Hi everybody,

once again, thank you all for your loyalty, for reading, adding to favorites, putting on alert, adding to favorites, and most of all, for reviewing! This chapter is another huge step towards the happy ending, and I hope all of you find a certain scene gruesome enough. I know you wanted te worst of the worst to happen, and I did try, though I guess it's still too good for our bad guy..

Oh, and guess what? I feel so filthy right now that I fear I must somehow atone for the atrocities of this story and write something about a *nice* Raoul next...

Yeah, I know. But on with the story, and keep in mind that I do not own those characters...

Chapter 25 – Past the Point of No Return

About half an hour later, Mr. Stanton went to bid his daughter good night. He found his son-in-law holding on to a corpse, begging Amanda-Ann not to leave him alone, covering her pale face and closed eyes with kisses and telling her over and over again how much he loved her.

Mr. Stanton fell to his knees next to Erik and put his arms around both, his dead daughter and his obviously traumatized son-in-law. He felt his own heart breaking at the thought that Amanda-Ann would now never again look at him, smile at him, talk to him. That she would soon lie in a grave forever. But he also realized that Erik needed him now.

"She is a true angel now," he whispered into his son-in-law's ears. "Erik, as much as it hurts us, it is probably best for her. Think about it, now she will never feel pain again, will never be weak again and feel somewhat inferior because she cannot do all the things she would have liked to do."

"She was the best wife any man could wish for," Erik cried, "she would have deserved to be loved with all my heart and yet... for me she only ever was the second best. I am so much in her debt, and now I will never be able to ..."

"You loved her more than you yourself seem to know," Mr. Stanton tried to comfort the broken man in front of him. "And she never missed anything in your love. Remember what the doctor told us when she started to weaken? That without you and your love she would have died much sooner. You gave her strength and a will to live, you made her happy, you were what kept her alive for so much longer."

"And Mme. de Chagny," Erik whispered. The thought somehow frightened him. After all, in a way Christine had always been Amanda-Ann's rival, the woman that stole his love from her. And ironically it had been Amanda-Ann's friendship for that rival what had kept her alive until the reunion with her friend tonight. He wondered if Amanda-Ann had still felt such sympathy for Christine if she had known the truth, if she had known who the man was that Christine still loved although he was lost to her.

Mr. Stanton nodded. "Yes, I think that friendship also meant the world to her. She had never had a friend before. Young ladies normally do not like to sit with a weak, sickly girl. Friendship and love kept her alive for a while longer, and I am forever grateful to you, Erik, for having made her last months happy ones, where she felt safe and strong in your love."

Erik nodded, tears still running down his cheeks. "I know that with Amanda-Ann gone, I have no right to stay here any longer," he mumbled. "If only you would allow me to remain until the... the funeral. I would not want to leave her before..."

Mr. Stanton took the crying man in his arms. "What are you talking about, Erik?" he asked him. "Your place is here, now and always. You are my son-in-law, you are all I have left of my daughter now. When I asked you to marry Amanda-Ann I told you that I had no other heir. My daughter has left us, but the bond she created between us is still there. You are my son now, and my heir. We would both be lonely if you moved out, now that our sweet girl has left us. By staying together and honoring her memory together, we will not be quite as lonely." He paused for emphasis. "That's what Amanda-Ann would want, anyway. For both of us. To have somebody around that we can love."

Erik was unable to speak. He just returned his father-in-law's embrace and nodded.

Xxxx

The funeral was once again very hard on the two lonely men. Amanda-Ann's coffin was filled with flowers, and covered by two enormous wreaths of dark red roses and purest white lilies. Despite the fact that the Stantons had no relatives, there was a huge group of mourners following the coffin. Mr. Stanton's business associates, every single employee of "The Music House", Nadir and Darius, and even the de Chagnys were at the cemetery.

"The Music House" had been closed for two weeks because of the death of its owner, and Christine's recital had been cancelled for that reason as well. Raoul had thought about leaving immediately when he had heard about Amanda-Ann's death, but he desperately wanted to get his hands on at least one new production for the Opéra Populaire, and the more he thought about it, the more he liked the fact that Christine now had to deal with the knowledge that her beast was free to marry again, while she was bound to him forever. It could not hurt to let these two see each other again a few more times and rub that fact in.

Christine, however, was not even thinking about Erik and that he was now widowed and thus free. She only could think of poor Amanda-Ann, who had died so young, after a life of sickness. She did not feel satisfaction at the death of her rival, she never had considered Amanda-Ann a rival anyway, once she had met her. She only thought of her as a friend now, the only friend other than the Girys she had left. And now Amanda-Ann was gone. She would never see her lovely face again, hear her sweet voice again, would never again feel her sympathy for her own fate.

Christine had therefore talked to the conductor of "The Music House" and the members of the theater's choir and orchestra, and had arranged to sing a requiem for Amanda-Ann.

Erik did not know about these plans. Christine had made sure to keep it a secret from anybody but those involved. So once Amanda-Ann's coffin was lowered into the earth, he was surprised to see the musicians pull out their instruments from under their cloaks and coats where they had been hiding them, the choir taking up position next to the open tomb and Christine and three other soloists stepping up and performing Mozart's requiem.

He had tears in his eyes. Christine was singing for his dead wife! His Christine, who had sacrificed herself for him, gave the woman he had betrayed her with a musical send-off. And as much as he enjoyed hearing Christine sing again, he could not help but think that Amanda-Ann would be pleased that her dear friend was singing for her one last time.

Xxxx

Christine and Raoul left London soon after Amanda-Ann's funeral. They never saw Erik again. He was too much in mourning for Amanda-Ann to deal with business arrangements. Therefore Mr. Stanton had taken it upon himself to discuss the upcoming production exchange with Raoul.

Mr. Stanton was deeply affected by his daughter's loss as well, but he was also worried about how hard Erik was taking Amanda-Ann's death. He felt somewhat responsible for the younger man, saw him as Amanda-Ann's legacy, and the need to comfort his son-in-law and to help him deal with the loss, helped himself to deal with the situation. He had a purpose that kept him going, while Erik seemed to have lost all direction.

Mr. Stanton also found some relief for his grief in his work, whereas Erik felt as if music had left him and could not concentrate on the theater. So Mr. Stanton had conducted the negotiations with Raoul and the exchange of yet another production was arranged. There also was talk about rescheduling Christine's cancelled recital, but Raoul had decided that this could wait until later. He was not so sure anymore that he wanted Christine to come back to London now that the beast was widowed.

Christine also knew that she probably would not be allowed to go to London and see Erik again any time soon. In a way that thought made her sad, but she also realized that it was probably better if she and Erik stayed apart. After all, even though he was free now, she was still married. There could therefore never be a future for them again, even if what Mme. Giry had told her so long ago had had some truth in it and Erik did still have feelings for her. No, better not to think about such a possibility. That was over. Her life was with Raoul now, having to endure his humiliating behavior, and allowing him access to her body whenever he felt like it.

Xxx

A few more months passed. To Christine's relief, Raoul began to spend many evenings out of the house. She did not miss him and it did not hurt her once she heard rumors that he was becoming a regular at several night-clubs and brothels. To her this only meant that he would not use her as much anymore for his insatiable sexual appetite.

Raoul was slowly growing tired of his wife, who seemed to only endure him and to not enjoy his attentions. He was not going to divorce her though, no, he enjoyed seeing her unhappy and pining for her freak, but forcing her into submission had somehow lost its appeal for him, and the willing whores seemed to appreciate his attentions so much more. So he began to frequent certain establishments, where gambling tables, wine and stronger alcoholic beverages as well as naked and half-naked women promised all sorts of entertainment to him.

Christine could not care less. Yes, it was embarrassing that her husband sometimes came home so drunk that he did not find his way up to his room and collapsed downstairs, sometimes after having vomited all over the place. She knew that the servants were talking about this and pitying her, but she felt as if it was mostly them that should be pitied, for they would have to clean up the mess Raoul left behind.

He began to sleep in and neglect his duties, too. Christine knew that he very rarely went to the Opéra Populaire anymore, and she suspected that he was also late in providing the pledged financial support for the theater.

When Firmin and André finally decided to pay her a visit, she saw these suspicions confirmed. Of course she told them that her husband had not been well recently, that the lack of payment could only be an oversight caused by his health problems, and that she would make sure they got their money as soon as possible, but from the managers' reaction she knew that they did not believe one word she said and had their own theories about why they had not been paid. That conversation was every bit as embarrassing for her as the servants' constant gossip about their master's debaucheries.

Christine therefore finally confronted Raoul. She told him that she did not care what he did during the evenings and nights, that she was not jealous of his whores at all, but that she did not want to hear complaints about his neglected duties ever again. "You will go to the Opéra Populaire and settle this affair with Messieurs André and Firmin," she told him firmly. "That is the least you can do. At least keep up appearances. Pretend to still be an honorable member of society."

"And what will you do if I fulfill your wish?" he asked lasciviously.

"I will allow you to visit your whores as often as you want," Christine replied coldly. "After all, that's the only type of woman you know how to deal with."

"You would not talk to me like that if I were your beast," Raoul spat at her. "If he were here, you would willingly shed all your clothes right now in the middle of the day..."

"I would do no such thing and he would ask no such thing of me," Christine retorted, disgusted by Raoul's insinuations. "You go and talk to the managers. I do not want to hear complaints from them ever again. I have never felt so embarrassed in all my life, having to make excuses for you."

"I will talk to them," Raoul promised, "and afterwards I'll have some fun with women that appreciate my attentions..."

The last words were meant to hurt her, to show her how little he respected their marriage. But they had the opposite effect.

"Do whatever you want," Christine replied coldly. "Just make sure the managers do not come and complain again."

Xxxx

About five hours later, Raoul was brought home completely drunk, naked and dying. After his encounter with the managers he had gone to his favorite brothel, where he had first imbibed heavily, complaining to two of the girls that his wife did not appreciate him and denied him. Then, already heavily drunk and close to alcohol poisoning, he had taken both girls to a room where he had shed his clothes, made them do the same and had tried to engage them in some rather sadistic activities. Apparently he had tried to punish them for the way he felt his wife denied him. When he had begun to hit them hard with a whip he had somehow produced from his shedded cloak, they had called for help. The intoxicated madman with his whip had been hard to stop. But finally the combined efforts of all the inhabitants of the brothel had managed to throw him out of the room.

He had been so furious and drunk that he had continued to whirl the ship, and in doing so had lost equilibrium and fallen down the stairs. That had not only resulted in him injuring his spine, it had also caused him to vomit. When the girls had seen their noble customer lying there lifeless in his vomit, they had quickly packed him and his clothes into his carriage and sent him home. They did not want to have anything to do with his accident or possible death.

Christine was shocked when he was brought home in such a way. But she could not feel sorry for her dying husband. All she could feel was relief that soon she would be free of him.

She told the servants to clean him up and dress him in his nightclothes and to call a doctor, but when the latter arrived and told her that there was no hope and that the Vicomte would probably not regain consciousness, she was almost glad that she would not have to talk to him again.

Raoul passed away that very night. Of course his sudden death gave room to all sorts of speculations and gossip. Christine did her best, though, to cover up the whole affair. She paid the girls at the brothel a huge sum to buy their silence, and did the same with her own servants and the doctor. Even though she did not grieve for Raoul, she wore widow's black in order to keep up appearances and whenever anybody asked her about her husband's death, she told them that poor Raoul had not been feeling well for quite some time and had obviously fallen down the stairs at their home when overcome by a dizzy spell. She did her best to keep Raoul's name clear.

Christine had expected that now, that Raoul was dead, she would have to leave their house and go back to the Opéra Populaire and earn her own living, since she assumed that Raoul's family would not want anything to do with her, the former singer. But to her surprise it turned out that he had not left a will, and that therefore she, as his widow, would inherit all his possessions, while the distant de Chagny relatives only got the title and the mansion in Brittany.

Christine also inherited all of Raoul's business obligations, such as his position as patron of the Opéra Populaire. Of course she made sure that the managers were paid regularly from now on, but at first she avoided the theater. After all, she was supposed to be a mourning widow, and thus getting involved with any sort of entertainment would have been considered too frivolous. She knew she could not go there until at least half a year after her husband's death had passed, and then only for business reasons, not to see a performance.

Fortunately, sets and costumes from Erik's latest new production had just arrived in Paris in exchange for the sets of "Nozze di Figaro" and thus the Opéra Populaire had a new play to rehearse and to prepare for and no actions on her part were required for the moment. The managers were asking her, though, if she might be able to return to the stage after a suitable period of mourning. Christine sadly shook her head. She would have been able to do that if Raoul's family had cast her out. In that case she could have taken on her maiden name again and continued her career, but as the inheriting widow, she still was Mme. de Chagny, a member of a noble family, and as such she could not go back to performing.

Christine promised the managers, though, that she would take a more active role in the running of the theater, once her year of mourning was over and that she would help them with artistic decisions.

In a way Christine felt happier than she had in a very long time. While she still had to take Raoul's family name into consideration and had to make sure she met the expectations the French nobility had of a grieving widow, she was free now, and would be even freer once the year of mourning would be over. Since Raoul's relatives were not living in Paris and would not dictate her actions, she would be able to make her own plans, to keep her own social circle, to see the Girys more often again and to spend much more time at the Opéra Populaire than she had been able to do during her marriage. She would be able to lead her own life.