A/N: SORRY THIS TOOK A WHILE; MY DAD KEPT STEALING MY INTERNET FROM ME; and I just stole it back for 15 min (he's not home)...
ANYWHO: Hey! This is only my second attempt at a phic, so don't yell at me. :) This chapter and the next may be a little run-on and slow, but the ones after will be much better, at least I think...
This is a prequel to another story that my friend and co-author Haley and I role-played, so it'll only have a few chapters, and then I'll revise and put up our main story.
Besides the fact that this story is a prequel, the title has nothing to do with this part of the story…just thought you might want to know...
Hope ya like! …you better… takes out the dreaded Punjab
Based on the movie, but I am using Erik's name, though they didn't say it in the movie. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot, but I am holding Mr. Lloyd Webber hostage in my bathroom. It's just a matter of time… grins evilly
Chapter 1: What Happened
"Christine?" Raoul stood by Christine's door, knocking softly. He held a tray of food in his hands. He sighed, "Christine, you have to eat something." As usual, she wasn't answering him. Figuring he'd wait a little longer in case she decided to open the door, though he highly doubted it, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, thinking back over the events of the past week and a half.
.:flashback:.
Raoul went limp against his bindings as he watched Christine kiss that repulsive creature. He didn't know how she could even approach him, let alone start some heavy mouth-to-mouth action.
He froze when he saw Erik move towards him, eyes widening. He struggled when Erik reached for the ropes around his neck, but stopped after seeing Erik's face. It wasn't angry, it was unreadable.
Raoul then realized that he was free and collapsed to the ground. Scrambling back up, he quickly moved towards Christine and grabbed her arm and tried to pull her to the boat. He was surprised when she resisted, and tugged harder, finally succeeding in getting her into the gondola.
He was overwhelmed by everything that had happened; almost drowning (and dying), almost getting hanged (and dying), and almost losing Christine (he would have died after that, too), but he felt extremely happy. He had gotten what he had wanted, Christine. But more importantly, he had won against the infamous Phantom of the Opera.
Then Raoul realized that Christine kept glancing over her shoulder, a sad look on her face. That hurt him, and he tried to convince himself that she just felt pity for that demon.
He was surprised when she looked at him and told him to stop the boat. He stopped, not knowing what she intended to do. When she climbed out of the boat, he grabbed her arm and protested, but she glared at him and wrenched her limb out of his grasp, wading back towards the darkness. Helpless, Raoul stared after her, a knowledge, or perhaps a hope, deep within him that told him she'd come back.
Watching her, Raoul saw her go up to the fiend and press something into his hand. For a fleeting moment, Raoul thought she'd kiss it again, but she just turned around, reluctantly letting go of his hand, tears in her eyes.
It was then that he saw the blue sparkle in the dim light. Their ring. 'How could she!' he thought frantically, slumping into the boat. 'How could she give that..that thing their engagement ring!' It was, really, the one object that bound Raoul to Christine, because somehow he knew, deep inside, that her love lied with someone else; he just refused to see it.
When Christine climbed back into the gondola, Raoul stood immediately, and did the one thing that came to his mind; sing. He sang the song he and Christine had sung to each other on the rooftop, hoping to remind her that they were fiancés; that she had told him that she loved him.
He smiled when Christine joined his singing, but it faded when he noticed she wasn't focused on the song, or him. The look in her eyes made him think that she was imagining singing to someone else…
The boat hit dry land, if that's what you could call it, and Raoul helped Christine out of it. They walked out into the dark street, a gentle light coming from behind them, where part of the Opera House was still ablaze.
He went to get his carriage, looking back at Christine, who was standing off to the side, waiting. He sighed, and went off, returning a few moments later.
She climbed into the carriage as soon as it stopped, and Raoul sighed in frustration, leaning back into the seat. He looked at Christine throughout the ride home, though she didn't see. She was staring out the window, shoulders slumped and eyes blank.
Raoul tried to convince himself that she was just suffering from the initial shock of what had happened in a mere 45 minutes, but that little feeling he had that she loved someone else kept nagging at him. Frustrated, he shook his head and erased all thoughts from his mind.
As the de Chagny mansion loomed into sight, Christine appeared to snap out of her daze, and sat up straighter as the carriage slowed. Raoul stepped out of the carriage and offered his hand to Christine, to aid her out of it. Christine climbed out on her own, deliberately refusing to allow him to help her. She trudged up the steps and through the front door, which had been opened by Herald, Raoul's butler.
Raoul stood next to the butler, watching Christine go up the stairs. His hopes lifted; she might feel better after some sleep. This hope was completely shattered when he, too, went upstairs to comfort Christine, only to find that she had locked herself in the guest room.
It troubled him that she wouldn't open the door to anyone, save Marie, one of Raoul's maids, and her Siamese cat, Ayesha, and wouldn't come out of the room. That was, except for once. The next morning, she had snuck out of her room at an early hour, and crept into Raoul's room, where all of her things that weren't at the opera house were kept. She had packed all of her belongings into a bag (resembling a large duffel bag) and brought it back to the room she had stayed in the previous night, dubbing it as her own.
A few days later, Christine had talked shortly with Marie, to explain that she wanted to have nothing to do with Raoul, and to keep to herself. She left it at that, not speaking to anybody, particularly Raoul.
She didn't come out of her room at all after that, and the servants had to coax her into opening the door enough to take a tray of food in. When she refused time after time, not wanting a run-in with Raoul, he had ordered a small table set up outside of her door where the servants were to leave the trays of food at regular intervals during the day, so that Christine would be able to eat when she felt like it.
.:end flashback:.
And that's how it had been since then. Raoul didn't know what to do; Christine was suffering from depression, most likely, though he tried not to think of the options that caused this depression. Often times, when Raoul passed by her room to make sure she was doing okay, he heard her humming and softly singing from Don Juan and such, remembering…
Raoul opened his eyes and straightened. It hurt for him to remember these things, and thinking about Christine wanting to remember only hurt him more.
He set the tray down on the table and knocked on the door again, this time not as softly, frustration clearly noticeable.
"Christine, your food is on the table. I'll send someone up in fifteen minutes to clean it up if you decide not to eat." Raoul trailed his fingers along the door and sighed, then slowly descended the stairs.
"Jean, I left a tray upstairs, check on Christine in fifteen minutes," he said to the servant, and walked out the door, heading to the large garden behind his home. He needed some time alone. He had to think things over; what had driven Christine to such depths over such a monster!
A/N: Okay, first chapter is DONE! I hope ya liked. Took me a while to type it (I had it handwritten, but I have limited computer access, EX: I am posting from my sister's computer; my dad took away my internet, but my mom won't believe me when I say I don't have it, so she thinks I'm on AIM all the time, but really, I'm typing the story, so …yeah..) uhm, I was saying…
Oh yeah, it took me a while to type it and post it, but it's here. :)
Okiedokie, NOTE: My daddy is being unfair, so the next chapter may be up soon after this one (same day?), 'cause I won't have internet for short periods of time... sorry!
Review, or else… :pulls out Erik's trusty Punjab: …:innocent smile: