Chapter 11: Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
It was later that day and Meg couldn't stop her sobbing as Raphael buried their daughter in the large backyard of the house. When Raphael was done, he sat the shovel down and stood next to Meg, soothing her as much as he could.
After Christine was buried, Meg went into a deep state of depression. She wouldn't eat, sleep or drink anything. Raphael even called Meg's father to have him talk to her, but she would have nothing to do with Raoul.
"Take her to the Opera Populaire and surround her with familiar things," Raoul told Raphael. Raphael nodded and had his stable boy hitch up Raphael's best carriage horses – two mares named Fantine and Ginger. As soon as the two mares were ready, Raoul led out a solemn-looking Meg outside. Meg was wearing a long black skirt, black gloves, a black shawl, a black shirt and black boots. She didn't say anything to either Raoul or Raphael as she climbed into the back seat of the carriage. Raoul and Raphael tried everything to cheer Meg up, but nothing worked.
Suddenly, a familiar song came to Meg's mind and she started to sing.
"You were once my one companion,
You were all that mattered.
You were once a friend and father,
Then my world was shattered.
Wishing you were somehow here again,
Wishing you were somehow near.
Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed,
Somehow you would be here.
Wishing I could hear your voice again,
Knowing that I never would.
Dreaming of you won't help me to do,
All that you dreamed I could!
Passing bells and sculpted angels,
Cold and monumental.
Seem, for you, the wrong companions,
You were warm and gentle.
Too many years fighting back tears,
Why can't the past just die!"
"Meg, that's beautiful!" Raphael commented as Meg finished singing. Meg didn't say anything as she, Raphael and Raoul climbed out of the carriage. Monsieurs Andre and Firmin were there to meet them at the door, along with Raoul's wife, Cosette. As Meg hugged Cosette, the woman looked from Raphael to Meg and back again.
"Where's your daughter?" Cosette asked, holding her arms out as if a baby were to be placed in them.
"Didn't Father tell you the sad news?" Meg asked, holding onto Raphael's arm as the group headed inside.
"No, he didn't. I was hoping you would tell me," Cosette said.
"Our baby – Christine – died yesterday. She was only two days old," Meg told her, drawing her shawl closer to her body. Raphael guided her to Box Three and sat her down in the chair next to his.
"Raphael, darling, why are we here?" Meg asked, looking down at the large stage.
"We're here to see a play," Raphael told her, putting his hand in hers, but Meg quickly drew her hand away as if she had been burned.
"Meg, I know you're depressed about Christine's death and all. . ." Raphael whispered. He stopped speaking when the lights flickered and happy music began to play.
"What are we seeing again?" Meg whispered in Raphael's ear.
"Eye of the Tiger, Heart of the Lamb by Chroikoff," Raphael told her, squeezing her knee gently.
"Oh," Meg said without much enthusiasm in her voice.
"Lighten up, Meg. Try to have fun," Raphael hissed, not taking his eyes off of the dancers.
"I don't see you upset that your daughter just died!" Meg whispered loudly.
"I am upset, but I'm holding it inside of me instead of the world seeing my depression," Raphael told her quickly. They did not talk for the remainder of the opera.
Three hours later, Meg and Raphael were in the carriage back home. They didn't speak a word to each other from the time that the carriage drove up to the time that they had sat down in the back seat of the carriage.
Later that night, Meg and Raphael were in bed. Raphael was fast asleep, where as Meg kept hearing a familiar voice in her head.
"Insolent boy, this slave of fashion,
Basking in your glory!
Ignorant fool, this brave young suitor,
Sharing in my triumph!"
Meg didn't want to ignore the voice so she sang,
"Angel, I hear you, speak, I listen
Stay by my side, guide me.
Angel, my soul was weak, forgive me.
Enter at last, master!"
Once again, the voice sounded.
"Flattering child you shall know me,
See why in shadow I hide!
Look at your face in the mirror,
I am there, inside!"
Meg felt herself get out of bed and walk towards the full-length mirror hanging across from the bed.
"Angel of Music, guide and guardian,
Grant to me your glory!
Angel of Music, hide no longer,
Come to me strange, Angel!"
As Meg felt herself walk towards the mirror, she glanced over her shoulder at Raphael's sleeping figure.
"I am your Angel of Music.
Come to me, Angel of Music. . ."
As soon as Raphael heard that voice, he jumped out from underneath the covers, but he was too late. A figure had Meg under a spell and was guiding her towards the mirror, helping her step through and seal the mirror from the other side. Once she was through, eerie music began to play from all around her.
"In sleep he sang to me,
In dreams he came
That voice which calls to me
And speaks my name
And do I dream again?
For now I find
The Phantom of the Opera is there -
Inside my mind"
The Phantom led her down a tunnel where a beautiful white horse was standing, waiting for them. Noticing the horse, the Phantom began to sing.
"Sing once again with me
Our strange duet
My power over you
Grows stronger yet
And though you turn from me,
To glance behind,
The Phantom of the Opera is there -
Inside your mind"
Taking one of the Phantom's gloved hands, he helped her mount the calm animal, talking briefly to it.
"Those who have seen your face
Draw back in fear
I am the mask you wear . . ."
"It's me they hear . . ." The Phantom sang, leading the horse to a pool of water where a small boat was waiting for them. The Phantom helped Meg dismount the horse and tied it to a rock nearby.
"Your/my spirit and your/my voice,
In one combined:
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside your/my mind . . ." Meg and the Phantom sang in unison as they climbed into the boat. The Phantom was just about to push off the piece of land when Meg heard somebody call her name.
"Meg wait!" Raphael panted. Both Meg and the figure turned around to see Raphael holding a brass candlestick, blood on his face and hands. Meg gasped as she saw the blood on his face. He had a long red scratch running down the side of his cheek to his chin and another on his forehead, but not as deep. Climbing out of the boat, she ran to her husband, completely forgetting about the figure that was there with her.
"How did you get here, idiot?" the figure asked darkly.
"As soon as I heard you sing, I jumped out of bed and broke the mirror with the candlestick. Some glass and debris scratched my face and hands, but I kept breaking the glass. I finally was able to get through the mirror and ran down the hallway where I stand now," Raphael explained. Meg smiled at him and dabbed his face with her handkerchief. As she did so, Raphael smiled back at her and kissed her lips.
"Oh, great. Not again!" the figure complained.
"What? You don't like us kissing?" Meg asked.
"No, it's not that. You just remind me so much of your mother and your idiot of a father when they were about your age," the figure told them, stepping back into the boat, preparing to row away.
"Let me get a good look at you before we leave," Meg said, stepping closer to the figure. The figure sighed and let the black cape he was wearing drop to the floor. Meg drew in a deep breath when she realized that it was her and her mother's Angel of Music. He still had the white mask, dressed in the same black clothes and still had the most angelic voice Meg had ever heard.
"Why did you try to steal me away from my husband?" Meg asked, picking up the black cape and handed it to the phantom. He shook his head and Meg looked at Raphael, confused.
"You can keep it," the Phantom said. "I don't have much use for it."
"Thank you," Meg said, draping the cape over her shoulders. Raphael placed a hand on her stomach and the other on her back, turning her away from the phantom.
"I'm sorry," the phantom apologized. Meg and Raphael quickly turned around.
"For what?" Meg asked, holding Raphael's hand tightly.
"The loss of your daughter. I'm sure she would have been a wonderful addition to the Opera Populaire," the Phantom said, tears coming to his dark eyes. Meg felt tears come to her own eyes as the Phantom gently kissed her on the cheek. He took Raphael's hand in his and gripped it hard. Raphael smiled sadly at the Phantom.
"What was her name?" the Phantom inquired.
"Christine, after Meg's mother," Raphael told him, putting his arm around Meg's shoulders and the other on her stomach.
"Why do you keep putting your hand on her stomach?" the Phantom asked.
"I have news for both of you," Meg said, drawing in a deep breath.
"Yes?" both men asked.
"I'm expecting!" Meg announced, happily. Raphael scooped Meg in his arms and kissed her all over. The Phantom just gave Meg a hug and disappeared. A solitary white rose with a red ribbon lay where the Phantom had been standing. A note tied to the ribbon read:
"You alone can make my song take flight,
It's over now, the Music of the Night!"
A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed this story! Unfortunatly, this is the final chapter, but you can decide what happens to Raphael, Meg and that mysterious Phantom.