Raging Fire
Yeah, so like the story is almost over unless i can think of some great new thing to add to it. so yeah, read and review!
Chapter 5: Raging Fire
"Erik!" Christine shouted. She was in the TV room watching The Phantom of the Opera, and had just found something that could prove to be of some importance.
Erik came rushing into the room. "What is it?"
"I think I may have found something to do with the switch," she replied.
"Really? What is it!"
"I was just watching The Phantom of the Opera again, and I noticed something unusual. During the scene in which Christine goes to the cemetary and Raoul and the Phantom have the sword fight, it changes! Last week when I watched this scene it ended with Raoul and Christine riding away and The Phantom declaring war. Now, Raoul and Christine ride away but there is no fight and The Phantom does not declare war. Chris must have changed the story!" Christine rewinded it and showed Erik the difference.
"Wow, that can't be very good. We have to figure out how to get the two of you switched back, and soon!"
"I could not agree more."
Erik and Christine ran downstairs to begin investigating.
- - -
"Christine, you must do this," Raoul said, taking Chris's hands into his own. Chris sighed and mentally kicked herself. Back in the cemetary she may have ruined everything. She warned the Phantom that Raoul was coming and thus avoided the sword fight. Now, she was to perform in the opera and Raoul wanted her to trap the Phantom. This wasn't so different from before, except that Raoul was not as angry and didn't have as much excuse to trap the masked madman. He didn't know that she 'loved' him.
"Fine Raoul," she said. She had given up singing everything like in the musical, and simply spoke everything like a normal person. Who the heck breaks into song while plotting to capture a murderer? "I'll do it - even though this is the man that once inspired my voice - I shall do it." She hated lying to Raoul. Over the past few days he had proved to be a decent bloke and she felt bad for once being such a prominent Raoul basher. Chris Destler never thought it would happen, but she now sympathized with the fellow! After all, the only crime he was guilty of was loving Christine, and was that so bad? Chris thought not.
"Thank you Christine," he said, "Don't worry, everything will be alright. You'll see." He smiled and gave her a loving hug.
- - -
Erik and Christine poured over book after book on time travel, teleportation, and anything else of that nature that they could find. However though, no matter what they did they couldn't find an answer. Finally, they decided to try a psychic. They went to Madame Giry (what a freaky coincidence, eh?) the local psychic to see if she knew anything.
"So," she said, tapping her unusually long fingernails on top of her table. "What you are saying then, is that you," she pointed to Christine, "have been transported from the 1800's and your wife has been sent back to them?"
"Yes," said Erik. "Can you help us?"
"No," she said very decidedly. Her grey eyes turned steely and she had an uncomfortable air about her.
"Why not?"
"Because I do not deal with time travel. It is a very prickly predicament that you have gotten into and I to have no part in it." She wrote something down on a piece of paper, and then got up from her red plush chair. "Please leave now."
Erik and Christine sighed simlutaneously. "Fine," he said, "thank you anyways Madame Giry." When he shook the woman's hand, she gave him the piece of paper. He gave her a curious look, but she just shooed them out of her store.
When they arrived back at the mansion, Erik unfolded the paper and read it:
To bring your wife to the future and send the other woman to the past, you must do two things:
1) First, your wife must regain a balance in the past. Until anything that she has changed is made right, she cannot come back.
2) In the present time, you must convince people that this woman is indeed you wife. Once that is done she will be able to go back to the past.
"Well," said Erik, "I think that we can handle that. Maybe, if we convince the people in this time that you are Chris, then you can go back to Paris and tell Chris what she needs to do."
"I was just thinking the same thing," Christine said. "Maybe we should invite 'my mother' over for dinner tomorrow. Tonight, you can teach me to be like Chris and then we can fool them."
"Great idea. Follow me and I'll teach you about Chris Destler," he said, and led her up to the bedroom to snoop through Chris's things.
- - -
Chris paced the floor of her dressing room, anxiosuly waiting for Don Juan to begin. She had never been so nervous in her entire life...wait, that's not true. She recalled another time when her nerves nearly got the best of her...
flashback
"Oh mother, I think I am going to faint."
"Come on Chris, hold it together," said Marie, fanning her daughter's face. The hot July sun was high in the sky and the heat was sweltering. Chris felt as though she were going to melt, in her lacy wedding gown. It was perfect, an exact replica of the nightgown worn by Christine Daae in The Phantom of the Opera, and Chris looked beautiful in it. Her bouquet consisted of one dark red rose with a black ribbon tied round the stem.
"I'm so nervous!"
"Don't worry darling, everything will be fine." Marie tried to console her daughter, but wasn't doing a very good job. She still disaproved of this wedding and of the man Chris was to wed. He was rich enough it's true, but older and she just didn't like him. "Just take a deep breath."
Chris took in a deep breath and counted to ten. Then twenty. Then thirty, but she still didn't calm down. A knock sounded at the door. "Come in," she squeaked. The door opened and her father came in, dressed in his suit.
"It's time Chris," he said. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you Daddy." She took one more deep breath, grabbed her rose, and arm in arm with her parents walked out to the waiting carriage.
The carriage was pulled by two elegant white horses, and it took them to the edge of the meadow, where a long aisle was created by a strip of white fabric. Rose petals littered the path, and at the end of the aisle stood Erik, his shaggy black hair moving in the breeze. He wore a simple white collared shirt and black pants, somewhat reminiscent of the Phantom's Don Juan outift. White folding chairs filled with people sat on either side of the white runner, and they all turned expectantly to see the blushing bride. The beautiful piano from the music room had been moved outside for this occasion and now produced the soft melody of All I Ask of You as Chris descended the aisle. The moment she saw Erik, her nerves floated away and there were no thoughts within her head but thoughts of joy. No dreams within her heart but dreams of love.
end flashback
Chris wiped a tear from her eye, picked up her basket of flowers, and began to make her way backstage to await her cue. On the way however, she bumped into someone. "Oh sorry!" she exclaimed.
"Chris?" said the stranger, who was covered by a large cloak and hood.
"Yes...?"
"Oh thank heavens. Please, come with me!" The stranger grabbed Chris's arm and pulled her into a vacant hallway.
"What's going on, and who the heck are you?" demanded Chris.
The stranger pulled off her hood. "Christine Daae." For a second both women stared at each other. No wonder people mistook them for one another; they looked nearly exactly alike!
"Oh my," said Chris. "Pleased to meet you!" She extended her hand, which Christine shook somewhat timidly.
"Chris," said Christine. "Erik and I found the way to send you back."
"You've been with Erik the whole time? How is he?"
"He's fine," she said with a smile. "To get back to him you have to bring balance to the story. You've changed things and until they are set back to the way they were you cannot go back."
"Oh," Chris said, "well, I suppose I can manage to do that. I was just on my way to Don Juan. I hadn't planned on ripping his mask off, but if it will get me back to my husband, then I shall do it. But wait, he knows that I'm not you. How will we accomplish the Down Once More scene if he knows that I'm not you?"
"I think that I may have an idea to fix that. We shall have to let The Phantom know ahead of time somehow though."
"Really? What is it?"
Christine leaned over and whispered her plan into Chris's ear. The two women shared a smile and then ran off to set everything up. Christine made her way up to above the chandelier, to see whether or not he had rigged it to fall. He hadn't so for several minutes she struggled with the heavy chains so that it would fall easily when provoked. Then, she rushed down to Chris's dressing room to find a spare costume. They had to time things just right so that no one would notice the switch.
Meanwhile, Chris Destler was growing more nervous each second. So far, she hadn't been able to spot Mr. Phantom. Her eyes searched everywhere, and she hoped that he would appear before they began so that she wouldn't have to be as sneaky. No such luck. The music changed, and it was now her turn to take the stage.
- - -
Erik paced the floor of his music room just nervously as his wife had paced the dressing room. Christine had been gone for two hours now and he was beginning to worry. They had convinced Marie and Gavin that Christine had just had temporary amnesia of sorts, and they seemed to accept this quite willingly. Later that night, Erik and Christine had been in the music room just talking, when a bright blue light appeared and suddenly she was gone. She had been wearing a long black cloak with a hood so that she could blend into the Opera when she arrived. He checked his watch and collapsed down onto the sofa.
"Where are you?" he asked the air.
- - -
Chris nearly gasped when she saw The Phantom appear on the stage with her. His voice was so rich and seductive and she nearly forgot what she was supposed to tell him. He came over and with a playful wink, ran his hands over her body. Oh my goodness gracious, was all that her mind was capable of thinking. Luckily, her eyes wandered over to Raoul in Box 5 and she was brought back to reality. As he sang to her, with hardly a movement of her lips she whispered, "Christine is here. Just before we climb the stairs she and I will switch places."
There was a pause in his singing, and he nodded in understanding. Chris and Erik separated and moved to either side of the twisting stairs. The audience was so focused on The Phantom however, that they did not notice when Chris dashed off the stage and Christine took her place.
Chris ran through the deserted halls and up the stairs to release the chandelier when it was time. Christine and her Don Juan stared in each other's eyes, and he began to sing her secret song with Raoul. Chris patiently waited until the mask was torn away. Then, at the precise moment that he cut the ropes, she unhooked several chains and let the chandelier go. It swung above the heads of the patrons dangerously, and it wasn't long before the shrieks reached Chris's ears. The beautiful velvet stage curtains caught fire and the hot blaze soon spread to the audience seats. The fire was fast, and furious, and quickly climbed the walls all the way up to where Chris was crouched. Oh gosh no! she screamed inwardly, for she was surrounded by the flames.
Frantically, Chris searched for a way out, but all exits were blocked. Finally she gave up, knowing that she would never see Erik again. What raging fire shall flood the soul... were the words that played in her mind over and over. Images of The Phantom's face, her family's faces, her husband's face flashed through her mind. She wasn't supposed to die like this. Not here, not now, not this way. Would she ever see Erik again? They were supposed to grow old together and have children. Now she was trapped in the late 1800's with no hope of escape. What had she done to deserve this?
As the smoke grew thicker Chris laid her head down and closed her eyes, silently praying that some miracle would save her from this raging fire.