(I'm hoping this story is going the way I want it too! Also, thank-you for your reviews! I really appreciate them!)
Chapter 3
She had come. She had come back. The words played through Erik's mind as he played a song on the organ. Should he wait? She did say she would come back to him. The black wall that he encased his heart in. Was it caving in? Oh, how he loved to hear her sing, that voice he had taught so well, the voice he will never forget. 'Oh, Christine', he whispered in his head. He smiled softly as the music filled the room. Yes, he will wait. Will wait and see what happens next. She will come back to him once more.
------------------
"Meg," he groaned softly, "Perhaps you can get her to come out."
"Raoul!" Meg cried out, "It is not my duty to interfere in your marriage. But I'll talk to her."
The petite blond haired girl stepped up to the door. Knocked softly, "Christine. It's Meg. Please come out of there!"
"Go away!" came the muffled answer.
"Please talk to me, Christine," Meg pleaded. There was silence. Then the door silently opened. An arm reached out, and pulled Meg in. The door slammed shut again.
"Meg!" Christine said, "Why did you tell him?" She now paced the room. Meg leaned against the door.
"I didn't tell him, Christine, I swear to you I didn't," Meg said as she watched Christine walk back and forth.
"What?" she stopped, then sat down in a leather chair. "Oh, Meg. This is hard. This is so hard. I wanted my Angel back. I wanted to find out if he escaped that night." She started crying.
"Why, Christine, why?" Meg came up beside her, put her arm around her, as if to comfort her.
"The dreams, the nightmares I've had every night since then. Why did I leave him there by himself?"
"Doesn't Raoul make you happy anymore?" Meg asked.
"Raoul has given me everything I possibly could want. But I'm not happy, Meg, I'm not happy." Christine paused. She looked up into the eyes of her best friend in the world. "I'm leaving him, Meg. This is not the life for me."
Meg almost fell backwards.'Did I hear that right?
There was pounding on the door, "Christine! I need to speak with you!"
"You must tell him, Christine," Meg said, "You must."
"I will," Christine said solemnly, "Some how, I always knew it would come to this."
"Please, send Raoul in," she said to Meg, who only nodded and left the room. Moments later, Raoul came and stood beside her.
"Christine..." Raoul said, "Little Lotte."
Christine stood, walked to the window and stood, crossing her arms. She breathed in deep.
"Christine..Please talk to me." Raoul followed her and stood behind her.
"I knew where you had gone. Meg didn't have to tell me that," he said. "My only question is: why? Why would you do this to me? To yourself? I thought you had wanted to start again. Start over. Away from the Opera Populaire."
"That is what I did want, at one point." Christine said bluntly, "Now, I don't know what I want. Except to sing, To hear his voice one more time."
"Christine! He was a monster! He cared nothing for you!" Raoul exclaimed, then realized that was the wrong thing to say.
"What would you know? He was with me for years! He taught me to sing! Meanwhile, I've seen you become more and more distant to me over these years. You are hardly the man I know anymore," Christine spun around. Her eyes had tears, and there was hurt. Yes, there was hurt in her eyes.
She continued with her rant. "I know what he's like inside, Raoul. All he wanted was somebody to love him for who he was."
"So you claim to still have love for him," Raoul sighed. It was more of a statement then anything. "Is that why you sometimes wake at night? Screaming his name?"
"Yes," Christine replied, "I wanted the nightmares to end. Oh, Raoul, I didn't expect him to still be there. After all this time..."
"Christine, I know that I haven't been the perfect husband for you, Maybe," he said quietly.
"No, Raoul, you were, but my heart can no longer be torn into two. As it was this entire time,"Christine said. "Good-bye, Raoul. I'm leaving." She brushed past him and left the room.
"Wait! Christine!" he rushed out of the room to catch her, "Where will you go?"
"To my Angel, Raoul."
He heard her voice drift up to him from the main hall. Her Angel.
He walked briskly into his study. Opened the desk drawer he always kept locked. Pulled out a black ebony box that had real gold trim. He opened it. Took out his pistol and cocked it. He hid it in his coat, and left the room. He ran past Meg on the way down.
"Wait! Raoul! Where are you going?" she shouted after him.
'To finish what I started that night so long ago."
