Erik and Christine smiled at each other.
Christine moved away from Erik and smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress. Erik immediately missed the warmth of her body. He had spent so much of his life in the cold dark catacombs it was nice to have a small taste of the sun.
She walked over to the mirror checking her hair to make sure the bun still looked nice enough for the stage. When she turned to face him again, she had a soft smile on her face."How do I look?" she asked.
Erik's face beamed with joy. "You look absolutely stunning my dear. A true goddess." He replied, placing a light kiss to the back of her hand.
She blushed and gave a shy smile. "Well, I suppose I should go get in place for my performance. Will you meet me here afterward?"
Erik nodded. "Of course. I shall watch your performance from my normal seat in box five which will be kept empty for me," he said with a hint of mischief in his eyes. Christine giggled before kissing his cheek and moving to the door. "Enjoy the performance, Monsieur Phantom," she said with a smile and a wink.
Erik chuckled softly as the door closed. He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a beautiful red rose with his signature black ribbon around it. He went over to the vanity and set it next to a mahogany box Erik had not noticed earlier. He opened it and saw the beautiful earrings that lay neatly in the box. He continued to examine the box and saw that there was an engraving in the wood on the inside of the lid.
Forever yours my beautiful sweet rose. All my love, Raoul.
Erik slammed the lid closed with a scoff. Love. What Raoul gave Christine was not love. Erik had not seen Christine smile once until he revealed himself to her. She was not happy with Raoul. Whatever there was between them before had clearly gone away some time ago. Raoul did not deserve her and they all knew it.
Not that Erik deserved her either. For who could ever truly deserve an angel such as Christine?
At least Erik could give her love. She chose him. She chose to sing for him and only him.
Erik smiled to himself and checked his watch. Christine's performance would start in a few minutes. She should just be finishing up with her warm-ups and getting set for her cue to go on stage.
He swiftly moved to the large mirror on the far wall of the dressing room, sliding it to the side and stepping in lightly and slipping it closed.
He was about to walk away towards the auditorium when he heard a knock on Christine's dressing room door. He looked through the two-way glass. Perhaps Christine had forgotten an accessory of sorts for the performance due to the distraction he had caused. She wouldn't have knocked though.
He watched suspiciously as the door slowly opened.
It was the fop, Raoul.
What was he doing here? The deal they had made was very clear. He had to leave on his own now that Christine had chosen to sing.
He watched as Raoul looked around the room. He stopped at the vanity where the mahogany box sat. Raoul picked it up and ran his fingers over the engraving on the inside of the lid. He then saw the rose Erik had left her and crushed it in his fist. Dropping it to the floor, with a growl.
Erik felt the rage bubble in his chest. It took every ounce of strength in his body not to jump out of the mirror and strangle the boy. Raoul gave a glare to the mirror as if he could sense Erik's glare burning into his head from behind the glass.
Erik watched with clenched fists as Raoul left the room grabbing his suitcase outside the door as he closed it.
Good. Erik thought. The fop is leaving. Soon it will just be Christine, Gustave, and himself. A true, real family.
He quickly turned and ran through the passageways to his seat in box five just as the lights came on for Christine's performance.
She stood on the stage in the spotlight looking as angelic as ever. Erik smiled. She looked so happy on that stage. Finally back where she belongs. She took a breath and began the aria.
"Who knows when love begins,
Who knows what makes it start,
One day it's simply there,
Alive inside your heart.
Try to deny it and try to protest,"
She looked up at Erik with a smile.
"But love won't let you go,
Once you've been possessed."
Erik let his eyes slip closed as her voice flooded his ears and his heart. How long he has been deprived of its heavenly sound. Oh, it made his heart soar.
"Love Never Dies,
Love never falters,
Once it has spoken,
Love is yours.
Love Never fails,
Love never alters,
Hearts may get broken,
Love endures,
Hearts may get broken,"
Christine sang looking down at her feet and thinking of Raoul.
"Love endures,"
She sang smiling softly as she once again looked up at Erik seeing his eyes closed taking in the full beauty of the aria. His eyes opened and locked on hers. He smiled back at her with all the love he could.
"And soon as you submit,
Surrender flesh and bone,
That love takes on a life,
Much bigger than your own.
Love gives you pleasure and love brings you pain,
And yet when both are gone,
Love will still remain,"
Christine felt every word she sang throughout the performance. She understood now that Erik felt her same pain. She couldn't imagine how he felt hearing the news of her marriage and then the birth of who he thought to be Raoul's son. How could she have put him through so much?
She couldn't wait to embrace him as soon as the song ended. She rushed back to her dressing room, nearly tripping over her skirts.
As she was about to touch the doorknob, she felt strong hands grab her by the waist.
"Erik! What are you doing?" she giggled as she turned around to face him. "Erik the aria was so beau..."
When she turned around, it wasn't Erik holding her. It was a tall, muscular man with dark skin and brown eyes. He covered her mouth with a piece of fabric and she slowly felt herself lose consciousness as the world around her went black.
Erik waited patiently in Christine's dressing room. He was ready to shower Christine with compliments and tell her how much he loved her.
When Christine didn't come into the room, he began to worry. Perhaps she had gotten stuck talking to the crew or finding Gustave? Or maybe she was just catching up with Meg. He waited a few more minutes before going backstage into the wings. He asked the crew if they had seen her and no one had since the performance. Next, he found Meg talking to a stagehand outside her dressing room.
"Meg. Have you seen Christine? She was supposed to meet me in her dressing room right after her performance. Please say that you have." "I'm sorry Erik, but I haven't seen Christine in quite some time." Meg thought for a moment. Perhaps you should find Raoul. He is her husband after all."
Erik growled and called for Mr. Squelch. "Do you know where the Vicomte is?" "No sir. I have not seen him since this morning." Erik thought for a moment. "Get Dr. Gangle and Ms. Fleck. Tell them to find Raoul. NOW!" Squelch scrambled away. Erik sped back to Christine's dressing room hoping she would be there.
He rushed into an empty room once again. He sat on the vanity bench and put his head in his hands. Why hadn't she come back to him? Could she really be with Raoul again?
His head shot up as he heard the door open. Mr. Squelch and Dr. Gangle came into the room dragging Raoul behind them, pushing him in front of them towards Erik. Raoul scoffed and straightened his suit jacket as he glared at Erik.
"What do you want Erik?" He said with poison on his tongue. Erik stood and walked menacingly toward Raoul. He grabbed Raoul's lapels pulling him up off the ground. "Where is she? Where did you take Christine?" "Christine? I haven't seen her since before the performance. We had a deal, remember?" Raoul growled. "I was just on my way out of town before your goons manhandled me and brought me here. Perhaps Christine realized that she had made a mistake by choosing a monster over me, her husband."
Erik gripped him even tighter and spoke through clenched teeth. "The only monster here is you." He then dropped Raoul to the floor and rushed past him out the door and down the hall. Dr. Gangle and Mr. Squelch followed him closely. I want every single employee to look for Christine. No one may rest until she is found. This isn't right. She wouldn't just disappear like this."
As everyone around him scrambled away, Ms. Fleck ran up to him as fast as she could. "Sir! Sir! I found this down the hall just shy of the back exit." She said handing Erik the Sapphire necklace he had just given Christine for the performance. He inspected the necklace trying to find any sign that could help him find her.
As he closely examined every bit of the necklace, he saw a small bit of blood on the back of one of the jewels. As he looked further there was more on the other jewels as well.
"Christine..."