Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews that have been coming in. Sorry that I didn't update sooner but I've been away at fright fest this weekend and just got back. Being away gave me more time to think about this chapter before I writing it so I hope you all enjoy. If any of my friends are interested I do have the fright fest pictures up on my myspace. Enjoy the chapter and any reviews would be great.
Christine stared at Colum and began to cry as the crowded theater started to empty out as people ran from their seats.
"Why Colum? Why do this to him?"
"Because he killed my brothers Raoul and Philippe De Changy."
"No…..you mean….you mean all this time you were…..were a…."
"That's right Christine, I'm a De Changy boy. And now it is time to put the opera Ghost to his death."
After saying those horrifying words, Colum turned to the officers and nodded giving them the cue to take Erik away. As the officers started to drag his body away, Erik looked up at Christine, waiting for the rescue that never came. He had expected his one love one life time to save him from what was coming, just as he had saved her years ago. Erik had learned years ago to always have a weapon on him at all times and up until tonight always carried one. Of course something bad had to happen to him on the one night he walked out of his lair without his lasso or a small shank. As he looked up at Colum who was walking at his side all he wanted to do was cut off both his legs and feed them to what ever lived in the murky waters of his lair. First he had lied to his daughter and now he was treating him like a complete animal. Damn him for lying and damn Christine for not seeing the DeChangy deep down within him. How stupid could Christine be for trusting the first man that walked into town with a name such as Colum. Seconds later, he felt the cold air of the night and looked up to see that the officers had taken him outside and were now dragging him through town where crowds of people stood on the corners. Seconds later, Erik was dropped onto the hard cobble ground with Colum leaning down beside him. He grasped Erik's crisp white shirt and forced him to look into his eyes.
"You lied to the whole city of Paris Monsieur Kire and now you will tortured each and every day until you die."
"Nothing you can do can hurt me more than I already am."
"Really? Because you see I have found someone who has been looking for you these past few years. He really misses you so much."
"And who is that? Raoul? Philippe maybe?"
Colum pulled Erik's shirt tighter and put his fist up to his face.
"You killed my brothers you hideous creature and now you're going to pay for it. But first you are dressed all wrong especially in this cold December air."
As the officers held Erik down to the cobble, Colum tore off Erik's shirt revealing his disfigured chest to the brisk night air. He then took a lasso and swung it around his neck before pulling it tight.
"Now that's more like it."
The officers then tied Erik's hands behind his back and then did the same to his legs, before dragging him further.
"Now like I was saying, I found an old friend of yours. He was looking for you all over the whole country and I was kind enough to catch you for him. I figured this would be much better than just hanging you in the town square."
Before Erik could even look up, he heard a familiar horrifying voice, the raspy disgusting voice of his worst fear. He hoped it was all a dream until he looked up and realized that it was all a reality. There in front of his own very eyes was Baba the disgusting gypsy from his child hood. The monster who locked him into a cage and called him the devil's child, the same monster who had done the same thing to him four years ago and would have killed him if not for Nadir and Christine saving him. Baba got down on his knees in such delight as he laughed at such a sight.
"Look at my little Devil's Child. Four years I have searched and searched for you and now I have found you. Running a freak show brings me such wealth, but no where near as much as having you as the main attraction. No, you my friend are going to make me filthy stinking rich."
Colum smiled devilishly and looked at Baba with such deviance.
"You know he has a child Baba."
Erik immediately started to squirm on the ground as if trying to break free because of what had just been said.
"No! you leave her alone! don't you touch her you hear me! Lie one finger on her and I won't think twice about killing you!"
Colum rolled his eyes in disbelief and pulled the end of the lasso tight, causing Erik to silence himself due to a lack of air in his throat.
"That's better, now like I was saying he has a daughter and she looks just like him."
"Really? How badly is she deformed?"
"Not as bad as this monster, she does have a pretty big scar on the right side of her cheek like he does."
"That would be a perfect side show….the Devil and his child."
"Give me a few days and I'll make that dream a reality."
"I'd like to see the woman brave enough to make love to such a monster."
"Oh no it was far from consensual he raped her."
Once again, Erik tried to fight his way out of the bindings but was cut off by his throat being pulled tight again.
"So we have us a hideous monster and a rapist? Put him in the cage and make sure he can't move."
Colum nodded and waved on the officers to bring Erik to the empty disgusting cage on wheels. The cage was made of nothing more than wood from a cut down tree and bedded with dirty hay. Once to the door, Colum opened it up and pulled Erik's body inside of it and placed him on his knees. He then tied the end of the lasso to the top of the cage and pulled it tightly so he could hardly breath let alone talk.
"You…you know I didn't rape……..Ch..Christine"
"Yes I know, but Baba doesn't know that."
As the wind blew, Erik began to shiver as the brisk air hit his naked chest. Colum finished tying him down and climbed out of the filthy cage.
"Don't even think about getting out of here, this cage is going to be guarded twenty four seven."
Back at the opera house, Christine sat in her dressing room in front of her mirror. The memory of the first night she met Erik through the mirror played back into her mind. He was surly hung by now and her new lover was the cause. Just then Meg, Marco and Madam Giry came running in through the door. Madam Giry being the more worried one.
"Christine, it's Erik! You have to do something."
"He's dead by now Madam."
Meg grabbed Christine by the shoulders and forced her to look at her.
"No! he's been taken hostage by the gypsies."
Christine pulled away and put her head down into her soft white hands.
"Just leave me be Meg, I don't wish to hear such nonsense."
"Don't you love him Christine?"
"I once did but now I don't love anyone. Even the man I fell in love with turned out to be a Dechangy just out for revenge."
Meg and Marco turned away, and left Madam Giry alone with Christine.
"You know he still loves you Christine."
"Yea right, give me proof Madam."
Madam Giry leaned over and picked up a rose with a black ribbon tied around it and handed it to Christine.
"I used to think that this was all the proof you would ever need."
Christine looked at the rose, and felt the black ribbon that was tied around it.
"Just think about your daughter Christine. You will be raising a daughter all on your own if Erik dies within the hands of these fiends."
"What can I do? Erik is a criminal and you of all people would have had to know that this was going to happen sooner or later."
"Yes but not this way. He deserves to be locked up but not in a cage. The people in this town think of him as a monster and not as a criminal. I have kept him safe for over 30 years and I was hoping you would continue it."
"Even if I do save him he will be hunted down as always."
"You would have to move away for good Christine."
"No, I could never leave you or Meg."
"It is the only way, Erik is a wanted man in Paris."
"If you're going to save him you better do it before tomorrow. Once the towns people get to him it is likely that he will be dead in minutes."
"I shall save him Madam, but I will not be leaving with him."
"Do as you wish Ms. Daae but at least he will be safe."
Christine rose to her feet and put on her cloak before grabbing a lantern to light her way through the darkness.
"Madam have you seen my daughter?"
"Not since before the show Christine."
"If you see her please watch her until I return."
"As always."
Christine then headed the outside of the opera house to get to the fair grounds.
In the hallways of the opera house, Andre held Clorinda's hand as he lead her through the dark passage ways.
"Monsieur Andre, why did those people take Monsieur Kire away?"
"Because my dear, some people can't see past his face."
"Will he be ok?"
"Knowing him like I do, he should be fine. Lets just find your mother and go from there."
Just then, Clorinda saw Andre fall to the ground and a hand grab her. As she looked up she noticed that it was Colum who grabbed her. He had knocked Andre out with a candle stick and now had her in his grasp.
"Let me go! Let me go you horrible father!"
"Father? There is no way in hell I fathered something as hideous as you!"
"You mean you're not my father?"
"Of course not silly brat! I did what I had to do to get with your mother even if that meant seducing a gullible monkey such as yourself."
Clorinda squirmed as she tried to break away from Colum's grasp but couldn't.
"Let's go find your mother."
Christine walked through the cold snow as she got closer and closer to the fair grounds. Once she arrived there, she noticed that everything was quiet and no one was around except for the guard slouching over by a wooded cage on wheels. As Christine got closer she realized that the guard was asleep and Erik was inside the cage on his knees. He was shirtless and shivering uncontrollably. Very slowly, Christine opened the cage door, and crawled into the filthy box and approached Erik. As soon as he saw her, he turned away and tried to hide the shivers he was giving off. Christine immediately took off her cloak and wrapped it around his body to get him warmer. The smell alone coming from the cage was enough to make anyone shiver and turn away.
"I'm going to try and get you loose Erik."
Erik didn't speak and paid no mind to Christine who was working on untying the end of the lasso from the top of the cage. Once the lasso was off from around his neck, she began to untie his legs and then his arms. Once all the rope was off of him, he let out at loud sigh and plopped back onto the hay. Christine shook him to get up but he didn't move at all. Just then she was grabbed and tore away from the cage and through into the snow. When Christine looked up she saw Colum standing there with a lasso wrapped around Clorinda's neck.
"Let her go Colum!"
"No, sorry I can't do that."
"And why not?"
"What? And let this little brat go on to have children? No the hideousness has to stop here!"
"By what? Killing an innocent child? Let her go!"
Just then from behind them Christine spotted Erik slouched over as if he were in pain ready to fight Colum.
"Le…let her go….Colum."
Colum turned around and laughed at the sight of Erik's badly harmed body. He immediately through Clorinda aside and took out his small pocket knife and circles Erik.
"This is better than killing the girl, I get to kill you for killing my brothers. I'm going to give you the death by a thousand cuts for what you did to my brothers."
From a short distance, Christine watched with Clorinda as Colum circled Erik's weak body with his knife pointed at him. Just then Colum jumped Erik but before he could stab him, they rolled down the hill. Christine ran to the end of the hill and looked down to see the both of them wrestling on the frozen pond. Colum was on top of Erik's body with his knife pointed straight towards Erik's heart as Erik's hand held back Colum's as much as possible.
"I'm going to cut you into tiny pieces you hideous monster!"
"N…Not if I….ca..can help it."
Just then, with his free hand, Colum punched Erik hard in the side, causing him to let go of his hand and the knife to come down onto the handsome side of Erik's face leaving a huge gash. From the top of the hill, Clorinda broke away from her mother and jumped onto Colum's back. As she did, the ice beneath them began to crack and the both of them fell through.
"Erik! The ice!"
Erik weakly looked up at Christine and then realized that Clorinda had fallen through the quickly cracking ice. Without thinking about his own safety, he dove into the water to save his daughter. As he swam towards her lifeless body, he was grabbed by Colum who started to hold him under. Erik then realized that it was going to be a fight to the death and he was going to make sure of it. As his daughter began to drift away from him, Erik gathered up all his strength, and pushed Colum's body up into the still solid ice of the pond, causing him to hit his head and pass out. After wards, Erik let Colum's body drift away under water and swam towards his daughter. From the pond's edge, Christine watched frantically searching for any signs of Erik or Clorinda. She couldn't imagine life without her daughter and hoped that she would come up. As she looked down into the icy water, Erik plopped himself and Clorinda onto the snow and took in a few breaths before moving. Clorinda lied there blue in the face and shivering as Christine wrapped her in her arms.
"Come on Erik! We have to get out of here quickly before the police show up."
Erik got to his feet very slowly and shivered as he stumbled along Christine's side. Once they were back at the opera house, Christine undressed Clorinda as fast as she could and wrapped her in a blanket after placing her in a night gown. She then worked on warming Erik's body up and had him sit in his kitchen while she stitched his face up.
"Th…that's going to le…leave a….terrible mark."
"I know Erik."
"I….I'm so cold Christine."
"You can't stay here anymore Erik, you have to leave tonight. In a few hours the whole town in going to be breaking down these doors just to get down here and kill you."
"And go where?"
"A ship leaves tonight for Germany and you have to get on it."
"Come with me Christine, you and Clorinda."
"No Erik, this time I won't be joining you."
"I….I can't leave my daughter Christine."
"You must Erik, and you must do it now. Say good bye to her."
Erik began to cry and ran his fingers through his hair.
"How do you expect me to do something like that?"
"It's for your own good Erik."
Erik rose to his feet and walked over to his daughter's bed to see her sleeping. How much she resembled Erik. From her blue eyes to her blonde hair and especially the scar on the right side of her cheek. She looked over at him, and smiled as much as she could.
"You saved me Monsieur Kire."
"Yes Clorinda, and you saved me as well."
Clorinda reached up and touched his stitched up face and ran her fingers down it's texture.
"Your face? It's hurt."
"I'll be fine Clorinda but there is something I need to talk to you about."
"What?"
"I need to go away for a while."
"You're leaving me? Why? What did I do?"
"Nothing Clorinda, you didn't do anything. I'm in danger and therefore I need to leave."
"For how long?"
"Possibly forever Clorinda."
Clorinda began to cry, and clung onto Erik.
"Please Monsieur Kire, don't leave me….you just can't."
At that moment Erik turned away from her and began to cry. He couldn't leave his daughter for he hadn't been away from her in all the four years she's been In his life. She would soon be five and he couldn't possibly miss it.
"I'm sorry Clorinda, I just can't stay here."
He then touched her face and stared into it for the longest second as if trying to store her beauty into his memory for all eternity. He then stood up and turned away when all of a sudden she jumped on him clung to his shirt never letting go.
"Please Monsieur Kire, don't go!"
Just then Madam Giry walked through the gates of the lair with a lantern.
"Erik, Christine! Meg and I found Monsieur Andre knocked out in the hallway. Word is that all the towns people are headed this way with torches' and lassos. We have to get to the docks now!"
Erik looked down at his daughter and couldn't help but begin to sob at seeing how much she cared for him. Christine pulled her away from him, and handed Erik his mask.
"Let's get to the docks."
Madam Giry lead the way with her lantern as Erik carried Clorinda in his arms and Christine carried a tote of Erik's things. Once they were to the docks and in front of the ship, Madam Giry handed Erik a piece of paper.
"That is an address for when you get to Germany. I have a friend who owns a shut down fair, he already knows that you're coming. He is wiling to let you stay there as long as you want."
"Thank you Madam, I can't fully thank you for all that you have done for me in these past 30 years."
"Perhaps I shall come out and stay with you some day."
"Any time that you're ready Madam, you shall always be welcomed where I reside."
Erik then turned to Christine and handed Clorinda back to her and took his bag of things.
"In that bag is something special for you Erik."
"Thank you Christine."
"Have a safe journey Erik."
Christine then held out her hand and Erik nervously shook it. They were cut off by the sound of the ship's whistle blowing and broke away. Erik took one last look at his daughter and then reached into his pocket and took out a rose with a black ribbon tied to it and handed it to Christine.
"What's this for Erik?"
"It's the rose that I gave you on Christmas day. I've been meaning to apologize to you about that."
"About what?"
"Well it seems that I was so angry with myself that I forgot to clip the thorns off of it before giving it to you. I didn't realize that until I picked it up off the floor last night and pricked my finger. So I say it now Christine, I'm sorry."
"You mean you didn't do that on purpose?"
"Oh dear God no, I might have been angry with you but never enough to want to hurt you."
Christine looked down at the rose and watched Erik walk aboard the ship. Once on the ship and seated against the wall of the cargo area, Erik opened his bag and noticed a small wrapped present sitting on top of everything. When Christine had given it to him on Christmas day he had stuck it under his bed unopened until now. On top of it was a black ribbon with something small and shiny attached to it. As Erik unraveled it, he realized that it was the ring he had given back to Christine. There was also a note attached to the top of the box. He quickly unfolded it and read what she had written.
"Erik,
Please keep this ring close to your heart and remember that it's never to late to start over. Where ever you go promise me to live happily and to love someone that will love you as much as I once did. That is who this ring truly belongs to and if we shall ever meet again I know that I will be happy to see your smiling face.
Love your angel of music forever and always
Christine Daae"
Erik then unwrapped the box and took out what was inside of it which was a heavy bronze box with all sorts of rose petal engravings indented in it. He then opened it and the familiar song of Angel of Music began to play. Inside the box was a pilled with small trinkets and he began to take out each one as the song still played. The first item that he took out was a faded black ribbon which he remembered as the ribbon he tied to the first rose he gave Christine years ago after her first performance. The second item was a shard of broken glass which was from the mirror he smashed after she left with Raoul. The third item was the first and only picture of him holding Clorinda when she was first born. He then picked up the final item that was in the music box which was a note that read "Never Forget your Angel of Music" Tears formed in Erik's eyes as he placed the ring and note back into the box and closed it. He then opened his tote bag and placed it into it along with his clothes and Persian monkey music box. Seconds later he ran to the top deck and noticed that the ship was beginning to move. On shore Christine stood there with Clorinda watching the ship begin to sail.
"Christine! Christine!"
"Erik?"
"I can't forget my angel of music"
"What?"
Erik noticed that the ship was getting further and further away and only had seconds to get out what he wanted to say so shouted.
"I Can't Forget my Angel of Music! I can't Forget her because she's you! You're my angel of music and no one can take your place ever! I won't live happily without my angel of music and that angel is you!"
Madam Giry smiled at Christine and Christine smiled back as the ship began to get further away.
"Go to him Christine."
"What about you? And Nadir? Meg?"
"We'll see you again I'm sure of it."
Christine then picked up Clorinda and began to run along the dock to catch up to the side of the ship.
"Christine! What are you doing?"
"Coming with you! What does it look like I'm doing? Help me!"
Erik looked around and noticed a pile of rope at his feet and quickly tied one end of it to the anchor and held onto the other end as he swung himself over the side of the ship and held out his hand to Christine. She handed Clorinda to him first and then grabbed onto his hand tightly as he got all three of them back onto the deck of the ship. Clorinda hugged him tightly, and Erik hugged her back.
"I missed you Monsieur Kire."
"Yes, me too Clorinda me too."
Christine smiled at Erik and hugged him as well.
"I might be mad at you Erik but life without seeing you just wouldn't be the same."
"I know, I can't stand the thought of having a day where I wouldn't see your beautiful face. I've done a lot of bad things in the past and most of them involving you and I'm sorry. I just want forgiveness and to move on with our lives, that's all I want."
"I'm sorry for accusing you of things Erik. I do have trust issues that I promise to work out. So lets make a deal that if I promise to work on trusting you then you have to promise to work on that temper of yours."
"I promise Christine….that is a promise I intend to keep."
"And I'll trust you on that."
With that, Erik and Christine stood close to each as they descended out to sea under the pale moonlight of the starry December sky.
Much More to Come soon! This story has many more adventures to Come! R&R