A/N: ok, sorry for the two-week break but I hope this is worth it. We've got a bit of a time jump so let me know if it doesn't make any sense at all. And once again in advance for this chapter, sorry.
...
Raoul read and reread the paper gently held within his trembling hands. The words, the paper, the penmanship, they all were Christine's and yet he could not bring himself to believe that she could ever write such a thing. He had to sit down, had to catch his breath and think this calmly over, there must be something he was missing.Again his eyes scanned the carefully worded letter, unable to help noticing the few smudged letters, which ran with ink from salty droplets. Why? Why would she do this? What had he done? Surly she did not mean this?
He collapsed into his chair with a loud aggravated sigh, refusing to let his emotions run rampant when he needed to think. He did not want to add any more smudges to that despairing note.
My beloved Raoul,
Again and again I think over how to start this but in the end I know
my words will mean nothing compared to pain I am sure this letter will
certainly bring you. Nothing I say could possibly make you understand
why I'm doing this, there are times when I don't even understand my
self but I know I must, for both of us.
I hope with all my heart that you do not doubt my love for you. I love
you. I love you, I love you, I love you, and I will carry that love
with me throughout eternity! But my weakness, my inadequacy has held
you down for far too long. You deserve better, for I am, in the end,
inadequate. It is not for today but for the future that I leave, a
future, which I know if we had together, could only end in pain. So I
leave now with the perfect memory of my loving husband, my own heroic
fairy tale prince. Let me leave with that fairy tale for the reality
of our situation is far too great a burden for me to bear. You deserve
so much more then I can offer; yet I know no words I give could
possibly express how sorry I am for everything I have put you through.
I am sorry.
I love you Raoul, but I no longer belong to this world and my life is
gone.
Christine
That was it! That was her explanation, but what did it mean? Had she simply ran away or was that last line the only full truth this letter had to deliver? He could not possibly think such a thing, not Christine, she would never! But why! How could she do this to him? Inadequacy; the word made him want to punch his fist through the wall! How could she possibly think herself inadequate?
Just as fast as it came, Raoul's brief anger subsided to panicked despair. With a cold sweat breaking out over his brow, his entire body began to tremble with the full meaning of her words setting in. Christine, his cherished, beloved, precious Christine, was gone.
For the past two weeks, ever since that damned party, Christine had been acting oddly. He had hoped that after their small argument they would begin to spend more time together, but instead the exact opposite occurred. Christine became more like a ghost than a wife in their home, simply passing by, only returning to sleep late at night and leaving again come mid afternoon. She never even checked in to see if Raoul were awake before retireing to her own separate room for the night, only giving him the impression she were purposely avoiding him.
Last night though she had come to him. It had been past midnight when the soft creek of the door and the gentle sound of bare feet lightly pattering across the wood floor, awakened Raoul. When he did at last look up with eyes heavy from sleep, he beheld a pensive, wavering Christine standing silently at his bedside. She was wearing only a simple cotton nightgown with her hair hanging messily over her shoulders, and looked as though she were nothing more then a timid child awoken by a nightmare.
"What's wrong?" Raoul asked in a groggy yet concerned voice as the girl stood like a specter before him.
Her eyes darted nervously around the room before she found her words. "May... May I sleep here, tonight?" she whispered apprehensively.
"Of course! But something is upsetting you?"
The girl looked away as she slipped her body between the cool sheets and lied stiffly at Raoul's side, holding the covers to her chin.
"Christine? Please, won't you tell me what's wrong?" Raoul cautiously asked again, not taking his eyes off the unsure girl.
"I... I just... could you just, please, hold me tonight?" she whispered with a heartbreaking note in her childlike voice.
"I would be honored to," he answered without hesitation, though was momentarily stunned by the force of grip Christine clung to him by. Immediately Raoul enveloped his arms protectively around her, whispering softly in her ear that everything was all right, but this only seemed to make her tighten her grasp.
Eventually Raoul felt her form relax yet he knew she wasn't yet asleep. He was aware instead of a few wet droplets falling occasionally to his chest and filling his soul with agony for his inability to comfort his precious Christine. But in the end the soothing rhythm of her light breath lulled him back to sleep.
When he awoke the next morning she was gone.
For the next two weeks Raoul searched the city relentlessly using all the methods money could buy. He would not go to the police though; he did not wish to show them the letter for surely they would only assume she had taken her own life. He could not bear to have the church declare his wife a suicide. She must be alive!
He also spent a good amount of time screaming at Catherine, for who else could be responsible for Christine's sudden change of heart? Time and time again he was dismissed abruptly from her manor, Catherine only stating that she too was doing her best to find the missing girl. Raoul, of course, did not believe her for one minute and made a point to check in with Mademoiselle du Merrets daily, if only to harass her with his exasperated questioning.
The evenings though were the worst for him. Too late to continue his endless search, he would instead spend the idol hours locked away in his study, refusing to speak to anyone, and with a full bottle of brandy to keep him company. It was then that he would find himself collapsing into utter despair, questioning everything he had ever done, and trying to understand why.
By Sunday Raoul was at a loss. The entire house was empty as he sat forlornly in his barren bedroom. Motionless and completely lost in thought, he stared blankly beyond the wall, searching for some unseen, hidden answer. He simply didn't know what more he could do.
"Raoul?" Christine's voice nervously whispered.
Great, now he was hearing things too, he thought with a sigh.
"Raoul, I'm sorry. I made a mistake..."
No, he must have truly heard that. Slowly he rose and turned to the direction of the window, from which the voice had drifted. He was speechless, for there she was, more beautiful then he could ever remember, looking on with frightened eyes.
"Can you forgive me?" she asked with slightly more volume to her voice, her eyes pleading to his own as tears were about to break.
"Yes," was all he could breathe before striding towards her purposefully. She was back was all his mind could register; it was all he wanted to care about. Of course he would forgive her. He would love her and cherish her all the more protectively and never give her a reason to frown again!
"Raoul wait," she said urgently, stopping him sufficiently in his steps. "I've done something terrible, you must listen carefully. There isn't much time. If you truly forgive me and you truly love me, you must trust me and listen."
Raoul could only nod, becoming hesitant as the fear in Christine's voice rose.
"We must leave here immediately. Take what money you can but we will not be safe here for much longer. They will not take long to find me... do you still own a revolver? We should probably grab that too. I will explain everything once we are safe, just please, we must hurry!"
Panic ran rampant throughout Christine's body with every passing second but still Raoul stood there as though in some sort of shock. With her mind racing, Christine lunged forward, her emotions taking over, and kissed her husband fully on the lips, just barely containing her sobs. With tears streaming down Christine's face, she clasped Raoul's cheeks softly in her hands, holding his head close as she searched his adoring eyes.
"I'm sorry Raoul, I'm so so sorry for everything I have done to you. I love and I'm sorry," she cried quietly to him, wishing with all her heart she could undo the past.
It took only a moment for Raoul to make up his mind. He took Christine's hands in his own, kissing each lightly before he spoke. "It'll only take me only a minute to get our things. I trust you. I love you."
With one last sorrowful look, Raoul parted from Christine and began rummaging through a desk with haste. It was then that he heard Christine's blood curdling scream of terror and grief twisted into one agonizing word, "No!"
As though appearing from nowhere, Catherine stood in the room with them, just in front of the doors to the balcony. Her face showed no emotion as she stood there, staring straight at the boy opposite her. Christine fell to her knees at once, tears streaming down her face and lightly grasping at the hem of Catherine's dress.
Raoul was simply dumb struck, his emotions were nothing but a wave of confused thoughts as questions and theories occupied his mind, trying to find some meaning in the scene playing out in front of him.
Christine's face looked up at Catherine's in complete panic and desperation; she knew she had just lost her last chance at escape once that woman arrived. "Please Catherine, no. I'll do anything. I swear it! I'll come back, I'll never leave again, just please don't hurt him. He has nothing to do with this!"
Still she did not look at the frighten girl as she tugged at her side. Her eyes instead remained ever fixed on the man before her. "I beg to differ. You left me and now you are here, why else would you be here if not for him? Besides you are coming back with me, it will make no difference what happens to him."
Raoul was both horrified and confused by what he heard; yet he found himself unable to speak. Her ominous, foreboding presence held him fast in disbelief of the true meaning of their words.
"Then let us leave now –" Christine answered with a hint of hope and rising herself clumsily from the floor.
"Odd how only a moment ago you were getting ready to run away together, now you rush to come back? If you're never going to see him again, what does it matter? You really should take my threats more seriously in the future."
Christine gasped and took hold of her hand, forcing her to at last acknowledge her presence. Tears traced down Christine's face as she looked from Catherine to Raoul and back, fear once again taking complete hold of her. She spoke with disbelieving agony, her words poring forth in a whispered plea. "Please Catherine don't. How could you do this to me? How could you do this when you say you love me? You can't expect me to ever forgive you?"
"You left me!" Catherine screamed all at once, pulling her hand away and throwing the trembling girl hard against the floor.
Christine fell in a heap next to the wall. While shaking violently, she curled her knees up, and hugging them close to her chest in a child like manner with red, tearful eyes, just peering over. Catherine towered above the girl, her walled up fury at last breaching its dam, ready to strike down the cause of her pain.
"Christine!" cried Raoul, taking a few quick steps in the direction of his fallen wife, only to stop as Catherine's blazing eyes shot up and caught him in her gruesome stare.
"Quite boy, this doesn't concern you."
"You lied to me!" Christine screamed back, seeing that once again her attention had turned to Raoul. "You ticked me into leaving. I would have never left, had I known!"
Catherine glared at her but managed to regain some control of her temper. She answered calmly, "I did no such thing. Do not blame me for your misconceived delusions."
"I was pregnant!" she cried out in a betrayed voice, not daring to steal a look in Raoul's direction.
Catherine raised a single eyebrow at Christine's exclamation. So she found out about that? Must have over heard her and Adian mentioning it the day before, she thought to herself in irritation.
Catherine then began to approach the retreating girl with only a predator's grace. "I'm actually inclined to say that that was his fault, not mine."
Only half comprehending the scene in front of him, Raoul had grabbed his revolver from the desk, the words 'was pregnant' still replaying themselves bitterly in his mind. "Leave her alone," he yelled, aiming towards the woman whose back had momentarily turned to him.
"Why, you're even a bigger fool then I thought," she said in grim amusement, slightly impressed by the boy's daring. "If you're planning to shoot, I suggest you do it, though I have to wonder if you've ever shot an unarmed woman before."
In his moment of hesitation, Catherine's form moved with impossible speed to his back and fiercely griped his hand on the trigger. All he saw was a quick blur of motion before feeling her hot breath at his neck.
"What the..."
"It's alright, you would've missed anyways," Catherine began to answer softly into his ear and grinning mischievously at Christine. "But I was standing fairly close to your wife, wasn't I? How much faith do you have in your aim I wonder?"
Christine's eyes went wide with horror, too fearful to move lest she provoke the woman's anger further. Despite Raoul's greatest effort to move, Catherine's strength was too much for him and with calm indifference she moved his aim to Christine's direction.
"No," he gasped out in shock, continuing to struggle to push her away.
"Catherine, stop it!" shouted Christine furiously, finally pulling her self up from the cold wood floor. But as soon as she took one defiant step closer, Catherine pressed down on Raoul's trembling hand.
The sound was deafening as the shot rang out through the room. Raoul cried out in unison with Christine as the blow sent her sprawling back onto the floor, a thin layer of blood quickly spreading over her dress from where she clutched herself at the side. Shocked by the excruciating pain coursing brutally throughout her body, she simply lowered her head and stared at the thick red liquid escaping over her desperate hands.
"No, Christine!" Raoul screamed with undone rage and passion, fighting with all his remaining endurance to run to his fallen wife's side, thinking the worst but was no match for Catherine. Unable to escape, he could do nothing but fall to his knees in disbelieving defeat. Tears began to slip from his blurred eyes while soft incoherent cries came from his mouth.
Catherine smiled in satisfaction as she gripped the weakening boy tightly. But no, this still wasn't enough to quench her fury. Christine had made the mistake of taking her words lightly and then running to the arms of this simpleton, throwing away everything she had ever done for the girl without even confronting her first!
With her grin turning into a snarl, Catherine wrench the boy's hand up, forcing his aim to turn to a knew victim. He himself was to weak out of grief and hopelessness to put up any sort of final fight.
Christine slowly raised her eyes to the horrific sight before her and gasped out as incredible fear once again gripped at her very soul.
"How poetic, husband accidentally shoots wife and then turns gun on self out of grief and guilt," spouted Catherine ironically as she held the gun stiffly to the trembling boy's temple.
Christine clasped her bloody hands together, making her last desperate attempt at Catherine's sympathy, begging with tears streaming down her face as she looked from Raoul to the impassive figure looming at his side. "Catherine, stop. Please! I'm begging you! Anything, I swear. Anything at all! I'm sorry for leaving, I was wrong, I shouldn't have. I was foolish and angry; surely you can forgive me my simple overreaction. I'm desperate, please! You know I could never truly leave you! I'm yours for eternity; you know that, at least let him have this one small lifetime. I'm sorry! I'm sorry..."
There was a long pause of silence between the three of them where only the thumping of their racing hearts could be heard. Sweat beaded down Raoul's face while Catherine seemed to be in silent contemplation, staring at Christine coldly.
"You will find Christine, that I can be a reasonable woman." Catherine answered at last, looking at the crying, broken girl sympathetically and then slowly tossing the gun to the side.
Christine let out the breath she had been holding in relief as Raoul stayed in his position, awe struck.
"The thing is Christine," Catherine continued on, idly threading her fingers in a playful manner through Raoul's hair. "I am also a very jealous woman, and I don't like competition."
The next thing Christine saw was Catherine's savage claws gripping her husband's skull and twisting it brutally to the side, allowing the loud sound of a crack to entirely fill her auditory senses. As though in slow motion, Raoul's lifeless body was flung limply to her knees, his eyes still wide in horror.
"No!" Christine screamed with all the power her voice allowed, before scrambling helplessly to Raoul's side. Pulling his limp body onto her blood soaked lap, Christine let her tears rain down upon his face, unwilling to cast her eyes away.
For a long time Catherine allowed the girl's impassioned and increasingly desperate cries fill the room, looking on with stoic apathy before speaking. "I have an obligation to protect my people, Christine. You compromised that by coming here."
There was a moment of silence before Christine whispered her reply, still not looking up from her cradled husband's broken body. "I hate you."
Catherine smiled. "I don't doubt it, but you see necessity binds you to me. In time you'll understand my point of view. I was once like you Christine; we all were, innocent and pure. We are not bad people, you will learn and come to understand, and you will love. The truth is this was not unexpected of you. We all pretty much went thought it, running away that is. But rouge vampires learn quickly that they cannot survive for long on their own, but none of them want to listen to us when we say this of course. So we let them learn for themselves.
"You will be given your freedom, an undetermined period of time in which you can roam the city but we will be keeping an eye on you. We keep track of all the deaths due to blood loss, we'll know where you've been hunting, we also know that the catacombs are the first place a wayward fledgling hides if they don't want to be found, feeding on the rats. You won't be able to escape our gaze but I warn you, and do take my warnings seriously this time, if you go to a mortal for aid again, they will be killed. Our secrets must remain our secrets Christine and you've got enough blood on your hands as it is. It's your fault he's dead."
Christine still refused to look at the woman as she made her way to the window but nonetheless took in every word spoken with care and bitterness.
"Oh, and Christine," Catherine began once on the balcony. "Do not blame me for the death of your child, it would have killed you."
Christine's eyes flashed with hatred to those doors but Catherine was gone and Christine was truly alone for the first time in over four years. Again she looked pathetically down at Raoul and closed his eyes, smearing blood on his dead face before pulling him up slightly to kiss his dry lips. Her strangled cries of grief were now only sound occupying that beautiful house which contained so many wondrous memories to her.
"Raoul... Oh... No, no, no... Oh god no."
...
R&R PleaseA/N: ok so you've got more then one reason to hate me : P first the conveniently place time jumps, second Raoul got off'd – now you know why I was so nice to him earlier, I felt bad – and lastly no Erik. I was only planning to stick him in briefly at the end but it would just flow much better if I just made it all one chapter besides the next group of chapters will be more from his perspective. Think of this sort of as the end to part one. Anyways I hoped you liked this, well Raoul haters probably do.