Chapter 21: Silence
Raoul's POV
The three of us stood outside the opera house, an awkward silence between us. It was odd really, to stand and watch people live their everyday lives, while we had to worry about planning a defense against these gypsies in just 48 hours time. Not to mention, the opera was in the midst of its dress rehearsals for Faust, and Christine would be through with the production just in time for her maternitny leave. My mind was racing, but one thought stood out much more prominently than all the others; doing absolutely anything to protect Christine and the baby from these terrible gypsies. Lucien finally broke the tense moment.
"Do you think they'll come out and look for us?" he asked, his voice unsure.
"No, they won't," I answered him. " They didn't see us so they might think it was an animal or something of the sort."
"But you can be sure," said Erik stonily, "That they will be viscious in their next attack. I have no doubt that they will attack Christine, and I have no doubt that they will be after your life Vicomte."
I looked up at him as he said this, and saw what looked to be a flash of empathy in his eyes, for knowing what this enemy was capable of. But in a moment it was gone, only to be replaced by the look of loathing that he seemed to have reserved just for me.
"We should go to the police," I said firmly. " They need to know.
"Yes," said Erik "Perhaps they do. You two go along, they'll only think that you're insane if I come along."
He turned and walked towards the opera, but before he could get out of earshot, there was something I had to say.
"Thankyou for your help the other night!"
He turned sharply, surveying me. "You're welcome. Christine is well now I trust, seeing as she is in your care?"
"Yes, she's doing well." I said, rather surprised at that comment.
He nodded stiffly, then without another word, he was gone.
"He's a strange one," said Lucien. "But you'll want to be careful Raoul, you and he certainly aren't on the best of terms.
"No we aren't, and I certainly never thought we would actually unite against something, but he's been very helpful with this, and I'm thankful. Come, we need to get to the police station."
We walked quickly towards the police station, reaching it within a few minutes. The officer at the front desk was incidentally one of the men leading the gypsy investigation.
"Monsieur le Vicomte, Monsieur Delacroix! You two look rather winded, is something wrong?" he asked, looking concerned.
"Well officer, we happened to have found the location of the gypsy lair. We also overheard their plan; they intend on attacking my home in two days time."
He stared at me incredulously for a moment, as though he were in shock. "This is the biggest break we've had in this case so far! I can't believe it! We'll be able to crush them when they least expect it!"
After a long discussion with he and several officers, it was decided that he would bring a group of men to my huse on that night, and hide themselves, tricking the gypsies into believing that we were there alone. I informed them of all I had heard, and argued that it might be best if we simply attacked the lair itself, before they had a chance to attack us. When the police disagreed, I was quite irritated, but insisted that I would join their ranks in fighting the fiends. I then thanked the officers, and Lucien and I headed towards the opera. I could feel every muscle in my body tense as I thought of what was to come, and I could only pray to God that everything would turn out right. Lucien was silent beside me; it seemed that for once, he could find nothing to say.
We walked up to the opera and made our way into the lobby, where we saw Christine, Meg, and Madame gathered. I suddenly felt ill; I had no desire to upset the look of joy on Christine's face. When she saw me she ran towards mw and threw her arms around my neck.
""Raoul I felt the baby kick during rehearsal, isn't it exciting!"
Despite myself, I smiled. Any mention of our child brought instant joy to my heart. But it couldn't last, I had to tell her what was going on.
"Raoul, is something wrong?" she asked as she pulled back. "You look pale."
I sighed, but gathered my resolve. I told the tale to the three of them, their faces growing more shocked with every syllable. When I finished, the room seemed to resonate with the awful silence. Madame Giry broke it.
"Did you happen to run into Erik while you were searching?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered simply without elaborating on it. Sometimes I wondered if the good woman knew everything.
It was then that I looked at Christine, and saw her eyes swimming with those tears that I never wished to see again, those tears that crushed my heart. I could tell however, that she seemed to be desperately trying to hold them back. I wiped them gentley away with my thumb, and kissed her forehead.
"It will be all right Christine," I said with absolute sincerity. "I will make it so."
At this statement, my voice quavered and died. But it mattered not, for Christine's soft tones took over. "Raoul, you could have been hurt, you could have been killed, they could have caught all of you," she said in both a worried and a stern tone. "You worry me my love. But I know that there's no stopping you once you're set on something."
I found my voice again, and answered. "But I found the lair Christine, we're finally ahead of them. Wasn't it worth it?"
"Next time, just promise that you'll warn me." she said.
I nodded, and held her close as Madame adressed us all.
"You should all go home. Christine, Raoul, I believe we shall all be staying at your house, and Phillipe will consent to as well, I'm sure. We should all stay together at a time like this."
We all agreed, and gathered our coats and headed towards my carriage. I wondered fleetingly what Erik was up to. And so the wait began. But as night fell, whether or not I would simply wait to be attacked remained in question.
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A/N: I apologize for the long wait, the end of senior year is crazy. Thankyou so much for your reviews, they encourage me to keep writing! I hope you like this chapter, and I 'll be sure to answer your reviews as soon as possible.