The rain hit the roof of the carriage as it made it's way down a narrow road. Christine took a deep breath, hoping to calm her nerves. Madame Giry had told her where she could find Erik and that same night Christine had managed to get a carriage to take her there. The only problem was that in the darkness the driver was having trouble finding the driveway. Christine sighed, you couldn't see a home in the distance either because there were trees blocking the view of everything in every direction. After going back and forth for a while Christine exited the carriage and payed the drive, assuring him she would be able to find it on her own.
The rain soaked through her dress and she shivered. She hoped she would be able to find his home soon, if not she would surely catch a cold. After walking for a while, her hair was completely wet and came out of the the pins that had been holding it in place. She sighed and threw the pins to the ground. In the darkness she was able to make out an area where the trees were a bit farther apart and her heart rate sped up. She could clearly make out a path the closer she came. She sped up and finally the path was right in front of her. She began to walk down it and in the distance she could make out what appeared to be a mansion. Just as her eyes fell upon it, lightning illuminated the sky, giving her a sense of foreboding. But she didn't care, she needed to see Erik. As the house came closer she started to run toward it. Finally her feet touched down on the front steps. The house was completely dark and she wondered if perhaps after all this, this wasn't the right place. She took a deep breath and grasped the knocker, and slammed it against the front door three times. She waited..and no one came to the door.
Fear started to flow through her. Here she was in the middle of the night, with no way to get back home. For all she knew, this might not be Erik's home after all. If it was, he clearly wasn't home. Or...perhaps he was and seeing that it was her, decided not to answer the door.
No, that wasn't it. Even if he was mad at her, he wouldn't leave her to freeze. Mustering all her courage she decided to see if perhaps the front door wasn't looked. She tried it and was shocked when the door creaked open. Taking a deep breath she stepped inside, and closed the door behind her. She was surrounded by darkness and almost laughed, that was certainly fitting of Erik, to leave his house the darkness which he was so accustomed to. After a few mintues her eyes adjusted a bit more to the darkness and she saw a staircase ahead of her. She knew it wasn't exactly smart to wander through some unknown house, but she wasn't about to wait outside and freeze to death. She crept up the stairs and found herself in a long, dark hallway that led either to the right, left. There were double doors ahead of her, but they looked rather intimidating so she decided to go left. Once more the darkness seemed to swallow her and she couldn't help but feel that someone else was watching her.
Erik had been in his basement, which was were he had decided to put his pipe organ. He had arranged his basement in almost the same was as his music room had been inside the opera house. While he had been composing his latest piece of despair in misery he had been so involved with the music that he hadn't heard the rather loud knocks on his front door. But eventually his senses took over and he knew there was someone in his house.
"Bloody hell," he muttered and stood up to find out who was intruding on his peace. He took the path that would lead him to the upper hallway, feeling that that was were his unwelcomed visitor was. He silently exited the path, hidden between a suit of armor and a painting on the dark wall. Ahead of him on the other end of the hall he could make out the silhouette of someone moving around. He moved quickly and was soon a behind the intruder.
He cleared his throat, causing the person to jump. "It isn't very poliet to wander around, univited in someone's house." He said darkly.
The person swung around and focused two icy blue eyes on him. His anger sprang to life suddenly. How dare she enter his house! How dare she be here, to torment him once more!
"Erik." She said softly.
He grabbed her wrists and pressed her against the wall behind her. He looked down at her, fire in his eyes.
"Why have you come here, to torment me once more? Why Chrstine? Why?" He growled, bringing her wrists to either side of her head.
Despite the position she was in, despite the fact that Erik's body was pressing her's against the wall, she remained calm.
She met angry eye with her own. "Why do you think I'm here? Perhaps if you hadn't run off like a coward I wouldn't be here in the middle of the night, practically freezing to death just to find you, when you obviously don't want to be found!" She said, her own anger begining to rise.
"Coward? Me a coward? I did not run off. I left. I see my presence still frightens you, so much so that you fainted. Why should I torture you with my presence?" He said, staring down at her.
"Perhaps if you wouldn't have grabbed me and scared me I wouldn't have fainted. It isn't you that frightens me, it's your actions. Now, I am tired of waiting around for you. I am tired of not being able to sleep. I am tired of feeling your eyes no matter where I am. You give me no peace! Now if you will kindly stop accusing me and allow me to speak my mind." She said, trying to keep her voice from rising.
"Waiting for me? And why would you do such a foolish thing? So you can once and for all tell me that you could never love one such as I? That my touch repulses you?" As he said this, he released one of her wrists and stroked her cheek with the tips of his fingers.
Chills went through her body, and this time not from being soaked to the bone. Strands of her wet hair clung to her face and he gently brushed them back with his fingers. Torture, that's what this was, and she was powerless to stop him. Despite the fact that his touches weren't harming her, he did it with anger. She could see it in his eyes. In his mind, his touching her repulsed her, so he did it all the more. Little did he know his touches were what she had longed for all her sleepless nights.
"Were you not listening to me that night I came? The reason I couldn't marry Raoul is because I love you! You, Erik. Yet you pushed me away. You made me leave you that night. So do not tell me that I made any sort of choice. You chose for me. And I am tired of it. I know what I want, and I don't need any one to tell me what it is!" She yelled, her voice echoing down the dark hallway.
"Why do you say such things? Is this another one of your games? I cannot live when you always torment me with these false words. I cannot take it Christine, I cannot!" He said, grasping he wrist once more.
"Why is it so hard to believe that I love you?" She asked.
"How could anyone love one such as I? One with such a face." He said, lowering his eyes.
"You know what Erik. You use one little imperfection on your appearance as an excuse. You may wear that mask, but the real mask is what hides behind it. Do you think anyone would care about your face if they knew how much more there is to you. You have so many talents and gifts, yet you hide it all from the world. It is your own fault that you are alone. It is you, who made me leave. It is you, that now when I tell you I love you, that chooses not to listen or to believe it. I don't know how else I can prove to you that I love you Erik"
Her words stung, yet he knew it was true. He hid from the world, wallowing in his self pity, letting himself believe that no one would ever be able to see past the mask and see all he had to offer the world. There were only three people who had been able to see past the mask, and one of those people was standing right in front of him.
"You think you know all I have been through, all I've had to suffer! You know nothing of it!" He shouted, causing her to wince slightly.
"And yet you allow the past get in the way of being happy. I may not know all that has happened to you, but I do know that if you would allow it, you would be the happiest man on the face of the earth." She replied.
"Demons do not deserve happiness." He stated simply.
"Dammit Erik, I am tired of this!" She said, blushing slightly for using such an term. But her embarassment was short lived, she struggled against his hands which were still gripping her wrists. Suprised at her strength he let go of her wrists and stepped back.
She stood staring at him, her hand on her hips. "I cannot talk to you, when you chose not to listen to what I am saying. To what is the truth. You may be a genius, but you are a fool." She said her voice shaking slightly.
"What would you have me do Christine? Tell you I'll accept what you say as true, and have you live with me. A prisoner in my world of darkness. You would not be happy."
"You choose to live in darkness, and not let light enter your life. And once again you are telling me how I feel. Erik, don't you see I cannot be happy without you. I cannot live without you. Anywhere you are, is where I want to be. And no matter where that is, if I am with you I will be happy." She said, and seeing the tears that were pooling in his eyes she walked over to him and placed her hand on his unmasked cheek. "Anywhere you go, let me go too. Love me that's all I ask of you." She sang quitely.
He placed his hand over hers and looked down into her eyes. "All I have for you is love." He said quitely, causing tears to run down Christine's cheeks. He wiped her tears away with the pads of his thumbs, he felt his barriers come down, and once again he was left feeling vulnerable.
"Erik, I've missed you more than you'll ever know. Now please, listen to me when I say this. Please never make me be without you again. I would not be able to survive without you, I swear it."
"Nor can I survive without you." He said, taking her into his arms. For the first time in his life he felt whole, he knew he had to let Christine break down the walls he had built up around his heart. He knew she would be able to do so. He soon realized that Christine was shivering, and he remembered that she had been out in the rain.
"My dear, I believe you need a hot bath and some dry clothes." He said softly.
She nodded and took her hand in his and led her down the hall to the right. At the end of this hallway there were also double doors. He came to a stop at the last door on the left side. He opened it and led her inside. He let go of her hand and walked over to a cabinet and opened it, he pulled out some matches and walked about the room lighting candles along the way. Soon the room was illuminated in a golden glow and Christine could see they were standing in a bathroom.
There was a large tub against the wall, that had steps on one side, and had candles sitting on the large ledge surrounding the tub. Erik turned on the water, and soon the tub was filling with steamy water.
"There is a robe inside hanging on the back of this door. Your room is across the hall. Towels, soaps and other such things are in the cabinet next to the sink. If you need me, I'll be in the library which is downstairs." That said, he left the room gently closing the door behind him.
Christine walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bar of soap, two white fluffy towels and a jar of dried rose petals which she also found. She took of her dress and other soaking garments and then sprinkled some rose petals in the water. She turned off the tap and lowered herself into the tub. She was amazed that Erik had thought of such things such as rose petals. He had great taste and that made her smile as she closed her eyes and leaned back in the tub.
After she was finally warm and clean again she stepped out of the tub and pulled the drain allowing the water to escape the tub. She dried off and pulled the robe on. She dropped the towels in a little hamper that was against the wall and grabbed her dress, undergarments and shoes and headed into the room across the hall. She sighed when she realized that there was no light in here. So she set her things on the floor and headed back into the bathroom and grabbed a candle, and blew the rest of them out.
She walked back into her room and cast the glow of her candle around the room. She was amazed. The furniture was all dark cherry, and included an armoire, a vanity, a beautiful canopy bed and a chest which sat at the foot of the bed, as well a a nightstand. The bedding was a velvet, dark red in color and resembled the bedding that had been on the swan bed. She saw that the curtains were a gold color and the walls were cream with gold designs here and there. The head of her bed was against the right wall, facing a fireplace. Even with all the things that were in the room it was not at all crowded. She knew that this room had been designed with her in mind. She and Erik had a loved for red, gold and black. Although as far as she could see there was no black in the color scheme.
She opened the armoire and gasped when she saw that her Don Juan costume was inside. That's why it wasn't where I had left it, she thought to herself. She gently fingered the fabric and thanked God that she had been blessed to know such a man as Erik. She was rather disapointed when she saw there was nothing else clothing wise inside the armoire. She tightened the robe around her waist and left the room.
She walked downstairs and entered the library. Erik had been sitting in an armchair staring into the flames of the fire which was burning in the large fireplace(picture the library in Beauty and the Beast). When she walked in he looked up at her.
"Erik, unfortunately there is nothing for me to wear in my room." She said, blushing slightly as she felt selfconcious in her robe.
"Well I wasn't expecting you, dear. I guess we'll have to find something until we can get you some more clothes." He said and left her standing in the library. He returned moments later with a white button-up shirt. "This will have to do until your other clothing dries." He said with a smile.
"Thank you," she said accepting the shirt.
"Now I believe you need some rest. So I will walk you to your room." He said and the extinguished the fire that was burning in the fireplace. The he led them out of the massive library and back upstairs. They came to a stop before her door.
"Would you like me to make a fire in your room?" He asked looking at her.
"Yes, please." She said with a smile. They entered her room and he set to work. After the fire was roaring to life he helped her to set her wet clothes in front of the fire so they would dry by morning. She walked over to him and looked up into his eyes.
"I cannot believe I am here with you." She said softly, afraid that perhaps this was all another dream.
He brough his hand to her still slightly damp hair, and ran his fingers through it. "All I want is for you to be happy. If you believe you will be happy here with me, then I have no problems with that." He said with a smile that made her heart melt.
She brought right hand to his left cheek and caressed it softly while looking into his eyes. "I love you Erik." His eyes glistened as he looked down at her.
"And I love you Christine. More than you'll ever know." He said wrapping his arms around her. She kissed his unmasked cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck, and rested her cheek against his chest. After a few minutes he broke their embrace.
"Good night Christine." He said softly and left her room.
She sighed and closed the door, then settled into her large and comfortable bed. She felt warm and safe and for the first time in months she was able to sleep.