Part 3

She hated herself for hesitating.

She stood, unmoving, at the side of the carriage; her eyes poised, unfaltering, on the opera house before her.

He won't come.

She knew he wasn't coming, knew that her standing there as though rooted to the spot was utterly ridiculous, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

Maybe...he changed his mind, maybe he's rushing down here right now and any second he will burst through that door entreating me to stay...maybe I'm a silly little girl who's too stupid to realize when she's been dumped.

At this she turned, placed her foot on the step and swung herself into the carriage. This is fine, I don't care, it's not as if I cared all that much for him anyway. I couldn't care less, I don't care for him, I don't, I don't love him.

Then it hit her. Love. That couldn't be right. She didn't love love him. But she did, she knew in her heart that she always had. Her eyes once again brimmed with tears. Funny, she thought, a smile forming on her lips, I thought I had ran out of tears.

He hadn't stopped working since she left. Every moment of his day he sat at his piano, his hands slamming clumsily against the keys. She had been his muse, what had caused his music to take on a completely different tone, taking it farther than he had ever done so before. But now that she was gone, his talent had seemed to slip from him, and he had not wrote one intelligible note since her departure.

"This is ridiculous" he screamed, casting the first thing his hands could reach against the wall; he had made a habit of that lately. I could always write, far before she ever came into my life, why, why can I not do so now. She means nothing! She never meant anything! This is preposterous. I'm being brought down, me, the opera ghost, is being brought down by a juvenile little girl.

His anger renewed itself, causing him to cast even more items against the wall. Soon he would have nothing left. I don't miss her. I don't. And I won't, I swear to myself I won't!

It was later that night that he first dreamt of her.

It had been two months since her arrival at the opera house. She had been thrown into rehearsals immediately, giving her a welcome reprieve from her thoughts. But she could only keep her thoughts at bay for so long before they began to manifest themselves in almost everything she did.

She began to hear his voice, subtle at first, but growing in intensity as the weeks past, started to feel as though the shadows were watching her, beckoning to her, and even once she followed what she thought to be his apparition through four corridors before realizing that the shadow she had seen was created by the flickering candles in the farthest part of the hallway.

She glanced behind her quickly as she stepped into her dressing room, once again feeling as though she was being watched. This was becoming more frequent, and it was beginning to alarm her. I'm losing my mind, I'm sure of it, I'm actually losing my mind.

She sang once again that night, catching her self look to what the opera held as their box 5 three times during her performance, chastising herself harshly each time. Her performance was once again mediocre, a realization lost on the audience, but not lost on Christine.

He would notice.

The thought caught her off guard; she hadn't thought directly about him since she left. She knew what was causing her strange behavior, was aware of it deeply in fact, but she wouldn't admit this even to herself. She swallowed the tears that threatened to exhibit themselves at the worse possible time and finished her performance, pretending that that the sharp pain that spread through her chest was simply homesickness.

Raoul was waiting patiently for her as he always did after she performed, his hands filled with a large bouquet for, as he called it, "An exquisite performance". She blanched as he said the words. Was he listening? I was terrible, he would have known that. She struck that thought from her mind before it had even fully formed. I meant that he should know, that Raoul should be able to tell, yes, he should be able to tell.

She accepted the flowers warily, giving the best smile she could muster. She didn't quite manage. Raoul noticed, but said nothing. He was growing accustomed to the way she had been acting lately, and had convinced himself that her nerves were simply bad from being in an unfamiliar place.

They walked silently, Raoul leading her gently by the arm, until they reached her room.

Christine opened her door and stepped inside, then turned to bid Raoul goodnight, her hand poised to close the door. Raoul brought himself to stand between the door and its frame, his face anxious.

"Christine, are you all right" "You seem troubled recently"

She felt instantly guilty, she had been very aloof with him lately, something he wasn't deserving of. "No, Raoul, I'm fine". "It's just rehearsals and all, I came in so late into the production that's it's been hard to keep up". Lies….and they both knew it.

He nodded "I see, well then, we'll just have to get you away for a while". His face lit up with an idea. "How about we go to the park tonight, I'll have my servants make us a spectacular meal, and we can eat it as a picnic.

For a second, she thought about it. This was Raoul, the boy she'd grown up with, the boy who had turned into a caring man of integrity, kindness….and incredible looks. He was wonderful, all she'd ever dreamed about, and he wanted her, her of all people; this magnificent man wanted her. But….he wasn't Erik, and he would never be Erik. But Erik...probably doesn't even miss me. The thought cut her like a knife, but she knew it was probably true. But yet….she just couldn't give up his memory.

She shook her head despondently, and shut the door.

I should have said yes.

Erik was fading fast, a point that was not lost on Nadir. Ever since that first night that Erik had dreamt of her, he had slowly began to slip further and further into despair. Refusing to eat or drink (unless goaded unendingly by Nadir's prompting), and sleeping every moment that he could wishing desperately for just a glimpse of Christine, a feat which was only ever produced by nightmares and even then it was infrequent.

She came to him in his dream as though she had never left.

"Oh Christine, it's been so long since I've seen your face".

She smiles "Erik, I was here last night, surely you couldn't have missed me that much".

He shakes his head, "No….it seems as though it's been forever, I'm sure, you couldn't have been here yesterday".

She caresses his face softly "Erik, it has only been a day".

"But…it felt like…".

She just shakes her head "You must have had a bad dream is all".

"Yes" he answers "That must be it….but Christine, I must tell you".

"What is it" she asks softly, her kind smile strengthening his resolve.

"Christine, I love you….my life was empty without you".

Within a moment her face changes from kindness to repulsion, her gaze directly upon the ruined side of his face "I can't love you!".

And with that she was gone, leaving Erik to sheer darkness and the echo of his own voice as he frantically calls out her name.

Even so, even though every time he dreamt he was met by her leaving him, revolted by the sight of his face, he slept non-stop just for the chance of seeing her again.

"You could make them retrieve her".

Erik looked up at Nadir with interest, something he hadn't done in a long while.

"What do you mean"?

"You have finished your opera, command them to perform it, with Christine as the lead"

He had finished the opera, two weeks before Christine had left in fact, but the idea Nadir was purposing seemed completely impossible.

"How"?

"She is still under this opera house's authority, if they told her she had to play the lead, then she would have to".

Erik got to his feet quickly. Many things would have to be dealt with, and he knew he had to make preparations.

I will make her mine!

Hello once again.IT FINALLY WORKED!!!! I had this written almost a week ago, but for some reason I couldn't put it up, kept coming up with an error. But it finally worked!!! YES!!! does happy dance Though, I kind of don't really like this part, really felt like I could have done better, but oh well. Anyway, DOUBLE WOOT for my reviewers, thanks alot, you really encouraged me. Unfortunately, since this not working discouraged me, I haven't wrote the next part, but I should have it up in a day or two.