A/N – Here's the next chapter everybody. And please if you read, review.
Ch.2 It's Downhill From Here
Once again Christine heard the chant from the mob and it seemed Erik had heard it as well. They both turned their heads in the direction of the singing. The voices were growing louder as the people were getting closer. In the middle of the constant chant Christine heard Erik say, "You shouldn't have come back. If they find out then they'll get you as well."
Christine turned and looked into Erik's eyes. She then took his hand in hers and said, "I couldn't leave you to fend for your self. Come on, we have to get you out of here."
Christine gave a slight squeeze to his hand. Then they both got up and headed into the main area. Erik lead Christine to where three mirrors were set up. He went to the last one with a maroon draping, pulled a lever, and waited as the glass slid from place. They stepped in the passage way. Erik dropped the draping in place once more, pulled another lever, and they both watched the glass slide soundlessly into place.
Still holding one another's hand they turned around. Instantly the hall way became illuminated as candles magically flickered on. Once they got some light Christine said, "Erik, I have something for you." And from the folds of her dress, her hand came out holding his beloved porcelain mask. He looked at the mask and then back at her with a questioning look. "I took it off your table. I thought you might want it."
A smile crossed his lips as he said, "Thank you." Christine nodded and put the mask in Erik's outstretched hand. As he grabbed it his fingers lightly brushed against hers. They both smiled from the light touch. Christine let go of it and Erik put it on his face.
Once it was firmly in place the old Erik seemed to have come out of hiding. Immediately his bent back became straight and he held his head higher. Christine was very thankful for his change. Now they had a better chance of defeating the mob.
"Come, we should be able to lose them now."
They walked down the long passage way for what seemed like hours to them, passing one candle right after the other. Right when they passed a candle it magically extinguished itself. Christine guessed with the same magic that lit them in the first place. They kept walking…and walking…and walking until ---- they came face to face with a small group of people.
For a while everyone just stood in silence, Christine and Erik because they had been found, and the people because they were shocked to see him so close. Then, out of nowhere, someone from within the crowd said, "It's the Phantom. And he had Christine!"
All of a sudden everything seemed like life had once again been put into the scene. All of the men in the crowd lunged for Erik while the few women went to get Christine away from him.
Although Erik was a strong man, the number of men he was up against didn't equal out. He put up a good fight but before long he was on his knees. He hands were being held behind his back by two young men.
Christine struggled against the women but also to no avail. She almost got loose but one of the men went to hold her still. She struggled against him as well but when she saw it wasn't going to work she stopped. She looked at Erik and said, "I love you my Angel of Music."
"You love him? How can you love a man that looks like this?" one of the men standing next to Erik asked. After he said that last sentence he pulled Erik's mask off. Erik tried to wiggle his way out of the men's grasp to get his mask back but they held him tightly. He stopped, looked back at Christine, and said, "I love you as well."
After those words left his lips the man who took his mask kicked him in the ribs. Christine's eyes went wide with horror. Once again she struggled as she yelled, "No! Stop, please." Erik was now leaning over, coughing, trying to recover from the unseen kick. His sad eyes looked up at Christine's frightened ones. The man holding Christine said, "Let's bring her back. The Vicomte is awaiting her safe return, and a lady shouldn't have pictures of what we'll do in her head."
If possible, Christine's eyes widened more, "No! Please, I beg you, don't hurt him." But it was too late. She was already being dragged away. She finally stopped struggling and all she heard was Erik's, her angel's, cries of pain. Tears streamed down her face and she let them fall freely.
"Oh, Mademoiselle, the Vicomte is frightfully worried about you. He'll be so happy to see you're safe return." Christine gave no answer. She just looked over her shoulder and silently cried.
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Erik's POV
Once they started to pull Christine away, they began to torture him. While he looked after her they punched and kicked him. He tried his best too not make them satisfied and scream, but soon it was all too much to bear. First, all he let out were muffled gasping sounds, but after a while his voice became louder. In little time they were screams.
Soon he was laying on the ground, almost to the point of becoming unconscious. They no longer held him. There was no need to considering he wasn't putting up a fight. No longer could he scream or defend him self. He just lay there waiting for them to kill him.
Then, into his vision, stepped two women, one about Christine's age and the other old enough to be her mother. I know those women was the last thing he thought before he lost it too darkness.
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Christine's POV
"Come now, Little Lotte, he can no longer haunt us." Raoul said in his carriage as he and Christine road to his house. Christine, not once, looked up at him till know.
"Raoul, I am no longer Little Lotte. Stop treating me as such. And you led those people right to us. If you cared for me at all you would have let me stay with the man I love."
"But he doesn't love you like I do."
"You're right, he doesn't. He loves me for the woman I am and you love me for the child I used to be. Father promised me an Angel of Music and now you take him away from me. How could you do that to me?"
Christine, he isn't an angel. He's a…a monster."
Christine just about lost it. She was so tired of everyone calling her love a monster. He was no such thing! "Raoul, you don't know him. He cries, he laughs, he loves, he feels just as everyone else does. But everyone wants to take it all away from him just because of his appearance. I was blind to it at first but now I see the man he is."
Once she said her peace she looked out her window again. She would not acknowledge Raoul's or any thing else's presence. All she did was think of her angel at the mercy of those demons.
DarkoBender – Awww. Thanks. And yea, I be continuing it now. LOL
Cptn-jacks-bonnie-lass – Yay you finally saw it! Isn't it a lovely movie? I just love it. And yes Christine should have stayed with the Phantom. Poor girl didn't know a good thing when she saw it.
