An Angel Cries:

Her kisses were maddening, her unsure touches blazing, her little moans and gasps of pleasure enough to send me over the edge of insanity. My mind was screaming for me to slow down, stop even, but my body was driven on by the way she pressed her body against mine and from the lust-filled looks she gave me when we pulled away from our fervent kisses just long enough for air.

I could not remember how, or why, our wild tango had started, but it carried us from the parlor room into Christine's bedroom, and now onto her white feather bed. She was under me, pulling my body against hers, just like the many fantasies and dreams I had for so many years. Still, a part of me wanted to stop. It was screaming at me to stop! 'Stop taking advantage of her!' 'She doesn't know what she's doing!' 'She'll hate you if you continue!'

I abruptly pulled away and walked to the other side of the room, turning my back on a confused Christine.

"Erik? Did I? Did I upset you?" Her voice was startled, but it still held a husky undertone.

I tried to speak, but my voice was too clouded with lust to form any words, so I merely shook my head. Upset me? How could she?

"Then, why? I thought…" Her sentence faded off, I knew she was too ashamed to say what almost slipped out. 'I thought this what you wanted from me.'

I took a deep breath and tried to calm my erratically beating heart back to how it was beating before the passion play between Christine and I had started. "We have to stop now, Christine. If we continue, I'm afraid…" I paused. How could I say what I was afraid of without sounding like some kind of animal? "I'm afraid I would hurt you."

She didn't reply. I could hear her skirts rustling as she got up from the bed, and then I heard her tiny footsteps as she walked over to where I stood. I tried to avert my eyes as she stepped in front of me, but I failed. The site made me gasp for air and another wave of longing course through my body. Her face was flushed and her lips swollen from our kisses. The pins that had secured her hair had fallen and her chocolate curls were falling around her face and shoulders. And her eyes, they still held the same look of yearning as they did earlier.

"My sweet Erik, you could never hurt me." She took a step forward so she could wrap her little arms around my neck. I closed my eyes as she pulled me down so she could whisper in my ear. "I'm not so naïve as to not know what happens in situations like these." She placed a few kisses on my neck just under my ear and I felt chills run down my spine. "I love you Erik. I want this. Please?"

I never responded. As soon as the word 'please' had left her mouth, I covered it in my own. I felt her moan gently as I kissed her and led her back towards her bed.

---

After our lovemaking was over, we both just laid there, our bodies covered in a thin film of sweat and our breathing ragged. I looked over at the beautiful creature next to me, her hair a mess and her chest raising and falling quickly under the cover she had pulled over both of us.

"Christine…" I said her name quietly, unsure of how she would react to me.

She looked over at me and smiled, but before I could take any comfort in her smile, I saw the glimmer of tears in her dark eyes. She must have noticed the look of terror on my face because she quickly shook her head and reached for my hand.

"Before you get upset, I'm not sad. And you didn't hurt me very much at all. I-I'm not sure why I'm crying, but I know it's not bad." She laughed and snuggled up to me, placing her head on my chest. "I'm being silly. It's just, I…what if I lose you? I love you so much, I need you so much…"

I wrapped by arms around my angel and squeezed her close to my body. She thought she needed me, I couldn't comprehend that. I was the one that needed her. "I love you Christine. You'll never lose me, I'm nothing without you."

I felt her kiss my chest and then place her head back down over my heart. "Good. Now get some sleep, you need to rest."

I cocked my eyebrow and looked down at the woman in my arms. "Do I? What am I resting up for?"

Christine raised her head and smiled at me. "Come on now, Erik. Did you think I wouldn't want to try that again later? It won't be any good at all though if you're tired."

I was awestruck, but I regained my composure as quickly as possible. "Mademoiselle, I can assure you that I am well rested."

Her bell-like laugh rang again as she leaned up to kiss me sweetly. "Well, monsieur, I am not as rested as you are. But later, I promise, I will be."

She laid her curls back down and I made sure that the covers were over both of us as we slowly drifted off to sleep.

---

"Monsieur, monsieur…" A voice was calling to me, pulling me back to the land of living, leaving the reverie of my first night with Christine to stay tucked away in my mind. I could feel Christine's cold body in my arms, but I refused to open my eyes. If I kept them closed then maybe I could force myself back, back when I held Christine's body after a night of passion.

A cry startled me and forced my eyes to snap open. My surroundings were familiar, but I felt disconnected. I looked to see what was making the hellish noise and my eyes fell on our one and only servant, a girl I hired by the name of Yvette to help while Christine was pregnant, and in her arms the demon screamed.

"Take that thing away." My voice was raspy and I almost didn't recognize it.

Yvette didn't move, she just stood there, gaping like a fish. I followed her eyes, they were fixed on Christine's lifeless form. I gently moved Christine to the pillow, my eyes lingering for only a second. She looked like she was sleeping, except her face was almost as pale as the white pillows beneath her face, and her rose-petal lips had faded. I placed a kiss on her smooth cheek; it felt like porcelain it was so cold.

"Monsieur…what? What happened to Madame?" Her voice seemed panicky. She and Christine had become close friends during the past nine months.

"That thing in your arms happened." My voice was calm. It surprised me. Perhaps it was the terror I saw in the eyes of the servant; it brought back a familiar sensation. I saw my mask sitting on the end table where Christine had put it earlier and I placed it back on my face. Another familiar sensation. I was The Phantom before Christine, Erik while she loved me, and now I would become The Phantom again.

Yvette suddenly dropped her gaze to the crying thing in her arms, sadness written all over her face. "Oh no…she told me her mother died birthing her…" She clutched the thing to her chest and whispered in its ears, trying to make it shut up. "Hush little angel…" She whispered to it and I sneered in disgust.

"Take it out of my sight, now."

The servant looked up at me briefly, and I saw the glimmer of tears on her cheeks. "Yes Monsieur." She said meekly as she walked towards the door.

I could hear the devil cry all the way down the hall. I turned back to the bed and sat next to my dead wife. My mind wandered back to the times I would watch her sleep at the opera house, and then in our marriage bed. She always looked so peaceful, and it comforted me slightly that she continued to look comfortable now, even in death. I could feel the stinging tears forming up behind my eyes and I tried to fight them off, but I couldn't. My tears poured out as I wrapped my arms around my wife's body, hugging it close to my chest, rubbing my masked face in her curls, just trying to save each and every detail of her in the cells of my skin.

"Why Christine? I told you, I am nothing without you. Why would you leave me?"