Chapter 10

(A/N: By the way, if anyone wants to talk to me, message tennyeatscheese on Yahoo! Messenger or tennyeatscheese on AOL Instant Messenger. I'd love to talk to you guys and it's easier that way.)

Her sobbing did not cease. "Christine, tell me," I said, tenderly. "Please," I held her tighter and tried to relax her by humming a soft tune. Though she was not fully relaxed, she was relaxed enough to tell me what was wrong. "Erik, why do you have that... that..." Well, almost.

"What is it?"
"There was a coffin in a room," She answered. She began to sob again and my embrace loosened. "'A coffin'...?" I hesitated to speak up again.

"...I told you not to move."

"I am so sorry that I disobeyed you, Erik..."

I stood in front of her and watched her cry somewhat silently. I was so angry, but I couldn't yell at her; she didn't deserve it. She looked so pained and it was all my fault. I shouldn't have left her here by herself, "No, I'm sorry, Christine."

"Why?"

"I should not have left you here by yourself."

I knew she wanted to ask me why I even had a coffin in my bedroom but I suppose that she needn't pry anymore. She got up and settled her hands on my chest and they tugged at my shirt lightly. She laid her head on me somewhat nervously; I felt her tremble a bit.

How very familiar... but this time it wasn't Meg, it was Christine. In sleep, I often dreamed of this. "It felt so terrible! I remembered my poor father as he lay in his own casket! I remembered him being lowered into a hole... I remembered how he promised me an Angel of Music, but it was all a fairy tale..."

"Fairy tale or not," I put my arms around her. "I am here for you instead."

With that I bent down and kissed her so passionately. I felt her body ease and she was less stiff. One of her hands caressed the cold mask on my face and I could feel her touch from behind it. So tender, so caring... I wished that this moment would have last forever, but she was overcome by curiosity yet again and she tore off my mask. I forcefully pulled my arms off of Christine and covered my horrendous deformity with my hands. "Damn you! You inquisitive nuisance! What do you want to see? My face, which is hardly a face? The scar that my mother so loathed? The mark that made me the black sheep?"

"Erik, I am so sorry..."
I totally ignored her apology, but it's not like it would have done anything. I was screaming like a madman. "Fine, fine! You wanted to see? Here, look!" I put my hands down and glared at Christine through my two golden eyes. The eyes that adored her so now filled with so much rage. I could see in her eyes that she was going to cry again but she managed to hold them back. "Go on! There are tears in your eyes! Cry! It frightens you! It's repulsive isn't it? Ghastly, revolting, gruesome, and disturbing! You will cry, you will retch! You will !"

"Erik! Please, calm down!"

"You thought that that carcass case was horrifying? I am the carcass! A living corpse!"

"Erik! Please!"

"Your desire to know what my home looks like, what my face looks like caused you this torment! You keep asking questions, you always want to know! You used to ask me why I kissed you that one night we were on the roof... I love you, that is why! But who would love a walking cadaver? If you never discovered this hellish disfigurement, I was sure I could make you love me! But now, all is lost, isn't it? Tell me, do you love me? You don't!"

Christine's tears finally flowed out of her eyes and she sobbed, "Erik, please stop this! You're scaring me..."

"Who would not be scared by this face?"

"It's not your face... Erik, please..."

"Okay then, tell me, do you love me?"

"Erik, please don't make me answer that question..."

"Do you?"

"I don't know..."
"Get out! Leave me alone! Go now!"

Christine dashed away and I collapsed on the ground, sobbing like Christine was. She sounded so helpless as she pleaded. "Please, Erik..." She kept saying, but I kept making her beg. I showed her no pity; rage swallowed me whole.

Why was I cursed with this face?

Christine was standing in Erik's boat, rowing as quickly as she could. The boat was shaking beneath her and she has fallen into the lake several times already. 'What will Erik do now? He broke my hand for reaching for his mask... what will he do for actually ripping it off?'

The thought terrified Christine more than anything. She knew that whatever was going to happen, would be her fault.

Christine returned to the dorm with this thought haunting her mind. She entered the dorm, soaked to the skin. She was panting from rowing so hard and she was so out of energy. She still didn't change from her nightclothes or eaten a single meal. She fell to her knees and sighed in relief. Meg and the other girls dashed over to Christine. "What happened to you?" Meg asked, worriedly.

"I will explain myself later... let me clean myself up first."

Christine was brought a robe for her to wear while she waited for her hair and clothes to dry and Madame Giry excused her from practise later on that evening. When Christine was finally settled (and fed) she sat at the side of her bed, Meg seated herself behind her and brushed Christine's hair for her. She explained her day with Erik and at during some of the story, Meg groaned. Christine apologised, "Sorry, Meg, I know... you like him..."
"It's okay. He likes you."

"No," Christine said. "He loves me but I did not say that I loved him back."

"Do you?"

"I honestly do not know. But I know Erik is going to do something because I denied him... I do not know what he will do, but it is going to be bad. He broke my hand for reaching for his mask. Well, I took his mask off and I also rejected his feelings for me... Something is going to happen."

Meg gasped. "Christine, how could you? He could kill you!"

"Kill me? Why would he kill me?"

"Because he is capable of doing so! I heard that when he was younger he wrapped a Punjab lasso around a man's neck... and killed him... that could happen to you!"

Christine laughed. "Oh, I am sure that is just a rumour. I know Erik. He may lose his temper, but he is just too kind... he is just too sweet... his heart is just too big."

"If you say so, Christine. If you say so."

It was midnight. I should have climbed to the roof to play for Christine again, but I could not bear to. I could not even eat the food that I brought for her. I tried but then I just lost my temper and threw whatever I had at the wall. I took her dress and her brush and threw them in the bed that she slept in. It was all I had left of Christine.

But I left nothing to Christine... but I will. I quickly wrote a letter to Christine in red ink and slipped it into one of my pockets. I found a rope and tied it into my Punjab lasso and started up towards the Opera House. Everything was silent because everybody was asleep. I walked through the Opera House without bothering to hide. There was nothing to hide from anyway. I approached Christine's dorm and I was going to turn the knob and let myself in but I heard a voices come from inside. "Where are you going, Mireille? It's so late..." One of the voices said, yawning. "I am going to get a glass of water."

"Why?"

"I'm thirsty! Why else?"

I saw the knob turn so I quickly hid. This Mireille girl stepped into the dark hallway and shut the door behind her. I grabbed her and put a hand over her mouth. She was about to scream but I silenced it. She tried to speak and shake herself free but she couldn't. I took a handkerchief that was in the pocket with the note and tied it over her mouth and slipped her head into my lasso. I whispered to her with a maniacal smirk across my face, "Do not worry, it will end soon. And I will make sure your friends will be able to say goodbye at your funeral by leaving your body here where they can find it."

There was a coat hanger outside of the ballerinas' dorm so they could grab their coats on their way out. I tore down all of what was hanging there and tied the other end of my rope to it and yanked hard enough so the girl would be above the ground.

With a crack of her neck, she died and I smiled victoriously, feeling no regrets. I left her there, staring at those who pass with large, frightened eyes. Underneath her, I left the note there where Christine will find it.

Christine woke early with a throbbing headache. She had a horrible dream about Erik and about what Meg had said to her about a time when Erik killed a man. She got up out of bed and stretched and told herself that Erik would never do such a thing. She went to go wash her face in cold water because she was sweating from such a horrid dream. When she opened the door, she saw a girl hanging on the wall, her head twisted in a weird position.

Christine's nightmare was a reality. She screamed so loudly that all the rest of the ballerinas woke up to see what was wrong. When they found out what it was, some of them started to cry or look away. Christine stared at the girl with wide eyes. "Look, there is a note by her feet..." Said one of the girls. She bravely stepped over and retrieved it and read, "It... it's for Christine."

Christine read it to herself.

Dearest Christine Daae, it said.

I offered my heart to you, but you broke it into so many pieces. Would you have loved me if I was handsome? If I was not as easily tempered as I am? Would you have loved me... if I was normal?

Well, these questions will never be answered because you will probably never see Erik's face ever again. But this is a warning; if you ever do see me again, remember that I am capable of this... this is not even the worst that could happen.

Signed, The Phantom of the Opera

Christine's eyes filled with tears and she dropped the letter. 'This is all my fault. I am responsible for whatever is to come. I am responsible for the Phantom of the Opera !'