Chapter 4: Realized fears
My breath caught in my throat and my heart was pounding in my chest. He was the first to speak.
"So Christine my angel, you have returned." he said in a quiet, awed voice. I noticed that his mask was now black.
"Yes, I have," I said as I removed my shoulder from his light grip, my brown eyes boring into his hazel ones. "I did not know that you had as well." I backed away from him.
"But of course I have, I only left for a short while. How could I leave the only place that held memories of you?" he replied, his voice silky and bittersweet.
I didn't answer him. For some reason now, I no longer felt so afraid of him, the feeling of terror was not so overwhelming. I had always felt sorry for having hurt him, I truly had, but now there was a new emotion growing in the pit of my stomach... anger. It seemed that all the times I had been in Erik's presence I had either been under his seemingly hypnotic spell, or I had been worried and frightened at his violent actions. I remembered the feelings and emotions that I had experienced the last night that I had seen Erik as though it had been yesterday.
I had been so hurt as I finally realized his deceptions, and so shocked at his desperation, and his lonliness, that I hardly had time to feel anger.
"Can you not answer me Christine?" said Erik, a hint of sadness now in his tone. "You have not seen me since that night when I allowed you to go with that boy, and you cannot speak! You left me broken Christine." His eyes were filled with a desperate fire that conveyed the impression that his thoughts had been consumed with nothing but me for the past year.
I stared at this man, for I had no doubts now that he was in fact nothing but a man, whom I had once believed to be my angel of music. I had cared for him as my teacher, and I had felt a strange sense of compassion for him yes, but it had never been anything more than that. And now I simply could not believe that he had the nerve to tell me what I had done wrong.
"You speak of me breaking you Erik?" I said, trying to keep my voice down so that the people backstage would not overhear. "You decieved me for so many years, you had me believing in the lie that you had been sent by my father. You tried to murder the man that I loved, and then attempted to force me to make a decision that no one should ever be forced to make. I never wanted to hurt you Erik, but you forced me too." I stopped, as I found that my eyes were filling with tears as my mind relived all of these memories.
I shook as I tried to control my emotions. I suddenly longed for nothing more than Raoul's protective embrace. It was then that I noticed Erik moving towards me, his face giving the image that he was about to start singing, perhaps thinking that some part of me would still fall victim to his spell. I felt fear begin to creep along my veins, slowly overtaking my mind. If he kidnapped me, would I ever be able to escape? Perhaps he thought that if he captured me and never let me go, then he could force my feelings to change.
"In sleep I sang to you, in dreams I came..." He began to sing, his deep baritone voice sounding no different than it had since I had last heard its smooth, clear notes.
I backed away, but I knew that this was a mental fight. I willed my mind to not fall under his power. I thought of the last year, and of the calm, peaceful days spent at the sea with Raoul. This tactic seemed to work quite well at first, but as my former teacher continued to sing, I found myself being consumed with darkness, and I unconsciously began to move towards him. Now instead of hearing the soft waves of the sea, I could only hear the hypnotic words of his song. This was all in my head, why couldn't I simply will it to go away? It was then, as I felt myself falling completely under Erik's spell, that I heard a voice, the voice of my savior ring out.
"Christine!" cried Raoul as I felt my trance fall. My head pounded from the mental battle, and I started to fall, but Raoul caught me by the arms from behind. I turned to see confusion and panic in my beloved's soft blue eyes.
"Are you alright," he asked in a gentle tone. " I was talking with Andre' and Firmin when I got a strange notion that something was wrong. What is going on?" his eyes shifted from my face to Erik's jet black mask and I saw his expression change. "What are you doing here?" he asked, his tone hard.
Erik smirked at Raoul, as he he came toward us with a swish of his cloak. "I could ask you the same thing de Chagny. You always manage to get in my way." The man who was called the Phantom stopped, only inches from where we stood.
Raoul stepped in front of me, silently bidding me to stay back. "I thought that you had let us go monsieur, but it appears that you are taking back that moment of compassion."
"I decided that it was a mistake. I should have killed you when I had the chance." said Erik. "Then my angel would have been mine, and the music of the night would have lived on."
Raoul's eyes widened in fury, and I felt him grasp my hand tightly, as though afraid that I would dissapear at any moment. My breathing became fast paced, as I felt that there was a confrontation ahead, and that was something that I had never wished to witness again.
"But if you had done that monsieur," replied Raoul, trying to keep his voice calm for my sake. "Then you would have been forcing her to do something that would have made her unhappy. If you claim to care for her, do you really want to take away the happiness she has just so recently achieved?" Raoul's voice raised, and shook with feeling.
I squeezed Raoul's hand as he said this, for it was so true. It had taken so long after my father's death and after all of the events at the opera for me to regain my sense of happiness and life.
"You do not understand," breathed Erik. "And you never will Vicomte. Christine belongs to me." he said firmly.
"She belongs to no one!" said Raoul, his eyes now full of a valiant fire that seemed unquenchable. The two looked ready to lunge at each other, until voices could be heard coming towards the theater.
An infuriated and annoyed expression came across Erik's face as the voices came closer. A wave of relief came over me, for I knew that Erik did not want to be found. A confrontation had been avoided, at least for now.
"This is not over," breathed Erik. "You had best watch out for my punjab lasso monsieur." he said as he glared at Raoul. "I will have the love of my angel." His eyes met mine one last time as he dissapeared in a flash of fire.
I pulled Raoul into an embrace, longing to feel the warmth, security, and familiariy that it brought to me. For a moment, I could not believe that our worst fear had come true; Erik had returned. But there was something in Raoul's touch that told me that it would be alright. We broke apart as we heard the voices; those of Andre' and Firmin, right beside us.
"What happened?" Both exclaimed at once. "We heard a racket in here, and we were concerned after you left the office in a dash Raoul."
Raoul sighed and looked at the managers gravely. "I know you will not want to believe this, but the Phantom has returned."
The two looked at us as though we were insane. I felt quite sorry for them; they had worked so hard to rebuild this opera, and to hear news such as that would be devestating.
"What are you talking about Vicomte?" asked Firmin uneasily. "Of course he hasn't."
"I assure you he has, we just saw him with our very eyes." said Raoul. "But now I must be getting Christine home. We shall see you soon." And with that, Raoul took my hand and we exited the theater, leaving the managers with shocked expression on their faces.
We spent a good deal of the carriage ride home in silence, as though we didn't know what to say, or what to make of what had just happened. I gazed at the sun setting behind the treetops, and felt the cool evening breeze on my face as Raoul guided the horses onward, their feet pattering on the cobbled streets. Raoul was the first to speak.
"Christine?" he asked quietly. "I'm sorry that I took so long in the office with Andre' and Firmin, I should have never left your side. I should have known this would happen. When I stepped inside that theater, I was so afraid that he was going to take you with him, and that I was too late."
I moved up closer to where he stood at the head of the carriage, and I could tell by his tone that he was fighting back tears. I stood up next to him, and put my hand on his. He always blamed himself for everything, constantly putting the weight of he world on his shoulders."Raoul none of this was your fault. You saved me. It was your voice that pulled me out of my trance." I said sincerely.
He smiled over at me, and I knew from the look in his eyes that he believed my words. After a few more minutes, we pulled up in front of the de Chagny estate, and walked inside our charming, white shingled, blue shuttered house. Once in the door, our butler Jacque took our coats, and we sat in front of the crackling fire and I instantly felt better. I leaned my head on Raoul's shoulder, and he put his strong arms around me. We had many things to discuss when the next day arrived yes, such as what to do at the opera now that Erik had returned, and how to relay the news to our friends, and worry about what Erik was up to next. But for now, we had the comfort of each other's undying love, and we let the warmth of the fire dry our tears.
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A/N: Hey everyone! I hope that you like this chapter! I know that it seems kind of cleshae right now, but that is going to change in the very next chapter! Please read and review.
Glitter Queen of the Ice show-Yay, Raoul saved the day! Thanks for the review! Hope to see your stories updated soon!
Guitarprincess- I'm glad you liked it! Ya, I plan for Meg to play a large part in this story.
jtbwriter-Yes, Erik is much more dangerous than a fly! But never fear, Raoul and Christine will have many very happy times in this story! Thanks for the review!
Amethyst- I'm glad that you liked the chapter! And thanks for the tidbits on the accents and the Vicomtesse bit, I can always use help on that, as I hardly know any French. I've always thought it would be interesting to study though. And yes, Raoul is rather like Price Charming from Disney, I wish I could find a guy like that!
Siapa nama saya- Thanks for the review and the constructive criticism. I can always use help and comments to improve my writing, and yours I believe will truly help me to do that. I hope that you like the rest of the story!