28. That One Really Long Chapter! (The Climax)

((Rated PG-13 for scenes of extreme pwnage, the use of awesome Kung-Fu skillz, (just kidding) and because the entire reason the Phantom movie was rated PG-13 was because of "Don Juan" and afterwards and that is the part being performed in this chapter.))

Chapter title states all. It's gonna be a long one. Get comfortable, and get ready. ... Hah, Emmy's playing Raoul! XD

((Skye: "OK, before we get to writing it, here's who's playing who:

Larc – Christine

Gerard – Don Juan/The Phantomhe's playing both

Emmy - Raoul

Alex – Passarino

Vanessa – Meg

Patrick – Uhh... That's classified information.

There aren't any background dancers in this one. Not enough people. Heheh. Actually, I truly dislike the dancers, and so I fired them. Anywho. Meg shall replace Carlotta on the weird solo that Larc sang earlier in this writing piece. Umm, the choir is made up of random Phantom phreaks that volunteered for the part. So… On with the show! By the way, if you find that I skipped anyone, review who it is and I'll shower you in candy and toast!"))

Real tears fell down Larc's cheeks as the house went quiet. They had actually been granted a musical hall to perform in. And below the stage? Cellars. How typical.

Emmy gave her a concerned look from her entrance to the set. Larc gave her a thumb's up, trying to tell her they were fake.

Everything had been looking up in the few hours before the performance. Everyone had wished her good luck, everyone had been cheerful and nervous. Alex had commented on how Larc looked in her costume, Vanessa had blushed and glared at him, Larc had laughed. Larc had complimented their costumes in return. Vanessa had told her that everything would be fine. Gerard had told her everything would be fine.

She had believed everything would be fine. Until the voice had come again. It had told her, "Tonight will be a night of great triumph." A foreboding feeling had followed her around since then, and as she waited for the curtain to rise, it settled in the pit of her stomach and made her feel heavy and slow. She didn't know if she even stand, let alone sing...

As the curtain rose, Vanessa was almost blown back. Larc was crying! Really crying! It was an appropriate scene, but she hadn't cried during rehearsals! She smiled for her friend. Larc had, and Larc herself put it, "become the part". A quiet laugh rippled through the audience as Emmy entered, in full Raoul costume. Emmy barely kept herself from smiling.

But everyone quieted down as Larc said her lines. Vanessa began to observe from backstage. Larc was really into the part. She looked truly and deeply frightened. Her voice faltered on her line, "What I once used to dream, I now dread…" She paused and looked Vanessa square in the eye before continuing. Vanessa suddenly shifted uncomfortably backstage. Something about that look made her stomach implode. Something was wrong. It wasn't stage fright, it wasn't pretend. Larc was afraid of something. Her tears spread to her voice. It shook as she sang, "And he'll always be there, singing songs in my head. He'll always be there, singing songs in my head…"

Emmy looked truly concerned as she tenderly touched Larc' shoulder and recited her lines, "You said yourself, he was nothing but a man. But while he lives, he will haunt us 'til we're dead." Larc stared at the ground for a moment, and suddenly her tears stopped flowing. She stood, eyes turned up towards the rafters and sang clearly, "Twisted every way, what answer can I give; am I to risk my life to win a chance to live? Can I betray the man who once inspired my voice, do I become his prey? Do I have any choice? He kills without a thought, he murders all that's good, I know I can't refuse! And yet, I wish I could… Oh God, if I agree! What horrors wait for me in this, the Phantom's opera?" Emmy also stood, continuing her lines. Larc looked her in the eye, then allowed Emmy to draw her into a hug, something the play called for.

Into Emmy's ear, Larc whispered, "When I call for it, pull back the curtain to 'the bedroom'. I don't care what the script says, just do it!" Then the curtain was closed. The audience applauded and waited while the small group of actors rushed to switch the scene. Larc also helped a bit, although she seemed distant. Vanessa pulled her aside. "Larc, why did you look at the rafters?" she whispered. Larc looked her in the eye. "Whoever the voice is, he was up in the rafters. I saw him, and I told him that I wasn't going to back down. I can't tell you how, but I did. I know something's going to happen. And I know he's going to do it!"

"Don Juan triumphs once again!" Larc took a deep breath. It was nearly her part. Alex, in his Passarino garb, stepped into the light. It didn't matter that his voice wasn't very good, Passarino wasn't supposed to sound good. Many females in the audience cheered as Gerard emerged from the "bedroom". Many others laughed. Both men had stuffed the stomach of their costumes with random things (such as an extra costume for Vanessa, a bottle of hair spray for Larc, etc.) from backstage to make themselves bigger. You could see the spines of a comb vaguely under Alex's costume. The laughter continued as Gerard began Don Juan's part, "Passarino, faithful friend, once again recite the plan!"

Larc quickly checked over her costume. Secretly, underneath the strange skirt she was wearing for Christine's part, she was wearing a pair of shorts. No telling what would happen during this play. Especially with her strange stalker-voice. She heard Gerard's laugh as Don Juan and the soft swish of the curtain to "the bedroom". Larc took another deep breath and with renewed confidence stepped onto stage. "No thoughts within her head but thoughts of joy! No dreams within her heart but dreams of love!" True to the part, she knelt down and began picking the thorns off a rose. Alex spluttered, "M-Master?" She stopped short as she heard what was Gerard's part being sung, "Passarino, go away! For the trap is set and waits for its prey…" Larc stared at the rose. That was not Gerard. The voice was familiar, but not Gerard's. It was the voice from her room. And apparently he did not look like Gerard, for Alex had acted unnaturally…

"You have come here in pursuit of your deepest urge," he sang. Larc looked up at him. His hair was black and slicked back, like Gerard's was, and a mask covered his face, but she could tell that his face was slim. His skin looked like it hadn't seen sun for a while, and was a light peach. And his eyes… his eyes were amber, instead of Gerard's emerald. They glinted as he approached her, continuing, "Past the point of no return, no backward glances, our games of make-believe are at an end…"

Larc stood as he began to circle her, all the while keeping her eyes locked with his. "What raging fire shall flood the soul?" he continued, and as in practice, he wound his left arm around Larc's neck, grasping her right shoulder with his left hand, her right wrist with his free hand, singing as though he were whispering in her ear. Larc shivered. His grip on her was constrictive. Her pulse quickened, and she knew he felt it. He finally let go of her and she took a few steps away from him before spinning around to catch him smirking at her as he sang, "What warm unspoken secrets will we learn beyond the point of no return…?"

Larc looked down at the stage, then looked at Vanessa again, beginning, "You have brought me to that moment when words run dry, to that moment when speech disappears into silence, silence…" Larc met his eyes again, searching for any clue of what might happen. He smirked at her yet again, denying her any information. No emotion showed on his face, accept for his pleasure at Larc's desperate attempts. "Past all thought of right or wrong, one final question; how long should we two wait before we're one?" They were walking up the stairs onto the catwalk now. Larc shot a glance at Emmy – she was there, ready for if or when she was given the order. The rope was wrapped around her arm, and she was watching Larc with a determined look on her face.

Larc had kept moving, though she was scanning backstage, and their duet had begun. With one hand, the man was keeping a firm grasp on her left arm, and with the other he put his index finger on her cheek and his thumb under her chin, turning her head to face him. Their eyes met again. A shiver ran down Larc's spine. "The bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn!" Larc broke away from his grasp and turned her back to him, finishing the song, "We've past the point of no return…" She met eyes with Vanessa and mouthed something. Her face was turned away from both the man and the audience, and she pleaded that Vanessa got the correct message.

Vanessa met Larc's eyes. Her own widened. Larc was mouthing something to her. She murmured to herself what Larc mouthed. "Emmy, pull, after song?" Then Gerard's solo began, and he turned Larc away. Vanessa puzzled for only a split second what it could have meant. She raced over to Emmy and whispered, "Pull it when the song's going to end!" Emmy looked at her, then back up at Larc. "You sure?" "Yes, I'm sure! Just do it!"

"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime." The man slowly turned Larc around so that she faced him. "Lead me, save me from my solitude." Larc looked into his eyes as he kept his left hand clamped tightly around her wrist, his right arm wrapped around her waist. "Say you want me with you here, beside you." Larc took a deep breath and put her left hand on his arm, her right down at her side, for her was holding onto her right wrist. She averted her gaze from his eyes and stared down at the catwalk. "Anywhere you go let me go too!" Larc closed her eyes. "Christine, that's all I ask of - !" Suddenly, the black and red curtain to "the bedroom" swung open, and Vanessa screamed. Larc managed to pull away long enough to catch a glimpse of Gerard half on the floor, half on the bed, not moving, eyes closed.

"Gerard!" she screamed, trying to break away from the man's grasp on her wrist – but he held her fast, and pulled her back. He pulled her into his side, flipping the switch that released the door of the catwalk, and they fell. Larc managed to cry out "Vanessa!" before the last bit of the stage disappeared.

Vanessa, Emmy and the rest of the crew raced to Gerard. Vanessa turned to the catwalk just soon enough to see Larc and the man vanished beneath the stage, hearing Larc cry, "Vanessa!" A murmur rippled through the audience. Gerard groaned and came to, looking around. "What - ?" he began, but Vanessa cut him off. "Emmy, get the audience informed and evacuate them! Get the police! Gerard, Alex and I will follow them!" Vanessa cried, locating Alex quickly and getting Gerard up. "What happened!" he cried as they ran to the door backstage that lead to the cellars.

"You were knocked out, and someone with amber eyes took your place!" explained Vanessa, throwing the door open and leading the way. Gerard was directly behind her, and Alex had enough sense to grab a small knife before following. "What did he do with Larc!" yelled Gerard. "SHHHH!" Alex and Vanessa shushed. "He flipped the switch on the catwalk and dropped below the stage, like in the movie," replied Alex. Vanessa didn't stop to let her eyes adjust, just kept running down the stairs. Gerard followed at Vanessa's heels.

It was his fault. He had pressured Larc into being Christine. He had coaxed her into something she hadn't exactly wanted, and now look where it had gotten them! All of them! Gerard had a giant bump on his head, Vanessa was actually playing the leader's role instead of the follower's, Alex was carrying a knife, and God knew what happened to Larc!

"LET ME GO, YOU LITTLE - !" Larc didn't finished her sentence and was pulled forward by the man. He laughed at her, keeping a tight hold on her wrist. "I have no intention of that, Mademoiselle Ivy." "Don't call me that! And let go! You have no right to touch me! If you were any type of gentleman, you would let me go!" yelled Larc again, staring angrily at the back of his head. "Fine!" Before she knew what was happening, Larc was submerged in water. Murky green water. This time, though, she was able to find the top. She gasped for air as she resurfaced, searching for the bank. Suddenly, amber eyes met hers, and the man's face was scant inches away from hers.

"Are you going to behave now?" he mocked. Larc scowled and spit water at him. In reaction, he grabbed the top of her head and dunked her under the water, holding her there. Larc screamed and dug her nails into the man's arm, but he didn't back down. He pulled her back up by her neck and said, "Face it, Larc. I am more powerful than you. Now admit defeat. Or should I dunk you under again?" Larc coughed and spit the water out of her mouth, taking a gasp of breath, and suddenly, a shadow collided with the man, and she was under the water again.

Arms reached down to pull her out, and she grabbed them. As she resurfaced, gasping for air, she found they were Vanessa's. Larc gave her a faint grin as her eyes adjusted to the darkness and Vanessa pulled her the rest of the way out. "Thanks," Larc said breathlessly, putting her arm on Vanessa's shoulder. Vanessa gave her a quick hug and whispered, "Any time!"

Suddenly, a gunshot sounded. Everyone froze. Larc searched for the person that held the gun, and found that the man had it, and he was pointing the handgun at her and Vanessa. A small bullet had mangled the ground only two feet in front of them. He slowly walked over to Larc and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her a few yards away from the three. Larc had her eyes closed and gulped, not struggling at all. Vanessa, Gerard, and Alex stared in horror as the man cocked the gun again and pointed it in the direction of Larc. "Her life is now the prize, which you must earn!" he said, smirking now that he had the upper hand.

Alex dropped the knife he had been carrying, and Larc gulped again. "Now, hear me out," said the man. "I'll tell you who I am, and then tell you what I want." 'What he wants? Isn't it evident?' thought Vanessa. She glanced at Larc, who still had her eyes closed. Larc was taking deep breaths through her mouth, trying to keep from hyperventilating. "Now, I think Larc may already now who I am. Mind telling them, Larc?" Larc opened her eyes and stared across the dark, soil floor and to the stairs, only a few yards away. "You're not Erik. You're not any Angel," she began, taking another deep breath. The man smirked, watching her. "I probably should have know from the first night I heard you. You're…"

((Skye: "TO BE CONTINUED! Hey, I need something for chapter twenty-nine! And it's a cliffhanger too! Anyone who wants to guess who the voice is, PLEASE DON'T REVIEW! Email it! And entitle it 'Skye' so that Veronica can't read it! That's right, even Veronica doesn't know what's going to happen!"))