The Opera Populaire

by SnowyCrow

A story that takes place two years after the Opera Populaire burns down. It is E&C. From the movie and play not the book. This is only the first chapter but it sectioned into parts. I have finally finished it. please R&R

2. Chapter 2

Part fourteen

Christine followed Erik as he stalked across the chamber to a chest hidden behind the organ. She saw him pick up his cape that had been draped across it and slip on a pair of gloves. A pair of jet-black gloves that she had seen many times before. He slung the cape over his shoulders before putting the gloves on and turned around to face her. She froze in horror and stood there stunned. She knew that face, the one that was now behind the mask. She was looking into the eyes of The Phantom of the Opera.

He did not seem to notice her as he swung down the stairs and headed for the passages that lead into the opera house. Christine knew she had to stop him. He was angry and there were a great deal of people out there that could get hurt if they got in his way. He could get hurt. She ran after him and reached his arm, as he was about to ascend the stairs.

"No, Erik don't go. Not like this…please." There must have been something in her voice for he stopped but did not turn around.

"I will not let anything else happen to you. I can not stand to see you frightened or hurt anymore. Let me deal with this. I will find who has been tormenting us and they will pay for it. No one will scare you ever again." She heard the anger in his voice and was frightened. The Phantom had returned and she didn't know if she could bring Erik back.

"You are scaring me." This was the only thing she could think to say.

Erik turned around and looked at her. She was on the verge of tears and she wondered what he was thinking. He moved over to her and unfastened the cape. He wrapped his arms around her as it floated to the floor. She leaned into him as he held her.

"I am so sorry, Christine. I don't know what happened. I just…I was so furious that someone would hurt you and scare you. Yet, here I was doing all of the things I hate someone else for doing. I can not lose you again, Christine. I would die without you." She felt him bury his face into her hair and she hugged him back.

She pulled back and took his hands in hers. She removed the black gloves and dropped them to the floor. She gazed up into his eyes and although Erik was back, she could still see the anger in them. The Phantom would always be there. It was a part of who he was and the first part she had fallen in love with. She moved her hands along his face and over to the half-hidden part covered by the white mask. She slowly removed it and let it fall. Erik tried to turn his face away but she kept her hand there and turned him to look at her.

"I love all of you, not just the good parts. I don't want you to hide behind a mask with me. There is no distortion here anymore only a face. The face of the man that I love and I want to see it, for the rest of my life." She pushed her self up on her toes and kissed him where his mask usually sat. She could feel the anger and tension drain out of him.

"I understand that the phantom is a part of you and always will be. I fell in love with that dark mysterious side of you. I don't want it to die for then a part of the man I love will be gone with it. I only want it to stay out of sight for awhile. This is our home now and together we will deal with the problem. If you take off as the Phantom and something happened to you, I would be alone again. I can not lose another person I love Erik." She kissed him again and waited for him to say something.

He took her hand and led her to the boat. She wasn't sure where he was taking her but she trusted him and climbed into the boat along side him. She sat down and they started out over the underground lake. She looked around her at the statues and lit candles. Their reflection on the lake looked like tiny fireflies dancing on a black glass table. She sat there remembering her first ride in this boat on the glassy lake. She could see the swirling mists and smooth surface as they floated along the water logged passages.

"I have places along the lake and the passages to the lake set up with alarms of a sort. No one will enter my abode again without my knowledge. I want you to feel safe and even though I will listen to you and not hunt this fiend down right now, I will make sure they can not get into my home again." She heard the determination in his voice and was relieved that he was going to stay with her.

"I want to ask you something, Christine. I can not stand not having you near me and when you leave for the night, all I can do is worry. I want you to sleep in my chambers where at least I feel as though I have some control. You can have the bed or we can bring yours here. I know it isn't much but it is all I have known and I want to share this with you. I don't believe I would be able to stay in the opera house. Someone would see me and that … that would only make things difficult." He looked out over the lake and maneuvered it through a small flooded hall and into another large cave.

She knew how difficult that had been, admitting that he would never fit in among her world. She would be away all day and he would be trapped down here in his private world, his own dark hell. She was the only ray of sun in his world. How could she possibly refuse him this one thing. She wanted to be with him as much as he wanted her. She could spend her nights down here with the man she loved. May be someday he would venture into the light with her.

She watched him as they floated along. He had not put the mask back on but she knew he would. It was the only insecurity he had and he would more than likely always have it. The disfigurement had been the start of a torturous life for him. No one, with the exception of Madame Giry, had ever cared for him. Even his mother had thrown him away upon seeing his deformation. How horrid his life must have been. She knew she would never truly know the pain he had been through. She could only try to spare him any such pain in the future. Thinking of Madame Giry had brought the encounter back to her. She should tell Erik that she had returned to run the ballet and school.

As she was about to bring up the subject of Madame Giry, everything went dark. They had entered another cave but this one did not contain any of the candleholders the previous ones had. There was no light here and she couldn't remember if they had brought a torch with them or not.

"Sit still, I will have some light for you in just a moment." Erik said calmly as they continued to drift. "We are almost there."

Suddenly, a light blazed into existence. She couldn't tell where he had produced the flame from but a torch on the front of the boat was aflame. As her eyes adjusted, she noticed something sparkling. Actually, many things were surrounding her in a dazzling show of what looked like stars. All over the ceiling of the cave were what seemed to be tiny lights glittering in the dimly lit area. The tiny jewels twinkled as the torchlight flickered over them.

Her breath caught as the light spread into the cave as they floated towards the middle of the chamber. The firelight illuminated the large chamber they were in and millions of pinpoints along the ceiling and walls were sparkling. The area seemed to be covered in a layer of diamonds that glittered every time the fire flared.

"What is this place?" She asked Erik as he stopped the boat

"I found this place when I left two years ago. I was wandering around down here after the incident with Meg and drifted into this chamber. I think it had been closed off until the fire at the opera house. I think the glittering stones in the walls are quartz but they always made me think of you. The night you sang the aria for Carlotta your hair was covered in sparkling flowers. I thought you might like to see something beautiful in this deep dark place. I couldn't ask you to stay if I couldn't offer a small amount of beauty." Erik smiled down at her and she turned back to look at the show around her.

"This is so lovely. I have no problem spending my nights down here with you. But I do need to tell you something." She was actually nervous about the meeting with Madame Giry. He needed to know though.

"When I went to audition the girls there was no one there. I couldn't understand where all the girls had gone until I heard someone behind me. When I turned around it was Madame Giry." She stopped to look at Erik and see how he was reacting. He had his face turned into the dark and even the torch's glow didn't light it enough for her to see him clearly.

"She said she had received my letter and had auditioned all the girls already. She thought there was some promising talent there. I asked her if this meant she was returning to her former post and she said it did. However, she added that as long as the managers and I left her to her business and run things the way she saw fit, she would stay. I didn't know what to say but she didn't give me the chance. She walked right out the door without saying another word. That is when I left and the scrapper fell." She stopped talking and waited for Erik to turn around or say something. Instead, he turned the boat around and moved it to the lit tunnels they had used to get there.

She sat in silenced and wondered what he was thinking. She knew Erik was close to Madame Giry. She had been the one person in his youth that ever cared for him but she had left him too. Did he want to see her? Was he mad at Madame Giry for deserting him after she had left? She wondered if she should even ask what he was thinking.

The journey back to the catacombs Erik called home was made in silence. He didn't seem in the mood to talk. She sat in the boat quietly and once they reached his chambers, she followed him out of the boat. He walked over to his mask and put it back to its familiar place over his scarred skin. He walked over to his gloves and placed them over his hands before turning back to her.

"I need to go see Madame Giry. She left and didn't tell me why. I haven't seen her or Meg in years and there is something going on here at the opera house. If anyone would know what it is, it would be her." Her eyes filled with tears as she watched him walk away. She did not try to stop him this time but she wasn't going to let him go alone.

"I am going with you. Don't try to tell me to stay here for my own safety. Who could keep me safer than you could?" She waited for him to argue with her but to her surprise he turned around and reached for her hand.

She took his hand and followed him into the hidden passages that wound through the Opera Populaire. She hadn't realized how much access the Phantom had had to the rooms and offices inside the opera house. He could get to any room he wanted without ever being seen. Erik must have used these hidden tunnels when he followed her and Raoul around the building. This also explained how he knew so much about what was going on within the walls of the Opera Populaire.

Erik led her to the other side of the building where the offices had been before the fire. Madame Giry's office had been one of the biggest ones and received very little fire damage. Christine made sure the room would be ready for Madame Giry if she had ever decided to return and now that she had this was the most likely place to find her. She followed him to a long hall that was lined with small doors. She assumed each one led to a different office but how did he know which one belonged to which room?

Erik stopped in front of the third door they came to. She looked it over for some sign that this was Madame Giry's office but could not find anything to make it different from the other doors. She waited for Erik to open the door but he just stood there and looked at it. After a few minutes, Erik turned and moved over to her. She looked over to him as he approached and saw a slight flash of nervousness in his half-hidden features. She could tell this was something he needed to do but he would have preferred to be here by himself. She should not have forced herself in her with him but she didn't want to be left alone again.

She was thinking about telling him she would leave or that he didn't need to do this right now when she felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked up and met his eyes. Before she could react, he kissed her and turned to go through the door.

Part fifteen

He had been wondering what to say to Christine as he led her through the intricate network of tunnels within the walls of the Opera Populaire. He was upset that she hadn't told him about Madame Giry but at the same time, so much had been going on, he understood that she was distracted. He loved her more than anything in this world and it hurt to be upset with her over anything.

He stopped in front of the third door in and listened. Christine was looking at the door as well, for what he wasn't sure. He listened carefully but heard no sound come from within. This had been Madame Giry's office and he had been here many times before. This is where she would meet him when he had needed something. She kept his money for him and ran errands for him as well. He moved closer and listened closely for any sound on the other side of the door. Then he heard it. The familiar shuffle of papers that would signal Madame Giry was alone.

So, she knew he was here already but did she know Christine was with him. He couldn't tell but he was going to leave her here safely hidden in the passages. He would deal with this problem on his own. He was going to reach for the door when he remembered that he hadn't said anything to Christine the entire way here. She was more than likely wondering why he was silent. She was not a fool and he was sure she could tell he was upset. He could not speak to her here or Madame Giry would learn that Christine was with him and he didn't want her to know that yet.

He turned around and saw the look of concern and sadness on her face. She was deep in thought as he walked over to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and when she looked up at him, he kissed her. He turned around and walked to the door. This was it. He drew himself up and entered the dimly candle lit room to face the woman he had trusted with his life.

He slipped into the room silently behind the desk that Madame Giry was seated at. She didn't turn around, only motioned for him to come around to the front of the desk. For some reason, this simple gesture angered him. He took a deep breath and remembering that Christine would be able to hear everything they said, he calmly moved to the front of the desk. He turned around to face Madame Giry and was shocked to see how old she looked after only two years.

"I see you have returned home, Monsieur. I hope all the noise is not bothering you too much. I hear the renovations will be finished soon and you may start right where you left." The tone in her voice was icy and hard. Once again his anger spiked and he didn't catch it in time.

"How dare you speak to me that way! You left me. You left me alone for almost two years. Don't you dare talk to me about the past. I have paid for my sins in more ways then you will ever know. First Christine left and then you left me as well. What makes you think you have any right to treat me like a child?" He could not hold back the venom in his voice as he let out all the anger he had been holding in at her.

"You are right, Sir. You are no child. You are a monster that revels in the destroying of young lives. I care not if you were left on your own for a few years to wallow in your guilt. I was left without a daughter. Two daughters if you would be so kind as to include Christine. She left because for once in your life you saw something good and pure and let her go. It was the most human I had ever seen you. Now she has returned to the opera house. She owns it now that The Viscount has passed away. She is a grown lovely woman and I could not bring myself to be kind to her." Erik watched as Madame Giry stood and walked over to him with tears ion her eyes. "She reminded me of Meg so much that I had to be strict with her to keep my composure. I miss them both so much."

Erik watched as the tough and stern women let a single tear fall to the floor before composing herself. He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. He gently squeezed the thin women and looked down at her.

"I will always be a monster, Madame Giry. Even with the love I so yearn for and need. I am sorry I did not recognize what was happening with Meg. I was lost in my own thoughts and despair that nothing else seemed to matter. I should have seen it and I didn't. She just left and I assumed she was returning home. I am eternally sorry about Meg." He let his hand fall to his side and turned to leave.

"Monsieur, be careful in this new Opera Populaire. There are people here that wish our new owner harm. I know how you feel about her and if she is still here than you have seen her already. I am sure that the scrapper was no accident and they either wish harm to Madame Chagny or they are trying to draw you out again. I believe both. Stay hidden, Sir and watch your temper." She moved back to her desk and sat down.

Erik turned towards the door and as he swept by the candles, they went out. He was slipping into his former self and if that is what it took to protect Christine, so be it. He moved through the door and quietly shut it behind him. He looked back over to Christine only to find she wasn't there. The dust around where she had been sitting was disturbed and he saw two sets of footprints. He left her alone and something had happened to her. He lost all control he had and started racing after the footprints. He flew through the passageways and stopped outside the main stage entrance.

The footsteps stopped at the hidden door behind the backstage dressing rooms. He listened for any people and thought he may know a better way. He back stepped and went up into the rafters. Up here had a vantage point few ever saw. He moved along the beams fluidly and searched the areas below him for any signs of Christine. He could hear someone moving below him. He shifted his weight, grabbed a rope and swung down to the stage level. He landed gracefully and spun, flinging his cape in a blinding arch and launched himself at the intruder.

He felt himself collide with the stranger as his anger flared again. He was seething with rage as he grabbed at the person struggling within the folds of his cape. He spun around again, flinging the person across the stage and untangling his cloak at the same time. He ran after the tumbling victim of his anger and halted as the stranger turned around to face him.

There before him was Christine. He dress was torn and her arm was bleeding again. He reached out and grabbed her to his chest. All his anger draining out of him along with the strength it had forced through him. He collapsed to his knees and held Christine as she slipped to the floor. She had fainted when she turned around and saw him, the Phantom chasing her across the stage.

"Damn you. I will find you and you will pray for mercy from the Phantom. You will curse this day." He yelled out into the darkness. Somewhere in the vast space of the main stage, he heard someone laughing.

He picked Christine up and carried her down to his chamber and lay her on his bed. She was bleeding again and he got new cloths to exchange for the old ones. She had a slight bump and bruise on her forehead. He moved his hand to brush away the hair and get a better look at the bump. She had definitely been hit by something hard. He went to get a wet rag and found something else. A note lay on his desk where he sat to write his music. I was written in a flowing hand and was addressed to him or rather to the Opera Ghost.

Opera Ghost,

I will give you this one warning: Leave the Opera Populaire before opening night or a disaster shall befall your precious Christine Chagny. Do not try to find me. This is the only warning I will give you.

With utmost respect,

The Opera Populaire Rose

Erik read over the note a few more times before he could get his temper under control. This "Rose" knew how to get him angry and it seemed when he lost his temper he was dangerous. This person would have to be found before the grand opening. He placed the note into the flame of a nearby candle and smiled to himself as he watched it burn. This had gone far enough and twice this stranger had hurt Christine. He picked the damp rag up and twisted it in his gloved hands as he debated the fate of the "Opera Populaire Rose".

He was deep into his thoughts when he heard Christine start to moan. He snapped out of his reverie and rushed to her side. She was starting to wake up and her hair had fallen back into her face, covering the bruise that was forming around the small knot on her head.

"Erik…angel…why…" Christine was mumbling quietly. She tosses her had from side to side a few times. Her eyes were closed but they seemed to be searching for something or someone.

"Christine," he placed the cool rag on her forehead and sang softly to her. "Christine, angel of music hide no longer…" He waited as her eyes fluttered open.

She opened her eyes and tried to sit up but a looked of pain crossed her face and she lay back down. Her eyes were closed again but she was rubbing her head where the knot was slowly shrinking. Her hand stopped moving and her eyes opened slowly. She looked around a second and her eyes settled on him. He placed his hand on her cheek and pushed a loose strand of hair out of her eyes.

"I was so worried about you, angel. How are you feeling? Do you remember who hit you?" He helped her up into a sitting position and she looked confused. "What's wrong Christine? Do you not remember who it was? Did you see them?"

"Yes, I saw them." She said still looking confused. "It was you."

Part sixteen

She looked around the room. She was in Erik's bed and he was sitting beside her with what looked like a wet rag in his still gloved hand. She tried to remember what had happened and why her head hurt so much. She had been sitting and waiting for him, she remembered that. She tried to remember and heard Erik talking to her. He was asking her who had hurt her. Did she remember who had done this?

Yes, she remembered. He had. She told him it had been the Phantom that had hurt her. Yet, that did not seem right either. She looked at him and saw shock and pain register on his face.

"What do you mean it was me? I was in the room with Madame Giry. I left her office the same way I came in and you were gone." He looked so sincere, she believed him. Who had she seen then.

She slid over to where he was seated and looked in his eyes. She had to see. His eyes had never lied to her and she had to believe what she had seen was wrong. Her angel wouldn't hurt her. He loved her. She touched his face and looked deep into his soul. Then she noticed something different about him that may have just proved him right.

"I don't remember everything. It seems so blurry and my head hurts but something is wrong. I was sitting there outside the door trying to listen to Madame Giry. I remember you yelled and then it seemed quiet. As I sat there, I heard someone moving towards me. When I looked over, I saw you. At least I thought it was you. It was dark but I saw the cape, gloves and even the mask. I was so sure it was you. I didn't think it could be anyone else. I stood up and went over to the person and you…they turned and ran so I followed. I remember thinking that something must be wrong and I tried to keep up. Then they stopped in the back stage area. I noticed they were holding something. I am not sure what but I went over to see what had made you run from me. Then there was this noise coming from the passages and you…well the stranger turned and then…I remember blue eyes behind the mask. Erik, they weren't your eyes." She threw her arms around him as relief rushed over her.

"Oh, it wasn't you! I couldn't understand why you would hurt me. I was so scared. Who is this stranger and why do they wish me harm?" She was still confused.

Erik wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. He reached around her and removed his gloves. She watched as he released her and walked over to his chest hidden behind the organ. Her eyes followed him as he carefully opened the chest and put the black gloves and rope back into it. He closed the lid and lifted the solid box. Erik walked over to the waters edge and as she watched, he threw the chest into the underground lake. He stood there, watching as it sank and her heart went out to him.

She wanted to go to him but when she tried to stand her legs felt weak and she slipped to the floor. He must have heard her fall for within seconds he was back at her side. He lifted her back to the bed and sat down with her.

"I can not be the Phantom anymore. That is what this person is hoping for. They are baiting me and I fear they hope to use you as the bait. What better way to get a beast than to lure it with such beauty? I will not be that person again. My temper needs restraint and if I continue to act before I think, I worry it may cause me more than I am willing to pay. No more lasso and no more gloves, I do not need them anymore. What I need is you, my sweet angel always here beside me. Oh Christine, I love you so much." He ran his fingers through her hair.

She sat there enjoying his touch when she remembered what he had asked while they were on the lake earlier. She now thought it a very good idea to stay here with him at night. He could guard her and protect her from whatever it was out there. She turned to look at him and slipped her fingers around his.

"Erik, I think that staying here at night would be a wonderful idea. I can not think of a better way to spend my evenings than with you." She smiled and he gave a deep sigh of relief.

"Then I will get your bed and bring it down here. If that is what you want…" He looked away for a moment and she waited for him to look back.

"I think this bed would be fine. It is plenty big enough and if I started moving my furniture around someone would notice that. I have no problems with sleeping in this bed. That is as long as you don't mind." She could feel her face getting warm as he stared at her.

"No, please the bed is all yours. I want you to be safe and I can keep an eye on you here. I want you here with me." Erik's dark colored eyes brimmed with something new. A yearning she hadn't seen since the night of the fire.

"I never said I wanted to be here alone. I want you here beside me. I don't want to be alone ever again." She pulled him down to her and kissed him deeply. All the tension and nervousness melting in his arms. He lay there with her and she nestled close to him on the bed. She relaxed there on the bed with him thinking of all that had happened over the past week. She had five months until the grand opening and they would have to settle this other problem before then. They would fix this problem together. No one would hurt her again. She had seen that look in Erik's eyes and new he would do anything to protect her. She only wondered if this stranger knew how far he would go. She knew. She had seen what he could do when he thought he was protecting her. For the first time, she was thankful for his protection and for his love. There was nothing keeping them apart anymore and she could lay next to her love and feel no guilt or fear.

Christine drifted off to sleep and dreamed of a cemetery, a friend from long ago, a father, an angel and a Phantom.

Part seventeen

Erik sat up slowly trying not to wake Christine. It was still early in the evening and she could use the sleep. He could too but there were things he still had to figure out. He moved over to the desk where he had found the note earlier, relieved to find it empty. He placed his head into his hands and thought over everything that had been going on.

Madame Giry had warned him to be careful and then this "Rose" tricked his angel. Christine had believed this imposter and she had followed him blindly into the dark. He sat there going over everything in his mind, trying to control his anger at this stranger that had intruded on his perfect dream. He had learned a tough lesson this night. To win this twisted game he now had to play, he would have to be Erik not the Phantom. This "Opera Populaire Rose" knew many things about the Phantom but only Christine knew Erik. He would have to think this out and not react on his fears and anger. Who could it be?

He went over all the details. This person was quick and graceful. They knew the opera house as well as he did so it stood to reason that they had been here for a long time. They must have worked here before the fire. They knew what he looked like and how to reproduce his effects. The cape, gloves and mask were just finishing touches on his persona. They copied how he moved and the way he stood. Christine had completely believed it was he behind the mask of the stranger. A superb actor, this pseudo-phantom was turning out to be and quite a worthy adversary.

He stood and paced around the chambers. He thought over everything. The appearance of this person in his home had not been something he had ever thought of. He had little in the way of defense down this far. The other passages and catacombs were riddled with his traps and misdirection's but here he had always felt safe. He walked the path around the bed that now held the sleeping Christine. He stopped beside the bed and glanced down at her.

She was mumbling something but he could not make out what it was. Should he wake her from this dream she was drifting in or should he let her sleep and resolve this demon on her own? He stroked her hair and decided to let her sleep. He was still surprised and the depth of feeling he had for her. Every time she stepped near him, he was over come by the urge to take her in his arms. He wanted to touch her, to feel her with him. He longed to lay there with her, kiss her and keep her here forever.

He walked away and looked out over the lake. He had so much to thank her for. She had given him his life back. After Madame Giry and Meg had left him, he had been alone. Alone for so long that time seemed to have stopped. Every day was like the one that had come before it. He had been so lonely and so desperate for Christine that he had begun to hear and see her everywhere. He could hear her singing softly to him every time he closed his eyes. He would turn a corner in a passageway just to see a part of her dress turn another corner ahead of him. It did not matter how hard he ran, this figment was always ahead of him. Always just out of reach of his desperate tries to catch her.

As he looked over the lake, he thought of what Christine had said about the other "Phantom". The stranger had blue eyes, she said. He had dark eyes and always had. Something fell into place in his mind and he turned to wake Christine. He knew who the Opera Populaire Rose was and he needed to tell Christine. This could be much more dangerous than he had ever thought.

Part eighteen

Christine walked through the cemetery. Her feet were drawing her ever closer to the two stone memorials. She recognized the cold hard monuments as the mausoleums that held the remains of her father and late husband. She walked first to the one of her father. She had been here so many times that she felt almost comfortable outside the stone walls. She sat down on the steps outside her father's tomb. The air was chilly and autumn leaves littered the ground. She looked around for something. She could hear violin music coming from within the mausoleum and it floated to her as she stared into the iron wrought doors guarding his grave.

There was a soft white glow coming from within the tomb and a figure moved within. A tall man with dark hair, walked out of the tiny building playing a violin. It was her father and he looked exactly as he did when she was a child. He looked at her and stopped playing the violin. Christine slowly got to her feet and stared at the apparition before her.

"Father, is it you?" She moved up the stairs slowly.

"Hello child. You have grown. You look so much like your mother. I hear you have a voice like hers as well." The calming voice that floated from the apparition was indeed her fathers. She ran up the rest of the stairs and into his arms.

"Father, I have missed you so much. I am lost and alone. Why did everyone leave me?" She cried on her father's shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her. His embrace was cold and she remembered her father was no longer living. The chill of his touch spread through her as she pulled back out of his embrace.

"I know, I have to leave you again Christine. Remember that you are not alone. I have sent the Angel of Music to guard you and to guide you. You are safe now. Safe." She watched as he put his violin back up under his chin and played a soft lullaby. He turned and walked back into his leaf littered tomb.

Christine turned from her father's resting-place and moved to the one next to it. It was Raoul's, her beloved husband. They had traveled the world together and that had been his demise. After he had gotten sick, they had to return to his home and rest. What a slow and painful time that had been. She knelt at his gravesite. The building marking his grave was modest but elegant. He would not have wanted something grand or ostentatious. That is not who he had been.

"Raoul, I miss you very much. You showed me so many things that I would never have seen if I hadn't left with you. The Phantom let me go and I saw the sunrise over more countries than I can remember. I wish I knew if you were upset with everything or if this was what you would have wanted." She stayed there for a few minutes more, listening. Hoping he would appear to her as her father had, she waited.

Somewhere off in the distance there came a clattering sound. She slowly got up and cast Raoul's grave a last look before she left in the direction of the noise. As she drew closer, she recognized the sharp sound echoing off the other tombstones. It was the sign of tow swords locked in battle. Who would be in a cemetery fighting among people's graves? She started to sprint towards the fighters. She had a bad feeling she knew who she would find.

She heard a loud cry of pain and ran past a large stone angel. There in the distance two figures battled with one another. The first one spun and a flowing cape flung out from around his shoulders, throwing the other man off guard. She stopped just shy of the dueling pair. The second man dropped to the ground and rolled out from under the flowing black shadow.

Christine stood in horror as she watched Raoul and the Phantom swing their deadly swords at each other. She watched, unable to decide what to do. Here she was watching her two greatest loves try to kill each other. She wanted to run into the middle of them and stop them. She moved forward but stopped just outside the range of their spinning dance. She could see that Raoul had been cut on his arm but he had gotten a good swipe at the Phantoms leg. They were both bleeding and breathing heavily. She moved a few steps closer and could here them arguing.

"Why won't you let her go? Give her back her freedom and give her back to me!" Raoul yelled at the Phantom as he lunged for his chest with the point of his sword. The Phantom leapt out of the way and parried with a wide arching swing. As he swung his sword around his fluid cape hid his arm and he nipped Raoul's left shoulder with his blade. Raoul pulled his arm back and stepped retreated to catch his breath.

"You can not have what does not want you. She is mine and I will not let you interfere with us anymore. You arrogant little man, thinking something as pure as she would want you." The Phantom called to Raoul as he had stopped to rest against a tombstone. His leg was bleeding heavily and he looked exhausted. The two men stared at each other. Their faces reflecting the hate they felt in their hearts.

Christine's heart cried out to the two men that were fighting over her. She seemed to have lost the ability to talk or even move. She struggled to get over to them but it felt like she was walking in thick mud. The harder she tried to reach them, the thicker the air seemed to become. She stopped and watched as they attacked each other again.

Raoul and the Phantom launched themselves across the space that separated them. Both had their swords aimed at the others heart. Christine watched as their swords collided in a shower of sparks. The Phantom pushed hard at Raoul and he started to loose his footing. Just as it seemed that Raoul was going to fall and the Phantom surely win, another figure appeared between the two. It was a girl, or rather a woman with long blond hair and clear blue eyes. The same eyes she had seen behind the mask when she had been attacked.

Meg stepped out of the shadowy tombstones and statues. She walked right into the middle of the fighting and Christine was sure she would be killed. To her surprise both men stopped fighting and looked at Meg. She looked from one fighter to the other and spoke to them in a calm childlike voice that Christine hadn't heard in years.

"Why are you fighting each other? Raoul, you love Christine and you," she looked over at the Phantom, "love her as well. Only one of you can truly have her heart. There she is. Why not simply ask her who she wants to spend her life with?"

Meg had a cruel smile on her lips and the two men did not seem to notice. They agreed and as she seemed stuck in time, she waited for them. She watched as Meg and her two loves walked over to her with grim determination. She saw the hope and fear in their eyes. She looked at Meg and was horrified to see a grin so broad and twisted it made her blood run cold.

"Christine, we can not continue to fight over you for all eternity. You must make your choice." The Phantom was the first to speak to her as she stood there in agony over his words. "Christine, you are the only person I have ever loved. You fill me with a light I have never known. Don't condemn me to wallow in the hell I have so long been unable to escape. Love me, that's all I ask of you." She watched in tortured silence as a tear fell from the eye under his white mask.

She looked over to Raoul as he started to talk to her. His words ringing in her ears as she remembered staying with him as he had died slowly before her.

"We have known each other since we were children. I know what your heart feels and I can save you from this dark spectre before you. Let me be your light and I will show you the love of the sun and the daylight. I will protect you from the darkness you have wandered in for so long. Christine, I love you." Raoul looked at her with pleading eyes. How could she choose between them again? She loved them both and yet differently.

Raoul was a comfort. She knew him all her life and they had grown up together. He had known her father and remembered what it was like when things had been simpler. He loved her for who she had been and who he thought she had become. He had already left her hadn't he? He was gone now and all she had was the Phantom. Why did he not know he had left her alone?

"Raoul, you left me. I tried to keep you but I could do nothing. Don't torture me this way. Don't make me hold on to a memory of what was but can never be again. If you have ever loved me than it is you that must let me go. I can not love a ghost or an apparition." She saw tears fall from his haunted eyes. He seemed so alive. His arm was still bleeding and the nick on his shoulder had covered his sleeve in the red liquid. Why was he doing this? Why were they both doing this?

Meg moved up in front of them and centered on Christine. She looked deep into her eyes and all Christine could see was hatred. A cold dark hole in her soul filled with loathing and she knew not why.

"You had them both. Why did you leave him Christine? You hurt him. You broke his heart and his soul. He loved you more than anything and now he can love no more. I loved him too! You couldn't leave and be happy with Raoul could you?" Meg shouted at her and stepped closer.

"Meg, I chose him. He told me to leave. He made me leave him after I had chosen him over Raoul. He loved me so much. He wanted me to be happy. I was happy until Raoul died. I have and always will love Raoul but he is gone and there is nothing I can do to change it. I am sorry he doesn't love you, Meg." Christine watched as Meg's face contorted with hate and anger.

"If you were dead, he would love me! He would have no one left and he wouldn't even be able to lie to himself about you. He would have to love me. He would have to!" Meg turned around and grabbed the sword from Raoul's hand and lunged it at Christine.

Christine closed her eyes and waited for the searing pain but instead she heard a grunt and felt a heavy weight crash into her. She opened her eyes as she fell. The Phantom had stepped in front of the sword and Meg had not been able to stop in time. Christine rolled over and saw the Phantom on the ground, the sword still protruding from his chest. Blood was flowing out of him with every heartbeat and covering the ground around her. She slid over to him and took his head in her hands. She removed his mask and looked into his pained eyes.

"No, don't leave me. I can not lose you too. Please…please stay with me. I came back to you so you can not die. Do you understand me? You can not die and leave me alone again!" She bent over his body and felt the warmth start to leave him.

"Christine, I love you…" He touched her face and a single tear rolled down the side of his cheek. Christine held him while his breathing slowed and finally stopped. She gave him a kiss on the forehead before placing him back on the cold ground.

"I love you too." She muttered to him before she stood up and turned around to face Meg.

She turned and saw that no one was there anymore. Meg and Raoul were both gone and when she turned back to the Phantom, he had disappeared as well. She ran through the cemetery looking for any sign of them but found nothing. Then she heard it, someone was calling her name.

"Christine…Christine…" The voice was getting louder and the world around her was slipping.

Christine opened her eyes to see Erik sitting beside her on the bed, gently shaking her shoulder and calling to her. Relief flooded through her as the dream disappeared into the lights of the candles that surrounded them. She flung her arms around Erik and cried, thankful everything had been a dream. She needed to tell him she knew who the other Phantom was though it looked like he had something he wanted to say as well.

Part nineteen

He wrapped his arms around Christine as she sobbed softly. She must have had a dream that disturbed her deeply. Her kissed the top of her hair and tried to sooth her. She muttered something into his chest and he had to wait until she was calm before he could get her to repeat it.

"Christine what were you saying?" He asked her gently as she composed herself.

"It is nothing just a horrible dream. You and Raoul were fighting and my father was there. Then as if things couldn't get worse, Meg showed up and she hated me. Hated me because I had you and Raoul. I tried to tell her that I had chosen you first and that you let me go. She wouldn't listen. She tried to kill me…she tried…but you stepped in front of the sword and you died. I watched you die Erik. Oh, it hurt so much to watch you die like Raoul did. Right in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do." She looked away from him as she tried to gather herself again.

"Christine, I have to tell you something. When I brought you back here after the incident on the stage, I found a note. It was from the mysterious visitor that has been roaming the opera house. They called themselves the "Opera Populaire Rose". I didn't want to make you more upset than you already were so I burned it. They addressed it to Opera Ghost." He had not wanted to tell her about the note but if he was right about whom the "Rose" was, they had reason to worry.

She looked down at her hands before saying anything.

"I think I know who it is. You know don't you?" She looked up at him, her eyes pleading him not to say the name she was thinking.

"Yes, I put it together. They moved around with the agility of a dancer and knew the opera house as well as I ever did. Even the passages down here seemed to be an easy hiding place for them. It takes years to learn these tunnels and this network of winding passages. I figured it out when you told me about the eyes. A clear blue color and I only know one person that was a match to everything we knew." He waited, not wanting to shatter her hope that they were thinking of different people.

"It is Meg isn't it?" She kept staring at her hands, refusing to meet his eyes and acknowledge that she was right.

"Christine, I believe it is and I think we have a very bad problem. She believes she is in love with me but I think you already know what the danger is. She will try to get rid of you to get to me. I think your dream was a warning. I don't know how to keep you safe anymore. She knows all the places I do and now that things are changing, she may know them better." He turned her face up to his. "I will not let anything happen to you. I will give my life before I see you harmed again Christine."

"I know Eric and that is what I am afraid of." She stood up and went out of the bedchamber. She looked out across the lake to the boat. It floated there so clam and oblivious. The lake was smooth and serene unlike everything else around her. Erik wished he could make everything go away. All their problems and torments so they could spend their days enjoying one another. He knew he would have to take care of Meg first and he wasn't sure if he would be able to do what may need done.

"Christine, I think you should go talk to Madame Giry. She knows something is going on here and I am sure she knows it is Meg. What I don't know is why she hasn't bothered to stop her or tell me that it is Meg. She knows I would never hurt her. We need to know what is going on and I think she will talk to you more than she will me." He put his arm around her shoulder and drew her close. She relaxed some and that was a good sign to him. He didn't want her to worry anymore. Hadn't he caused her enough grief already?

"I will go see her in the morning. I think it is still a few hours before dawn and I could use some sleep. So could you." He paused for a moment and she reached out and took his hand. Erik realized she was leading him to the bed. He wasn't sure he should follow her in there. Every time he touched her, his mind went numb. He felt fire surge through him and he wanted nothing more than to show her how much he loved her and what she meant to him. He had restrained himself. She had lost her husband less than two months ago and it would not be appropriate for him to make advances of that nature. She seemed to sense his hesitancy.

"Erik," she looked back at him. "All I want is some company. Just sleep beside me and make me feel safe. I promise, nothing more." He looked into her deep brown eyes and could see she wanted all the things he did but was restraining herself as well. What a pair they made. Both wanting to be with each other and neither one willing to cross that bridge for propriety demanded they wait. He could see the fire burning within her and wanted to feel the warmth of her touch, her skin. He could wait.

He followed her to the bedchamber and lay beside her. She moved close to him and placed her head in the nape of his neck. He could feel her breath flow over his skin every time she breathed and it was driving him insane with desire. He waited for her breathing to become steady and he moved to the other side of the bed, not trusting in his own restraint and will power.

Erik finally drifted off to sleep.

Part twenty

Christine woke only after a few hours of sleep. She smiled over at Erik, noticing her had moved to the other side of the bed. Did he know how hard it was to lay next to him every night and not give in to the desire he awoke in her? Did her feel the same passionate fire in his soul when he looked at her or touched her? His voice would seep into her very being and she could feel her spirit sore with every breath she took. Her yearnings for him were getting harder to restrain but she would not disgrace Raoul's memory with an act of intimacy before the appropriate time.

She stretched out and gently placed a kiss on Erik's forehead before moving to his desk to find a scrap of parchment. She would not leave without placing a note where he would be able to find it. She found the quill and parchment she had been looking for on the desk beside a vile of black ink. She dipped the quill into the ink and started to write.

Eric,

I am sorry to leave without waking you, yet I feel as though you need the sleep more than I. I have gone to change and clean up before speaking with Madame Giry. My return to you will be as swift as I can make it. Be safe.

With all my love,

Christine

She lay the note next to him in the place that she had been sleeping. Confident he would find it when he woke, she left for her room. She changed and quickly cleaned up with water in her wash basin beside her armoire. She pulled her hair up into an ornate bun and left for Madame Giry's office.

The walk was pleasant and thankfully without incident. She smiled and talked to the artisans as she walked the halls. She would compliment them on their work and ask a few questions from time to time. The workers had been doing so well it looked as if the grand opening may be moved up. She had planned on a mid march opening but as it turned out less of the opera house had been damaged then they had originally thought. They would be able to have a New Year's Masquerade and if she planned things just right the Phantom could make an appearance without anyone knowing the wiser.

Christine stopped outside Madame Giry's office and tapped on the door. She waited for a response but nothing came. She turned the handle to the door and was surprised to find it unlocked. She had known Madame Giry since she was seven and had never found her office door unlocked. Christine slowly opened the door and was greeted by the faint glow of a single candle. She picked up the candle and lit the lanterns along the walls of the office, looking around her as she went.

The office was a mess. Someone had gone through all the drawers in her desk and strewn papers every where. The floor was littered with audition notes and costume changes. The goblet of ink that usually sat on Madame Giry's desk had been knocked over and a large stain had spread across the rug under her desk. As the lamps lit the room, Christine noticed another pile of papers she hadn't seen earlier. She walked over to them and picked one up. It was address to Mdme. Giry and the return address was from somewhere in Asia. It looked like the stamp said Japan but she couldn't be sure. She didn't recognize the characters on the outside of the envelope but she knew the writing on the letter inside.

It was written in Meg's elaborate style. Christine used to complement Meg on her handwriting. It was so lovely and flowing. She always thought her own resembled a mere attempt at scratching something into the parchment rather than actually writing. They had been required to take lessons in calligraphy as children but she had never done as well as Meg had. Christine placed the letter and envelope inside her dress and left to find Madame Giry.

She headed straight for the rehearsal halls. It was the only place she could think to look for her. They had already accepted a few young students into the ballet and Madame Giry probably had them going through their paces by now. She walked through the main rehearsal room into the smaller ones in the back. As she drew nearer, she heard exactly what she had expected to her, the tiny sounds of slippers on a hardwood floor. She slowly opened the door and saw Madame Giry inside with three young girls and a frail looking little boy. The children were along the bar and she was showing them the starting positions all ballet students learn. Two of the girls were doing exceptionally and the little boy looked right at home on his toes. The smallest of the girls looked to be no older than three and she was having trouble keeping her balance.

Christine shut the door silently and waited patiently to be noticed. She knew better than to interrupt one of Madame Giry's lessons. Within a few minutes, she was and Madame Giry motioned the children to sit and waved Christine over to her. She walked over and stood in front of the class with Madame Giry.

"This, little ones, is Christine Daae de Chagny. She is the owner of the Opera Populaire and is a former student of mine. I hope you will all study and practice as hard as she did. If you do, I am confident that you will all do very well." Madame Giry turned to her and asked if she had wanted anything.

"Yes, actually I have a matter with which I need to discuss with you but if you could give me just a moment. There is something I would like to say to that young girl on the end, the lovely little red haired one with all the freckles." Madame Giry nodded to her and Christine moved over to the small child.

"Hello, my name is Christine. What is your?" She smiled her most charming smile and was greeted with a big toothy grin in return.

"Hello, my name is Anastasia but everyone calls me Annie. It is easier. Will you call me Annie?" The girl was so innocent and sweet, it was a joy just to talk with her.

"If you wish. I was wondering Annie, if you would like some help with your balancing? The other children seem to be ahead of you a bit so I thought I would help you out." She waited Annie to nod and then continued. "How old are you Annie?"

"I will be four in a few days. The other students are four except for Phillip. He is five already." Annie looked over at him and smiled her big grin and he stuck out his tongue at her, to a disapproving look from Madame Giry.

"This is what I would do when I have trouble keeping my balance. Now stand and hold the bar with one hand and place the other hand in the air above you like this." She demonstrated the form she was speaking of. "Great, now think of honey. You like honey right?" Annie nodded readily. "I like it too. So, you think of honey and it is all around you. There are sticky webs of honey everywhere so stand straight and tall where they won't touch you. Now, if you spin here in your safe space within the honey, nothing can get through and if you touch the honey, you will get all sticky. Try spinning now, inside the honey web." Christine stood back and watched Annie do a perfect pirouette.

"I did it!" Annie shouted as she stopped her spin in the position she had been taught.

"I knew you could do it with some imagination and a lot of honey." Christine kissed the girl on the head and went back to Madame Giry. Her face was looking a lot younger this morning. She always loved the ballet lessons with the youngest of the students.

"You are very good at that. Maybe you are trying to replace me already?" The smile on her face let Christine know she was only kidding and she smiled back.

"I do not believe I will take over the ballet, Madame Giry. I am still a student in many ways. I did come here to talk to you though. May we speak outside for a moment?" Christine followed Madame Giry outside and waved farewell to the children. She shut the door but not before watching Annie practice her pirouette again.

"I went to your office looking for you earlier but of course you were not there. The door to your office was unlocked and I believe someone was in there before me. Everything is a mess, Madame Giry. Papers thrown all over the floor and your ink spilt. Do you know who could have done this?" She looked at Madame Giry's face and could tell she knew who it was.

"Yes but there is nothing I can do anymore. The person who is doing this is not the person I once knew. They have changed into a monster and soon I fear, a killer." Christine watched as Madame Giry's eyes started to tear up. What had happened to Meg in the time since she left her mother and Erik?

"Tell me. What has happened to Meg?" She looked down at Madame Giry and waited for her to tell her tale and answer some questions about why Meg was doing this.

"When the Phantom shunned her advancements, Meg was so hurt. She left and it was weeks before I heard from her again. She had traveled to Japan with a former student of the ballet. She said she could not stay here and be near the one she loved and would never have but the consolation was that he would never be happy either. She felt he would always hurt as she was hurting. I think she truly did love him the way he loved you. Tortured souls of unrequited love. She started school there and learned more than dance. She started learning their arts of war and defense. Christine, she has always been so nimble and quick that I fear they have turned her into an assassin. I went to visit her once after six months. She was not Meg anymore. She was this lovely dancer on the outside but inside she was consumed with hate and desperation. I left after only one night there. I could not stand to see what she had become. Then, she heard the news that Raoul was ill and dying. I received a letter the day of his funeral. She does not want either of you to be happy. She will try to kill you to get at him, I fear." She stopped talking long enough to wipe a stray tear from her cheek. "He has changed. I can see it even behind the mask. You have returned to him and he is a better man for it. Although, I think that may be your down fall. Meg is a trained killer now. That is not what all the training was for though. It was to help her handle her anger and move more fluidly but she took what she wanted from the teachings and has returned to the Opera Populaire."

Christine slunk down to the floor. She looked up at Madame Giry and sighed softly.

"I love the man he has become and I love the man he was. I think that you are right and he is not capable of protecting me as he is. He will have to emerge himself back into the world of the Phantom or I may lose him forever. Yet, if he becomes the man I once feared, will I ever get the man I have grown to love back again?" Christine asked Madame Giry and searched her face for any sign of hope. She found nothing of comfort there.

"This person that hunts you is no longer my daughter. My daughter died years ago and this imposter must be dealt with before she kills someone. Christine, do what you must but remember the person wearing the deadliest mask this time is not the child you grew up with. She has become something horrible and I do not think there is any hope for her like there is for you and him. Be careful, I must return to the children. Thank you for helping Annie. She reminds me of you in so many ways. She is an orphan as well." Madame Giry nodded her head slightly and returned to the children.

Christine walked back through the halls to the passageway behind the mirror in her room. How was she going to bring Erik back to the Phantom he had given up. He had changed for her and she had to get that driving and dangerous force back into him again. The look he had in his eyes when he sang to her or when he touched her. The dark seducer he had once been was still there. It lied in wait below the surface and she would have to raise it up if they were ever to be happy together. She stepped through the mirror and into his dark world. The darkness in him was a passion, a yearning and he barely controlled it when he was near her.

She thought about everything she and Madame Giry had spoken of, as she walked down the stone stairway to the deep chamber below her. As she neared the bottom, an idea came to her. She would have to entice the beast inside him with something it yearned for more than anything, beauty. She turned and fled back up the stairs to her room and changed out of her modest gown into a lower cut more form fitting one. He was more the Phantom when he sought her touch. She let her hair fall around her shoulders and smoothed the dark emerald green dress over her hips.

Down once more into the Phantom's lair but this time she went of her own free will. She would bring all his desire to a boil and remind him of what it was they were fighting for. She would not leave until she had the Phantom back in her arms.

Part twenty-one

Erik opened his eyes and rolled over intending to wake Christine. What her found was a hand written note from his angel. So, she has gone to see Madame Giry. I hope she can find out what we need to know. He thought to himself as he stretched and began to clean up. He changed his clothes and wrapped his cape around himself for warmth. The autumn would turn to winter soon and it always stayed warmer down here than outside but some days it seemed very cool.

He walked through the chamber and moved things around. He finished cleaning up from the fire and set to work straightening a candleholder that had fallen and bent in a few places. He warmed his hands over the flames of a lit candelabrum and sat at his desk. He took his quill in hand and started to compose. The written notes slipped from the ink and onto the page in front of him. He was deep into the composition when he felt Christine enter the chamber. He did not need to turn around to sense something different about her. He footsteps were soft but deliberate. She must have gotten some thing out of Madame Giry. Erik placed his quill back into the inkbottle and moved to accompany her into the main chamber.

Erik moved from around the desk and down into view of Christine and his breath caught. She moved though the space between them, gracefully gliding in a low cut deep green dress. Her hair caressed her shoulders as she walked across the chamber towards him. He stood there watching as she moved around the desk and stood before him. He could feel the heat from her body as she reached out and touched his face. He felt his knees weaken and fire flood his soul as he leaned into her soft caress. He looked into her eyes and was caught off guard. The flames within them flaring with desire as she moved her hand along his cheek and back into his hair. He knew he could not hold himself back if she kept up her maddening caresses.

He took a step back but she moved to fill in the space between them. Erik reached up and grabbed her hand. He brought it down to his mouth and kissed her palm.

"Christine, you are driving me mad. Please, don't do this. It is not the right time. I can not keep myself from you." He let go of her hand and she moved to press her body against his.

"I need to feel you. I can feel your heartbeat and I know what it needs. Don't turn me away, Erik. Just love me, show me that you love me." His heart was breaking. He wanted to do what was proper and Raoul had not been gone that long. His body ached for her. He wanted to take her in his arms and carry her to his bed. His blood boiled in his veins and his head was swimming with her scent.

He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up. He kissed her deeply and with such force he was surprised he didn't hurt her. She returned his kiss with the same passion and he was lost, floating in a dark world of desire. He let her down but did not release the hold he had on her. Erik moved backward and turned Christine around until she was pressed up against the organ. He ran his hands through her hair, feeling her, wanting her. He felt suddenly protective and alert. His mind kept trying to grasp at some small thread of sanity as he sunk deeper into his yearning for his angel.

His body surged with energy and fire as he felt Christine's hands untie his cape and let it fall to the floor behind him. Her hands feeling, searching across his chest. Erik melted in her hands as her touch redoubled his need to have her and keep her with him forever. He suddenly knew he could not live without her. He would never allow anyone to hurt her again and if that meant stopping Meg any way he could, he would do it.

He pulled back from her and tried to speak through ragged breaths.

"Christine, I love you and I want you so desperately I can hardly speak. However, this is not the time. I don't want to share this with you here in this dark dungeon. This cold stone fortress I built to keep everyone out and to keep you in, is not the place for us to be together. Please, say you understand." He was barely containing himself as he waited for her.

Christine looked up at him and smiled. The yearning still there in her eyes but it seemed to be controlled better now. She placed her hands on either side of his face, one resting on skin the other on his mask.

"I understand. I know the song that plays in your mind and my heart sings with you. Say you need me with you here beside you. Anywhere you go let me go too. Love me, that's all I ask of you." Christine leaned into his chest and he held her, never wanting to let go. She felt so right against him that he knew what he would do to keep her here. He had felt this way once before and he had let her go. He would not let her go again. He held her tighter as he thought up a plan to trap the "Opera Populaire Rose".

Part twenty-two

Christine relaxed against Erik's chest. She had seen the look in his eyes. Though he had calmed himself, that burning desire was still radiating in his eyes. The same look she had seen years ago when he had dragged her down into these very catacombs. The Phantom of the Opera was alive and breathing her in. This was the man she had fallen in love with. The man that would do anything to keep her safe and keep them together. Some where inside, she felt guilty. This was a risk, she knew but some things were worth the risk. A life without fear and with her love was worth all the risk.

She looked up into his eyes, searching for the fire within them. There, beneath the surface where she had only seen love before she could see desire and strength. He needed her and she could see how deeply his yearnings went. She felt the same. It had been almost impossible to let him stop. She had gone too far and if he hadn't held on to the slim string of sanity that he had, she never would have stopped him.

"Erik, perhaps I should go change. Everyone will be leaving in a few hours. I thought I would arrange dinner for us. We could have dinner together and no one will be around to bother us." She watched as his face shifted with his thoughts. As he started to speak, she saw a spark in his eyes and thought that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He was planning something and she worried it may not be pleasant.

"Yes, you can go arrange dinner. I think that would be a splendid idea. You go and change into something lovely and I will change for dinner. Where should I meet you?" Erik glanced around the chamber. He was asking her a question but it seemed his mind was on something else entirely.

"I will meet you at the grand staircase in the reception area. It is finished and is part of the main opera house and is off limits to the ballet students. Of course, they will all be in the dormitories at the back of the building. I'll meet you there in two hours." She stepped up and gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning and heading to her room.

On the way to her room she thought about the way he had said things and the way he was acting. She had definitely got her Phantom back. He was such a strong presence he over shadowed Erik and this may turn into a problem. A problem that she would have to deal with after the "Rose" problem was finished. Right now though, he needed his darker side as much as she did if he was going to protect them both.

He had given her permission to go. That was different. He was being possessive and she remembered how deadly that had become. It has to be this way. He was stronger and quicker when he thought this way. It is the only way, I hope. She thought about what she had let out of his dark hidden heart and hoped she had done the right thing.

She entered her room through the mirror and started to change. She had a splendid white dress that she felt would be perfect. Without realizing it when she bought it, the dress looked a very similar to the one the Phantom had her change into that night so long ago. The night she chose to leave Raoul and stay with the Phantom.

Stepping into the white satin slippers she bought with the dress, she moved over to her mirror. She found a small box containing tiny diamond flowers she had worn in her hair during her first performance with the Opera Populaire. She spread them throughout her hair and settled on a thin necklace to compliment the glittering flowers. She had finished arranging her clothes and set off to the kitchens. The head cook had made her dinner every night since being hired and tonight was no different. Christine entered the kitchen and found the cook, Madame Beaulia finishing a grand meal for two. She smiled at Christine when she entered her domain.

"Madame, you look lovely. I can see why you had me cook for two. It is about time if you ask me Madame. Monsieur Chagny would not like you moping around now that he is gone. Most young ladies would not wait as long as you have. He would want you to be happy. Trust me, I have worked for his family since he was a mere child. I will get the wine and leave you be." She patted Christine on the shoulder as she walked by on her way to the wine cellar.

Christine had always like Madame Beaulia. She had been so welcoming and friendly when Raoul had brought her to his ancestral home after their whirlwind marriage. His mother and father had also been very kind and spoke so kindly of her father. She missed them as much as she missed Raoul. They did not take their sons death well and wanted to get away from the home. It had only been a few days since Raoul's funeral when the boat they had been on sank from unknown reasons. The Navy investigated the incident and declared pirates to be behind the ordeal. Christine inherited a great deal of money and even more heartache.

She shook the memory away as she heard Madame Beaulia return with the wine. She walked over to her and looked at the bottle she had chosen for the meal. It was a splendid aromatic red that she liked and had enjoyed often with Raoul as they had watched the sunset over different towns and cities.

Christine smiled and nodded her approval while Madame Beaulia finished getting the porcelain dishes arranged in a neat stack.

"Every one is out of the opera house, Madame. I had the table set up as you requested and just between us, the location is wonderful. The air is crisp but not cold yet so everything will be hot when you get there. I will see to the food myself. I thought roasted duck with orange sauce would be a wonderful main dish. It is such a romantic meal. I hope you like the desert. I made it special for you. I will have all the food set-aside on the tables and you can serve your gentleman caller. I will make sure you are not disturbed." She smiled again and after Christine had thanked her into embarrassment, she started taking th food to the agreed upon dinner site.

Christine looked to the huge Grandfather clock at the far end of the kitchen and headed towards the grand staircase. She would need to hurry if she was going to meet Erik there. She carefully dashed
through the halls and slowed in time to fix her dress and hair before nearing the bottom of the staircase. She stood there for ten minutes before she sensed someone behind her. Christine spun around and looked to the top of the grand staircase. There in the shadows stood a tall dark figure.

Erik stepped into the light and Christine let out a sigh of relief. Then she got a good look at the man at the top of the stairs and she thought she was going to stop breathing. He stood there, looking down at her as she slowly moved up the staircase to join him. He was wearing a black gentleman's suit that had tails to his knees. He wore all black with one exception. The ruffle under his coat was embroidered with deep blood red roses. He wore his half mask and in his left hand carried a cane with a silver skull resting on the top.

She stopped a few feet from him and tried to slow her heart. It was racing and she felt her breathing quicken.

"You look very handsome. I didn't recognize you at first but you look splendid." She went over to him and kissed his cheek.

"You, my sweet Christine look more like an angel than I have ever seen you. The lightness suits you so well. That, and I love it when you sparkle." Erik ran a hand over one of the diamond flowers in her hair.

"So, kind sir, if you would follow me. I believe our dinner is waiting." She smiled slyly at him and walked towards a dark hidden hall. She led him through the back stage area to a tall spiral staircase. At the top of the stairs, she opened a door and led him out onto the roof. She grasped his hand and pulled him to the table she had arranged for them.

"I was rather confident no one would disturb us here. That, and Madame Beaulia has promised to stand guard at the bottom of the staircase and keep anyone else away." Christine sat at the table and watched Erik sit on the other side. He seemed on edge as if he was anticipating something. He noticed her stare and tried to smile at her and the dinner but she could tell it was forced.

"I am sorry Christine. I do not have pleasant memories of this place." He looked at his empty plate.

"I know. That is why I chose this place. I will not have the ghosts of so long ago haunt us anymore. We will have memories of this place and they will be our memories." He looked up from the empty plate and Christine noticed he was looking past her and to the door at her back. It was then that she sensed another presence on the roof with them. A hateful evil presence and she suddenly thought her food was going to get cold.

Part twenty-three

Erik forgot all about the memory he had been reliving. The heart wrenching vision of Christine and Raoul on this rooftop long ago in a deep embrace. The presence standing behind Christine now had all his attention. He smiled to himself, the culmination of his plan seemed to have worked just as he had expected.

While Christine had been arranging dinner, Erik had gone to talk with Madame Giry. She had let him know that she worried for them both and that Meg was just a lost soul. She needed something to bring her back the way Christine's love and sacrifice had released him from his cursed existence. The entire time they talked, he had noticed that Madame Giry kept looking towards the secret door he used to get into the room. Meg was there and he knew it. This had been the time to lay the trap. He remembered talking with Madame Giry about the dinner.

"Madame Giry, I hope that you are wrong about Meg. She was a very good friend to both Christine and I. However, we can not dwell on the past. Christine has arranged a wonderful dinner this evening for the two of us. She is trying very hard to chase away the demons of the past for both our sakes. She has gone through great lengths to keep people away from the opera house until the grand opening and with the opening being moved to New Year's, it is getting very close. I only hope all goes well." He studied her face as he talked to her about the dinner. He watched her as she went slightly white when he mentioned the demons of the past and knew that Meg must be listening, as he had hoped.

He walked over to Madame Giry and rested a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him shocked. He had never shown a sign of affection as he did now, with her before.

"Madame Giry, you have risked so much for me. I will do what I can but be warned, I will not let anyone hurt Christine. I do not care what it takes to keep her safe anymore. She is mine and no one will take her from me again." He squeezed her shoulder again and turned to leave. "I just wanted you to know."

So, it seemed that Meg had been listening as he had thought and her she was, staring at him with her clear hateful blue eyes. She stood directly in front of the door to the stairwell. She had grown a few inches since he had seen her last at the performance of his opera, Don Juan; Triumphant. She stood as tall as Christine and only a few inches shorter than he himself did. She stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. Her blond hair pulled up into a tight bun and her face twisted in a grimace of disdain. She wore a loose white shirt and tight fitting riding pants and black leather boots made for fencing. She had come ready to fight and he was going to give her one.

Erik rose from the table and motioned Christine to get behind him. To his relief, she never said a word, merely dashed over behind him and clasped her hands together. He could see the fear in her eyes and on her face. His anger surged through him giving him strength and fueling the fire in his soul. Quickly reaching behind him and under his cape, he pulled out his sword. The silver engraved skull head surrounded his hand as he mentally prepared to spar with his young adversary.

"You should have heeded my warning, Meg. Leave, this is the only chance you will get." Erik spoke to her as she slowly inched her way closer to them. It appeared as if she had no intention of listening.

"You are the one that should have listened, Phantom. I warned you to leave but once more, you did not take me seriously. Now, you will pay for your betrayal with her life." She had drawn a katana out from behind her and pointed it at Christine. Erik heard Christine draw in a sharp breath and his anger turned into barely contained fury.

"Leave Christine alone. She had nothing to do with this. I am the one that refused you Meg, not her. I ignored your advances and I broke your heart. Why make her pay for the sins which are mine?" He shifted Christine behind a nearby statue of a winged angel overlooking the city below them.

"You love her, that is why she must pay." Meg stepped another few feet closer and Erik moved in between her and Christine leveling his sword at her as she advanced. "If she dies then who will you have? No one but me and then you can turn to me. I trusted you with my heart and you didn't even notice. How could you not notice? I came to you everyday and sat with you. I brought you the things you most wanted and needed and yet you still turned me away as a mere child. I am no child and you," she pointed her sword at Christine again, "are no angel."

Meg had moved closer to him and he could see not only the hate in her eyes but also a small thread of fear. He may be able to use this thread to weave a blanket and trap her in it before she could hurt anyone.

He threw his cape back off his shoulders and lunged himself at her. His sword was easily deflected by hers and she parried quickly. He managed to dodge her swift stroke and swing his sword around. As he turned around he swirled his cape and Meg lost her balance slightly. The difference was enough for his sword to give her a swift smack on her bottom with the flat part of his blade.

Meg turned around, furious he had hit her and that he was playing with her. Erik knew that an angry fighter was a poor fighter. He raised his sword in a mock salute and waited for her to start at him again.

"You arrogant fool. You have no idea what you are dealing with. I have trained for two years to be an efficient assassin and you will soon see how efficient I can be!" Meg screamed at him as she launched herself across the space that separated them.

Erik watched her move with feminine grace and cat like swiftness as she closed the distance between them. He waited. Suddenly, Meg switched her charge and Erik barely realized what she was doing in time to stop it. She had turned at the last instant, spinning around him and aiming her deadly blade at Christine. Erik heard Christine cry out as she leapt onto the statues back and into its wings. Meg's katana sent sparks out as she connected with the cold stone surface. Erik flung his cape out and caught Meg around the neck and he pulled back on the material, sending her sliding across the rooftop. Her hand shot out but not in time to catch her glinting katana as it slipped away from her.

Erik turned to Christine and ran over to her. He stepped up onto the angel's back and reached out to help Christine down.

"Christine, are you alright?" He pulled her down to him and wrapped his arms around her.

"I am fine, thanks to you. She is crazy Erik. I don't even know who she is anymore." Christine looked up at him as he stepped back.

He could see the loss and the hopelessness she was feeling. Her eyes were flooded with fear and desperation and the sight cut through him like nothing else ever had. The fury that had been boiling inside him exploded and he lost control of his tightly reigned temper. Christine must have seen it for she backed away and he turned to confront the person who had nearly killed his sweet angel.

"This ends now, child." He said in a dead cold voice as he stalked over to Meg who was struggling to get to her feet after the trip across the hard rooftop.

Part twenty-four

Christine watched in horror as Erik's eyes flashed an explosion of hate and anger. She stood deathly still as he turned and advanced on Meg as she struggled to regain her footing. It appeared that she had sprained her ankle when Erik had caught her in his cape. She had just gotten to her feet and stood up when Erik had reached her. She watched the scene unfold in front of her as she struggled to contain her fear and disbelief.

Erik leveled his sword at Meg's chest. Meg looked up at him and somewhere behind the hate and anger Christine could see the love she had spoke of earlier. Christine's heart went out to her. She knew the pain of loving someone you thought you could never have and Erik knew it too. It was a pain that could blind anyone to the truth.

"I warned you child to stay away from us. Why did you not listen? I gave you time and a chance to leave but instead you endanger Christine's life and your own. I will show no mercy to those that threaten my angel." Christine could hear the anger in his voice as he tried to keep his voice steady and his sword where it was.

"You and your precious angel. That is all you have ever cared about, isn't it? Well, she should be with Raoul not here with you. You were mine. She had left you behind and left with her sweet Viscount. She is the one that left you in the catacombs alone and with nothing. I came to you. I loved you, not Christine. Why can't you see that?" The hurt and anger in Meg's voice was evident but she was still dangerous. The wild look hadn't left her eyes and Christine could see Erik relaxing slightly.

"Meg, I let Christine go. She chose me and I let her go as I would have if it had been you. The life I have led is no life for either of you. Raoul is dead and she returned to the opera house and to me. I owe her my life for what she has done for me. She has saved me from my solitude and I love her, Meg. I always have." Erik lowered the sword even more. His back was turned slightly and Christine could see that he was letting his guard down. He may have started to calm down but she could tell from the fire still burning in Meg's eyes she did not intend to concede just yet.

Christine watched as Erik lowered his sword to his sides and Meg's eyes lit up briefly. The next few moments passed quickly and Christine didn't know if she had seen what she had thought. The instant Erik lowered his sword there was a glint of silver from Megs left hand and Erik staggered back. She gasped as she realized what Meg had done.

Christine ran over to Erik as he slipped to the floor, his hand still at his chest and the other still holding his sword. She slid to the rooftop beside him and placed her hand behind his head.

"Erik, oh no, Erik look at me. Please, don't leave me." Her voice broke as a torrent of tears fell from her eyes. She looked down at him and he opened his eyes. He reached up and placed his hand on her face softly.

"Say you need me with you here beside you. You led me, saved me from my solitude. For this Christine, I love you and thank you." He coughed and grimaced from the pain of the stab wound in his chest. He tried to smile at her but she could tell the pain was unbearable. He looked over behind her and something changed in his eyes. The pain was suddenly replaced with fear and alertness. Christine felt Erik shove her aside and looked in time to see him raise his Sword arm with the skull engraved sword and block a dagger thrust from Meg.

Meg had crept up behind her as she had spoke to Erik. He pushed himself up with his blood-covered hand and pushed Meg back with all his strength. Christine was amazed that after all the bleeding he had been doing he still had the strength to fight. He moved to his feet and pushed Meg back towards the rooftop door. She parried him with her small intricately carved dagger she had used to stab Erik with.

Somehow, Meg was keeping Erik at bay. Christine watched and saw that Erik was playing with her but not as he had done before. Now it was more like a cat toying with a mouse before they killed it. She could see Erik would swing his sword out and catch her on the arm. The he would strike the other. Meg had gotten numerous bloody slashes on her arms and legs by the time Erik was wearing out form the loss of blood. Christine knew from the training she had received in caring for Raoul, that the bleeding needed stopped soon.

Meg was tired and breathing heavily by the time Erik had pinned her to the door. He pressed his sword into her shirt over her heart and a small red colored spot spread over the white material. Christine saw Meg's face go white as Erik stood there with the tip of his sword digging into the flesh under her shirt. He was near fainting and yet held on to torture Meg.

Christine dashed over to them and placed her hand over the wound on Erik's chest. She pressed her hand hard and felt Erik weaken from the pain.

"Erik, love don't do this. There is no reason to kill her. I have you know and if I don't get you to the cook, I may lose you. Please, my great tutor, don't leave me alone here with no one." She looked at his face and he was still staring at Meg.

"Meg, this is your point of no return. You have a choice to make. Either we both die or I let you leave with the few scratches I have given you. I am a better swordsman and I do not love you. If something were to happen to Christine I would die and then you would lose not only me but also the one friend that was more of a sister to you. Can you hurt her this way? Can you cause her the pain you now know? If I die so will you and we will have condemned her to a life of loneliness and solitude. This is your choice." Erik pressed his sword into her chest a fraction more and a tear slid down Meg's face.

Christine could feel the warmth slowly leaving his chest as she pressed her hand over the bleeding gash beneath his vest and shirt. She looked over at Meg and tried to read her face. She was in pain and that was hiding most everything else there. Then as Meg looked over at her the hate that had been there earlier flared again. Christine sighed, as she knew that Meg wasn't going to give up her hopeless love for Erik. Christine looked away from her and concentrated on Erik. He was turning pale and his hand started to quiver slightly.

Christine was standing there looking at the floor not wanting to see their faces anymore. Erik had a look of determination and she knew he would kill Meg rather than let her harm either of them. Meg on the other hand, now wanted them both dead and Christine was worried she may have her wish if Erik didn't end this all very soon.

She leaned into Erik's bleeding cut and felt him push his arm out. Christine buried her face into Erik's shoulder as she heard Meg slump to the floor and the dagger clatter on the rooftop as it slipped from her hand.