Sing For Me

by Wide-Eyed For Pontmercy

It feels odd to love and fear the same person. It's odder still when you've know that person for over half your life. And then you leave them forever, praying you made the right decision. In your heart, you know you haven't. *movie retelling* E/C and R/C

14. The Lair

Reality faded. Christine felt him tuck a curl away from her ear, and in a voice soft enough for only her to hear, he sang, "Say you'll share with me, one love, one lifetime..." Her bright, amber-colored eyes flashed open. His voice was pleading. "Lead me, save me from my solitude!" The Phantom continued to quietly beg. His hands were timidly caressing her now. Where had the confident, sexy man who had previously sang vanished to? Just as the thought left her mind, Erik's voice grew loud and powerful. The entire audience heard him sing, "Say you want me with you here, beside you!" Christine pulled herself away from his arms to look into his greenish tinted eyes.

Her lush lips silently mouthed, "Why? Oh, Erik, why?" The man ignored her, taking her hands into his own and firmly holding them against his powerful chest. Erik reached a crescendo. Christine thought she had never heard a more tragically beautiful sound when he sang, "Anywhere you go, let me go too!" She remained out a trance though. The soprano realized she could still receive pleasure from his music, but that it could never consume her mind like it had previously. She was free from him at last. The realization hurt her like a physical blow. Her mind was free, but was her soul and heart? The man singing before her seemed unfazed by her inner struggles. She wrenched her hands away and looked up at him with hurt, confused eyes. "Christine, that's all I ask of-"

The way he uttered her name was like a slap to her face, he sang it so tenderly and confidently. She was radiating with confusion and pain, and didn't know how to stop it. Erik's black mask stared back at her face, and his eyes were earnest beneath the shadows cast by the fake flames. The soprano brought a hand to his face, like a caress. He was smooth and hot. The breath he exhaled while he sang tickled her face. In a motion faster then lightning, she pulled off the mask. He never finished his song. The garish red of his distorted face was revealed to the entire audience. Her eyes filled with tears. She had betrayed him, and in doing so, she had betrayed herself. Erik only stared at her, his eyes reflecting the sad acceptance he felt. "I'm sorry," the girl gasped, her lips barely moving. He shook his head, and unsheathed his costume sword. Only then she saw that it was real. Erik slashed a set of ropes. Christine glanced up to see the magnificent chandelier, the structure that had lit her world for the past ten years, began to fall. She screamed. The Phantom gave her no other time to react. He wrapped his arms around her small waist in a vise-like grip, then kicked a lever that had appeared hidden until that moment. They began to fall into the flames underneath the bridge. Christine wrapped her arms around him and screamed like only an opera singer could. They vanished from sight, but the chaos from the fallen chandelier consumed the audience and workers. The chords attaching the light fixture had been lit aflame, and they had dragged across the whole theater. Everything was in flames. It was an ironic, destructive tribute to the opera that had been performed that night. No one noticed the loss of the two lead singers except those on stage and the Vicomte De Chagny.

"Down once more we plunge to the dungeons of my black despair!" Erik screamed. They were in the corridors that led to his lair. Christine tried to plant her feet still, but he dragged her forward. The delicate rose had fallen out of her hair, and her curls were wildly tossed as he viciously propelled her.

"Stop!" Christine cried. She frantically turned back and one of her small hands tried to clasp the stone of the corner they had just turned. His strength overpowered hers, and they continued on. "Down we fall to the prison of my mind! Down to HELL!"

Christine knew her unmasking had driven him to the point of madness. Yes, he had always been mad, but it now consumed him. She feared for her life. "You've brought this darkness!" he hissed. Erik suddenly stopped. Christine slammed into his hot, shaking back. Slowly, menacingly, he turned towards her. "And your wondering why this is happening to you? Good, innocent Christine doesn't deserve this!" he roared with strange laughter, then finished, "And it hasn't even begun!" He continued to drag her forward. "What have I done?" the soprano moaned when gondola came into view. The Phantom seized her into his arms and carried her into the boat. Christine weakly tried to hit him, but she didn't have the heart to do it. He dropped her into the boat, and stepped on her dress so she couldn't escape. Then Erik angrily began to row, and they were sent forward in silence.

"Why, Christine, why?" he cried, shattering the quiet. "I've been a hunted down by everyone, met with hatred everywhere! Never a kind word! Never compassion!" She shuddered against his leg. Tears filled her eyes. Why had she done it? Pitifully, the girl reached out and placed a hand on his leg in apology. He didn't acknowledge the contact. "Christine....Christine...." Erik rasped, his rage seeming to fade into an endless sorrow. He rowed the gondola into the small pier, then looked down at her with teary eyes. "Why?" he repeated, his voice nothing more then a broken whisper. She didn't answer him. His anger returned. With a hiss, he lifted her from the boat and nearly threw her onto a soft rug near his organ.

It was then that Christine embraced her own emotions. Like countless other times with the Phantom, she had repressed herself in order to soothe him. After he had spent years lying, seducing and controlling her emotions, it was when she realized that he kidnapped her that Christine's patience finally broke.

She rose to a defensive position and hissed, "Have you gorged yourself at last on your lust for blood? Are you to make me prey to your flesh? His back snapped into a straight line and he slowly turned to face her. Pain radiated from his body as he looked at her. "I have never experienced the joys of the flesh." Christine withdrew from him.

"This fate is yours now," were his only words as he walked away. Christine hesitantly followed him. He stopped and gestured to a figure on his right. It was the mannequin dressed in a wedding dress. Christine immediately understood and gasped with horror. "No," she breathed. He gave her a cruel smile, then put a hand on her white shoulder. She shuddered. His warm hands caressed her, then he tore off the lacy sleeves. "Stop, stop, please!" Christine screamed as his large hands fell to her corset. He ripped away the laces and gold skirt until she was in just her underclothes. Her eyes fell to the floor in shame. There was a moment of complete stillness, only interrupted by the sounds of their heavy breathing. Then Christine tried to run. She didn't know where she would go, only that she had to leave. But he caught her arm in a steel grasp. "Turn around and face your fate, an eternity of THIS!" He whirled her around to face him. Their breath came out as gasps as they faced each other. They were only inches apart. His gaze lowered in shame at having her perfection so close to his own sin. In a shattered whisper, he finished, "I will always be before your eyes." He released her arm and walked to his organ. Erik nearly fell to the seat. A mask rested on the smooth surface above the keys. He gave a laugh that could almost be mistaken for a sob, and shouted, "Pity comes to late!" He looked at the mask and screamed, "A mask! My first gift, my first piece of clothing, my first attempt to win love from my mother! All I've ever had was a mask to cover the monstrosity of my face, and it still poisons! It destroyed our love..This face...only this face..."

To Christine surprise, she found herself drifting towards him. She gently laid a hand over the malformed features on the right side of his face. "This haunted face holds no horror for me now-"

He met her gaze with hopeful, disbelieving eyes. She looked away. Then she walked over to a nearby mirror and ripped off the cover so his gruesome features were exposed. Then she finished, "but it's in your soul that the true distortion lies." Erik's expression fell. Christine stepped away from the mirror. A moment of thoughtful, frightening silence followed. Then the Phantom said, "Go put the dress on, Christine." She glanced at him in surprise, but remained still. "DO IT!" Christine cried out but ran off to the mannequin. Tearing the dress off the doll, she held it in her arms and inspected the gown. It was flawlessly beautiful. She hated it. Christine calmly walked to her room and began to change. The undergarments fit her perfectly, the corset snug against her smooth skin. She struggled with the ivory buttons along the side of the gown, but she didn't dare go to Erik for help. At last, she finished. Christine stared into her mirror. "My wedding day." she whispered. "Oh, Raoul." She was supposed to marry her Vicomte and live happily ever after. That ending had been stolen away from her. The loss of it burned into Christine and her eyes filled with tears as she looked upon her reflection. The white of the elaborate gown sparkled against her skin. The two sleeves fell away from her shoulders, and glinted with pearls and small pink flowers. The large skirt draped around her hips in one low arc, then fell to silky waves to the floor. The low neckline was a pale ivory against the white of the gown, and was patterned with pearls and flowers like the sleeves. She slowly left her room with a sense of dread. The beauty of his lair was lost on her as she returned to him.

"Christine!" he gasped when he saw her. A smile of satisfaction grew on his ravished face. To her surprise, he hurried off. Christine wearily sank against the stony wall. Then he returned. In his hands was a gorgeous ivory veil that perfectly matched her dress. He reverently placed it atop her mahogany curls. "The perfect bride." he breathed. She stepped away from him. "No, Erik, please-" Christine began. But he interrupted her. His voice was strangely delightful. "Wait, my dear, I think we have a guest!" Christine followed his line of sight. "Raoul!" she screamed. Her fiancee stood behind the grates of the portcullis that sank into the murky waters of the lair. He was drenched and bleeding.

"Isn't this a marvelous surprise? I had rather hoped that you would come! And now you have. Really, sir, you've made my night." Erik's voice was low and mocking. Raoul passionately banged his fists against the steel. Christine shuddered, but was thankful the portcullis provided a barrier between her fiancee and her captor. "Free her! Do whatever you wish to me, but only free her! Have you no pity?" Christine's eyes fell to the floor. Raoul was too noble for his own good. The Phantom laughed.

"Pity? Pity? The world showed no pity to me!" he spat, and strode over to Christine. He slide an arm around her waist and wrenched her close to him. "Let me go," she cried. "I love her! Does that mean nothing? I love her! Show some mercy!" Raoul wrapped his arms through the grate and tried to get closer Christine. "Please, Raoul, it's useless!" the devastated soprano cried, willing him to leave. The Phantom laughed again, and pulled Christine even closer to him. Raoul continued to implore to the Phantom. "Christine! Christine..." he gasped. Christine wrenched herself away from the Phantom. He let her go. She walked to the end of the small pier, but was still far from her love. "Raoul..." she softly murmured. "Let me see her!" Raoul shouted to the Phantom. "Then be guest, sir." The Phantom said. He seemed eerily amused by the whole situation. The gate began to slowly rise.

"Monsieur, I bid you welcome. Do you enjoy my home?" he gestured around his spacious lair. Then he turned his cruel eyes toward Christine, though he directed his sneers to Raoul. "Did you think I would harm her?" Raoul entered his lair, struggling through the deep water with his wounded arm. The Phantom stepped into the lake. Raoul didn't flinch when Erik stopped nearly six feet in front of him. "Why should I make her pay for the sins which are yours?" Out of nowhere, a noose fell around Raoul's smooth neck. Christine screamed and nearly fell off the pier. The Phantom jumped forward and slammed the Vicomte against the grate. Raoul was in a state of shock, and let him tie him to the unforgiving steel. Then Erik fastened the noose so Raoul was caught. Erik laughed and spit at Raoul, "Nothing can save you now, except Christine!"

"What have you done?" Christine accusingly gasped to the Phantom. He ignored her question, and continued, "Start a new life with me, buy his freedom with your love! Refuse me and you send your lover to his death! This is your final choice...this is the point of no return!" The duet they had earlier sang suddenly gained horrible clarity in Christine's mind. She shot a horrified glance to her fiancee, then spat, " All the tears I'd have shed for you grow cold and turn to tears of hate!" The Phantom's queer eyes widened with her unusually hateful words. She took the veil off her head and threw it into the murky water. It floated near the Phantom. "Christine, forgive me! Please, forgive me! It was all for you and all for nothing!" Raoul moaned.

Perhaps it was Raoul's selfless declaration, perhaps it was the building emotion, but they all began to cry out at once. The Phantom sneered at Raoul, "To late for turning back! To late for prayers and useless pity!" Christine froze Erik's heart as she whispered, "We had such hopes, but now they're all shattered." The Phantom grabbed the veil and stepped out of the lake. He began to walk towards her. Christine faced him fearfully, but then Raoul's rich voice called, "Christine, don't! Say you love him and my life is over!" She sobbed out at his impassioned words, but bravely faced the Phantom as he reached her and slammed the veil onto her wild curls.

"Do you end your days with me?" Erik spat. Christine fervently shook her head. The noose around Raoul's neck suddenly tightened, and he gasped. She looked over at him helplessly. Raoul still managed to sneer, "Why make her lie to you to save me?" Christine could tell it cost her fiancee dearly to talk. Time was running out. She turned to the man next to her. "Angel of music, who deserves this?"

Reacting to her inner conviction, she grasped his shirt and implored- "When will you see reason?"

Raoul couldn't hear her, and shouted, "For Christ's sake, Christine, say no!" The Phantom brushed off Christine and strode back into the lake. Once he was in the water, he turned back to her and called, "His life is now the prize which you must earn!" The soprano sadly shook her head in disbelief. The man who held her fiancee's life in his hands had once been her savior, her Angel. She locked eyes with Erik. He seemed dead, emotionless. Raoul interrupted the silence to mournfully whisper, "I fought so hard to free you..."

The Phantom shut his eyes at Raoul's words. He picked up a rope from the water and tightened the noose around the Vicomte's neck. His blue eyes clenched in pain as the coarse rope tore into his fine skin. "You've passed the point of no return." Christine sank to her knees. The billowy gown flounced around her. "Angel of music," she called. Automatically, he responded to the name. Christine sorrowfully shook her head and finished, "You deceived me. I gave my mind blindly!" Where would they be at that moment if he hadn't controlled her so? Christine's accusing words weren't what the Phantom urgently needed to hear. He narrowed his eyes and hissed, "You've tried my patience. Make. Your. Choice." His last three words were uttered with a deadly precision.

Christine rose from her knees. She stared back to Raoul. Quickly, she mouthed the words, "I love you." It was the first time she had actually said it to him. Raoul shut his eyes in pain. Then Christine began to walk down the pier and into the lake. She entered the water and gasped. It was freezing. Her skirts billowed up into the water as she walked towards the Phantom. She stopped three feet in front of the man. It was finally time for her to make her first decision as a woman. For once, she was stepping up. Even though he had hurt her and killed her innocence, Erik had made a woman of Christine. She shot a final glance to Raoul. Then the soprano softly uttered- "My pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?" She imagined the life she would live with him. It would be filled with fear, despair....and music. In his own dark way, she knew he could make a happy woman of her. Erik reached into his pocket and pulled out a sparkling ring. It was the ring he had ripped of her throat at the masquerade ball. He held it questioningly in his wet palm.

With a doubt in her mind, she firmly grasped his hand over her own. He slid the ring onto her fourth finger. "God give me courage to show you, you are not alone!" Christine cried. Erik's eyes widened as he looked down at Christine's hand. She strode those last few inches closer, and seized his face into her hands. One palm covered his handsome side, the other hand covered his viciously ugly half. He reeled in shock at having her caress his features. Then Christine leaned closer, and covered his lips with her own. It was an act of devotion and compassion. It was her sacrifice. She truly intended to show him that she fully would be his. She would be eternally fateful, though the future would always be unclear between them. The Phantom stood stone-still against her. She recalled that he had never experienced the joys of the flesh. Oh, the poor man in front of her! The soprano continued to urgently ravish his lips. He suddenly gasped and withdrew from her. Rapturously, he gasped, "My wife! My living bride!" Yet he still didn't dare to touch her.

Christine's hands trailed down his face and ended in an embrace pulling her tighter to him. "Yes," she breathed. Then she kissed him again. It was a lover's kiss. He didn't move. She revealed to him all of her passions, and he suddenly became alive. Their lips danced together. The girl had never felt anything like it before. It felt wrong....but also very right. Their kiss was a Pandora's box, a thrill that was never meant to have been experienced. Suddenly, wet droplets fell to Christine's face. She reluctantly drew away to look into the Phantom's eyes. He was crying! Concerned at his response, and feeling a queer sense of hope, Christine hesitantly put her hand onto his chest. He shuddered and continued to weep. Keeping her hand against him, he turned to Raoul.

For the first time, he addressed him without disdain or hatred. There was only despair in his lovely voice as he commanded- "Take her. Forget me! Forget all of this!" With shaking hands, he raised Christine's palm to his mouth and tenderly kissed it. After, he released her and walked out of the freezing water. Christine stared after him in shock. Then she ran towards Raoul and struggled with the knots that bound him. While she did that, the Phantom knocked over mirrors and precious furniture. Christine heard the glass shatter when she finally was able to free Raoul. He gasped in air thankfully, then wrapped his arms around a shivering Christine. She fell against him. "I love you!" Raoul panted into her soft curls. "Go! Before it's too late!" Erik screamed. The girl released her fiancee. "Take the boat!" The Phantom hissed. Raoul hurried off to the gondola and disappeared from sight. Christine desperately followed after him. While he readied the boat, she stroked him broad shoulders and damp hair, reassuring herself that he was alive and well. With the Vicomte beneath her fingertips, she couldn't believe that she had just kissed the Phantom. Not once, but twice.

The gondola was finally ready. Raoul prepared to lift Christine into the boat. "No, Raoul, wait!" she cried, and hurried back into the main room of the lair. The Phantom was standing at the pier. He looked to Christine, then to Raoul. "Swear to me never to tell the secrets you know...of the angel in hell!" Raoul bravely nodded, then turned away. Christine placed a quivering hand on his arm, and tenderly kissed his cold cheek. "Leave us for a moment," she whispered. Raoul shot her a alarmed look, but left for the gondola when he looked into Christine's sincere eyes. She turned back, and saw that the Phantom had vanished. Lifting her wet, heavy skirts, she walked into her room. She knew he would be there.

Erik sat next to the monkey music box that had awoken her the first night in his lair. In a miserable voice, he sang, "Masquerade - hide your face so the world will never find you!" He seemed unaware of Christine's presence until she sobbed out at his inconsolable words. Erik looked up at her. With tears streaking down both sides of his face, he opened his mouth and spoke. There was no hesitancy in his voice, nor had he ever sounded more compelling and lovely as he said, "Christine, I love you." Christine tore her eyes away from him and fell to her knees. It was the first time he had directly told her those words. The monkey box played on, oblivious to the struggles of the humans around it. The soprano gasped out a breath, then slowly rose. She approached him. His eyes were so hopeful to her. She shook her head. "No, my love, no." the girl murmured, unaware whether he heard her anguished whisper. She reached out for his hand. Then she struggled with ring. With effort, it came off her pale finger. Christine gently put the shining ring into his palm, and closed his musician's fingers around the stone. She knelt down and stared into his eyes. They brimmed over with tears. The soprano gave a fleeting kiss to his closed fingers, then rose.

"I love you," he breathed. Christine sadly shook her head. After a lingering glance, she slowly walked away from the lair for the last time.

AUTHER'S NOTE : Hi, guys! Sorry for changing the Final Lair scene a bit, I just felt it was more realistic to have them not singing for my story. And, don't fear, this is NOT the last chapter. No, there is indeed quite a lot more to come in this story! Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing, it really does make this girl's day much better:)