Chapter Three Winter's Chill

Three months later, Erik was no longer in Paris. He was somewhere in the mountains far away from the people who loathed and feared him. Erik stared up at the great sky and shivered; it was the middle of winter and was snowing heavily, as well as being bitterly cold. He clutched a threadbare cloak tightly around him and continued his lonely journey. Suddenly, he slipped on a concealed patch of ice and landed heavily in a snowbank. A frustrated roar burst from his lips and was lost in the unforgiving environment. He closed his eyes momentarily, but then forced himself to open them and keep going, knowing that to fall asleep in such treacherous temperatures would mean his death. Standing up, he brushed off the snow that was covering him, and looked around. Suddenly, he noticed a familiar rock formation on the path ahead. Glancing around, he saw familiar landmarks all around him. Despair flooded over him; he had been going in circles, and was now completely and utterly lost. It was then that he knew that this mountain would become his grave; he was sure that he would die up here without anyone knowing or even caring. Thoughts of Christine flooded his mind, and bitter tears streamed from his eyes, almost instantly freezing on his face. He thought of her, knowing that he would soon be with her again; he smiled, anticipating leaving the world that had caused him so much grief and fear. Until that time, he forced his near-frozen body to continue moving. Three hours later, his strength finally gave out, and with a painful gasp, fell and passed out, landing heavily in the snow.

Suddenly, Christine appeared in Erik's mind, concern in her eyes and yet a smile on her face. She beckoned to him, saying, "Erik, do not give up! Come to me, I can save you!"

He saw himself as though watching from a stranger's perspective trying to stretch out his hand to her, but for some reason he could not, and cried out to her in misery, "Christine, please help me!"

Still smiling her beautiful smile, she said, "Reach out your hand to me, Erik! I know you can do it! Reach out to me!"

Straining to reach her, a pain filled expression on his face, Erik whispered as he weakened, "I cannot . . . Christine, I cannot!"

Tears came to Christine's eyes as she began drifting slowly towards him. Her voice echoed as she called, "Erik . . . Erik . . . Hold on . . . " She continued to come closer, until she was near enough to reach him. Grasping his hand and pulling him to his feet, she cried out, "Come with me, Erik! I will bring you home!"

"Christine, I have no home." protested Erik feebly.

Christine's eyes softened, and she smiled gently at him. "Yes, you do, Erik. Come, we shall go there."

"I'm so tired, Christine. Why can I not just stay here, with you? Do I have to leave?"

"Now is not your time, Erik. Now, come with me." Not giving him any chance to say anything, she tightened her grip on his hand and led him to a tunnel of pure white light. "Step into the light, Erik."

Suddenly finding that all his feelings of weakness had vanished, Erik did as she asked, and found himself being pulled away from Christine. Unwilling to go, he tried to hold on, shouting her name.

Christine's image began to fade, but her voice rang out clearly. "Return to life, Erik, and live for me! Live!"

"Christine, don't leave me!"

"I still care for you, Erik! Do not forget me! Goodbye!", she called, finally fading completely from sight.

Erik floated into the tunnel of light, tears streaming down his face. Then he opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying down, with two people standing by him.

"Madame Giry! He is awake! He lives!" shouted a voice suddenly.

"Is it true, monsieur? He is truly alive?" asked a second voice.

For a moment, Erik stared at them, not recognizing who they were. Finding his voice again, Erik asked suspiciously, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Erik, do you not remember us?" asked the second voice. It belonged to a woman, and seemed to be very familiar to him.

Then he realized who she was. "Madame Giry?"

"Erik . . . It is I."

He felt something wet falling onto him. Madame Girl was crying, and her tears were dripping onto his face. "Where am I? Why are you crying?"

"You are at my home." replied the first voice, which belonged to a man. "And she is crying because we feared you to be dead."

"Raoul? Is that you?"

"Yes."

"How did I get here?"

"You were found in the mountains, half-frozen. Travellers found you and brought you back to Paris. You nearly died."

"Raoul . . . Raoul . . . "

"What is it, Erik?"

"She came to me. Christine came to me!"

"What?"

"I saw her! I spoke to her!"

"Erik, she is gone."

A brief surge of anger welled up in Erik. He shouted again in a frustrated attempt to make Raoul understand. "I saw her, Raoul! She told me not to give up, and that it was not my time to die! She told me to live for her!"

Hearing what Erik had said, Raoul finally understood. Christine had come to him, and she had spoken to him. She had been the one who was responsible for saving Erik. "You are right, Erik. She saved you."

Remembering what Raoul had told him once, Erik said, "You were right all along, Raoul. She did care for me. She cared enough to come from beyond the grave to save me."

A few weeks later, Erik was fully recovered; he was still living in Raoul's house because he had nowhere else to go. But then, the day finally came when Raoul announced his plans to move to Germany. Erik remembered Raoul's offer for him to come with him, and he decided then that he desired to go. Turning to Raoul, who was standing next to him, he asked, "Raoul, will you still let me come with you?"

"Of course!" replied Raoul. "There is no reason at all for me to refuse you."

"I would like to be a teacher at Christine's university."

Raoul smiled at him and replied, "You would be very good at it. But what of your face?"

"I will have the surgery done."

"I will be glad to have a friend journey with me."

When he heard Raoul say the word friend, a warm emotion rose up in Erik. "Thank you, Raoul my friend."