Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Wheldon, The Mummy belongs to Steven Sommers and The Phantom Of The Opera belongs to Joel Schmacher, Gaston Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The songs in this story belong to the songwriters who wrote these amazing songs. Please don't sue me, I'm completely and utterly broke and it's for entertainment purposes only.
Timeline: Post-season seven, Buffy, post-The Mummy Returns and during the movie The Phantom Of The Opera.
Pairing(s): Erik/Christine (a little bit), Buffy/Erik, Dawn/Erik (friendship), Raoul/Christine (sorry for those of you who hate Raoul), Willow/Christine/Raoul
Author's Note: Hello, dear readers. Once again, sorry for the delay.Easter preparations got in the way plus I was recently baptized, received and confirmed into the Roman Catholic Church (Yep, I am as of April 15 a Roman Catholic). Anyway, I have some changes to announce. Due to constant rewrites and not being able to make the storyline of this story fit with the characters, the characters of the TV show Gargoyles will not make their first appearances until the second story (that was the original plan to begin with). There will also be a slight change in the pairings. After much thought, I decided to make one of the pairings a love triangle since I took out the Erik/Raoul/Christine out of the story thanks to fans who voted for a Buffy/Erik pairing. The pairing is the Willow/Christine pairing (which was originally a friendship pairing) with Raoul added to it. So there will be some Willow/Raoul action (with a Romeo & Juliet-like twist) as well as Raoul/Christine.
Also (I forgot to mention this in the first chapter of this story), I'm ignoring the Willow/Kennedy relationship of season 7. They were never together and Willow still hasn't really gotten over Tara's death yet.
Well, that's it for now. Enjoy this story and remember no flames! I will ignore them and I have no patience for them.
WARNING: There is a little bit of Raoul-bashing and major angst in this chapter. Just to warn you.
Summary: While preparing to attend a masquerade ball, Buffy received the shock of her life when Erik asked her to marry him to which she said yes. The romantic date turned deadly when Buffy was abducted and bitten by Angelus. After engaging in a brutal fight with Angelus, Erik saved her and got her to safety. Then he turned to Raoul for help in helping the Chosen Trio find a way back the twenty-first century and a way to defeat the demon.
Buffy opened her eyes but closed them again just to adjust her vision. She opened them again and then looked around. She saw that she was no longer in the alleyway beside the Opera Populaire in the arms of an enemy but in a desert under a bright moon. Buffy kept spinning around and around trying to figure where she was.
"What the hell?"
Confused and slightly angry, Buffy got up and began to walk. She had gone only a few feet when she heard a soft voice calling out to her.
"Slayer."
Buffy turned around to the source of the voice. A man stood before her. He looked relatively handsome with a bald head and brown eyes. He was dressed in clothing that the Slayer would classify as being from the times of Ancient Egypt.
"So, we meet at last." The man said to her in a strong Egyptian accent.
Oh, no way! Is that who I think is it?
"You're Imhotep. Aren't you?" Buffy asked completely gobsmacked and nonplussed.
"I am." Imhotep replied smirking at the look on the Slayer's face.
I can't believe I'm standing in front of the man who was once a high priest. Am I dreaming?
"Okay, am I dreaming? Because I have a feeling that I am."
"You are, Slayer." The former high priest replied. "I am not a threat to you. I am here only to give you information that will concern you and your friends greatly."
"Concerning what?" Buffy asked.
"Concerning the demon that is hunting one of your friends and caused you and the Key to go back into the past." Imhotep answered.
Suddenly concerned and worried for the safety of her best friend, sister and fiancé, Buffy never moved her gaze from him and made a gesture with her hand for him to continue.
"I'm listening." She said.
"The demon that took you and the Key back into the past is an assassin demon called an Alga demon. These demons are very smart but very vicious when they hunt down their prey. They have the ability of creating portals especially time portals."
That would explain how Dawn, Willow and I got sucked in now we just need to know how to get back.
"This demon, Imhotep, is its target me or Dawn or even Willow?" Buffy asked.
Imhotep shook his head. "This demon's target is someone the Key has become very close to. Someone whose future daughter would be of great importance to the Chosen line."
Who is it that Dawn has become very close to besides Erik? I know for some of the days for the three months we've been at the Opera Populaire, she's been spending a lot of time with Christine …
Then a horrible realization hit the Slayer like a kidney punch and her heart jolted horribly. Oh, my God! Christine! Christine is the demon's target!
"Christine." Buffy whispered in horror. "Christine is the Alga demon's target."
"Yes." Imhotep said softly. "Very good, Slayer."
"If Erik, Dawn and I hadn't stopped it that night of the performance of Il Muto, it would've killed Christine already." Buffy continued as she put two on two together.
"But it did not." Imhotep said. "I can not reveal to you the importance of Christine Daae's future daughter but I can tell you this, Slayer. If she is killed before you and the Key go back to the future, the Chosen line will be in grave peril and its destruction will be certain. It will also reverse what you and your friends have done during the battle against the First Evil."
"Why are you telling me this?" Buffy asked. "I mean, you aren't exactly a good guy."
"You are right, Slayer. I am not." Imhotep said with a sad smile. "But I did make a promise to a princess a long time ago that I will return to her if she retained human form as the Key. I gave you the information about the Alga demon as penance for the sins I committed against the gods and when I am free of this curse, I will return to the Key and protect her as I've always done before I committed my sins."
"Protect Christine Daae." Imhotep continued as he slowly began to disappear into thin air. "Save the future of the Chosen Line and the world."
Buffy slowly became aware that she was awake and felt pain on her neck but kept her eyes closed. She heard soft sobs and felt someone holding her hand. Then the incident in the alleyway came back to her in sudden clarity.
What the hell happened? She remembered seeing the look of horror and rage on Erik's face as Angelus was feeding off of her…
Erik!
Buffy's eyes flew open and she turned her head to see that the one holding her hand and crying softly was her beloved fiancé. He had his head bowed. His shoulders were shaking as he sobbed.
"Hey, stranger." Buffy said in a rasp wincing at how it sounded.
Erik lifted his head and began to cry harder upon seeing that she was awake. "Elizabeth! Thank God!" he sobbed. He wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. Buffy hugged him back relishing the warm feeling of his embrace. After a few moments, they pulled away savoring the moment. Buffy saw the mixture of relief and fear in Erik's golden eyes and she took his hand in an attempt to comfort him.
"I thought I was going to lose you." Erik whispered.
"But you didn't." Buffy said in a resurring voice. "I'm still here. With you." Then suddenly remembering her dream, she looked past her fiancé at the door.
"Are Willow and Raoul still here?" She asked.
Erik nodded his head. "Yes, why?" he asked.
"I need to talk to them." Buffy said in a voice that made Erik feel very uneasy. "About Christine."
One hour later …
"Okay, let me get this straight." Willow said. "You saw Imhotep and he told you about the demon is after Christine to kill her?"
Buffy nodded her head at her best friend. Once she and Raoul returned to Madame Giry's room, she spent the last hour telling them and the ballet instructor about her encounter with Imhotep via a dream and of his grim warning regarding Christine and the Chosen Line. After she was finished, she nearly winced at the looks on the faces on Willow, Erik and Raoul's faces. While Willow was glancing at her with a grim expression on her face, Erik and Raoul were looking at her with utter horror on their faces.
"Did this Imhotep tell you just how important mine and Christine's future daughter is to the Chosen Line?" Raoul asked.
Buffy shook her head. "He couldn't tell me." She replied. "He only told me that if Christine is killed before Dawn, Willow and I return to the twenty-first century, the Chosen Line will be in grave peril and its destruction is certain. Christine's death will also reverse the spell Willow cast to activate all potential Slayers during the final battle against the First Evil."
"I don't understand something." Erik said. "If the demon was trying to kill Christine then why did it attack me that night at the Il Muto performance? And why did it kill Buquet?"
Buffy was about to say she had no idea when Raoul spoke up. "Alga demons are known to stalk and kill any family member and friends its target may have had and anyone who is unlucky enough to be in its path."
That would explain why that foul creature killed Buquet and then attacked me. Erik thought.
Raoul turned to Erik as he said his next words. "Because you were her Angel Of Music, the demon put you on its list of people to kill before reaching Christine."
"And you as well, Raoul." Willow replied. "Since you're Christine's fiancé. And Meg and Madame Giry since she was family to her and us too. Me and Dawn because we're her friends."
"It will try to kill me too." Buffy pointed out. "Since I'm the Slayer and also know Christine."
Willow turned to see that Raoul was having a difficult time believing what Buffy had just told them about Christine being a target of an Alga demon and of the knowledge that he and Christine were destined to have a daughter. A daughter who would become a Slayer of great importance. But that was not all that she saw. She had noticed that every time she and the Viscount had made eye contact, she saw a mixture of emotions in them. Confusion and love. That both excited and frightened her.
Could Raoul be torn between Christine and me? Sure, he's attractive and handsome but he's with Christine! I can't be falling for him. I can't! I'm still grieving for Tara. I'm not ready for another relationship! Especially with a man!
"Buffy, could you excuse us for a moment?" Willow asked. When Buffy nodded her head in consent, the redheaded Wicca grabbed Raoul's arm, pulled him outside the door and took him out of the Opera House and out into the night. Once they were alone, Willow turned to him with an angry look on her face.
"Raoul, what is going on? Why are you looking at me like that?" She demanded.
"Like what?" Raoul asked.
"Don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about, Raoul!" Willow snapped angrily. "Ever since you came back here all you have been doing other than talking is looking at me. It's the same look you always gave Christine only its more … more …"
"Intimate?" Raoul supplied. "Loving?"
Willow nodded her head shakily. "Yes." She replied in a shaky voice. "I just want to know why. You're in love with Christine. So why?"
Should I tell her? That was the one thought that went though Raoul's mind, as he looked deep into Willow's eyes. Ever since that night of the tragic Il Muto performance, he knew that while he was deeply in love with Christine, he was also in love with Willow. The redheaded Wicca was all he could think about and dream about. He was sure that she was feeling the same but was holding back because of his love for Christine. Taking a deep breath, Raoul spoke struggling to keep his voice even.
"You're right, Willow. I am in love with Christine and I'm engaged to her." He said. "But I'm also in love with someone else and it has taken me a long time for me to see it. For three months, that someone was all that I could think about, dream about. I think you know of whom I speak."
At that, Willow began to shake uncontrollably and tears welled in her eyes. "I-I can't. We can't."
"Willow, listen to me …" Raoul started to say.
"No, you listen!" Willow shouted with tears streaming down her cheeks. "You're living in a real world! Come back to it! You're a Viscount and engaged. I'm a twenty-first century witch with friends who love me and I won't betray Christine by having an affair with you!"
At that point, Willow burst into tears and buried her face in her hands sobbing. With tears in his own eyes, Raoul took her in his arms and simply held her.
"I can't." Willow sobbed. "I just can't! I'm sorry! Oh, Goddess!"
At that, she pulled away from Raoul and ran back inside the Opera Populaire with tears blinding her vision. She didn't stop until she reached the roof of the Opera House. The old, old grief that lived in Willow since Tara's death came forth and her tears swam down her cheeks. Willow broke down completely sobbing uncontrollably unaware that Dawn and Christine had seen her and followed her to the roof.
Earlier …
"Dawn. Please tell me what is going on."
Dawn inwardly groaned and turned away from Christine with her eyes squeezed shut. After Raoul had asked to speak to Willow privately earlier in the masquerade ball, the teen grew suspicious that something was going on between the redheaded Wicca and the Viscount. She could tell by the look in the Wicca's eyes that he knew about them somehow. Then the conversation grew heated and Willow kept looking at Christine with a strange look on her face. That was enough to make Dawn very uncomfortable although Christine didn't notice.
Then the part where Raoul dragged me and Christine to her dressing room after telling us that Buffy was in trouble and that he was going to help her. That got Christine's attention and mine too. Now I have to tell Christine the truth.
Sighing, Dawn opened her eyes and turned to face Christine. She winced at the confused and upset look on her friend's face and berated herself for being the source of Christine's confusion.
"Christine, there's something that I need to tell you about me, Willow and Buffy." Dawn said. "Something I should've told you three months ago." At that, Dawn told Christine the whole story of what happened three months ago when she, Buffy and Willow first arrived at the Opera Populaire and how Erik found them. Then she gave the young singer the short version of the story Buffy told Erik of her life as the Chosen One and of the truth of Dawn being the Key. When she finished, she closed her eyes waiting for the anger and disbelief that she knew would be her friend's reaction. After a minute, Dawn opened an eye and to her surprise, she saw that Christine didn't look angry or disbelieving. Rather, she looked accepting and the look in her eyes suggested that she figured out something.
"That explains it." Christine said.
Dawn was confused. "Explains what?" she asked.
"Your mannerisms and your way of speech." Christine replied remembering the one hour-long conversation she had with Dawn three months earlier in her dressing room. "You do not speak like a girl would speak in this century. You are not afraid to speak your mind while some of the women I know are. I was confused at first as to your manners and the way you speak until now when you told me your story. It explains everything to me."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, Christine." Dawn said. "I wanted to. But I was afraid that you would think that I was crazy if I told you. Then when Raoul took us to your dressing room and told us to stay there, I knew that I couldn't keep the truth from you forever."
"I probably would've believed you anyway." Christine replied. "Madame Giry once told me stories of magical things and evil beings that would do humanity wrong and prey on the innocent. Even when I …"
"Didn't believe them." Dawn supplied for her.
Christine nodded. "Yes." Then she put voice to the question that had been in her mind for the whole night. "Did you have anything to do with what happened at the Il Muto performance? With the lights and …?"
Dawn nodded. "What happened with the lights during the performance was me although I'm still not sure how I was able to do that. But if you're wondering about the guy who was killed. I didn't do that and neither did Erik. He wouldn't hurt anyone. Not even me, Willow or Buffy."
"But that night when I removed his mask …" Christine trailed off.
Dawn sighed. "I know. He has a terrible temper, we all know that. But he's also very sweet and caring. Erik will do nothing to hurt us. I mean, he saved Buffy's life that night when he found us and he saved my life from the vampires that attacked us during the Il Muto performance. He loves Buffy so much that it's sickening and he treats me and Willow like the sisters he never had in his life. Erik is family to us and us to him."
Christine couldn't help but be touched by Dawn's words. She had no idea of the loneliness that her music tutor was feeling or the pain that he must be going through. But by talking to Dawn, she now had an idea of what Erik was going through and that he now got what he had wanted for his entire life which was someone who would love him for who he was and not judge him and the love of a family.
Willow and Dawn are that family. I only wish I knew about this before. I could've …
Christine was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the sounds of something running and sobbing outside. She turned to Dawn who had a knowing look on her face and in her eyes.
"I hear it too, Christine." Dawn said and at that, she opened the door and the two teens ran out of the room. They followed the sound to the roof of the Opera Populaire. Dawn opened the door and saw that the person who was crying was Willow. The redheaded Wicca was on her knees sobbing and crying. Quietly, Dawn and Christine walked and hid behind the Apollo's Lyre stature. Then after a few moments, she turned her head to see that Willow was now on her feet and was staring at the moon. Then she began to sing to herself. The song she sang brought tears to Dawn's eyes. It was a funeral song that the teen learned in her first year in high school. Except Willow had changed the words.
Oh, my God! She was singing about Tara! I had no idea that she missed Tara that much. Poor Willow.
That was the one thought that ran through Dawn's mind as she watched Willow from behind her and Christine's hiding place at the back of the Apollo's Lyre stature. Tears welled in Dawn's eyes as Willow continued singing her song.
Poor Willow. I never thought she misses her as much as Dawn said she does.
Christine fought back tears as she watched Willow and listened to the heartbreaking song she was singing. At first when Dawn told her the truth about her, Buffy and Willow, she had a difficult time believing her but after learning the reason why, she forgave her and it started to bring the two teens closer together as friends. Christine let out a soft sob when she saw the grieving expression on Willow's face. It reminded her painfully of the day of her father's death. She had the same expression of grief on her face that the redheaded Wicca had now on her own face. The tears Christine had been fighting back streamed down her cheeks as Willow started to sing again this time she was staring at one of the statures mournfully.
Tears blinding her vision Willow walked around staring at the statures one by one before going back to her spot by the balcony. She looked up at the moon and sang again. The tears swam down her cheeks as she uttered the last words of her song.
"Oh, Tara!" Willow whispered before she fell onto her knees sobbing uncontrollably. She was so absorbed in her raging emotions that she didn't notice that Dawn and Christine came out of their hiding place and knelt down in front of her. Dawn took her in her arms while Christine went behind Willow and wrapped her arms around the Wicca's waist. They had no idea how long they were like this but after a while, Willow was able to cry herself out and she pulled away from Dawn with a grateful smile on her face.
"Thank you, guys." She said with a half-smile on her face.
"You are welcome, Willow." Christine said with a smile.
Dawn also smiled at the Wicca. "What are friends for?" she replied. Then she glanced at the door. "We better head back in. Raoul is probably wondering what happened to me and Christine."
Willow nodded. "We should go back inside. It's rather cold out here." She said. Together, the three women went back inside the Opera Populaire to get warm and to face Buffy, Erik, Raoul and Madame Giry.
The following morning …
Erik woke up earlier than he had planned to but at that point he didn't care. It had been hours since the incident with Angelus at the masquerade ball and Buffy's encounter with Imhotep via a dream and the former High Priest's grim warning regarding Christine had everyone on edge and on high alert. Despite the intense dislike he felt for the Viscount, Erik couldn't help but feel a swell of pity for him knowing that his and Christine's fates had already been written in stone.
But it does not excuse what he has done to Christine.
Erik squeezed his eyes shut as the previous night's conversation entered his mind uninvited. It was a difficult talk between himself, Raoul, Madame Giry and Buffy.
/FLASHBACK/
As Madame Giry entered the room and sat down on the bed with a stern look on her face, Erik kept on pacing back and forth across the room. Buffy stood near the bookcase and didn't say anything but she gave Erik an annoyed look. If he caught it, he made no sign that he saw it and kept on pacing. A few moments later, Raoul entered the room with a strange look on his face. Erik stopped pacing and glanced at him. He noticed that Willow was not with him and gave the Viscount a glare. Buffy shifted her focus from her fiancé to Raoul and also glared at him when she saw that her best friend didn't return with him.
"Where's Willow?" Buffy asked.
Raoul didn't look at Buffy as he spoke. "I don't know. We were talking and she got upset …"
"What did you say to her!" Erik shouted in an uncontrollable rage. He grabbed the Viscount by the shirt and pinned against the wall beside the bookcase. His face etched with fury.
"Erik!" Buffy shouted. She got into between them trying to separate them. "Don't! It's not worth it! Now is not the time for the both of you to get into a pissing contest with each other or point fingers."
"She is right, Erik." Madame Giry said in a calm voice. "If you and Raoul want to protect Christine from the Alga demon, you have to work together and put your petty differences aside. Now is not the time to hold a grudge or point fingers at each other."
Seeing the logic of both Buffy's and Madame Giry's words, Erik let Raoul go and instead settled for a angry scowl. Raoul, however, looked weary and very apologetic when he glanced at Buffy.
"I apologize for this, Elizabeth." Raoul said. "Willow and I were talking about a private matter and she got very upset about it. She ran away from me after we finished our talk."
Do I want to know what's going on between Willow and Raoul?
"What exactly did you and Willow talk about?" Buffy asked afraid that she already knew the answer.
Raoul hesitated and then sighed before he continued. "I told her that I was attracted to her even though I'm deeply in love with Christine." He winced at the look on Buffy's face.
"You what?" Buffy nearly screeched. Her face went red with anger and her body began to shake. As she turned to Erik, she saw that he was angrier than she was. He too was shaking in rage. Buffy nearly shuddered at the murderous glint in her fiancé's eyes.
Oh, boy. This is going to be messy.
"Erik, don't even …"
That was as far as Buffy got because at that point Erik grabbed Raoul by the shirt again and threw him across the room. The Viscount landed at the bottom of the bookcase.
"How dare you dishonor Christine like that?" Erik roared in a voice filled with fury. Buffy could see a mixture of emotions in her fiancé's eyes as he was facing Raoul. Anger, disappointment and sadness. It frightened her but she knew that if she didn't do something to defuse the situation, it could get worse. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost didn't hear Raoul's response.
"I couldn't help it. As much as I love Christine …"
"You fool!" Erik screamed in rage. "That is Elizabeth's best friend you are dishonoring Christine with! Willow will not betray her by falling for your advances!"
"I know that!" Raoul shouted at him. "And I will not leave Christine for her. I love her!"
"If you love her, you would not even think of pursuing Willow behind her back!" Erik roared again. "You are not worthy of having Christine as your wife!"
Okay, that's gone on far enough!
"Will you two knock it off?" Buffy snapped angrily. She glared at both Erik and Raoul as she spoke her next words. "This isn't going to help Christine and Willow."
"She is right." Madame Giry said in a rather frustrated voice. "You two fools can discuss honor later. Right now, we need a plan to protect Christine so that the demon won't get to her."
"I could get Willow to put protective wards all over Christine's room and in all of the other rooms of the Opera House." Buffy suggested. "Demons usually have a pretty difficult time breaking into protective wards unless they know their weaknesses."
Raoul nodded his head in agreement as he got up from the floor. "According to my brother, the Watcher's Council uses protective wards for their headquarters to protect it from invaders demonic and other dark forces."
"It would be pointless to hide this from Christine." Erik said in a tightly controlled voice. As furious as he still was at Raoul for dishonoring his former love with Willow, he knew that it would be pointless to discuss the matter further but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to do something about it if Raoul made any action toward Willow that would dishonor Christine further.
If that fop does anything else with Willow that would dishonor his vows to Christine, he will pay for it. The Phantom vowed silently. I swear on the soul of Willow's lover Tara, he will pay for it if he does anything to dishonor Christine further.
Erik was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when Madame Giry spoke up. "Erik is right." She said. "Christine needs to know what is going on. We can not protect her if she is being kept out in the dark about what is going on."
"I think Christine will know about this anyway." Buffy replied. "If I know Dawn which I do because she's my sister, she'll tell her everything."
"Except Dawn doesn't know about your encounter with Imhotep, does she?" Raoul asked.
Oh, shit. I forgot about that.
"No, she doesn't." Buffy admitted. "Yet."
Madame Giry checked her watch and then went to the door. "I better go and get the girls. Poor Christine must be wondering what is going on. I will be right back." She opened the door and closed it behind her.
/END OF FLASHBACK/
Poor Christine. The look on her beautiful face when we told her that she was in danger from the demon was horrible. Terrible.
Erik would never forget the look of utter horror and fear on Christine's face when he, Raoul, Buffy and Madame Giry all explained to her what happened to Buffy at the masquerade ball after she, Dawn and Willow showed up later. She had burst into tears when Buffy told her of her dream encounter with Imhotep and his dire warning regarding her and the Chosen Line. It broke the Phantom's heart knowing that Christine had unwittingly become an innocent victim of an insane Alga demon's rampage of death and destruction even though she was the target.
He squeezed his eyes shut fighting back tears of anger and fear. After a few moments, he opened them but his tears blinded his vision as he got up and went straight to his organ. He flung himself on the organ bench and lost himself in his music. After nearly twenty minutes, Erik ceased playing. Unable to control his raging emotions, he picked up the first thing he laid his hands on which was a hand mirror and hurled it against the wall. Then he slid against the wall near the organ, buried his face into his hands and burst into tears. As he sobbed, Erik felt small but strong arms wrap around his shoulders pulling his head against a small but strong shoulder. Erik sobbed harder when he heard Buffy's soothing voice whisper in his ear words of comfort.
"Christine … Poor Christine." Erik sobbed uncontrollably.
Oh, God. I had no idea that all of this was affecting him like this. Poor Erik.
It broke Buffy's heart knowing that the events of the previous night affected Erik worse than she had thought. After the horrible conversation between them, Raoul, Madame Giry, Willow, Dawn and Christine; the Chosen Trio and the Phantom returned to the catacombs hardly speaking a word to each other. Willow locked herself in her room and refused to come out but both Erik and the Summers sisters could hear her crying through the closed door and left her alone. After a minute, they decided to try to talk to Willow again in the morning and went to bed. Dawn went back to her room but Buffy went to sleep with Erik in his room since she was his fiancée and because she was worried about him. She was worried how the Phantom was handling it all and she now knew that he was handling it the same way Christine was. Through tears.
As he sobbed in her arms, Buffy began to sing to him softly. It was a song that her mother once sang to her after she returned from the battle against the Mayor all those years ago. It was called May It Be. As she was singing to Erik, Buffy suppressed a pang of grief she often felt when she thought or mentioned her mother gone before her time.
Through his sobs, Erik heard Buffy's singing and the song she was singing made him cry harder. It reminded him of a lullaby that someone from his past once sang to him when he was a child. It had been a long time since he thought of the woman he had always wished for her to be his mother. She cared for him more than his mother would ever do in her lifetime and even loved him like he was her own son.
Marie Perrault. She was the only one who had shown me love, kindness and compassion. Until Elizabeth, Dawn and Willow came into my wretched existence.
Then once again, his thoughts drifted to Christine and his heart broke all over again as the memory of the horror-filled look on her face haunted him. He cried harder than ever and his sobs wracked his entire body wishing all over again that he could do something. Anything to ease her fear for her life and Raoul's.
"Oh, Elizabeth!" he sobbed. "I wish I could do something. Anything to tell her that would ease her fear. I wish …" Erik sobbed harder. "That I could just …"
Buffy felt her heart break all over again as her fiancé sobbed in her arms. "I know, Erik. I know." She said softly. Then she sang to him again softly wishing that she could do something to ease Erik's pain and fear for Christine and herself. Neither of them was sure how long they were there. Erik, sobbing and crying. Buffy, holding him singing to him and stroking his hair gently. But after a while, Erik seemed to cry himself out. Buffy simply held him in her arms and she sang the last words of her song stroking his hair as she did so.
As she uttered the last words of her song, Buffy wiped away the tears on Erik's cheeks and gently kissed him on his forehead. Then she ran her fingers through his hair in a comforting gesture for a few moments before they pulled away.
"Feeling any better?" Buffy asked.
Erik nodded his head not sure if his voice was working yet. Then after a few moments, he finally found it.
"Thank you, my darling Elizabeth." He rasped.
"You're welcome, Erik." Buffy said with a gentle smile. I love it when he calls me that! "When I heard the organ playing, I knew that it was you and I could tell by the way you were playing it that you were in a desperate need of some emotional release after last night."
"I did." Erik admitted. "After last night, I felt so helpless that I couldn't do anything to assure Christine that nothing was going to happen to her. I still feel so helpless."
"We all do, Erik." Buffy replied. "But we have to do our best to protect her. That's the best we can do."
"I know, my dear. I know." Erik sighed but before he could say something else, he heard something splashing in the lake in front of his lair. He stood up and pulled out a stake but then he relaxed when he saw that it was only Dawn.
Buffy was surprised. "What the hell are you doing out there? I thought you were in bed!"
"I was." Dawn replied. "I woke up when Erik started playing his organ. I thought he was composing so I left him alone. Anyway, I went up into the Opera House to talk to Christine to talk about last night. I went through the secret passage that led to her room and …"
"Dawnie, you're babbling." Buffy said narrowing her eyes. "Something's wrong. What's going on?"
"It's Christine. She's gone." Dawn answered with a slight squeak in her voice.
Oh, God. Please tell me that she's joking. Please tell me she's joking. Buffy and Erik stared at the teen in utter horror before glancing at each other with horrified glances on their faces.
"You're kidding, right?" Buffy asked in a voice filled with dread. Her heart sank when Dawn shook her head.
"I wish I was kidding." Dawn replied miserably. "I don't even know where she could've gone. I know once she told me that she visits her father's grave sometimes …" Then a light lit up in her head as a thought came to her. "Holy shit!"
"Dawn Summers!" Buffy said warningly. Then she saw the look in her sister's eyes. "What?"
"I think I know where Christine is." Dawn said. "Last night, she said something about going to visit her father's grave."
Erik seemed to know what Dawn was talking about because he said. "There is a cemetery ten miles outside of Paris. I know because I once followed Christine there when she visited her father's grave the last time."
Buffy ran to grab her bag. "Dawn, wake up Wills and tell her that we're going to need her magics just in case that demon from Hell decides to show its face. I'm going to go to find Raoul and Madame Giry and see if we could borrow a carriage to take us to the cemetery."
"I will go with you." Erik said as he joined her at her side. Then the Slayer and the Phantom took the small boat to the other side of the lake to look for Raoul and Madame Giry.
Okay, that's it for now. I'm not sure when I'll update again so keep your eyes peeled! Please review and remember no flames! I will ignore them and I don't have the patience for them.