by LiltingBanshee
Author´s note: Ok, I never intended for this to be a long story so here is the final chapter. Thanks to those of you who have read it, and those who reviewed:)
Twinkle22: Thank you, hope you like the ending:)
BadBugz: Thanks, hope the developement will please you:)
Christine´s
headache and nausea the following day was dismissed as a mild cold.
Erik knew how embarressed she was about the incident so he never
mentioned it to Madame Giry and he and Christine never discussed it
between them.
He had promised to always watch her back an in the
following years he kept a close eye at Buquet. The man seemed to have
taken the warning seriously, but he challenged fate by scaring all
the ballet girls with stories of the Opera Ghost. In the beginning
Erik was quite amused by the man´s silly tales and the girlish
screams they produced, but then one day he noticed the hurt look in
Christine´s eyes when she overheard the stories.
She knew
Buquet was talking about her Angel and it pained her to hear someone
speak so badly of him. He had after all saved both her innocence and
maybe her sanity that night and he was doing everything in his power
to make her succeed at the Opera.
Yes, he
had scared her that night in his lair when she foolishly had removed
his mask and he had reacted with such anger, but when she thought
about it who could blame him? She had stuck her nose in something
that wasn´t her business and betrayed his trust.
That was
also why she hadn´t objected to not being given the lead role
in tonight´s production of Il Muto. She didn´t deserve to
be given such an important role when she had treated her tutor like
this.
In fact
she wished she wasn´t going to be in the production at all.
Ever since that horrible night two years ago she had felt uneasy
around Joseph Buquet. He had kept his distance from her, but lately
he had seemed to be braver. He kept stealing glances at her and
winked at her when he thought no one was looking. She was disgusted
by him!
She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the
performance.
He knew
too much! That stupid man had seen him replace Carlotta´s
bottle and now he was playing hero and followed him around in the
theatre. How stupid could one man be?
When he finally felt the
rope tighten around the man´s neck he felt satisfied.
'I
gave you a chance, but you failed! Say goodbye!' he thought to
himself as he tightened the noose and threw Buquet´s lifeless
body over the edge for everyone in the theatre to see.
He was pleased with himself, but then he saw the horrified look on Christine´s face as she sought comfort with the young Vicomte. In a flash his satisfaction turned to fear. Had he overstepped the line?
He clutched the rose to his chest as he wept. What had he done? He had driven her right into the silly Vicomte´s waiting arms and now she had agreed to marry him! She had tossed the rose aside and left the roof in a blissful mood with her future husband. He was hurt and angry beyond words. He was just about to lash into another line of curses like the ones he had bellowed at the sky moments before when the door to the roof was ripped open.
"Erik! What in Heaven´s name do you think you´re doing? Have you completely lost your mind?" Madame Giry´s stern voice sounded close to hysteria.
"He deserved it!" Erik stated without hesitation.
"Erik, the man was a hardworking stage hand. Yes he told stories about you, but you have killed him Erik! Do you hear me? You murdered Joseph Buquet!" she shouted.
"I had my reasons! He deserved to die!" he yelled back at her.
"Erik, it was ghost stories! No one deserves to die for that!" she was furious.
"It was not just the stories. He tried to force himself on an innocent child Antoinette!" he bellowed.
"What are you talking about Erik?" she still looked angry, but had toned her voice down a bit.
"Two years ago when you were away with little Meg, Buquet tried to rape Christine! She couldn´t sleep so he invited her into the other ballet girls´ dressing room. They gave her alcohol and then he put his hands on her! I would have killed him that night, but I feared the trauma I would cause Christine by doing so infront of her" he said tearfully.
"Oh Erik!" the balles mistress´ face was one of shock. Shock of realizing what had nearly happened to Christine in her absence and shock of the terrible events of the evening. But in her eyes was sadness for this man who loved a young girl so dearly. A girl he now believed to have hurt contrary to what he had intended.
"In the end I did it before her eyes anyway. She will never trust me again" Erik whispered.
"Don´t worry dear, she´ll come around. We were all shocked, but she knows you" Antoinette tried.
"No, she doesn´t know me! She knows her Angel, not the murderous, deformed creature that I truly am" he said bitterly.
Antoinette opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "I´d like to be alone now!" he said with a harshness he immidiately regretted. "Please" he quietly added.
"Sure Erik, just don´t be too hard on yourself" she said and squeezed his shoulder gently before she left.
He kissed the abandoned rose and allowed his tears to run free.
"Angel?"
"There are no angels here! Only the creatures of Hell are present tonight!" he said angrily.
"Was it true? Did you really do it for me?"
He turned
to see her standing there wearing her cloak over her costume and her
dark curls hanging loosely around her face. She shivered in the cold
and he longed to put his arms around her.
But she was not his to
hold!
"I take it you heard..." he said.
"Yes Angel, I heard everything" she said and attempted a smile.
"What are you doing up here? You should be downstairs celebrating your splendid performance" he said.
"I would, but I realized I had lost something up here earlier tonight" she said and looked at her feet.
'Yes child you lost your mind!' he thought with anger. He threw the rose at her. "Do you mean this? A token of deep appreciation carelessly tossed aside" he spat.
Carefully she picked up the rose and fingered the black ribbon. "I didn´t toss it aside. It fell from the inner pocket in my cloak when Raoul twirled me around" she whispered, regretting she had mentioned his name.
"Oh yes, you should be with your fiancé! Not here pretending to look for useless flowers" he gritted through his teeth.
"I´m not pretending! I meant to go back for it earlier, but I had to go on stage! Besides Raoul is not my fiancé!" she yelled, close to tears.
"STOP LYING CHRISTINE! I heard you profess your love for him!" he bellowed.
"You were here?" she gasped.
"Yes my dear, you´re not the only one eavesdropping tonight" he spat.
She looked at her hands, blushing slightly from shame. His anger vanished as he saw her cringe at his words. He had already hurt her tonight, there was no need to go on.
"Go Christine.Go and be with him" he said in a defeated tone.
"I don´t want to" she mumbled.
"Christine you shouldn´t be here. You´re terrified of me. I´ve hurt you badly tonight. I forced you to witness the brutal death of a man by my hand" he said and turned his back to her.
"I´m not afraid of you. I´ve never been" she whispered.
"I don´t need your pity! You ran up here with that boy because you were scared. Be honest Christine!" he said briskly.
He felt her come closer and he nearly stopped breathing when he felt her stand as close to him as she could without touching him.
"You´re right. I came up here because I was scared" she said quietly.
"There you see" he laughed bitterly.
"But it wasn´t you I was scared of. When I saw Buquet hanging in the rope I knew immidiately who caused his death" she said.
"All
the way up here you rambled to that stupid boy about how the Opera
Ghost haunted you and tormented your mind!" he whirled around and
and roared the words at her.
He expected her to flinch and even
begin to cry, but the breath she drew into her chest was not for the
purpose of crying.
"How could I tell him that I was beyond happy that that filthy old bastard was finally dead? That the only fear I felt was the fear of my own feelings? I should scream and cry like the other girls, but I had no reason! I was happy! HAPPY! And that scared me!" she screamed at him.
"Christine..." he whispered.
And then came her tears. She sunk down on the roof and buried her face in her hands.
Slowly he bent down next to her and gently touched her shoulder.
"Christine, my dear, don´t cry. It´s over now, he´s gone..." he said affectionally.
"He put his hands on me Angel! He touched me in a way no man should ever touch a woman without her consent – and I was only a child!" she sobbed.
"Shh, he will never hurt you again my love, never" he soothed and hugged her close to his chest.
"If you knew the nightmares I have had, the things I´ve seen! If you had been only a few seconds too late...If you had not been there at all... Would he...would he have killed me?" she hiccuped and lifted her face to him.
He gently brushed the tears away from her cheeks with his glowed thumbs.
"But I was late my darling, he should never have had time to even think about touching you..." he said and felt his own tears burn in his eyes.
"No, don´t ever blame yourself Angel, you saved my life..." she whispered. "By the way, what did you just call me?" she smiled
"My darling...?" he tried.
"No, before that..." her smile grew wider.
"My...my love..." he mumbled embaressed.
She grinned at him " Do you love me?" she asked.
"Yes of course I love you! I have loved you ever since I saw you for the first time. I have loved you as an older brother, a father, a tutor and through the years I have developed the love I feel for you now" he said honestly.
"Which is?" she asked curiously.
"The love a man feels for a beautiful young woman..." he admitted.
"Oh Angel..." she said surprised.
"Do not call me Angel. It does not become me" he said and looked away.
"But I don´t know what else to call you" she said sadly.
"Call me Erik. I am no Angel. I´m nothing but a man...a murderer..."he trailed off.
She put her fingers under his chin and lifted his eyes to meet hers. "No Erik, you´re not a murderer, you are a tutor, a saviour, a protector and the one man whom I truly love" with that she leaned in and kissed his lips gently. Feeling the pressure of her mouth against his made him cry softly.
She comforted him like he had comforted her many times throughout the years. "Shhh, don´t cry my love. Buquet was a useless drunk, everyone will believe he hung himself by accident. No one will blame you. We will move on and you and I will have to get to know each other in a new way" she smiled at him and kissed his cheek.
"But what of the Vicomte Christine? You promised him..." he cried.
"I promised him nothing that can´t be reversed. I was confused and scared, I wasn´t thinking straight, he´ll understand" she said and stroked a finger down his cheek.
He looked deeply into her eyes. "Christine, are you serious?" he asked with slight concern.
She cupped his face in both her hands. "Erik, I have never been more serious in all my life. I will go speak to Raoul tonight, he will be upset, but I hope he will understand. You have been there for me ever since the day I stepped into this building. I would never want you to be anywhere else but beside me" she said, speaking straight from her heart.
They stood up and she entwined her fingers with his as they walked to the door.
"Erik, when I have had my talk with Raoul will you come to my dressing room and take me back to your home? Will you hold me during the night and keep me safe like you always have?" she asked.
He stopped and turned to look at her. "Of course my dear" he said happily. He bent down and kissed her, gently letting his tongue slip in to meet hers. As they broke apart he leaned his forehead against hers.
"I love you Christine" he whispered.
"And I love you. My Erik. My Angel. My protector."