"You love the music. I am the music."
The week following that meeting were a nightmare. Thanks to Meg quick actions, all the papers were signed and Christine's role was secure, but Erik's mysterious disappearance delayed the production. If there was even to be a production now.
But Christine wasn't worried about that. The last thing in her mind was going on stage again. Instead, it was the last words they exchanged played again and again in her mind. We had a bargain, remember? Forever.
Forever.
And she could feel it. She could feel the weight of the gun, the feeling of stabbing a knife into flesh. The feeling of taking a life.
Christine figured the police would eventually show up at her door, with questions to ask. How could she answer it? How could she explain that yes, she killed Erik, but he was not a man, he was a monster, a monster that has killed before and that would kill again, as many times as he needed to get his hands on her? How could she even begin to describe everything she saw in London, and how would anyone believe her? No one would. Christine had no way to prove it.
She spent a few days researching, trying to figure out what happened in London after her last memories in the underground lair, but found nothing except a small note about three bodies being found. No one ever knew who the Phantom was, no one could ever explain the mysterious tragedy. Christine knew she was the only one with the answers, but it was already too late.
It didn't matter anymore. Erik was dead now, and maybe it could go unexplained, just like all the deaths he caused. Maybe if the police came, Christine could them how she was only defending herself, even if she could never tell how truly horrible he was. She tried to be optimist, but it was so hard. Every time she met someone, she felt as if they could see her blood stained hands. She heard Erik's voice in her head, repeating his words again and again. We had a bargain. Forever, Christine, forever. Our souls are one. You are married to the music, and I am the music. Forever. Forever!
It couldn't be, she told herself. Not forever. He's dead. He has no power over me anymore. He's gone.
But was him?
It was not only Erik's voice that seemed stuck in her head. That song kept playing, over and over, and she regretted ever asking him to show it to her. When Christine noticed, she was moving her fingers to its rhythm, or humming it, and shocked she would stop herself, but it always happened again. It was like his music was branded to her soul, the melody forever on repeat in her mind.
We had a bargain, remember? Forever.
The only way to kill the Phantom is to destroy his music. Christine did it, she destroyed every copy of the song. Every copy but one. The one that played on her head. That music still existed, inside of her. And she feared that it would still exist as long as she lived. Because that meant that Erik was not truly gone, that as long as she lived he would stay there with her, playing his music to her, repeating…
We had a bargain, remember? Forever.