Christine stood on the stage next to someone she loathed ,La Carlotta, as she waited for the curtain to rise. As she walked towards the stage a couple of minutes with Meg and Madame Giry she remembered the cold stares she received and the cruel remarks her fellow students whispered to one another.
" I heard she slept with the Vicomte last night! Someone told me she's sleeping with him so she can take the role of La Carlotta!" one of the ballet girls whispered.
"What a little tramp!" she heard another say
Christine sighed and tried to ignore them but she felt tears trickle in the corner of her eyes. She felt grateful to Madame Giry as she shoed the girls off to the stage. "Don't pay any attention to them, my dear." Madame Giry said as she put a hand on Christine's shoulder.
But no matter what the girls said to her it wouldn't hurt as bad as what was really bothering her. It was hard to believe that last night that she believed in the "Angel of Music" and then tonight she laughed at herself for ever believing such a thing.
"Meg was right all along, there's no angel of music, it's just been a fantasy to which I was so foolish to fall for!"
Christine scolded herself in her mind as she wiped a tear from her face. If it wasn't bad enough she felt even worse thinking about how she had pulled of the man's mask to which she had thought to be her angel. Her curiosity had got the better of her and she had to know what lay behind that mask! She knew long before then that there wasn't an angel of music but she had to find out who was the man who made her soul soar. But her stupidity trapped her again as she pulled of the mask and saw her "angels" face! It wasn't an angel though, it was the devils face! At first Christine was in horror at such a gruesome sight and at how he threw her on the ground and cursed her. She remembered the rage of fury and disappointment in his eyes as he stared at her. But as he explained his situation she could only pity the man who lived under the ground hiding from the earth.
" All he ever did was show you kindness and you return the favor by pulling of his only protection and losing his trust!"
Christine felt a chill run up her spine as she remembered his face. The skull so distorted on the right side of his face with the bumps that grew on his bald scalp. But with that fear came a pity and another feeling to which Christine couldn't explain. As she battled with herself for the rest of the waiting period she finally decided on finding him tonight and apologizing for her crude actions the night before. Then the curtain went up and she began to act.
Erik stood on the ropes over the stage as he stared below at Christine. His heart ached when he saw the state she was in. Her eyes with bags under them, it seemed she had aged since just last night! He knew it was ALL his fault! His anger and grief grew even more when he overheard one of the ballet rats gossiping about her. His fists clenched on his Punjab lass as he stared at the filthy little dancing whores take their place on the stage. He planned on getting his vendenge tonight at Carlotta and the dirty man known as Joseph Buquet but as he thought of them lying dead before them, all he could imagine was Christine's face as she stared at the murderer. He couldn't stand those brown chocolate eyes burning his soul again like they did last night. He sighed as he put the Punjab lass away under his cape.
" I'm afraid your making me to soft, Christine." Erik laughed to himself as he still planned to make Carlotta lose her voice tonight.
It happened so quickly! Christine remembered in how she was performing her part regularly in "LL Muto when all of a sudden a voice boomed from above
"DID I NOT INFORM YOU THAT BOX 5 WAS TO BE KEPT EMPTY!"
Christine shuddered as she remembered and recognized her angels voice! She looked up toward the chandler and saw for a brief second a man in a cloak with a white mask covering the right side of his face, but for that brief second they had caught eye contact and Christine felt a wave of emotions engulf her. But as soon as she made eye contact it as soon was gone and so was he. She heard Meg scream behind her. " It's him, The Phantom of The Opera!"
Christine could only stand and say " It's him!"
But as soon as she spoke Carlotta screamed at her to be quiet as she ran off the stage to spray her throat. Christine mentally imagined the old toad getting sick on stage but soon pushed it away. As Carlotta got back on stage she informed everyone around her that everything was fine.
As the performance began again it ended nearly as fast because right in the middle of Carlotta's singing a loud "CROAK!" came out of the Prima Donna's mouth. People stood in horror as they watched Carlotta continue to croak. Especially Christine who had worried that her wish became true and she was mentally asking God to forgive her sin. As she stood in shock the curtains came down and she was pulled out by Monsieur Firmin as he informed the audience that she would be playing the role of the Countess. Christine didn't even have enough time to get the words through her head because Madame Giry was quickly rushing to the dressing room muttering "Those fools, never listen!"
