Erik dipped his head and opened his door further.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.
Julianna nodded, and sat down on a chair. His room was identical to hers, though the layout was a little different.
Erik sat down in the other chair and took a deep breath. "This will bring me to the end of my story, and it may contain information you don't necessarily want to hear, but it is of importance.
"In the month before Jacques proposed, I became a horrible person, and looking back now, I regret those days immensely, but alas, I cannot change them now. When he proposed, she asked for some time to think about it, and proceeded to avoid him for the next few days while she attempted to tell me. Finally, one afternoon, she dragged me down to the riverbank and confessed. I was furious and demanded that she reject him, but Meg, much to my shock disagreed. She told me that it felt wrong to live off of him and give him nothing in return. We exchanged heated words until she burst out, 'I am going to marry him, Erik! Better him than the monster which you have become!' She stormed away before I could react, leaving me alone to curse myself for my stupidity. When I found her later that night, it was too late. I tried to make things better after that, but the damage was done, and the wedding plans were set. I stopped drinking but took to wandering at night, vanishing for several days and causing Meg more pain. It was when Jacques approached me and asked me to to be his best man that I knew I couldn't live like that any longer. My pride was bruised and torn, so I moved out and rented a room at a hostel, in exchange for working at it and minimal pay. Though it was a ratty place, the owners were kind and did not question my mask since I promised to stay out of sight as often as I could. I lived there for the remaining months leading up to the wedding, out of contact from Meg and Jacques. It was a simple life that required no thought. Wake up, clean the kitchen before the cook gets up, grab a bite to eat, take the livestock out and feed them before cleaning their living quarters, clean the kitchen, repair things, eat, clean the kitchen, sleep, repeat. I worked hard which helped keep your mother out of my mind, and at night I would be exhausted enough that I could just fall into a dreamless sleep. A fortnight before the wedding, I returned to my humble room at the hostel only to find Meg crying on the dirty pallet which I used as a bed. The broken daze I had been living in finally cracked and I was able to emerge. Gathering her in my arms, I held her close and whispered comforting words into her ears until she fell asleep. When she awoke an hour or so later, she told me of her lonely past few months and told her about my empty ones. Somehow that night we were able to heal the wounds that had broken us apart, but in the morning she had to leave and return to her soon to be husband. I never expected to see her again, but the next night she returned."
Erik paused, and looked away, hiding a tear that Julianna couldn't see. He took another breath and continued.
"Somehow, despite all the wrongs I had done her, she was able to forgive me, and still love me. I will never understand how. The following nights she would return, and we would share the nights together, pretending that she wasn't promised to anyone but me. It was sweet torture every night, knowing that in a few days, she would be someone else's wife. We dreaded when the sun rose every morning because it meant that it was another day closer to the wedding.
"We held each other every night, relishing in the contact which would soon be forbidden, and would talk not about the future we couldn't have, but the undying love we would always have. She used to compare me to a fire, saying that I had made her burn with desire and love ever since the night when Don Juan was performed. I thought of her as my sun, because without her, my world was dark and empty, void of any life and emotion. It was almost ironic as I began to dread the sun rising for it meant that the inevitable was one day closer.
"A week before the wedding she came to me with a request. She asked me to take away her innocence, because she had always imagined and wanted her first time to be with me. I was weak and could not deny her request for I wanted it as much as her, which is why the following night I arranged for us to meet at a semi-fancy inn. It took most of my savings to book a room for the one night, but I had no regrets about handing it over."
Julianna blushed in the darkness, thinking of what he would be speaking about next.
"The next night, we met there, not long after the moon rose in the sky. I will spare you the details, but we made passionate love that night, and it was heaven."
The masked man paused, as if recalling the memories, and Julianna felt her cheeks heat up even more.
"The next night we made love in my small room at the hostel, though I cleaned my bed pallet to the best of my abilities. For the next few nights we bonded as much as we could given the time limit, and then far too soon the last night before the wedding arrived. We made love once that night, and spent the rest of it walking together, hand in hand down the snow covered, deserted streets in the moonlight. We spoke few words except 'I love you' and enjoyed our last moments together, reminiscing on the past and remembering how we had bonded so many years ago over these moonlit walks. All too soon the sun rose, casting us in pink and gold rays, making your mother's hair glow. We embraced for as long as we could, and I could feel her tears fall down my neck as I held her close. And then with a final farewell kiss, she was gone and I was left alone."
Julianna blinked the tears out of her eyes and held back a sob. Though she could not see him, Julianna felt that the phantom was also crying. She waited in silence for him to continue, as she knew he would not want her to comfort him.
"Their wedding was helding in little chapel, your father wanted a more elaborate wedding but Meg didn't think she would be able to handle all of the pressure. Only about 50 people came, and apart from Antoinette, Christine and Raoul, and a few friends from the bakery and opera house, they were all friends and family of Jacques. During the ceremony, I slipped into the bride's dressing room and left three things where she would find them, then after pausing to watch them exchange vows at the altar, I exited before they kissed. I quit my job at the hostel and stole a horse with the intention of returning to Paris, but I hesitated. Instead I stayed with the horse in the woods outside Jacques' manor until nightfall. When the moon rose I slipped onto his grounds and climbed up to the balcony that was attached to Jacques' bedroom. Though it was winter, the night was mild and the balcony doors were open. For awhile I sat, perched on the stone railing, listening as he took her and whispered 'I love you' over and over. When it was over I heard him move over on their bed and fall asleep while Meg tossed and turned for a few moments. Soon however, I heard her footsteps lightly pater over to the balcony, where she gasped, and whispered my name. After checking Jacques was asleep, I held her closely and told her I was leaving, but if she ever needed anything, I would not hesitate to provide it.
"We clung to each other like we had the night before, and when I felt it was time to go, I kissed her passionately before letting go and stepping away. That's when I noticed the chain around her neck, and the ring that dangled close to her breast. The ring, which I had bought so many years ago when I had been thinking of proposing, glittered in the moonlight, the yellow diamond, the rarest of diamonds, catching the light perfectly, drew my eye to it. 'Thank you, my love' were the last words she ever spoke to me. I still remember her holding it to her heart as she watched me ride away out of sight. I -"
"Was the ring one of the gifts you left her?" Julianna interrupted.
Erik nodded.
"How did it survive the fire?"
"It was the one thing apart from my mask that I grabbed before I left my room that night."
"What were the others?" she asked.
"One was the ring, tied onto a white rose with a gold ribbon, like the one you left me yesterday. The second was a painting of her dancing in field of grass with the sunshine on her, making her glow like an angel. It was painted in memory of the picnics we used to go on back in the good days. On the back of it was a message that said, 'Never was the earth graced with a more beautiful angel than you.' The final gift was a poem, 'If I am the phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so. If I am to be saved, it is because your love redeems me.'
"I have not spoken to her since that day, though I worked hard and earned money that I put away incase she ever needed me. Though she never saw me, I used watch over her and leave her small gifts to remind her of my love. She sought me out a few times, here at the Opera House. I confess that I hid from her, afraid because I knew that if she came to me, I would never be able to let her leave my side again. When your family moved several years back, I knew I had to let her go. It was hard for me to see her be happy with another man, and the children she created with him."
"You're wrong," Julianna murmured, "My mother has never been happy in her marriage. I didn't notice it until a few years ago and until now, I didn't understand, but now I do." She stood up. "We must get you to maman as soon as possible!"
"It is late child and the roads are not safe at night." Erik reasoned.
"I won't be able to sleep anyways and you're the phantom. You will keep us safe. We should leave now!"
Erik sighed but gathered his few things, then paused. "May I have the letter?"
Julianna cocked her head in confusion, "Letter….? Oh! Shoot, I almost forgot. It's been in my pocket for so long now… Here."
After looking at the letter and hesitating, the phantom broke the seal and read it.
"We should go." He said after a minute.
"May I see the letter?' she inquired, reaching for it.
"No." Erik stuffed it into his cloak's pocket and exited the room. "Gather your things quickly, I will meet you at the stables."
A/N: There is one final part left, HOWEVER, it will largely depend on reviews. We are at the crossroads where you readers can choose if there is a happy reunion with Meg and Erik or not… All I ask is for 5 reviews.