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7
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Raoul sat in the back of his own carriage rather than the medical carriage. The doctor had confirmed that he had done all he could and there was nothing more than to let it heal on its own so he could now go home and rest.
His head with its mangled face in his hands, he sobbed to himself, then sniffed and looked up through the carriage window. He saw that the fire was almost under control. It would be out shortly if the fire workers continued at the pace they were working at. Unfortunately, all hope of returning to the Opera Populaire was lost for Paris. There was no recovery for the damage that had been wreaked upon the architecture. Not even all of Raoul's money could fix this one. And that was quite a shock for Raoul considering all the money he held. He had always gotten everything he'd ever wanted. But times changed and now he saw that the opera would never get back to its original state no matter what.
Raoul's carriage driver suddenly appeared in the window opening, looking at Raoul. Quickly, he covered his hands over his face to shield it from the driver's view.
"Err.. Vicomte... I heard what happened to your face. I am truly sorry."
Raoul stared at the driver with narrowed eyes through the gaps between his fingers. "Just get me out of here," he hissed.
"Yes, Monsieur," he said and disappeared from the window opening. He climbed aboard the driving seat and took the horse reigns into his hands, then with one quick motion, yanked them with a yell and the horses started up.
Relieved that they would be leaving the horrible sight, Raoul relaxed and became less tense. His hands slowly moved away from his face and he leaned back against the plush seat of the carriage, feeling the steady movement of the wheels beneath him.
"Now... to plot my revenge..." Raoul said to himself. He closed his eyes, trying to think of how he would be able to create havoc for the damned Phantom. Though, to Raoul's dismay, he realized that he was not now, nor ever had been one to be malevolent towards another intentionally. He opened his eyes and looked out the window at the moving scenery outside of the carriage.
They were moving down the road which passed by the river. Raoul looked at the frozen ice of the waters, admiring the elegance and observing how different a river looked in the wintertime from what it normally looked like in the summertime. The carriage continued moving, passing the river further. Raoul noted that there were several ice fishing cabins on the ice. One particular cabin seemed to catch his eye, though. There looked to be a figure sprawled out against the ice with some kind of rope trailing out from under him.
Raoul furrowed the brow on his disfigured face and sucked in a deep breath of air. Then, as if it were a dream, he pushed the carriage's door open while it was still in motion and jumped out of the moving vehicle.
The driver noticed motion in the corner of his eye and turned his head around to see the carriage's door wide open, flapping in the wind, and Raoul rolling down the edge of the iced lake. The driver took on an aghast look and grabbed his head in shock and confusion. "Vicomte?" He called helplessly.
Raoul ignored the driver's call and gained control. He stopped rolling and stood up, though still dizzy from his tumble. He stepped forth cautiously, worried he was going to fall over, but did not and had regained his balance. He began to run on the icy lake, towards the peculiar figure outside the cabin, occasionally slipping on the icy surface and regaining his footing.
The wind blew his long hair around his head and the cold winter breeze across the fresh, open wounds on his face stung, but he paid it no attention. As he reached the figure, he studied it and saw that it was a man with a noose around his neck. Clearly, with the man's chest heaving up and down, he was not dead. Just unconscious. But the scene was all too familiar. A noose was the sign of one person and one person alone.
"The Phantom." Raoul said angrily to the chilled winter air.
He stepped past the man, not really caring about him anymore, and to the cabin. He approached the doorway and stared at the wooden paneling smugly. Should he knock? Should he just go in? She he break the door down? Raoul decided he would just break the door down and save himself the trouble of having to explain himself from outside the door. Plus... he would have the element of surprise! And that was the most important element of all.
He backed away from the door a few feet and counted. "1... 2... 3..." Then he began running, mustering up all of his strength and force so he could use them against the door. His shoulder suddenly made contact with the wood and he felt a slight pain as he pushed as hard as he could and the door began caving in under the pressure he had applied.
"I'm coming for you, Phantom!" Raoul yelled, enraged with fury and full of adrenaline. He pulled the broken door from the frame and it came out easily enough under his grip. He tossed it aside and looked up, knowing he'd see the Phantom and perhaps Christine.
But when he looked ahead, the cabin was empty. Raoul found himself confused. He stepped into the doorway, looking all around for any sign whatsoever of the Phantom's presence, but clearly there was no one there.
"Dammit!" Raoul yelled in frustration, his chest heaving up and down from the adrenaline rush. His eyes moved to the iced floor and skimmed the surface. All at once, they stopped on an irregularity. His lips narrowed together so tightly they began to turn white. He bent down, picked it up and stared at it in his hand for a long time until he felt a tightness in his chest that could be perceived as heartache.
He ran a hand over a delicate piece of material he had found. There was no doubt about it; it was Christine's. Part of her dress.
"What have you done to her, you bastard!" Raoul yelled up at the ceiling of the cabin in a rage. His heart was pounding so quickly. He rubbed the piece of material between his fingers one last time and lifted it to his nose. He took in a deep breath from the cloth, the fragrance emitted filled up his senses with Christine and in that moment a picture of the lovely Miss Daae formed in his mind. She was so beautiful. Why would she want to be with someone so disgusting as the Phantom?
"Why would she want to be with someone so disgusting as me?" He asked, sadly, realizing that he had been lowered to the level of deformity that the Phantom held and now they shared the same quality. But even though they shared the same appearance, they did not share the same state of mind; an advantage for Raoul by far.
"You think you've escaped me, Phantom? Think again! Raoul de Chagny never gives up. Never."