Chapter 12: Below The Surface

3 months had passed since Claire had given Erik her blessing to see where his feelings for Christine lead; Life was good in the opera house and Claire found that she had made friends with the entire company whom were currently performing the production of Il Muto for the next few weeks.

Claire had been happy to see Carlotta growing more and more experienced with her singing ability but she was even more happy to see how something was blooming between her and one of the lead male actors named, Ubaldo Piangi; The same gentleman whom had brought her a heart shaped box of chocolates months earlier. Claire began to base her and Carlotta's singing lessons around her friend's free time so that she could enjoy her new found bliss with her sweetheart.

It was one night that Claire had been on her way up to her room having collected a glass of water from the kitchen that she heard a startling noise,

"HELP! PLEASE GOD HELP ME!" a voice yelled causing Claire to drop her glass in fright, spilling water as well as shattered glass upon the floor; Claire knew the voice to belong to Christine and she quickly ran in the direction that the voice had come from.

Claire reached Christine's dressing room and was surprised to find the door locked as Christine desperately banged on the other side of the door,

"Don't worry, Christine. I'll have you out in a moment" Claire called to her before rushing off into the backstage office where she grabbed the spare key and quickly went and opened the door; Stunned as Christine ran into her arms, hugging her tightly in relief,

"Oh thank you... Thank you so much" Christine told Claire as she trembled in fear and Claire frowned with concerned confusion,

"Christine?... What were you running from?" Claire demanded,

"The phantom. He deceived me... I thought it was an angel teaching me but it was him all along... Oh my god, his face..." Christine sobbed causing Claire's face to fall in realization as to what must have happened; Madame Giry soon came running, pulling on her dressing gown and wore a concerned expression due to having heard all the commotion,

"What on earth is going on here?" she demanded as Christine clung to Claire as she sobbed,

"... Can you see her back to her room, Antoinette? Apparently she saw the phantom's face" Claire explained, encouraging a weeping Christine into the ballet mistress' company whom nodded and directed the young singer towards the staircase that lead up to the dormitories and Claire quickly slipped into Christine's dressing room, taking the key and locked the door once more from the inside... She turned to look for Erik but only found the wall mirror partially slid open... She quickly picked up a portable oil lamp and made her way down the dark damp corridor that lead to Erik's lakeside lair.

Claire entered the lair and frowned sadly at the sight of the trashed area... Mirrors were broken, candelabras knocked over, drawings and music scores were torn to shreds,

"... Erik?" Claire called into the partially shadowed lair before suddenly crying out as a shadow launched at her, shoving her against the cavern wall with a tight clasp upon her throat; The fright caused Claire to drop the oil lamp which was luckily lost within the waters of the dark lake. Claire saw the angry expression upon Erik's face... It was as if he didn't know who she was as she looked upon the twisted and blistered flesh that covered the right side of his face,

"... Erik... It's me..." Claire told him with struggled breath as she placed a gentle hand upon his disfigured cheek and watched relieved as his angry expression vanished; He quickly released her, taking a step away as Claire coughed, willing the breath back into her body,

"Claire... I... I'm sorry... I didn't..." Erik babbled but she looked at him reassuringly,

"Erik, it's alright... It's alright, look at me. I'm fine..." she soothed and found Erik hesitantly brushing his fingertips against her neck that had began to bruise,

"No... No... I promised... I promised I would never hurt you. I'm sorry" he told her, falling to his knees as he began to sob, taking the material of her skirt into his hands and buried his face within the material and whispered apologies over and over again. Claire knelt down, gently prying the material from him before pulling him forward into an embrace that found him resting his head against her lap like a terrified child as he sobbed and Claire continued to whisper reassurance to him as she soothed him with a gentle rocking motion.

What would you like to see next?! Let me know in the reviews!

Kind Regards,

TheAuthor1996