among the opera house. Amile knew that someone had to stop Raoul from killing himself. And although she didn't like him, no one should die under Erik's insanity. Because she didn't want to be seen so easily, she took off her mask and threw it into the box somewhere. Then she slid down the column and hit the ground almost soundlessly.
Dodging the fires and the angry mobs forming, Amile ran with a fox's speed and slyness. Running into Christine's dressing room, she flung open the mirror and ran inside, following the damp tunnel all the way to the shore of the underground lake. Tears were forming in her eyes. Anger and fear tore through her as she began to wade through the lake. She stopped, not able to go on. Her anger was replaced with fatigue. Never in all sixteen years of her life had she ever had to stop herself because she was tired. She walked back to the shore and leaned against the wall, her lips pale with some strange sickness tearing it's way through her body. Far away, she heard someone say those familiar words, "Hand at the level of your eyes." She smiled tiredly and sang softly.
"The hand at the level of your eyes..."
Her voice was small and tired, but soothing to her ears. She began to drift off slowly into a dream that she hoped would envelop her and wake her when it was all over.
Amile awoke in her dream. Everything was a misty white, fog swirled like a calm tornado. She looked around to see nothing but the fog. Was she dead? The thought was erased as she saw two figures approach her. One a woman with a long navy dress and dark brown hair. The other was a man in dirty work clothes and kind blue eyes. It was her real parents. She gasped. Her mother smiled at her.
"Amile... Don't let go yet. It's not over until you let it be. It's not your time to go. You still have Erik, so stay with him while you can. Save him from himself."
Her father smiled and walked up to her and placed his strong hand on her shoulder. The smell of old tobacco and coffee filled her and made her smile. His voice was strong as well and held that strict German accent to it.
"One day, you will see us again. But your life is not ready to end. You still have so many years ahead of you, happy ones and sad. This isn't your last night. You still have people that love you. Not just Erik either. Go to those people and let them help you make those happy years. Now is not the time to lose those years to a sickness."
Amile felt tears fill her eyes once more. This wasn't right. Her parents were dead. Did that mean she was on the border between life and death? She looked at her parents and nodded.
"I will go on, I promise."
They smiled kindly at her, practically a mirror to her own expressions. All the years of blindness and pain led up to these next few hours. And she could try to help. She may not succeed, but she had to try. Her parents nodded and walked back into the fog. Amile closed her eyes to that world and opened them to the real world. The same dark lake, the same damp stone walls. She felt the sickness leave her.
Taking a dive into the lake, Amile swam with all of her strength to the gate. To her surprise and horror. Raoul was already tied to the gate with the lasso. Erik was grinning madly and Christine was pleading and sobbing for her lover's life. Amile wanted to call out to her father to stop, but the words wouldn't come. She heard the angry mobs she had seen forming earlier fast approaching. Erik howled out the desicion Christine had to make in his strongest and most commanding voice. Christine stayed silent and the only sound was Erik's angry breathing and the mobs cries.
Christine then made a very bold move. She approached Erik slowly and gracefully, looking like a swan in the water. Singing softly to Erik, she walked up to him and looked into his eyes, not even bothering to look at the deformity. It didn't matter now. Christine then tipped her head up and kissed him forcefully. Amile's heart skipped a beat and Raoul moved frantically against the gate, trying to get away, not even thinking of killing his enemy anymore.
Erik and Christine seperated, leaving Erik in shock. His breathing was distorted and panicky. Then he began to sob. He didn't know anymore. Confusion attacked him from every side. What should he do? He cut Raoul's rope down and stormed up to the shore again, crying even harder. He turned his back to all of them, sticking his hand out, physically dismissing them. The gate went up suddenly.
"Take the boat, swear never to tell, all that you know of the Angel in Hell."
The two lovers stalled in shock. He was freeing them? He turned to face them angrily.
"GO NOW!" he screamed at them. They got in the boat and Raoul began moving it with the pole. Amile dove underwater to avoid being seen. She came up to take a breath just in time to see Christine glance back and catch a glimpse of the girl. Amile didn't care and ran back to the shore. Erik was sobbing and down on his knees, Christine's ring in his palms. He saw her and stood up abruptly. "A-Amile? You're alive?"
"Yes."
"Are you okay?"
"Yes."
He ran up to her and hugged her tightly to him. She looked into his eyes and frowned.
"We have to get out of here, now."
He nodded and took her hand, pulling her behind one of the curtains and into another tunnel that Amile had never seen before. They ran through it until Erik stopped. He was panting. He looked at her and hugged her again. She could tell that he was scared out of his mind. Never in a million years had he expected anything of this type to happen. Tears slid from his eyes as he pulled back.
"Amile, I want you to keep going through this tunnel until you get to a door. It's connected to the front room. Get out of this place and find Madame Giry or someone. Just get out."
"I'm not leaving you!"
"You have to Amile! I'm not a good father and I don't even deserve to be one or even to know you!"
"SHUT UP!" she screamed at him. He went silent.
"You are my father and the only one I have. You're my only real family! If you're gone, how will I survive? This place is the only thing I know! What am I supposed to do? Go back to Germany? I don't even know anyone there! Please come with me or something!"
But he only shook his head. He held her to him and kissed the top of her head.
"I'm damned Amile. That's all there is to it. Madame Giry will know what to do with you, I'm sure of it. You don't even have to leave Paris. But please, do this for me. Go see a world that I never got to see in the light. You weren't meant to be in the cellars of an opera house. You're not a demon like me, you're a human who needs to be with other humans, not the Phantom."
She was sobbing as well. No, this couldn't be happening, not to her. She stood on her toes and kissed him forcefully. It was the last chance that she would ever get to do that. She slowly pulled back.
"Good-bye daddy." she said softly.
He smiled sadly at her.
"Good-bye Amile."
As she left him, she took one look back to see him walking back to the lair. She heard one piercing wail come from him and she ran faster. Then she got to the door. Slowly, she opened it. And there, just as Erik had said, was the front doors. The whole place was empty from the fire. She ran outside, leaving her home forever. Taking one look back, she saw the great fire and the breaking windows. Tears rolled down her cheeks. It was their final good-bye. She slowly walked away and into the crowds, now just a nameless girl with no history. She turned around one more time to look at the burning opera house and mumbled out something that only she could hear,
"I love you daddy, and I always will."
