Freakstar: Once again, thanks so much! Trust me, if I could publish a book, I so would! It's just about my biggest goal in life! It's why I write phics and such - I'm practicing until I can get good enough to be published.
Come on, everyone else, I know you're out there somewhere! I want to hear from you:)
Back at the
Opera House, Christine soon saw that it did not look as she had left
it - now it was swarming with police officers. She ran inside the
building, where there was scarcely any room left to move. The
Populaire had not been this full since the Don Juan Triumphant Opera,
although there were even more officers now than there was then;
although for the same purpose. Christine pushed her body through the
crowds, seeming as if she was apologizing non stop for bumping into
so many people. Finally, she was able to reach her dressing room and
opened the mirror, careful to shut it behind her. Then she
practically flew down the hundreds of steps, and rowed across the
lake until she was in his lair.
"Erik!" She screamed out,
whirling around to find him. "Erik! I need to speak with you -
now!" She tried to put firmness in her voice, but failed. The sobs
that she had been holding back were seeping into her voice.
Erik
emerged from the shadows in the direction of his bedroom. "Yes?"
He was busy trying to rub his eye without irritating his mask.
"How
can you be so calm in my presence?" She exclaimed, it unnerving her
that he just stood there as if nothing was happening. "Why did you
do it, Erik? Why?" Angrily she yelled, then raced to him, beating
her fists on his chest. He just stared at her in confusion. Finally,
he had enough of her tantrum, and seized her wrists into his large
hands. "Christine, why are you angry? What have I done?"
"Don't
think you can hide it, Erik! What you have done is in the newspapers
- and to prove it, you weren't even here this morning! Why were you
asleep just now?"
"Late night. I was busy. But-"
"I'm
sure you were! Tell me, tell me please - why? Why did you do it? Why
did you try to kill Raoul, Erik? Did you bother to find out about
him? He has a little girl, do you know that? A little
girl...Katie...that would have been fatherless if you had succeeded
last night. Does that make you feel no remorse for what you have
done?" Christine was still screaming, but by the end, she had
worked herself up too much. Finishing her sentence, she put her
forehead against Erik's chest and sobbed.
"Christine...I
don't have the slightest idea what you speak of. Tried to kill de
Changy? Why would I do something like that? I was up all night
composing music to play for you today. This morning I went out
shopping. Yes, Christine - even a phantom such as I must go fetch
things once in a while. When I came back, I fell asleep, until you
awoke me just now. What ever you speak of, I had nothing to do
with."
Christine looked into those sincere eyes. Instantly, she
knew he hadn't done it. His voice, his true confusion, his
eyes...they were not lying. But still, the logical side of her
refused to be satisfied.
"But he said that he saw your mask! He
told me himself that the man who attacked him had a mask on - he saw
it in the moonlight! How could you not have done it - there isn't
very many masked Phantoms running around in Paris, Erik!"
"Calm
down. Christine, have you thought let a single sensible thought pour
into your mind at all today? Think, Christine - I am not the only one
with a mask anymore. Do you not remember that many people raided my
lair, or have you forgotten this in your hysteria? You know very well
that not one mask made it to the vaults, yet all eleven of them were
missing when I returned. Couldn't someone have done this in my
name? Deliberately shone de Changy my mask in the moonlight so this
would happen? Think, Christine. Think of what you are accusing me of.
Have you so little faith in me? Truly, I'm quite disappointed. I
thought you trusted me more than this."
Christine looked at him
as her tears started again. She had been judgmental, and she had
jumped to conclusions. Many things she had not thought about before
she ran in to his home and decided to blame him for everything.
Still, after all this time and all the had been through, was she no
better then everyone else?
"The police are here. All of Paris is
searching for you. Come, follow me. Hide in my dressing room - no one
will think to look in there. I'll close it off - make some excuse
to say it's under repairs." Christine said, taking his large
gloved hand into hers.
"You believe me then?" Erik asked,
refusing to move before she answered.
"You would never lie to
me, Erik. You're trust is the one piece of steady ground that I'll
always be able to stand on. I know that."
"I'd never hurt
you either, Christine."
She looked back into his green eyes, and
realized instantly how much she had hurt him in her accusations, but
there was no time for apologies now. She had to get him away from
here; the police were sure to find the way.
