"All right - where was I?" Erik said with a sigh as he continued telling his story to Christine. "Oh, yes - I remember now.
Once I'd been betrayed by your mother, nobody in the Opera saw or heard from me for three months. I was composing an opera, Don Juan Triumphant, the entire time."
"Don Juan Triumphant?" Christine asked. "I've never heard of it. You've never brought it up."
"You'll find out why soon enough. So, one day, after three months of solid composing, Don Juan was finished, and I decided that I would go to the masquerade, which was that night, and make my appearance in order to give it to the employees of the Opera House so that they could perform it. So I dressed up in the most fantastic costume, the Red Death, which I shall show to you later, if you wish, and made my way to the main hallway, where the masquerade was taking place. The music stopped and the lights dimmed when I entered, and everyone saw me. I came down that stairs and tossed the Don Juan score on the floor. Then I began casting Don Juan. Carlotta would have a minor role, Piangi, the head baritone, would be Don Juan, and your mother would be Aminta.
When I your mother and I made eyes contact, it was clear to me that she was entranced once again, just as she had been when I'd brought her down here the first night we formally met. We started walking towards each other, meeting in the middle of the main staircase, and I saw her engagement ring from Raoul on her neck and pulled it off of its chain. Then I left."
"You just left?"
"Yes. Then, the next morning, your mother was going to the cemetery to visit her father's grave. I knocked out the stableman who was going to take her, disguised myself, and climbed into the driver's seat of the carriage. Then your mother got in, and we drove away. Little did I know, Raoul was following us."
She scoffed. "Of course."
"I dropped you mother off at the cemetery and parked the carriage. Then I went to her father's grave, climbed on top of it, and waited. Soon she came and sat. I was determined to win her back, and I sang to her, her Angel of Music once again. I was so close, but then Raoul rode up on horseback. I wasn't about to let her get away a second time, so I jumped off the grave and pulled out my sword. Then we began to swordfight. I cut him on his arm, and from then on he was determined to win more than ever. So he advanced on me and eventually knocked me down. He kicked my sword away and raised his sword to kill me. But your mother protested, and he backed away and they rode off on his horse together. I stood up, enraged at my loss.
I quickly came back here and began to plan how to win your mother once and for all. Meanwhile, your mother and Raoul were planning a plot of their own. They would perform Don Juan in hopes that I would come to see your mother sing. The police would be there, fully armed, ready to kill me at a moment's notice. Your mother was going to betray me once again. But I wouldn't let that happen. Instead of just coming to Don Juan, I snuck in and killed Piangi, then replaced him as Don Juan.
When I came out, your mother and I sang Don Juan and Aminta's duet, The Point of No Return, together. As she and I stood on the scenery bridge together, I sang to her, pleading with her. She turned around and pulled off my mask for the second time in front of the entire opera. She betrayed me once again! So I cut a rope that held the chandelier up and fell through a trap door with your mother. The chandelier crashed, and I dragged your mother along back here, furious with her."
"So what happened?"
"I'm getting there, ma cherie. So we arrived back here, and I forced your mother to put on a wedding dress that I'd bought for her. We were about to make it 'official' when, not surprisingly, Raoul arrived. He begged me to let your mother go, then begged to see her. So I opened the gate for him, but I had other things in mind.
When he stepped in, I threw the Punjab lasso around his neck and tied him to the gate. I told your mother that if she wanted him to live, she'd have to marry me, and if she refused, I'd kill him then and there. They protested for a time, but I refused to bend. I was going to marry your mother, even if it meant that I had to kill somebody in order to get my way. Then, much to my shock, your mother slipped the ring I'd given her on her finger and kissed me. It was clear that she'd chosen to marry me. She was going to sacrifice her freedom to let Raoul live."
He paused and sighed. "It was finished then, of course... that kiss ended everything." He glanced up at her. "I want you to remember something, Christine - a kiss will always end a relationship for a member of the Vasilles."
"What are the Vasilles?" she inquired, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion.
"Oh - it's our surname, Christine. But as I said, a kiss will end a relationship for a Vasille - always. Remember that." He paused. "So, in the end, I let them go. They lived together, and I stayed here. I lived here in total misery until your mother came back and gave you to me. And that's the end."
"Wow," she breathed. "What a story. Will I end up the same way, Father?"
"I certainly hope not," he retorted. "I don't think that I could stand to see you go through everything I did."
"Now," he continued, "I have something to give you."
He stood and went to a drawer in the dining table, then opened it and produced a tiny gold locket. He walked back over to her and put it on her neck, clasping it together.
"There is a picture of your mother and of me inside," he informed her. "I want you to keep it."
She opened it and looked at the pictures inside, peering slightly in order to see the pictures clearly, as they were quite small.
"Is that Mother?" she asked when she saw a picture of a woman with brown eyes and long brown curls.
"Yes, and that's the only picture I have of her. I want you to keep it, Christine. Take care of it, won't you, please?"
She looked up at him and smiled, nodding. "I will, Father," she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you."