Chapter One
I had just revealed the face of the Phantom to the entire Populaire Opera house. The audience gasped, screamed in horror even. Off the stage he ran, dragging me along with him, down into his dark lair.
Grasping at me, he practically begged for what he had been after for so long . How I ended up in that dress that the mannequin had worn for so long, I'll never know.
I didn't quite know how soon Raoul might be down here in this dungeon, and I half-wished it would be never.
True, the one I had known for so long as my Angel of Music, wasn't as handsome as Raoul without that mask hiding his imperfections, but he was the epitome of what true love really was.
All Raoul had was a childhood memory that he couldn't let go of. He was hanging onto a memory of his Little Lotte. That's not love- just nostalgia.
At least the Phantom had been watching over me for years, guiding me in song. He gave me the only thing he had and what mattered the most to him-music. What had Raoul ever shared?
As we sang, and as Raoul appeared at the gates, I knew things would never be the same again. He marched through the murky water and I watched my angel tie up Raoul. Fear flooded over me.
I had to make the choice- pretend to love the angel and save Raoul or declare my love for Raoul, and send him to his grave.
I knew what I had to do. I leaned into kiss the phantom, and felt a million emotions that I couldn't even possibly begin to explain. This was the only thing I could do to save Raoul, but it wasn't bad at all. He pulled back from me though, which confused me, and told me to quickly escape with Raoul.
I had forgotten to give him the ring back, so when I came back, I knew I was supposed to just hand it over, get back on that boat with Raoul and leave that world behind. I just couldn't.
The Phantom had just stood there, looking sad and hurt, scarred face still showing. He had just told me that he loved me, what else could I say to that? Absolutely nothing. I kissed him once again. Except now, this wasn't a good bye kiss. I wasn't trying to save anyone this time, except maybe myself. I was just acting on what my heart was telling me to do.
Surprisingly, Raoul didn't try to fight against this, like he had been expecting that we'd turn out like this all along. Although I knew he must have been a little hurt, he turned away, and rowed the boat back from this underground hell.
He was met at the door by the giant group who had come to same me from that "awful Opera Ghost" who stole me away. They seemed to be surprised to see anyone arrive from the great depths. They knew the Phantom had a thing for hanging those who were a mockery to his theatre, so how Raoul escaped was beyond them.
"Raoul, where are they? Where has that monster taken Christine?"
It takes a real man to say what Raoul said next.
"They are not down there. I thought he had taken her away to the dungeons, but they must have escaped."
And so he helped them plot and plan to search all over France until they could find,capture,and kill the evil monster.
But that would never happen, if I could help it.
