Christine paced the floor, wondering if Erik was all right. Soon, the doorbell rang. Christine hurried to answer it, thinking it was Erik. She opened the door.
"Eri—." She said, stopping when she realized that it was only the milkman.
"Were you expecting someone else?" The milkman asked.
"Yes, sorry."
"Oh don't worry, it happens a lot, people hug me sometimes before they realize who I am. Anyway, here is your milk order."
"Thank you." Christine said, paying him.
The milkman left and Christine shut the door. In the other room, Valerie cried. Christine sighed and walked up the stairs. She opened the door and walked over to her.
"Oh Valerie, what is it now?" She asked.
Valerie continued to cry. She seemed to be pointing at something behind her. Christine turned around to find Erik sitting in the windowsill. She smiled and hugged him tightly.
"Oh Erik! Thank goodness your back! I was getting worried about you."
"Oh Christine you know that I could never be gone too long away from you. I'd miss you too much."
"How was your visit with Nadir?"
"Fine. Fine. How was Valerie? I'm sorry that I wasn't around to help with her. I needed to get some things straightened out."
"That's all right. I'm just glad your back! I have a surprise for you."
Erik raised his eyebrows at her. Christine motioned for him to follow her. Erik followed smiling. Christine led him to their spare room. Before she opened the door, she covered Erik's eyes. Then kicked open the door and walked inside. She uncovered his eyes.
"What do you think?" She asked.
Erik smiled and hugged Christine. In the middle of the room stood a gold harp. Erik walked over to it.
"I know you said you wanted one before. So I got one for you. I was going to give it to you earlier, but you weren't there. So, think of it as a welcome home present.
"I was only gone for one day!" Erik said laughing.
"One day too long…" Christine replied. "Will you play it for me?"
"I haven't played one for a very long time. Let me be alone awhile to refresh my memory. I'll come get you when I'm ready."
"Very well…"
Christine walked out of the room, blowing him a kiss as she left. Erik laughed and began to fiddle with the harp.
Christine walked up the stairs to check on Valerie. She was sleeping. Christine sighed in relief and walked out to go and get the paper. She opened the door and picked it up. Her eye caught the headline and she read it carefully.
VICOMTE RAOUL DE CHAGNEY BRUTALLY MURDERED BY MYSTERIOUS MAN, FOR RAPE ATTEMEPT OF MISS CHRISTINE DAAE. MORE ON PAGE FIVE.
"Oh, how can the press get so mixed up about everything? Rape?" She asked herself.
A/N: You may be wondering why Christine is getting a paper from France if she lives in England. She subscribed to the one in France and they get it to her long distance. It just arrives about a day later since it's long distance.
She turned to page five and read the whole story.
(Told from point of view by Raoul's accomplice (now in custody) Pierre Williams.)
"Well, Raoul was at the home of Christine Daae, to kidnap her for apparently breaking his heart. He was with me and some other men. He knocked on the door and a masked man answered it, Raoul called him The Phantom. But Raoul had told us that he killed The Phantom a long time ago and he wasn't going to be in the way. So we told him that we weren't going to fight the man, and Raoul sent us away, threatening to kill us if we stayed. We all ran away, obviously and went to tell the police what he was going to do. They didn't believe us, but a few days later they found Raoul's body lying in the street by the Police station. Then they went to investigate the house, but it was empty."
And so the search is still on for the masked man and Christine Daae. We will keep an update on any suspects and clues that turn up.
Christine laughed at how ignorant the police were being. No one can find The Phantom. She thought. Soon Erik came out of the room.
"All right Christine, I want to play you something." He said.
"Look at this first."
She handed him the paper and Erik read it. He also laughed at their stupidity.Then set it down.
"Well I guess it is a good thing we moved though. Or else they'd be on us like hawks." Erik said. "Now come. I want to play you something."
That's the end of the Chapter. Yes, more will be happening with Raoul's murder and The Black Corset. I hope you like it.