I felt so clumsy wading through the mist-laden waters of the lake wearing such a long dress. The voices in my head were continuing to grow in volume, the words becoming clearer. They were still undecipherable as specific words, but I could now hear the odd consonant popping in. The setting was beginning to drive me mad, with the small fish of the lake dancing around my feet and persistently biting at my ankles, even when I kicked them away. Raoul had been such a savior thus far, whispering words of encouragement or even simple conversation to keep my mind at ease.
"Those fish are nasty little things, aren't they?" he joked as he held me under his arm protectively. "When we find her, ten francs says that my maman will complain about the bite marks on my legs," Meg betted as she swatted at a small red mark on her calf. It was true, Madame Giry was very strict about the condition of her dancers- especially Meg. I smiled at their wit, but suddenly came to a halt as the voices became very sharp and very loud. "You know nothing of hell!" a voice, recognizable as the Phantom's pounded out in my mind, followed by a shriek from Madame Giry. I let out a shriek of my own, breathing very hard indeed. I closed my hands over my ears as if I could somehow block it out, but it went quieter again. Raoul turned to face me, and Meg as well. Raoul grabbed my arms, his face stricken with concern. "Christine!" Meg cried out. "Are you okay?" Raoul asked, knowing that I couldn't be. "What's wrong, what happened?" he continued, urging me to answer. All I could muster was "We're very close, Raoul."
From then on, our trip through the knee-high waters was almost silent. Meg quietly hummed a ballet tune to keep our spirits high. I could barely hear her with the voices swirling in my head faster than a hurricane, but tried my hardest to smile at her attempt at compassion. Every beat in my heart grew louder and faster with every trailing step we made towards that infamous cave. Suddenly the brick walls turned to stone, with beastly statues posted along either side. I knew we didn't have much further, for the voices were becoming yet more persistent and clear.
"Why do you fear me?"
"I do not fear you."
"Then why do you fight? A butterfly cannot escape the grasp of a wolf! And why is that, do you think?"
There was a pause… I prayed to God that Madame Giry would not make the mistake of trying to be brave. But whom was I kidding; bravery is in that woman's blood permanently. The voices continued;
"I
am no butterfly. I will not be crushed by you."
"You
saved me. You have compassion for me. That, good Madame is your worst
weakness. I would not be so sure of your strength."
"I would
not be so sure of your logic! I lost compassion for you when you
stole Christine away!"
"Do not speak of that name,
wench!"
My eyes widened with fear for Madame Giry as he let out an intense cry that resembled a lion's roar, combined with the sound of a chorus of demons. My head began to spin, my eyes clouded over as fear raced through my veins. There is a level of volume, which the mind can take, and this far surpassed that. A savage cry escaped my lips, and suddenly I felt the cold of the water rush over me as I fell from Raoul's arm. I heard his voice, just a murmur over the howl of the Phantom; "Christine!" he cried out. "Christine…" he called out once again, and I heard a strange tone in his voice. It was the voice of defeat. I strained to speak, but my throat had closed on me, and suddenly I couldn't see Raoul and Meg standing over me. I couldn't see anything…
I could have sworn that I had died in that moment, except for the fact that I woke up in what must have been about an hour later. In that hour, I had lost all my senses. I couldn't speak, hear, see, smell, or even feel. Everything was dark, and it was as though I was floating through the abyss. But when I woke, my mind was disappointed to realize that the blinding light it had expected when my eyes opened was not there. Instead, there was a faint orange glow, and the slow sound of water dripping. I suddenly caught a glimpse of an organ and sharply I spurred to life. The sight before me was all too familiar… the delicate swan bed, the chorus of candles that lit the entire area, the loose papers that littered the floor of the cave… all was familiar, except for the fact that Meg was sitting on the bed next to me, holding a damp cloth.
"He's not here, Christine," she explained. Raoul suddenly appeared from around the corner, carrying a bucket of water. That bucket crashed to the floor, splashing around all its contents as Raoul realized that I was now awake. He ran to the other side of the bed, throwing himself on it. Excitedly, he grabbed my hand and held it in his lap. "How are you feeling?" he asked. "A little dizzy… and very confused." I really had to wonder what we were doing here, and why both of them felt so at home here. "About what?" he asked. I raised my brow as my eyes quickly traced the area and then returned to meet his. "Oh," he said, reaching that place of understanding. Raoul had begun to tell the story, but eager Meg cut in. "Oh, Christine, it was so frightening! When you fainted, I mean. But Raoul was such a gentleman and picked you up and carried you until we got here. You looked so dead, Christine, I was so scared for you! And Raoul was just as scared, you should have seen how close he held you when we finally made it to this cave." At this, I smiled at Raoul to express my thanks. He simply smiled and nodded in assurance, and caressed my hand with his thumb. Meg continued her story, as excitedly as a small child: "Of course, we were expecting to see the Phantom when we arrived, but we were quite shocked to see that he was not here! I made sure to search the entire area for him, but I couldn't find him, Christine. And it's very lucky, because you needed aid!" I loved her charisma, but at the same time, my heart fell at the thought that we had not yet found Madame Giry.
"Are you well enough to stand?" inquired Raoul. "I think…" I said as I slowly threw my legs off of the bed. Meg jumped off of the bed and out of the way as I carefully pushed myself up to stand. However, Meg quickly dove to catch me as my knees faltered. I was terribly disappointed; I didn't want to be a hindrance to our search! I struggled to stand again, but Raoul's strong arms prevented me from hurting myself again. "I'll take her, thank you Meg," he said as he scooped me up. One arm under my legs, one arm keeping my back upright, I had never felt so safe. I hung my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. Meg suddenly looked to Raoul with an inquisitive expression. "Should we search that one broken mirror?" she asked. "I thought you had searched the whole area?" I questioned, not wanting to have had them lie to me. "We did, except one broken mirror that seemed to have a tunnel beyond it. We didn't want to leave you here, that would not have been safe," Raoul explained. I nodded a small nod and lifted my head to face Raoul. "Let's go."
Meg, being the eager child that she is, went ahead of us. Raoul shifted his arms beneath me to get a more comfortable grip, and entered through the broken mirror sideways, so as to fit both of us. I ducked my head so that I would not be sliced by one of the dangling shards that hung from the top. The tunnel here was in much worse condition than the others that we had traveled through; being dark, grimy, laden with moss, with rather disgusting moisture. I could tell that it hadn't really been used, and that it was never really meant to be. I could almost hear Raoul's boots sticking to the floor from the combination of dirty water and moss that almost covered the floor of the tunnel… but above his footsteps I could hear his heart beating. It was beating fast.
His stern expression gave no sign of fear, but because I could feel his heart beat against mine, I had to do or say something to comfort him. Gently, I pulled his face in to face mine, and left a small kiss to linger on his lips, followed by a compassionate smile. Raoul also smiled as he took a deep breath and we carried on down that dark tunnel.
All of a sudden, dust-inhabited daylight leaked through a space at the end of the tunnel. The daylight was broken by a flickering shadow. It was the shadow of a man. Meg dropped back, and clung to Raoul and I as we approached the ethereal light.
"Come, Come closer," whispered words rang throughout the tunnel. Raoul's fingers dug into my back, pulling me closer to him.
"Christine…" The Phantom was calling me. I could not let myself be entranced again. But somehow, I could hear soft music echoing throughout the chambers of my mind. It began slow, but began to build up into a beautiful, romantic melody that resembled Mozart's Lacrimosa. I dug my fingers into Raoul's hair, and buried my face in the groove between his neck and shoulder as if to fight away the music. It only got louder and louder, and Raoul's heart only raced faster and faster, and Meg only clung tighter and tighter. "Christine, I'm frightened…"
"Don't be frightened, Meg," I spoke brokenly. "Don't be frightened…don't be frightened…" I was speaking to myself now. Raoul now fought hard to keep a stern and steady expression as we were now but a few steps away from the source of the light. I could barely breathe; he was holding me so tight. But now, as I turned to get a glimpse of our fate, I saw him.