Here is where things get rocky for our favorite Opera Ghost. But things must get worse before they can get better, or so I am told. Raoul isn't so much of a prat in this, though frankly, I find him a prat anyway... Christine does have a spine in this fic, but currently it's in embryo.

Please review- I'm a review whore, as everyone knows.
Enjoy-
K.S

Though Sad Fate Our Lives May Sever

Christine:
"A disaster beyond you imagination." Those were his words to the managers, as reported to me by Meg. Strange, I have my very own spy in the Opera- how Meg would laugh at that! But it's true… he promised disaster, and that's what we're getting! One thing after another! First the interruption- oh God, his voice! Echoing through the auditorium- it was like the wrath of angels and demons together.

I couldn't help breathing out, "It's him!" I don't know if I was happy or terrified. Had he come to rescue me, or to damn me to hell?

Carlotta heard me, "Your part is silent, little toad." she snapped in that hateful tone she has so perfected, snapping me on the wrist with her fan. It stung enough to make me wince.
But I had my revenge. Oh, how terrible that sounds! And yet, that is exactly what it was. I had called her a hateful toad once, squatting over the stage, spewing poison… and I had told my Angel. He remembered that off-hand complaint; how he did it I do not know- somehow Carlotta's voice transformed! It did not break, oh no, nothing so mundane as that! It suddenly and without warning descended from ear-shattering soprano to a baritone croak. It was horrid- it was magnificent. Carlotta immediately went into hysterics and fled from the stage, screeching and croaking alternately- Piangi at her heels like a big green frog. The managers were panicked, and sent me off to change into a gown from my boy's breeches.

Madame Giry followed, to help me get dressed. As she laced the old-fashioned corset, she spoke, "I did not ask you what happened the night of Hannibal, because I respected your privacy, and his. But now I must ask it of you- did he hurt you, in any way?"
I turned, clutching the red rose that I knew he had sent, "No, Madame, it was the other way around, I hurt him. I took off the mask."
I did not need to hear her shocked intake of breath to know her surprise, "And?"

"He was angry, but he did not touch me… What happened to him, Madame, that his face is… is like that?"

She did not answer, because that was when the screaming started- then grew into a roar of fear. What had happened this time?! I followed, snatching a red velveteen cloak to wrap over my state of half-undress. As I rushed forward through the corridors, Raoul de Chagny nearly barreled into me.

"Come, Christine. It's not safe. There's been an accident. A man's been hanged!"
"Hanged? What- who?" I knew though- I knew before he said it.

"Some stagehand- Buquet or something the like. Come, let's get away from all this chaos." He put a comforting arm around my shoulder.

I felt my blood run cold. Joseph Buquet hanged! And what's worse, I was glad it happened. Glad! He'd stalked all the girls in the ballet, trying to see things he should not see and touch things he ought never be near. And he had hunted my Phantom, as surely as he had hunted any of the petite rats in the corps de ballet. But Raoul! How could he think this was an accident? Then another thought ground to the forefront of my mind- Raoul could be in danger! If the Phantom could do that to Buquet, what would he do to my poor friend who seemed to be besotted with me?
"No, let's go to the roof. We'll be safe there."
"Safe from what? Christine, what is all this mystery about? I want to know what's going on. Has someone hurt you?" He took my arm and looked at me, as if trying to figure out what had happened just by what was written on my face.
"Why does everyone assume that I've been hurt?" I cried out, exasperated, then I answered him more calmly, "We'll be safe from the crowd, Raoul- no one will hear us up on the roof. I have something to tell you."

I told him everything, God forgive me. I told him of the Angel, and how he had come to me that night, of how I discovered that he was the Phantom… And I spoke of his face- of that terrible deformity which twisted my heart even as it turned my stomach. The words just tumbled forth like water over a dam. And Raoul was everything that was kind and considerate- though I'm not certain he believed me.

"But Christine, if this man… this thing… lives beneath the Opera- Why does he seem to run the Opera? How did he get there? I don't understand!"
"Neither do I! I don't understand anything, except that he taught me to sing like an angel from Heaven! And I cannot forget that, no matter what else he has done. All these years, when I was alone in the world- he kept me from falling into despair. Oh, Raoul, I don't know what to do!" By that point I was crying.

Raoul gathered me up into his arms, stroking my hair, "Hush, Christine. Let me look after you. I love you; I've loved you since we were children at the seashores of Normandy." He said softly, gently, cradling me as if I were a child.

I said nothing, only cried harder. Wasn't this what I wanted? A knight in shining armor to rescue me from my indecision? The Opera was my gilded tower, and I the maiden who needed rescuing? But rescuing from whom has always been the question. And all I could hear was the steady, warm beat of Raoul's heart against my ears… I never caught the desperate sob of another who had heard all my foolish, frightened, ill-considered words.

Erik:

She told- of all the people in the world- she told him! They've gone back now, she's stopped crying, his arms around her, leading her back to the world of the Opera- away from the cold and the snow and the stars… away from me. I can see that she'll leave with him- content, happy, in love! In love with the beauty and wealth and normalcy that he offers.

She dropped the rose! Poor little thing- it's too beautiful to have been abandoned- not like me. Why am I surprised? No one has ever loved me… not after they've seen. I thought that she would be different. I thought that the bond between us was strong enough to sustain any blow- as pure and unbreakable as adamant. But it was as brilliant and brittle as the rhinestones that nearly choked Carlotta every time she performed.

I killed a man tonight! Because he threatened Christine! Even after my warning, he shadowed her movements, as if his filth was drawn to her purity if only for the chance to sully it. I wouldn't have it! Buquet's had ballerinas by force before. I had to do something. It didn't matter that he was hunting me- I could have evaded him easily. But the thought of him hurting Christine… like that… it made me sick. The thought of anyone hurting her like that still makes me sick… And I'd kill him again if I had to. I've not killed a man since that night so long ago… I don't like it- no matter what people will think of me - I don't kill needlessly.

I can't breathe- I'm here, on the rooftop of the world and I can't seem to get enough air into my lungs even to cry anymore. Why, oh why did she tell him? He is everything I am not- he is younger than I, conveniently rich, and handsome as Apollo here above me. And he seems determined to protect her from whatever it is that frightens her. I thought… God, was it only just a few days ago? I thought that she would dismiss him out of hand- that finally- my face did not matter- that she loved me anyway… But no, I frighten her because of my face; she didn't say a word about my horrid temper… she told him, in excruciating detail, of my face… She called me a monster.

I will accept that I am a madman, and I will accept that I am a fool. But I will not- can not accept that I am a monster. I am a man, like other men. I have just been denied any sort of happiness for so long that the spring has snapped and I cannot go back to suffering in silence. If I must lose her, then all Paris will know my pain, and I swear by whatever gods there be, Paris herself shall weep with me.

Author's Note:
I'm sorry, I've taken so long to write this! But good news! I have the rest of the story planned out- if not written out, and I can tell you that there will be four more chapters after this one. Please, please, please review! It really does make my day!
Warmest Regards,
K.S.