Chapter 17: New Years's Eve Interruptions
Raoul's POV
Christmas passed in bliss for Christine and I, with no unwelcome bumps in the road. My wound was now fully healed, and I was grateful to be back in good health. It was New Year's Eve and Christine and I were now making our way inside the Opera Populaire to attend the annual Masque Ball. Christine and I had come upon our costumes from the masquerade two years ago, and had decided to wear them just for fun. Christine had had to let hers out due to pregnancy, but she looked lovely nonetheless; she was glowing with the joy of motherhood. We opened the heavy doors to find a swarm of people already milling about, drinking wine or champagne. The party was due to start any minute.
Christine and I had hardly gotten in the door when I saw Meg rushing towards us, hand in hand with Lucien, a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
"Raoul, Christine!" she called out. "Lucien has asked me to marry him!" she said gaily, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
I raised one eyebrow at my friend and grinned as Christine caught Meg in an embrace.
"Meg this is simply delightful! And congratulations to you as well Lucien." she said as she hugged him as well. "Isn't it wonderful Raoul?" she questioned, her dark eyes sparkling like bright stars.
"Yes, it is most welcome and wonderful news. I daresay you'll be able to whip Lucien into shape Meg." I chuckled. "Congratulations to you both." I said as I embraced my old friend and gave Meg a kiss on the cheek.
Lucien was strangely subdued, as though this immense happiness had,for once, struck him quite speechless. He had practiced his proposal speech in front of me, and he had been so nervous that his hands had been shaking. He did finally speak up however.
" Well Raoul, it seems as though I followed in your footsteps, proposing on New Year's Eve at a masquerade."
At these words the orchestra struck up a most familiar tune. "Masquerade! Paper faces on parade! Hide your face so the world will never find you!..."
Lucien and I swept Meg and Christine out onto the dance floor and into the fast waltz that was going on. The room was a flash of colors; black, white, gold, and silver, with spots of other colors here and there. I twirled Christine about, and she laughed as I caught her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucien and Meg dancing, not taking their eyes off of each other for a second. I smiled; I was glad to see my friend so happy. They reminded me of how Christine and I had been on the night that I had proposed to her; I just hoped that nothing would disturb their evening, as the Phantom had disturbed ours in his red death ensemble.
The music reached its climax, and then slowly came to an end. The four of us found one of the tables on the edge of the dance floor and we each indulged in a flute of champagne, save Christine of course. Andre and Firmin spotted us after a few minutes, and they looked a bit merry after too many glasses of red wine.
"Well hello there all of you!" said Firmin. "And congratulations to you Monsieur, and to you Madmoiselle Giry. Your mother is roaming about, telling everyone about your engagement."
Meg's cheeks flushed with both embarrasement and happiness.
"Yes," commented Andre. "For a woman who is normally so serious, she is quite ecstatic this evening." he then rested his eyes on me. "It is good to see you so well Vicomte." he said with a smile.
"Dreadful buisness with those gypsies, dreadful buisness," said Firmin with a shake of his head. "But they haven't stolen from anyone else since you tangled with them Raoul, perhaps you scared them off."
"I wish that were so, but there are many more gypsies that just the two that attacked us." I said gravely. "But enough talk of that; what are your plans for the next opera?"
"Well, we've planned to do Faust next; it is a Parisian favorite after all. We were hoping that Christine would be the lovely Marguerite." prompted Andre.
"I would be honored Monsieur," answered Christine, her eyes sparkling. "This will be the last opera that I will be able to do for a few months, due to the baby."
"Ah yes," said Firmin jovially. "That will be exciting."
As we were chatting, Madame Giry came over to us, a contented sort of half smile on her face. "I thought I might find the four of you here. Are you enjoying the party?"
"Its lovely," said Christine. "But I daresay that Meg and Lucien haven't noticed; they are too busy looking in each other's eyes." she said playfully.
This drew a roar of laughter from the whole group.
"You and Raoul did the exact same thing," said Meg. " And I must say, not much has changed."
I nodded and grinned; it was true, Christine and I were more in love than ever.
"You young ones go and dance," demanded Madame. "Don't let Andre and Firmin keep talking on."
We all laughed again and then got up to dance. Andre and Firmin went off, talking with some of the other guests. A slower waltz was playing now, but the room seemed even more crowded than it had been previously. It was a whirl of color and sound, with the finely dressed patrons and their wives sipping chamapagne, and the prominent members of the opera cast dancing with their spouses or fiances. The clock began to tick down the final seconds until the new year, and everyone turned to count down.
"Five, four, three, two, one! Happy New Year!"
Gold and silver confetti fell from the ceiling and the orchestra began to play with great gusto. I caught Christine in a kiss, as was a tradition for couples to do when the clock struck midnight on New Year's. But at that same moment, a crash was heard throughout the room as the great mahogany doors slammed open, bringing a bitterly cold draft inside. A group of five gypsies, four men and one woman entered the room. They were dirty and covered in tattooes, with scraggly hair. My stomach sank and my heart beat rapidly. I felt Christine squeeze my hand so hard that I thought I might have lost feeling in it. The one who appeared to be the leader roared across the room.
"Where is the Vicomte de Chagny!"
I let go of Christine's hand, and it nearly broke my heart to do so. Her eyes swam with tears, but I knew I had to face him.
"If he comes forward, no one will get hurt!" he boomed, pointing his sword menacingly around.
The crowd parted as I stepped into his view, slowly walking towards him, the room deadly silent.
"You would do best to leave. Now." I said in a hard voice, hardly believing that the sound was coming from my mouth.
He snickered snidely. "But de Chagny, I haven't gotten to 'talk' with that lovely wife of yours, or take my revenge on you."
This statement enraged me beyond belief and I stormed towards him, stopping only a few inches from his face. Since I had no weapon with me I grabbed the nearest candelabra and pointed it towards him.
"You will NOT harm my wife, or anyone else in this room." I growled.
He laughed once more. "I wouldn't bet on that monsieur"
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A/N: Hey everyone, I hope that you like this chapter! I know its a cliffhanger, and I do apologize, but I couldn't help myself. The next chap will be up soon! Please read and review!