The Match

Chapter 2 Knight to King's level 3

Erik heard his name called but he wasn't sure what he should do. Go away!

Again, that familiar voice…Who are you? Leave me alone. I…I am trying to… What was he trying to do? They would pay dearly for disturbing him! Where was his lasso? He cracked his eyes just enough to see the face of his tormentor and victim. Christine!

Poor girl! She came for her lessons. Oh Christine, I am fatigued today. Can we just read? Perhaps you can just sing for me but no lessons. He closed his eyes again and felt completely at peace as he heard her voice carry him off somewhere he wanted to be. He felt her cool hands on his brow soothing, calming his thoughts. Touch me darling… touch me.

Christine was wearing his ring. Actually, it was originally Raoul's ring, but Erik had stolen it and then returned to her. The same ring she had promised herself to Erik with before she kissed him. Christine remembered going into the lake in her beautiful dress with the intention of saving Raoul from her deranged angel. She had reached up to her angel's ravaged face and joined their lips. The sensations she felt reached into her soul. It was as if she had been plunged into another world. All the joy and pain in her life had been in preparation for this. Erik! God had answered her plea. He would never be alone again, nor would she. Hungrily, she possessed his mouth once more and plunged deeper into it. Then unexpectedly, he began to cry with sobs that raked his whole body. Seconds later he sent her away. Christine helped Raoul get loose from his ties and said her goodbye to him. Poor Raoul had not really understood that she was saying goodbye forever. At least he did understand that Erik was supposed to leave with them. That was enough for now; he let her go back to get Erik and then she had found this.

Terror struck Christine as she saw her angel laying there unmasked and sprawled on the swan bed. "Erik!"

She ran over to the still figure calling to him. "Erik, Angel, please answer me. What's wrong?"

Christine saw him crack his eyes open then close them again. Not knowing what else to do, softly, she brushed the hair out of his eyes and stroked his cheeks. Christine desperately called to him but he only smiled. She had never seen him smile. He looked so beautiful and helpless laying there, her heart constricted. He was mumbling, trying to say something, but it was unintelligible. In the background, the sounds of the mob grew louder and it drowned out his murmurings. To Christine the mob sounded like an approaching locomotive and it put fear into her heart. Once more, she called to him but Erik did not respond this time. They barely had time to escape. She needed to break her angel out of whatever sleep or spell he was under. "Erik!" Christine repeated, as she shook him.

"Lotte come on, I can hear them. A mob of theatre workers is coming this way." She heard Raoul's plea from the shore.

"Raoul, I can't wake him up," she called out to him.

"We have to go. If he wants to stay, let him. Who knows how many people he killed tonight? We have to go now!" Raoul called back.

Leave her angel? Christine heard Raoul approach her from behind as he entered the bedroom.

"Raoul help me, he won't wake up."

Raoul took her by her shoulders and spun her around "Christine, listen to me, we have to go. The mob is almost here. They will kill all of us."

"I can't leave him like this."

"He let us go." Raoul tried pulling on her.

"Raoul, I will not leave him."

Raoul thought of just grabbing her and taking her out of there for her own good. He knew that if he forced her to leave the Creature behind she would never forgive him and it would stand between them forever.

What would Philippe do in a situation like this? He looked around the room for an answer to their dilemma. Raoul noticed the Chess game red checked black. Grudgingly, he admired the artisanship of the pieces superb. His eyes wondered to the bed and he picked up the wooden box from the bed. "Look a syringe, I think he poisoned himself. It is too late for him. We cannot help him Christine. Let us go and be safe."

"Don't be silly. He wouldn't do that. That must be his medicine Raoul. Maybe he did not get a chance to take it and that is what he needs. We must take it with us." She chided herself for not being by his side when he needed her.

"Christine we don't have time for this. Can you imagine what they will do to us if they find us here with him? What they would do to you? He shuddered to think of it. "My darling we must leave him and go now."

Christine tried to calm her voice and mustered up all her resolve into her voice so that Raoul would understand her decision was final. "Raoul, I will not go without Erik."

Raoul couldn't believe what was happening with his sweet Lotte. First, she thought the creature was an angel and now she called him by a human name. When did this happen? Somehow, he had to break the Creature's hold on his fiancé, but for now, their survival was foremost on his mind.

The sounds coming from the mob now sounded too close for his comfort. Raoul sighed and with a look of disgust and a great deal of effort he heaved Erik onto his shoulder. "Let us go now!"

Christine rewarded him with a big smile. She took the monkey box and the wooden box with the medicine. She threw this in a jute sack that lay by the bed along with some clothes spread on the bed. Where was Erik's mask? When he woke up, he would demand it. "Come now," called Raoul walking away. She ran after him. They walked toward the boat. The sound of the mob was deafening. They could hear the front assault sloshing through the lake water.

"It's too late for the boat," Raoul said more to himself than to her. His legs was trembling as he struggled under Erik's dead weight. He feared the mob's reaction if they should find Christine, Those outraged workers their filthy hands touching her.

Desperately, Raoul looked around for another exit. He noticed the broken mirrors and then saw one that looked like a portal. He made his way toward it. "This way Christine. Hurry!" He yelled. Raoul went through the broken mirror praying it was not a dead end. Why had the Creature decided not to leave through here? He hoped with all his being that he was not leading Christine to a sure death. She followed Raoul through the mirror and lowered the curtain to cover their entry, as she did this, she plunged them into total darkness.

Christine tried to hold on to Raoul but it was difficult for her. She was still in her wedding dress; she wore no shoes and found the ground in the passageway rough and uneven. She struggled with her sack although it wasn't full. The fine material of her wedding dress caught on the rough walls when she brushed past them. Her Angel was supposed to have left through here. What had changed his mind? The darkness frightened her but she did not say a word and continued on the path trying to keep up with Raoul.

An unknown source of light began to filter into the tunnel at the very end. The threesome finally reached the other side, which led to another passageway opening up to the foyer by the Rue Scribe. Panting, she said, "Come, I've been here before." Taking the lead she continued toward a small light ahead..