Chapter 15: Never Enough

Erik spent the next few weeks within his office after recieving word from Hammerstein that Christine had accepted the invitation to sing within Phantasma's concert hall and he felt a spark of inspiration that he had thought was long dead; He began composing day and night,

"I do not think this performance is a good idea, my friend... Think of what all of this is doing to Rose" Nadir begged,

"Rose knows that I need to hear her sing just one more time before I can finally; Once and for all let go of the past... And I shall be free... She will no longer haunt my dreams... Her voice, her eyes will no longer haunt my mind" Erik murmured,

"And when you do hear her sing. What then?... What happens if your hearing her sing once more will just make things worse?... Why can you not just see what has been right in front of you, Erik?... Where has Christine been all these years?" Nadir demanded firmly,

"... You need to wake up and know what you have... Before you lose it" the Persian warned before storming out of the office.

The weeks passed by for Rose like a transparent daze and she found her disturbed from her time in which she had been lost in thought,

"Rose?... Myself and Meg are going to head downstairs to our box... Are you joining us?" Antoinette asked gently and Rose offered a tired smile before shaking her head gently,

"No, i'm just going to... Stay here and relax, get some reading done before heading to bed... It's been a long day" Rose reasoned softly and the former ballet mistress placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder before placing a comforting kiss to the crown of her head,

"You know where we are if you need us" Madame Giry told her before bidding her goodnight,

"... Goodnight, Antoinette. Goodnight Meg" Rose bid as they left her room, closing the door behind them and Rose sighed tiredly, standing before pulling on her dressing gown and went over to her bed and crawled onto the mattress and laid back against the pillows and closed her eyes as she heard the music begin from the concert hall below.

Erik watched from the shadows of stage right as Christine began singing the aria that he had written for her and for the first time in years he felt his music come back to life and he closed his eyes in bliss as he listened to his former student sing.

Rose had grown curious when she heard her former stepsister begin to sing; She made her way downstairs towards the auditorium and went through a passageway that lead to the backstage area and she moved to stand at stage left... Christine's talent for singing had certainly grown since she had last heard her... And it was not only her whom thought so. Rose caught glimpse of Erik standing across the other side of the stage... It was the love in his eyes that he had whilst watching Christine was what made her realize that coming downstairs was the wrong thing to do,

"Rose?" Nadir said gently making her look at him and his face fell when he saw the tear that was slowly making its way down her cheek,

"Oh sweetheart..." the Persian murmured but Rose quickly rushed past him and fled despite his protests.

Rose had made her way to the main staircase before she collapsed weakly and allowed silent tears to fall as she heard the stolen music from the orchestra and into her ears,

"... All the shine of a thousand spotlights..." she began singing the words to the very aria that her stepsister was currently singing,

"... All the stars we steal from the night sky will... Never be enough... Never be enough" she sang brokenly,

"Towers of gold are still too little... These hands could hold the world but it'll..." she continued, turning her gaze towards a poster that read; 'Mister Y Presents: The Soprano of the century! ~ Christine Daae'; Rose closed her eyes brokenly, allowing more tears to fall,

"... Never be enough... Never be enough..." she whispered with shaking breath and found that her heart was too broken to sing any more and she slowly pulled herself up with the assistance of staircase's arm before making her way back to her room.

Nadir came rushing to Erik's side,

"Erik we have a problem" the Persian told him desperately,

"Not now, doroga" Erik insisted as he continued to watch Christine sing from the shadows,

"Erik, Rose saw you watching Christine" Nadir told him firmly and Erik looked at him stunned,

"What?... But... She supposed to be sat with..." Erik tired and looked towards the box in which Madame Giry and Meg were sat... Only to discover that Rose was indeed not with them,

"... She was watching from Stage left... I tried to stop her but... She was crying and ran off" Nadir explained and it didn't take Erik long to rush off.

Erik frantically knocked upon Rose's door with a desperate expression,

"Rose?!... Rose, please open the door" he begged, waiting a moment before trying the door and sighed when he discovered that it was locked,

"Rose please..." he pleaded before moving and making his way into a secret passage way but found that the entrance to Rose's room had been blocked by a bookcase that she had pushed in front of it... But it was something on the floor of the passageway that caught his eye... The necklace he had given her before the opening of Phantasma... Erik's heart had dropped when he realized that Rose knew him all too well and that he would try to gain access to her room through the passageway; The former Phantom quickly used his shoulder to ram the bookcase out of his way and he was heart broken to find that Rose's bedroom door was now stood ajar... various trunks also stood open and it was the same for Rose's wardrobe... They were empty and the only trace of Rose was an envelope addressed to him and written in her handwriting.

The song Rose sings is 'Never Be Enough (Reprise)' by Loren Allred. Review for Chapter 16!

Kind Regards,

TheAuthor1996