A/N: This is act III. I hope that you are enjoying the story thus far. It only has three more chapters. I am sad but happy at the same time. Please enjoy the rest of the story.

The two songs in this chapter do not belong to me. They belong to the very beautiful musical 'Jekyll and Hyde' and Monsieur Josh Groban. Without them, this chapter would not be possible.

A minor correction from a previous chapter. I had called Phoenix's new story 'In the Mind's Eye' when in fact it will be called 'Into the Mind's Eye'. Please look for it. I'm sure Phoenix and the new Erik will be happy to hear all you have to say.

The curtain rises…the stage is yours.

With much love,

Erik

Chapter 50 – There was a Priest, a Girl, & a Boy…: Part III

Monsieur Laurent was never one for silence. But the sight before him stopped him cold before beginning the next song. The man before him seemed to be in a trance. He watched the man look at Angelina with longing.

Slowly raising his baton, he began the next song. It was darker then the rest but it was one of his favorites.

Angelina felt Erik's presence behind her. She looked out the corner of her eye and noticed his hands hovering just near her neck. This next song was her favorite. She knew what the young tenor went through during rehearsal. He was uncertain of himself and was afraid to touch her. Angelina had no doubts about that being changed.

"I feel your fingers…cold on my shoulder." Erik's hands slowly touched her bare shoulders, already beginning to the next sensitive spot on her body. "Your chilling touch as it runs down my spine!"

His hands glided down her back and slowly began around her waist. It sent shivers up her spine. She could feel his smile. She did not even have to see it.

"Watching your eyes…" His arms twisted while he stood along side her. The arms never let go of her tiny waist but their eyes locked as she looked at him. "…as they invade my soul. Forbidden pleasures, I'm afraid to make mine."

She tried to cover her hands with his but he began to back away from her. Where are you going? The loss of his touch made her weak.

"At the touch of your hand…at the sound of your voice…at the moment your eyes meet mine!"

He faded into the darkness again. She cursed the darkness. It invited him and not her. She hoped her voice would draw him out.

Her back was to him now. The darkness shrouded him once again – keeping her from seeing him. He listened to her – her voice his drug.

"I am out of my mind! I am out of control! Full of feelings I can't define!"

He smiled as he watched her. "It's a sin with no name."

"Like a hand in a flame."

"As our senses proclaim…"

Their voices joined and echoed. It filled his heart with joy. "It's a dangerous game."

He began toward her again – being drawn to her.

"A darker dream, that has no ending…That's so unreal, you believe that it's true."

"Raoul, please! He is drawing her in!"

Christine shook with fright. She watched her daughter be overcome by the same man that did it to her. Her escape barely happened. It was a kiss of death that freed Raoul and her. She did not want her daughter to suffer the same fate.

"Trust me. She will be fine."

"Out of a mystery tale…the frightened princess doesn't know what to do! Will the ghosts go away!"

Her answers were not forced but yet not rehearsed. They just came to her.

"No!"

"Will she will them to stay?"

"No!"

"Either way, there's no way to win!"

His breath was hot on her neck. The closeness was killing her. Touch me!

"All I know is I'm lost and I'm counting the cost! My emotions are in a spin! I don't know who's to blame…"

"It's a crime and a shame."

"But it's true all the same."

Their voices joined once again. "It's a dangerous game…"

She felt his chest against her back. His hands stuck by his sides but Angelina had a feeling they would not stay there long.

"No one speaks…not one word. But what words are in our eyes?"

"Silence speaks!" His one arm grasped her waist. Her eyes slowly closed as she heard Erik's voice in her head. Silence speaks!

"Loud and clear!" Loud and clear!

Their voices joined once more – bringing the passion to a higher level.

Erik made sure his fingertips slowly brushed her sides as he slowly brought his other arm around her. He drew her back to him. Angelina's breath caught as her body pressed against his.

"At the touch of your hand! At the sound of your voice! At the moment your eyes meet mine!"

Angelina slid her hands over his. The sensation heightened and instead of Angelina closing her eyes, he closed his instead.

"I am losing my mind…I am losing control! Fighting feelings I can't define!"

Without warning, Angelina took his hands and began to run them up her body. He watched her eyes close from his touch.

I cannot do this. I cannot! But he was and his heart wanted nothing more.

"It's a sin with no name!" Her voice pierced his soul. What they were was not a sin. As much as people thought it was, it was not.

"No remorse and no shame…fire fury and flame!" The emotions were building. There was no stopping anything now. His nerves were on fire but his heart would not relent.

"Cos the devil's to blame!" He spun her and used his hands to embrace her shoulders. Their eyes blazed with passion and sexuality. Both knew what they wanted and could really never have.

Joined once again, their voiced echoed throughout the opera house. Neither of them knew anyone else was around them. It was them and only them.

"And the angels proclaim!" The silence in between the verse was deafening. "It's a dangerous…game…"

His hands slid back down her sides and he drew her close as the orchestra finished the piece.

Angelina looked at him and could not believe he stood before her – naked. His face was revealed for the entire world to see. It was as if he did not care.

"Erik?" Her voice was barely auditable but Angelina knew he heard her. The smile on his face lit up her heart. It is Erik! His hand gently moved to her cheek and she closed her eyes from his light touch.

"Did you think I would miss the opportunity to sing with you?" His voice was just as gentle as his hand. No one in the opera house heard him but she had. "You are magnificent."

Christine watched Angelina and the Phantom. God, he has taken my child! He has taken my daughter!

"Raoul, please!" Her voice was now begging him but it was as if did not hear her pleas.

"Patience."

Erik slowly began away from Angelina. She understood he must leave for the opera to continue and gently nodded her head. The darkness consumed him once again. But it was voice that made him see red. It was his voice that allowed anger to build within him.

"Tell me his name…I want to know. The way he looks…and where you go…"

Across from the darkness he hid in and behind a curtain, Erik saw Rene being held by several men. Rene was struggling in their grasp but could not get free. Erik now knew who was seated in Box Five. His eyes slowly glanced up and he saw the smirk on Raoul de Chagny's face. The man who had stolen away Christine now tried to do the same with Angelina. Raoul had the upper hand but Erik knew it would not be for long.

Rene struggled against the arms that held him back. What had just occurred had never even crossed his mind. Vicomte de Chagny had guards posted at every exit. Whatever plan he had conjured up was set into motion. There was no way for Rene to warn Erik or Angelina for that matter.

The Phantom was alone. Did he meet his match? Had he lost Angelina forever?

Angelina's eyes went wide at the sound of the voice. It cannot be! It cannot!

"I need to see his face. I need to understand…why you and I came to an end."

She slowly turned and saw Jonathan standing there. Her breathing was even worse then when Erik was standing on the stage with her.

"Tell me again, I want to hear….who broke my faith in all these years?"

His voice was quite good. She could not think he could sing, much less the song that was supposed to be Rene's. Why was he on the stage? Where was Rene?

"Who lays with you at night while I'm here all alone…remembering when I was your own?"

There was anger behind the words. Jonathan felt as if she had betrayed him. Angelina never promised him anything. She knew she loved Erik more then words could express. There was no betrayal. There was nothing.

"I let you go! I let you fly! Why do I keep on asking why? I let you go, now that I found a way to keep somehow…More than a broken vow."

Jonathan was standing in front of her now. There were tears in his eyes and anger behind them. He knows.

The trembling had not gone unnoticed by Erik. Angelina was frightened. Jonathan was not a part of anything she had seen coming. Her skin had gone pale as she shook with fear.

He wanted to reach out to her. He wanted to assure her everything would be alright.

His mind continued to think of ways to escape – to leave the stage before anything could happen. He needed to find a way to bring Angelina with him. It did not seem to be an option. His eyes widened with realization. A small smirk came to his lips.

That is it! That is what I will do.

"Tell me the words I never said. Show me the tears you never shed…"

A tear rolled down Angelina's cheek. He loved her and she could not reciprocate. Jonathan's fingers lightly touched her cheek and wiped the tears that escaped from her eyes.

"Give me the touch…the one that you promised to be mine! Or has it vanished for all time?"

Jonathan slowly began to back away from her, his gaze never leaving hers.

"I let you go! I let you fly! Why do I keep on asking why? I let you go, now that I found a way to keep somehow…More than a broken vow."

His outstretched arms seemed to show that he was pleading with her. I have nothing left to give!

"I close my eyes and dream of you and I! And then I realize…there's more to love then only bitterness and lies!"

Jonathan's long strides brought him back to her in seconds.

"I close my eyes!" She watched him close his eyes as he stood in front of her. Sadness filled her heart and mind. "I'd give away my soul to hold you once again…and never let this promise end!"

The ring she had given back to him was placed on her finger.

Erik knew he should have thrown out the ring. He regretted it now. Angelina's heart was faltering. The boy was getting to her. He needed to stop it now.

Raoul kept his gaze on the stage but knew Christine was feeling more relaxed.

"How did you get Jonathan to come?"

"The love of a woman would bring any man to Paris."

"I let you go! I let you fly! Now that I know, I'm asking why!"

What Angelina feared most was now reality. Jonathan knew about Erik. It sent shivers down her spine. What would he do to Erik once he saw him on the stage?

"I let you go, now that I found…a way to keep somehow…"

Jonathan was on his knees in front of her. His arms went about her waist and drew her close. The solemn face rested upon her stomach – pleading.

"More than a broken vow…"

His eyes slowly looked up into hers. Angelina's heart broke and in that moment wondered if she had done the right thing.

"You come into the house of God to plead your case?"

Angelina's blood froze. Jonathan slowly stood and looked over her shoulder at the figure moving from the darkness. If fear filled her before, it consumed her now.

"Do you wish to love someone you cannot?"

Angelina's head slowly turned and watched Erik move from the darkness and into the light. His face showed fury but there was pain behind his eyes.

"You will speak to him in vein then, Monsieur. He will not hear your prayers."

"Enough of the charade! I am tired of playing these games. Her heart knows she belongs to me."

Erik's laugh filled the opera house. Angelina's heart stopped by the sound in his voice. The one thing Angelina feared more then anything was Erik returning to his past. His voice showed that he was beginning to go back.

"Her heart belongs to me!" Erik held his hand out. "Come to me."

Before Angelina could reach out for his hand, Jonathan pulled her behind him. His body protected her. But Jonathan did not know that she did not want to be protected. She longed to be in Erik's arms, safe from everything that was going on.

"Please…" She begged but her pleas would fall on deaf ears. Neither of them heard her, engaged in their own battle.

"You protect her from something you do not need to."

"She is not a possession you own. She is flesh and blood."

"Of this I know!"

God, please stop this insanity! This was no longer the opera. Whatever words were being said was what was being felt. The audience had no idea. But someone else did. Angelina slowly looked up and saw her mother and father sitting in Box Five. Fury was in her father's eyes. Her heart began to race even faster. This was not what was supposed to happen.

"She is coming home with me. She will not be damned to hell because of you."

"Jonathan, please I am begging you. Just let this go!"

"Will you ignore her pleas, Monsieur? Will you break her heart to satisfy your own?"

"She does not love you. You have clouded her mind with your own thoughts and wants. She no longer wants to be with you."

"Enough!" She was through being spoken of as if she was not even there. "I am here, standing in front of both of you. I can choose myself."

Before Angelina could move to Erik's side, Jonathan pulled his sword and pointed it at his chest. She stopped in her tracks and watched fury glaze over Erik's eyes.

"She is going nowhere."

There was just one second where she thought Erik would not act on his fury and rage. For one brief second, Angelina saw the love that Erik possessed. One second was all it took for everything to turn into a nightmare.

Like lightning, Erik had shoved Jonathan's sword aside and grasped him by the throat. The entire audience was in an uproar. Angelina watched her father get up from his seat and rush out of Box Five.

"You have crossed me for the last time, boy!"

Without thought or question, flames surrounded Erik and Jonathan. Angelina's eyes went wide as they disappeared from sight. The entire audience was on their feet as Angelina stood there in complete shock.

The floor panel that was below Jonathan and Erik was gone. It opened into a large hole that seemed to go on for eternity. She stood over it, looking down and seeing no sign of either Jonathan or Erik. It was not until her father's voice filled her ears that she sensed she had no choice but to tame the man she loved herself. She would not allow him to become a monster.