A/N: Swwy about deleting and then reposting this chapter but I had to fix alot of mistakes. Anyway thanks again to all of chapter 7's reviewers! You know I appriate all of your words:) ... sssoo thank you: Dragonflame-05, ckontowerdon3, the Mouse in the Opera House, and our newest reader ChristinErik!
Disclaimer: I do not own phantom or "Wuthering Heights" and "Across the Universe of Time," by Hayley Westenra that i claim as Erik's aria ...lol.
Christine was obsessed. She was truly obsessed with the opera she held in her hands as she brought her perfect voice to ring in eerie harmony with the beautiful music. She had become the sad creature Mélisande. She felt the pining affection for a man she wasn't supposed to have and yet needed to posses.
She smiled and nodded to the Mistro after the song came to a close, letting him know she was taking a break from the rehearsal. She sighed, "This Erik Gurriour is a master, no doubt!" she said and ran her fingertip over the sweeping signature on the title page. She had fallen in love with the man's work.
His words had struck a cord and the past week of singing them had landed her heart in the awkward position of loving one aspect of a person she didn't even know.
"It's the music," she said to herself, hugging the leather bound folder that contained the whispered wonder of love and pain that had captured her heart and rendered her soul.
-o-
"Madame, the arias you ordered," Erik whispered into the ear of an unexpecting Madame Giry. Although she gave no sign of being startled, she truly wasn't expecting Erik or his arias so early in the day.
"So soon?" she asked, taking the bound arias into her hands, searching the shadows for that egotistical grin.
"Yes, Madame. I've been slaving over the arias and then copying them over and over for the past week. I have had near to no sleep, but for all my pain I offer perfection."
She heard the pride in his voice. It was a wonder how he wasn't choking on it. She smiled slightly in the direction of his voice and bowed her head as she walked away to go give the arias to the managers.
Erik watched his old friend walk into the managers office and close the door. He smiled and walked through a hidden door in the backstage hall that he opened with a series of secret pulleys and weights and then swiftly climbed a ladder into the rafters above the stage. Upon reaching them he found a dark corner to hide in, and watch her sing his opera.
He spotted Christine drinking water out of a fine crystal goblet as her eyes gazed at the lyrics he wrote for her voice. He watched her as she handed the glass back to the stage hand and began to practice her scales as the orchestra plucked their strings and tuned their instruments.
Monsieur Reyer tapped his conducting rod on his music stand to announce that break was over and that they were starting from the second act of the opera. The orchestra raised their bows to begin and Christine took center stage to sing the sad song of Mélisande.
"WAIT! Wait, Mistro! We have something else for Christine to sing and for you music people to play," Firmin practically screeched, throwing the music sheets at Christine and the orchestra.
"May I ask what this is, Mounsiours?" Reyer sighed, holding his head in his hand.
"Yes, it is the arias for the winter season!" Andrea exclaimed triumphantly.
"And can you believe all four were written by the same composer as the opera!" Firmin put in.
Erik watched with subtle and prideful delight as Mousier Reyer's head jerked out his palm as he snatched the leather bound director's copy and read the lyrics and music. Erik tried to contain his laughter as he watched the veteran Mistro put down the folder with his mouth gaping open.
"This is magnificent!" he proclaimed and directed his orchestra to play the first piece based off the scadoulous book 'Wuthering Heights'. "Miss Daae, from the beginning of the first aria."
Christine gasped aloud and held the music tightly against her chest with the tinge of blush rising from her bosom. "I...I can't sing this! It's so...so...riskay! Do you know what Wuthering Heights is about?"
The Mistro sighed aloud, sounding irritated, "From the beginning of the aria madamemoselle!"
Christine looked back down at the music and reluctantly began to sing the song about Heathcliff and his other half Cathy.
"Out on the wiley, windy moors
We'd roll and fall in green.
You had a temper like my jealousy:
Too hot, too greedy.
How could you leave me,
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you. I loved you, too."
Christine hit every note with amazing precision as the jumpy, almost cheerful music met her pace.
"Bad dreams in the night.
They told me I was going to lose the fight,
Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights.
Heathcliff, it's me-Cathy.
Come home. I'm so cold!
Let me in-a-your window.
Heathcliff, it's me-Cathy.
Come home. I'm so cold!
Let me in-a-your window.
Ooh, it gets dark! It gets lonely,
On the other side from you.
I pine a lot. I find the lot
Falls through without you.
I'm coming back, love.
Cruel Heathcliff, my one dream,
My only master."
Christine shook off a slight shiver with the last verse of the fifth stanza of the aria. This seniro was hitting to close to her heart, and the dreams of her masterful Angel of Music.
"Too long I roam in the night.
I'm coming back to his side, to put it right.
I'm coming home to wuthering, wuthering,
Wuthering Heights,
Heathcliff, it's me-Cathy.
Come home. I'm so cold!
Let me in-a-your window.
Heathcliff, it's me-Cathy.
Come home. I'm so cold!
Let me in-a-your window.
Ooh! Let me have it.
Let me grab your soul away.
Ooh! Let me have it.
Let me grab your soul away.
You know it's me-Cathy!"
Christine finished the aria holding the triumphant declaration to heathcliff for longer than most sopranos could ever dream of achieving. She ended the song as the music faded into itself and left the room vibrating.
"Bravo! Bravo!" the two managers boomed for the seats of the opera house. Christine smiled slightly and motioned to the conductor that she needed a break. She placed the folder on the lip of the stage and walked through the wings and backstage past the flysystem and fell onto the plush red velvet couch used in so many of the plays.
She breathed deeply relaxing her diaphragm. She closed her eyes and watched as the figures of Heathcliff and Cathy rolling entwined in one others arms danced in her mind. When she felt a warm hand on her shoulder she almost screamed. Her eyes shot open and she stared into the dark eyes of Meg Giry. She sighed and sat up to face her friends smiling face.
"They want you back out there to sing the other arias."
Christine nodded and stood."Tell them I am coming, I just need a drink."
"I will." Meg smiled and made her way back out into the house to find the managers.
Christine walked over to her half empty water glass and sipped. She leaned her head back to gargle the water and massage her vocal cords. She slowly went through her scaled as the water bubbled and jumped in the back of her throat.
Then she saw them...
Two piecing green eyes fleetingly staring into her own causing her to gag on the water in shock and then spit it out unto the floor. She immediately looked back up into the rafters and saw nothing.
She shook her head and walked back unto the stage.
"Good to see you again Miss Daae, may we continue?"
"Yes, Mistro, may I only sing one more though? I am feeling quite exhausted."
"Yes, that's fine, so now then the beginning of the second aria?" Mousier Reyer said tapping his music stand.
She picked up the folder and turned to the second aria and began to sing:
"When the sea falls from the shore
As the light sinks low, will I see you any more?
As the rain falls from the sky
Can I bring you back, from a distant lullaby?
Show me your vision, the story begun
Two lights are rising and burning as one"
She felt her loneliness grow with each word, she missed her angel and this song was fast reminding her of his voice and soothing company.
"In the deep blue of the night
Shine the millions of stars and my spirit burning bright
Spinning on, into the sun, flying higher
Now my journey's begun... And the...
Cold, cold wind, it blows me away
The feeling all over is a black, black day
But I know that I'll see you again
And I know that you're near me..."
She felt her eyes begin to fill with tears as she gazed into the rafters hoping that those green eyes were those of an angel. The longing to be with her angel was becoming unbearable, she needed him she needed to know her angel will be near her like the song proclaimed.
"There's a star, calling my name
It's echo is true and the song is not the same
Take my hand and lead me away
Bring me back to you in your arms I'm going to stay...
Tell me your vision, the story begun
Two lights are rising and burning as one
All those years drifting in space
I have known you well, yet I've never seen your face..."
She felt the hot tears run down her face as the truth of the words stung her heart. Was this song written for her pain? Why was this Erik Gurriour so sad and did he know so much about her pain? She breathed deeply and continued to sing.
"You turn around, looking at me, laughter in your eyes
And now I can see
And the cold, cold wind, it blows me away
The feeling all over is a black, black day
But I know that I'll see you again
And I know that you're near me."
Christine shuddered and fell to the hard stage floor tears streaming down her face. She hugged her knees and her heart begged for her angel.
"Miss Daae!"
"Madame Soprano are you all right?"
Christine stood, ignoring the concerned calls of the Mistro and managers, and walked back to her room.
-o-
Erik stalked her steps, knowing that his words are what upset her. He watched her hold herself and cry herself to sleep. He watched her toss and turn in her sleep, calling out for her angel. And once he reached to touch her curls, but she mumbled something about green eyes and he yanked his hand back.
Erik knew she had no clue it was he who wrote these words and he also knew that she didn't hate him, but she hated his pain. It would be better if she forgot about him. He would never come to her again. He kissed his white glove and then laid it next to her as a token of his love. He watched her grab for it in her sleep and hold it against her cheek, absorbing his warmth. He knew they would never be any closer than right then.