Thank you all for reading the last chapter and I hope you're not finding the story too dull! Sorry about the change of pen name, but I feel that the one I now have is more appropriate for me! Also, I'm sorry it's been a while since the last update, but here we go anyway…

Chapter Five:

Hauntings

Christine woke to the sound of a small tap on her bedroom door. About two and a half months had passed since she and Raoul had announced their engagement, but she still never took her ring off, and still expected to wake up every morning and find that it was all a dream, or that Raoul would be standing over her with a smug expression on his face, laughing at her for being such a gullible child for putting real faith in his love for her. So this morning, like any other, she paused for a second before looking down hesitantly at her ring finger, just to check if the silver band was still there. It was, for today at least, so she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, swinging her legs over the side of her bed. She quickly pulled on her dressing robe and headed over to the door, before opening it a crack. A young messenger boy stood outside that she did not recognize, and she opened the door a little wider.

"Miss Daae?" he asked nervously. Christine's heart rate sped up slightly; was something wrong?

"Yes, that's me," she said, perhaps a little too quickly. "What is it?" The boy looked nervous, and she grew slightly impatient. "Well?"

"Begging your pardon, mademoiselle, but I have a message for you from your…er…" the boy faltered. "A message from the Vicomte de Chagny. He said to inform you, with his sincerest apologies, that he has been called out to Versailles for a business trip, so he will have to cancel your afternoon outing today. He said he will be back late tomorrow evening, so may not get the chance to see you until Friday." Christine felt a wave of disappointment come over here.

"Oh…" she said wistfully, and the messenger looked worried. "Is that all?" she asked.

"Well…er…" the boy stuttered. Christine narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.

"There is something else, isn't there?" she whispered.

"Er…I probably shouldn't tell you this…" he said, and Christine just raised an eyebrow and beckoned him closer. "Well, he looked awful flustered, miss. Just snapped this message at me and then left. He didn't look too happy." Christine was worried now, but quickly dismissed the boy, thanking him for his trouble, and crossed back over to her bed. She sank down onto the sheets and flattened her palms together, resting her chin on top of them as she often did when she was thinking. She wondered what was so urgent for Raoul to go rushing off to Versailles, especially with their upcoming wedding just a few short weeks away. It was probably nothing, but it was the fact that the messenger had mentioned the fact that he had looked flustered when he spoke to him, and had snapped the message at him. Raoul never snapped at anyone, no matter how much they were annoying him, so she wondered what had caused the sudden change in temperament. Now that her fiancé had left for a day or so, she began to feel a bit alone. She and Raoul had barely spent an hour apart since the encounter in her Angel's lair, and without him she felt rather unprotected…as if her Angel could come back to her while Raoul was gone. Christine breathed in sharply and turned her head quickly, sensing an invisible presence. But of course, there was nothing there. She was just imagining things and creeping herself out; perhaps she needed to distract herself. If she busied herself with preparation for her wedding over the next couple of days, it would take her mind off her Angel and stop her feeling lonely. Yes, that's what she would do.

She quickly discarded her robe and nightgown, and changed into her undergarments. She stood staring at her wardrobe for a few minutes feeling rather reluctant to open it, but she shook herself. She was too old to believe in the monster who lived in little girls' wardrobes; that was a story that Raoul's mother used to tell them to get them to stay in bed all night. She took firm hold of the handles and pulled. There. It was empty apart from the rows of dresses sat looking at her. After a few minutes of deliberation, she pulled out a simple apple-green dress, embroidered with black lace around the square neckline, cuffs and hem. She grabbed a thin black belt from the bottom of her wardrobe and fastened it around her waist, breaking up the green of her dress. She had always loved this dress. She loved the brightness of the green that contrasted with the black lace: the green reminded her of summer and light, while the black represented the darkness…the darkness she had lost with her Angel. But she tried not to be sad as she thought of him; he may have been dead, but she could remember him with the small touches on her garments or the jewellery she wore. Christine smiled at her reflection in the mirror, and decided to twirl her hair into an updo for once. She grabbed her curls and twisted them until they came together into a tight bun on the back of her head, and loosed a few curls to frame her face.

There. She was happy with how she looked today. She smiled at the mirror once again and did a small twirl, raising her arms above her head. As she came to a stop, she thought she saw two golden orbs looking out at her from her mirror, but they vanished just as soon as they appeared. She stared at the glass for a few minutes, but nothing happened. Christine shook her head…it must have just been her imagination. She bent down to find a pair of shoes to wear with her outfit, and settled on a pair of black flat shoes. They were patent and matched the lace on her dress and her belt, and she grabbed them and put them by the door. One last touch, she picked up a pair of onyx drop earrings and fastened them quickly in her ears. Just as she took her hand away from her ear, she heard a whisper of "Christine…" echo through her chamber, and she spun around, scared. It had sounded like…but it couldn't be…he was long dead…

"Angel…?" she called hesitantly. "That's not…you're not…are you?" She waited, but again, nothing happened. She began to wonder if she hadn't imagined the whole thing. Yes, that must have been it. She was getting paranoid and on edge without Raoul, and she was imagining things.

"Don't be so stupid," she scolded herself, and headed towards her bedroom door, quickly slipping her shoes on as she went. She made a mental plan of where she was going to go that morning: first of all, she would head to Meg's room, wake her up, and together they could go into the town and look in the shops for her wedding dress. They'd come back to the opera house for luncheon, and then she'd probably go to see Madame Giry and ask her about how she thought she should wear her hair for the wedding. That evening, she thought she would head to the stage to see the rehearsals for the new opera, and would probably sing for an hour or two when everyone had left. After that, she'd come back to her room and get some sleep.

Satisfied, she put a hand on the doorknob of her room and stepped outside, and began to head down the corridor towards Meg's room. She knocked quietly, but got no answer, so she tried the door. It was unlocked. She took a careful step inside.

What she saw, sat quietly on Meg's bed, scared her enough to flip her stomach. His long black coat, his hat, his black leather gloves…everything screamed of him. But it couldn't be…could it? Christine was so confused, and went to scream. But she was so frightened that no sound came out, and her cry stuck in her throat.

Erik, sat on the bed, jerked his head up when he heard Christine enter, and tried to still his racing heart. She was looking radiant in her apple-green.

"You can't…please tell me…what are you doing here? How…?" she stuttered, and Erik stood up, smiling in amusement at her bewilderment, and laced a long finger under her chin.

"So many questions, Miss Daae," he said formally, noting with disdain the engagement ring that was still on her finger. "But am I really here at all? Could I not just be…a figment of your imagination…?" Quick as a flash, he produced a small needle from the lining of his coat. She looked at it warily, clearly not understanding what it was.

"Oh, my dear…" he said quietly. "I may just be one of the creations of your own mind. After this, who shall know the difference between reality and fiction…?" And he jabbed the needle into the top of her arm. Christine stared at it for a moment, not understanding, but before she even had any time to think, her vision was going blurry and her head felt fuzzy. She felt her legs slip from beneath her, and the strong arms of her Angel caught her. She felt a slight throbbing in her arm, and then everything went black.

Erik watched her slip into unconsciousness, overwhelmed by feelings of guilt. He had to see her, just once…but then there was the question of how to make her forget. He felt terrible for injecting the contents of that syringe into her, but it was necessary. Only then could she ever possibly pass him off as a figment of her imagination. He laid her down gently on Meg's bed and planted a small kiss on her forehead, before turning round to leave. He stole one last look at her, already starting to toss and turn restlessly, and whispered his final goodbye.

"Goodbye, my Christine… Pleasant nightmares."

Dundundun! What's going on with Erik?! As always, please review and let me know what you think! :)