Chapter Thirty-Nine: Hearts May Get Broken...
Though Erik did not know it, Vivienne had entered the room and was standing on the balcony next to what was left of the enchanted rose, watching intently.
The woman lowered the hood of her cloak and extended her hand toward the bell jar.
In an instant, the jar disappeared, leaving behind the crimson petals and a trace of golden dust.
Vivienne swirled her hand and the petals rose.
The golden dust seemed to multiply, moving rapidly towards Erik and enveloping him entirely before lifting him off the ground.
As Erik felt himself rising up into the air, he fought desperately to keep hold of Christine, wanting to cling to her as long as possible, but her body slipped from his grasp and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get back to her.
No. Not again. Please, don't take me away from her. Not now.
He tried to turn to look back at her, but the spell became too powerful and its light was too blinding...
He had to shut his eyes against the abrupt sunlight blazing in its warmth, though this time, the storm of light carried a different sort of power.
He blinked... and suddenly he found himself back in the ballroom all those years ago, kneeling in front of a powerful enchantress as his handsome features that he had so prided himself on turned to a hideous, skeletal monstrosity, forcing him to become a prisoner within his own castle.
And yet, this power wasn't painful or trapping.
No, instead it felt... freeing.
An unknown period of time later, Erik felt himself descending until his feet touched stone and the glowing whirlwind disappeared.
He looked down at his hands and gasped.
Whole, pink, non-bony flesh.
Tearing off his mask, he patted his face frantically and laughed in delight to finally feel the nose that he'd been missing for the last fifteen years.
The curse was broken!
And if he was free of the curse, then surely that meant that Christine...
He wasted no time rushing over to her still form.
Her face was as pale as the snow around her, and her lips devoid of all color.
"Christine?" he urged frantically.
But nothing happened.
The redhead remained still and unresponsive.
"Christine, wake up!" Erik pleaded, desperately shaking her shoulder, but her head just lolled limply from side to side.
He felt a sudden fear.
What if...
"Christine?" he whispered hesitantly.
Erik reached out a hand and tentatively touched her cheek, then jerked back with a startled exclamation.
Her skin was like ice!
Desperately, he checked for a pulse, but could find nothing, and broke down in a fresh wave of tears.
NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!
It wasn't supposed to end like this!
The curse would be broken, Christine would be alive, and they would get married, and have children, and whatever romantic foolishness came next!
But now the curse was broken, yet Christine was dead.
What was the point of being free of the curse if it meant losing his Christine?
A/N: Please review to unlock Chapter Forty...