Chapter Twenty-One: Angels will fall

I have brought you to the seat of sweet music's throne . . .
to this kingdom where all must pay homage to music . . .
music . . .

Erik looked at the child who was staring at him from his arms while they continued to walk through the night. Why wasn't she crying at the sight of his face? He had always worn the mask around her, how could she stare at him with such innocent eyes like her mother and not judge his grotesque exterior? She let out a soft sigh and closed her eyes in a gesture of sleep.

He watched her fall into slumber and knew right away he could no longer stay in the little cabin he had grown to love.

What was he to do with a child? He had no experience in raising one, let alone raising one by himself. His only model of a child/parent relationship had not been very successful in her efforts to raise him, leaving him to wonder if he should bring her back to her father. It would be the right thing to do. Danielle was not his child, she was legally Raoul's, and as much as he hated to admit it, he knew that the ignorant child of a man loved her.

He shook the thought from his head. If he returned Dani to Raoul there would be hell to pay, and most likely he would be killed for the whole incident. Raoul was stupid enough to think that he would kill the only thing he ever loved. No, he had to keep Christine's promise. Killers and thieves would not return a child after killing the wife, it would point right to him.

Where was he to go now? He did not know, he still owned the house in Rouen, was he to return to that? Surely it was no longer suitable for living in. Not to mention people would take about the man who did not leave the safety of his home and the beautiful child they saw playing there. There he would be tortured by the memory of his mother and the village still had elders who remembered the devil child who lived in it. If he returned they would tease and taunt Dani, who knows? They could stone her like they did his loving dog, Sasha. No, that would raise to many questions within the small town, and someone would find him out, most likely the Vicomte would look find out as well. She looked too much like her mother.

No there was only one place he could return to, one place that always embraced him with forlorn open arms. He would once again be acquainted with the night.

(' ) '
-

Christine ...
Christine ...

Raoul sat in the middle of the lawn staring at the one thing he had left of them. It was a photograph of his beloved and their daughter. Christine was gazing down at Danielle, her smile brilliant for the camera to capture. It was gone, his whole life, just had been torn away from him. He had sobbed his last sob; shed his tears till his eyes ran dry, and now all he could feel was void. She had taken a piece of him with her in death, she had taken his soul, and heart to the grave. He thought about how he had heard the news, and the world spun once more around him as he relived the moment he arrived home.

Christine will be mine once more, I thought as the carriage bumped along the road.

We will no longer dance around each other on tip toes, afraid to say what we are thinking. I will not be angry if she mentions the name Erik, for he is dead, and cannot be to blame to the marriage I helped allow to fall apart.

What would her Phantom think? Surely he would be appalled at the hell we had created for each other. He would be disappointed in me. Here he gave her to me to take care of, finally freeing us to love without fault, and we broke our fragile love all by ourselves. Did he know it was bound to happen? Had that been his plan all along? No, it couldn't possibly be, he could of not possibly known that we were still children, children who would make mistakes.

Yet now we have a child of our own, we need to think of her, and not our selfish needs. We need to find solace and lay the secrets of our hearts to rest.
I distantly heard faint screams from my carriage and perked my ears. Who would be screaming in the middle of the night like this? Something must be wrong, but what? And then I thought of my home, my darling child and the wife I needed to love once more.

I knocked on the wall separating the driver and I in signal for him to pick up speed and get me home as fast as the horse's legs would drag us. The screams got louder, filling my soul and shouts of men made me wonder what on earth could possibly be the reason for these terrible noises. For the rest of the trip I had my head stuck outside the window of the carriage, with my hair whipping in the brisk night.

As we rounded the bend in the road before seeing my home, I could here the crackle of fire as the light shot up from behind the trees that surrounded the estate. I could not comprehend what was going on.

When we did finally get within sight of the home, I found a gasping cry escaped my lips at the sight of my whole world and life going up in flames. Where was Christine? Where was Danielle? Please let them be all right I said aloud without realizing, if they are all right none of this means anything, nothing at all.

I almost fell out of the carriage, stumbling along trying to find any of the servants. None were about, none that I could see... Many men were trying to put the fire out with water, but it was to no avail, I knew nothing was going to stop those flames from dancing and flickering higher. Where would the bloody servants be? I thought desperately, SOMEONE has to know what's going on, someone has to know where Dani and Christine are.

Then I remembered how Christine would send the servants away when I went on trips. She was always so kind as to let them go and have a night or two of complete freedom. The only two who cared enough to stay and help her around the large mansion were Charlotte and Michelle.

I had to find them; I had to find someone to direct me to Christine so I could tell her I was relieved she was fine.

I followed the sobs and womanly cries around to the side of the house, as the men kept tying to save the ruins, not even recognizing, me disheveled and frantic. It was then that I saw Michelle calming Charlotte down, or trying to at least.

"It's alright, they got aw..."

"Vicomte!" Charlotte said as her eyes bulged at the sight of me. Michelle turned to look at me, surprised by my presence. I could see the tear stained faces of the two women, looking at me as though they had seen the devil.

"What is going on? Where is my wife?" I asked looking at them, back and forth.

Charlotte began to sob once more as they racked her body and she convulsed into Michelle's arms. Michelle looked at me with eyes that seemed lost for words. I would not believe it, could not...

"Where is Christine, where is Danielle?" I asked once more.

"Danielle was..."

"Danielle wasn't saved." Michelle said cutting in, looking at Charlotte wearily.

Charlotte looked shocked and shook her head in despair, she could not believe the words herself it seemed.

"No! No that's not true!" Charlotte cried trying to pull herself from Michelle's arms.

"We tried to save her sir, we tried our best." Michelle said holding on to Charlotte.

"You lie Michelle," I heard Charlotte sob dejectedly, she allowed the older girl to hold her. The poor girl, she felt responsible, she felt she had failed in trying to save my daughter. She couldn't take the idea of my wife and daughter being…

I myself couldn't understand truly the impact of these words. I tried to make myself believe that it was all a joke, a farce preformed by the servants.

As Charlotte continued to stare at Michelle in awe, Michelle looked wearily at her then back to me.

"Neither did Mme de Chagny."

It was then my heart broke. It was if it shattered into a thousand shards of glass by the mere weight of just a few words. To think my whole world lay within those two sentences, to have realized that everything I had cherished was gone, I walked away from the girls into the night. I wanted to be embraced by darkness, to swirl madly out of control. I realized this is what Christine must of felt like when her father died... and why the Phantom's influence on such a weak soul would be so powerful still.

(' ) '
-

Speech
disappears
into silence,
silence. .

Charlotte watched the broken man who she knew as the Vicomte walk away from them.

"Why did you lie!" Charlotte hissed in anger and concern, pushing away Michelle's crushing arms. Her insides felt like lead, her heart constricted violently within her chest. For the first time she hated Michelle, she hated her for always being the favorite, for always being the one believed. If she were such a wonderful friend and servant then why would she lie to the master? Why would she let him believe that his innocent babe had perished?

"Michelle!" Charlotte gasped as a black shadow darted out of the house and into the darkness.

"Michelle, I saw Dani in his arms! We must stop him." She said starting to pick up the pace and follow him.

"Leave him, Charlotte." Michelle said in a warning tone. It stopped Charlotte in her tracks, and she wondered why the response of her friend would be to let this man go free. Quickly she turned back around to the man and began to follow, she heard Michelle run after her and wrap her arms around her.

"NO! I said," Michelle struggled.

"Your telling me to let the man who killed our Mistress go free with her child!" charlotte screeched, as she tried to free herself from the other girls arms.

"ENOUGH! He is not Christine's murder… he is her lover." Michelle said feeling Charlotte go slack.

"Madame had a paramour?" Charlotte gasped. This was too much for her ears, she had looked up to her noble lady.

"No Char, not a paramour, a lover. That was Madame's other love. From what she told me they had no relations, but she loved him deeply. He was from her past." Michelle explained.

"What was he doing here? What difference does it make that he was her love? How does that excuse him from kidnapping our little mistress and how can you believe he didn't murder our Madame?"

"Come now Charlotte, where do you think Madame was the night she went missing? He took care of her. Something happened, some other evil was after her and then he protected her from it. I had seen the look on his face when Madame fell with Dani still in her womb, he loved her with every nuance of his being. He nursed her when I went to the doctor, and he looked over Dani while she was unconscious. He was a good man, and I do not doubt that Madame asked him to take the child. She probably wanted him to save the baby. It must have been dire for him to leave her there inside, he wouldn't have left her side unless there was no other way." Michelle explained.

"But… Raoul… what will he say?" She asked Michelle, tears falling down her face at the tragic tale.

"He will say nothing, we will not tell him of what transpired here tonight."

"I cannot accept that…I cannot lie to him… let him think… oh Dani… poor child," Charlotte got out before completely breaking down.

"It's alright, they got aw..."

"Vicomte!"

"Trust in my good judgment my dear Charlotte, it is better to let sleeping dogs lie, than bring up horrible past memories. This is how our Mme would of wanted it."

"But..." Charlotte tried to intercept.

"Trust me, it is safer for everyone if no one knows the truth but us and the angels." Michelle said, watching Raoul walk into the night, just like Erik had what seemed like only moments earlier.