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"I wouldn't recommend taking one step closer." Erik said evenly. Christine rushed to Raoul. They ran, through the halls of the opera. Erik chased them, determined to kill Raoul and make Christine his forever.

Raoul didn't know the halls of the opera like Erik did. Raoul and Christine dashed blindly around a corner and ran directly into Erik. They stopped dead in their tracks. Erik and Raoul circled in the wide hallway. Raoul was an expert swordsman, and Erik was good, but he had not been trained since age nine like Raoul.

Raoul got the upper hand and soon Erik was lying on the floor, breathing heavily. Raoul raised his rapier to run Erik through but Christine's voice stopped him. "No, Raoul!" she gasped. "Not like this." He nodded and they walked away. Erik contemplated following them, but his side hurt immensely. He was not as young as Raoul and his body did not react the way it used to.

He struggled to his feet and growled, "Let this be war on you both!"

For the next few days, Erik worked furiously on his opera, preparing it for the managers. It had to be perfect! Raoul calmed Christine and invited her to stay at his home in the city, but Madame Giry would not allow it.

It was the night of the opera. He saw Raoul sitting in Box Five, but didn't mind just this once. He had other business to care for. As the duet between Piangi and Christine approached, Erik grew more and more anxious. He had to time this perfectly. He dropped the lasso around Piangi's neck when Piangi came backstage to prepare for his duet. Erik stepped over Piangi's still form, subconsciously hoping that he was only unconscious. He entered stage right and began.

"Passarino - go away!
For the trap is set and waits for its prey . ." Erik's rich voice reached to every corner of the opera, and fear struck Raoul's heart. He motioned across the audience to the managers that the Phantom was onstage, but not to shoot him yet.

"You have come here in pursuit of your deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish, which till now has been silent, silent . . I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge -
in your mind you've already succumbed to me- dropped all defenses--completely succumbed to me -now you are here with me: no second thoughts, you've decided, decided . . ." Erik sang with great passion, meaning every word to Christine.

"Past the point of no return - no backward glances: the games we've played till now are at an end . . .Past all thought of "if" or "when" - no use resisting: abandon thought, and let the dream descend . . .What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks its door? What sweet seduction lies before us . . .?" He had to know if she would accept him for who—or what—he was.

"Past the point of no return, the final threshold -what warm, unspoken secrets will we learn? Beyond the point of no return . . ."

"You have brought me to that moment where words run dry, to that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence . . .I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why . . . In my mind, I've already imagined our bodies entwining-- defenseless and silent -
and now I am here with you: no second thoughts, I've decided, decided . . ." Christine sang the words, but didn't mean them. Her heart was heavy when she realized, at long last, how hopelessly in love he was with her.

"Past the point of no return -no going back now: our passion-play
has now, at last begun . . .Past all thought of right or wrong - one final question: how long should we two wait, before we're one . . .?" Christine felt like she was betraying Erik, singing the words he had written so caressingly, with no meaning behind them.

"When will the blood begin to race? The sleeping bud burst into bloom? When will the flames, at last, consume us . . .?"

They sang as one, with passion, approaching each other on the highest catwalk. "Past the point of no return, the final threshold - the bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn . . .We've passed the point of no return . . ."

Erik's next words confirmed Christine's suspicion that he had been on the roof with them that night. "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime . . .Lead me, save me from my solitude . .

"Say you want me with you, here beside you . . . Anywhere you go let me go too –Christine that's all I ask of . . ."

Christine's heart felt even heavier as she realized that her hand was touching Erik's cheek, then his forehead, and she tried to stop as she tore his mask from his face, and for the first time, saw what Erik had tried so vainly to hide from her—his face.