Author's Note: Okay, here it is, the big moment. Will they or won't they? I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. I really enjoyed all the feedback that I got on Chapter Twenty-Two. I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Christine's Surprise
"Make love to me Erik," Christine whispered, looking deep into Erik's eyes.
His eyes widened at her request. "Are you sure Christine?"
She nodded. "I've never been surer of anything in my life. I love you Erik, and I want to be with you."
Erik sat up. "I love you too Christine and I want to be with you as well. But I don't want you to do something that you're going to regret," he said, looking down at her. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Erik, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Ever since Raoul and I got married, I felt like there was a part of me missing, like I was incomplete. I feel complete when I am with you," she replied.
He smiled and stood up.
"Where are you going?"
"Wait just a minute Christine. I will be right back."
He disappeared into the next room and a few moments later, reappeared holding something in his hand.
"What do you have there?"
"I have wanted to give this to you ever since you returned to me."
Erik opened his hand to reveal the ring that Christine had given him when she left with Raoul.
"Oh Erik!"
"Christine, I love you. I never thought that I would love someone in my entire life. When you came into my life, I finally felt as though things were going right. After you left, I thought that my life would never be the same again. Then I got another miracle, you came back to me. I don't want to lose you again."
She gave him a strange look. "You won't lose me Erik. The one person that could have torn us apart is dead."
"That's not the point Christine."
He stood in front of her and got down on one knee. "Christine, will you marry me?"
A/N: I'm doing a scene shift here. Don't be mad at me, it for a good reason. I think that I have been watching too much Passions and that's been getting me into a soap opera mood with my writing. Okay, back to the story. For story purposes, it's the day after Christine killed Raoul.
A few hours after Raoul had left the estate, Shawn had found Elizabeth locked in Christine's room and unlocked the door to set her free. Immediately, they set out for the Opera Populaire.
Elizabeth walked in the front door and made her way over to where she knew Christine's dressing room would be. She opened the door and found the room crawling with policemen.
"Who are you?" one asked her.
"My name is Elizabeth. I'm looking for the Vicomtesse de Changy," she replied.
"I think you and I need to have a talk," a tall man said, coming up towards her. "Let's go to another room so we can have some privacy."
He led her across the hall to Anne's room. Opening the door, Elizabeth saw Anne sitting on her bed, tears streaming down her face.
"Elizabeth!" Anne cried out, looking up at catching sight of one of her best friends.
"Have a seat miss," the man said. "My name is Inspector Viscalla. I'm with the Paris police department. I need to ask you two a few questions."
After sitting down in a chair at a table across from the bed where both Elizabeth and Anne sat, he took out a notepad and a pen and looked at the two women.
"Now, when was the last time either of you saw Vicomte Raoul de Changy?" he asked.
Elizabeth and Anne looked at each other.
"I saw him yesterday sir," Elizabeth replied.
"So did I," Anne added.
"Where at? When?"
"He was at his family's summer estate with the Vicomtesse. Yesterday morning, they had a terrible fight, and then the Vicomtesse and another man left with Anne here," Elizabeth said.
"What was the fight about?" he asked.
"The Vicomte and his wife have been having some problems in their marriage lately. He's been abusing her and she escaped back here to the opera house. After the Vicomtesse disappeared, the Vicomte practically went insane trying to find her. He had hired a man to search every square inch of Paris," Anne replied.
"Once the Vicomtesse was found in the depths of the opera house with the Phantom, the Vicomte kept himself cooped up in his office. He wouldn't come out for anything, even food. Then one day, he left to go to the opera house for his monthly visit with the Vicomtesse according to his agreement with the Phantom. I went about my daily routine and I was cleaning the front room when the Vicomte came home with the Vicomtesse, apparently against her will. I overheard them outside, they were arguing and then it looked like she just gave up and followed him inside," Elizabeth added.
"What happened after that?" Inspector Viscalla asked, leaning forward in his chair.
"They came inside and he laid down the rules of the house to her. He forbade her from singing, told her that she couldn't go outside unless he was with her, and said that she couldn't talk about the Phantom or she would come to regret it. They had dinner and then she wrote a letter and asked me to go to the Opera Populaire and give it to the Phantom, which I did. He came up with a plan to rescue her and ended up in a confrontation with the Vicomte. At first it looked like the Phantom had killed the Vicomte. He wasn't moving and was unconscious. Both the Phantom and the Vicomtesse made their escape with Anne while I stayed behind to collect some personal belongings."
"I gathered some of my belongings and put them in a bag and started to make my way out of the room and down the stairs when I fell forward and my bag flew out of my hands. I looked behind me to see what I had tripped over and found that the Vicomte was still alive. He had just been knocked out when he fell. I tried to get to the opera house to warn the Vicomtesse, but the Vicomte locked me in a room and took off for the opera house himself, probably to retrieve his wife," Elizabeth said.
"What happened after that? There was a confrontation in the Vicomtesse's dressing room, correct?"
"That is correct," Anne replied. "Our carriage arrived back at the opera house and the Vicomtesse and the Phantom went to visit with Madame Giry and her daughter while I unloaded the carriage and put everything into her dressing room. I finished unloading the carriage and put everything away and then came back here to my room to take a bath. I was getting dressed when the Phantom called for me. I went over to the Vicomtesse's dressing room and saw..." She trailed off.
"What did you see?" the inspector asked.
She took a deep breath. "I saw the Vicomte's body on the floor."
"Where was the Vicomtesse at this time?"
"He said that she was down in his lair, resting."
Inspector Viscalla scribbled furiously in his notebook. "Where is the Vicomte's body now?"
"It's in the basement, in an old storage room," Anne replied.
"I need you to take me there," he said, standing up.
"Of course."
The three of them walked out of the room and Anne led the way down a level to the storage room. She opened the door and stood out of the way. He walked in and quickly lit a candle.
"Where is it?" he asked.
"Over there."
She pointed to something covered in a sheet. He walked over and pulled the sheet back.
"Oh my lord!" he cried out.
Raoul's body was now blue and cold. The blood had dried. He looked like death himself.
Turning to the two women, he finally spoke. "Where is the Vicomtesse now?"
"She is down with her Angel," a voice spoke from the doorway.
They turned to see Madame Giry standing in the doorway.
"Show me where that is," the inspector said.
She nodded and turned. Making their way down to the depths of the opera house, they finally reached their destination.
"Erik? I think we have visitors," Christine said, before she was able to answer his question.
He looked over and saw Madame Giry and Inspector Viscalla. "Madame, what are you doing here?" he asked, standing up.
"Erik, this is Inspector Viscalla. He's a part of the Paris police. He needs to see Christine."
"I do. Where is the Vicomtesse de Changy?" Inspector Viscalla asked.
"I am the Vicomtesse de Changy," Christine replied.
He walked forward and pulled a pair of handcuffs from a pouch on his belt.
"Vicomtesse Christine de Changy, you are under arrest for the murder of your husband Vicomte Raoul de Changy."
If you all hate me now, then so be it. I know that I got your hopes up and then probably dashed them but I have decided to throw a twist into the story instead of ending it. I hope that you guys enjoy this twist. I have duty today so I will probably be submitting another chapter sometime today. I also have ideas running in my head for a new story. I might write the first couple of chapters of that story today as well. I just have to put all these thoughts together to form a coherent story.
I really hope that you guys are enjoying the story so far. Please feel free to read and review!
I remain your obedient author,
Phantomfan1911