The entire semester passed uneventfully. No one was enjoying working on this opera, not even Christine, but they knew it had to be done. The music was just so strange and dissonant that most of the cast and crew found it unappealing. They all just wanted to get this over with so that they could hopefully get rid of Erik for good and go back to their lives as normal.

One Sunday morning while messing around on tumblr, Christine heard her phone go off indicating that she had gotten a text. Meg was in the bathroom, so she wasn't around to ask about it. When Christine checked to see whom it was from, she gasped. For the first time in months, since she had texted him about what part she got last semester, she got a text from Erik. "Meet me at your father's grave tomorrow night after rehearsal," it read.

Christine quickly replied, "Why? Why there? And how am I supposed to get there without a car?"

Before she could turn off her phone, the speech bubble indicating that Erik was in the process of typing back popped up. A minute hadn't even passed before she got her response. "You'll find out tomorrow. And don't worry about transportation. I've hired you a taxi to pick you up after rehearsal."

"Please Erik, I don't want to play any of these games. What exactly do you want from me?" She stared at her phone waiting a response. After a couple of minutes, there was still nothing. "Erik, I know you're still there. Answer me!" Again, there was no response. She thought about calling him, but she knew that he wouldn't pick up, so there would be no point. She threw her phone on the bed, scared and frustrated about what awaited her tomorrow.

She dug her hands into her forehead as Meg entered the room. "Christine? Is everything okay?" Without a word, Christine picked up her phone and opened the texts from Erik to show her, shoving it in Meg's face. As she read the screen, her eyes widened. "Oh my god, what are you going to do?"

"I guess I have no other option but to go and see what he wants. Promise me that you won't tell Raoul about this."

"I promise."

The next night after rehearsal ended, Christine walked up to the roundabout drop-off area next to the parking structure where sure enough there was a taxi waiting for her. She got in and they took off. Erik must've given the address beforehand, Christine thought.

After a few minutes she heard her phone get another text. When she checked, this time it was from Raoul. "Are you still inside? Rehearsal finished about ten minutes ago." Damn it! Christine thought. She had completely forgotten that she was supposed to go out with Raoul that night. She didn't want to reply for the fear of digging herself an even deeper hole than the one she was already in. She decided that she'd wait until she got back from the cemetery, tell him that she forgot, which was true, and that her phone had died, which was why she couldn't reply sooner. A couple minutes later he called her. Knowing that she couldn't pick up, she switched her phone to silent and stuffed it back into her bag.

Meanwhile Raoul sat in his car waiting in the parking lot, both worried and frustrated that he couldn't get a hold of Christine. After sending a few more texts and waiting a few more minutes, he finally decided to get out of the car and go look inside the building himself. He checked both the rehearsal room and all the practice rooms, but he couldn't find her. He went back to his car and drove around to the other side of campus, hoping to find her safe in her dorm room. When he entered her building and reached her room, he knocked on the door. Meg answered, looking surprised to see him. "Raoul, what are you doing here?"

"Where's Christine?"

"I don't know." She tried closing the door, but he stopped her.

"I know you know where she is. Why won't you tell me?"

"I have no clue where she is, but I'm sure she'll be back soon."

"Meg, please. I'm worried about her. She hasn't responded to any of my calls or texts. What if something has happened to her? What if he has her?"

"I'm sure she's fine."

"I'm not leaving until you tell me where she is," he said sternly.

She let out a sigh of defeat. "She's visiting her father's grave."

"Thank you." He bolted out of the building back to his car, driving to the cemetery as quickly as he could.

Once Christine had arrived, she pulled out her wallet to pay the driver. "Don't worry about it miss," he said. "He already paid for you."

"Thank you." She got out of the cab and headed towards the grave. She hated being there as it was still too painful after all these years. This better be pretty damn important, she thought, I just want to get this over with and go home. She struggled to fight back tears as hard as she could. "Alright, I'm here!" she shouted into the dark emptiness around her. "Come on out and tell me what you want!"

Erik stepped out from behind a tombstone. "Christine."

She turned around to face him, glaring at him. "Erik," she said coldly.

As he approached her, she backed away. "Oh Christine, why must you be so distant from me?"

"What do you want?" she asked in a low tone, keeping her guard up.

"I know we haven't properly spoken in months, and we mutually agreed not to since it would be for the best, but I can't help it. I miss you."

"And you thought that schlepping me out to my dad's grave would be the best place to tell me that?" she asked sounding frustrated.

"I'm sorry Christine. I just thought it would be best if we spoke somewhere where you would be the most vulnerable, so that we could both be completely honest with each other."

"Why? So you could take advantage of me?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"Okay…"

"I want you to know that everything I've ever done, especially in these last few months, has been to make you happy."

"Oh really? Then why did you kill a man and crash the chandelier even after sabotaging Carlotta was enough to get me the part?"

"Because it wasn't enough. They didn't take my orders seriously. I needed to assert my dominance by showing what happens when anyone disobeys me."

"And what if I disobeyed you? Would you kill me?"

"Oh Christine, my darling, of course not. If anything I would kill anyone else who tried to hurt you. All I want is to protect you and make you feel special and loved. Besides, you loved what I did to Carlotta, admit it."

Christine couldn't help but fight back a smile and a chuckle. "Fine, I admit it." She immediately regained her composure. "But that still doesn't change what happened. And you still never told me about the chandelier."

"True, but that was for a different reason."

"What?"

"A discussion for another time," he replied, trying to avoid the subject.

"No, you brought us here to be honest with each other. Why did you crash the chandelier?" she demanded.

"Let's just say that I had overheard something that night that didn't make me very happy." Her fear of him began to return, wondering if he had heard what happened with Raoul on the roof. "Oh Christine, I hate seeing you look at me like that. I know things can't be the same as they were before, but I want to at least try to start over. We were so happy together, and I know you've missed me as much as I've missed you." Christine didn't want to admit it, but she knew that he was right. Even though she had grown to fear him, she still couldn't help but miss what they used to have. When she looked at him, she couldn't see the monster that had been terrorizing everyone the last several months, but the sad, lonely man who had wept desperately before her upon seeing his face. "All I'm asking for is a second chance. So what do you say? Could we start again, please?"

Christine wanted so badly to resist, but she couldn't. All of her feelings for him that she had suppressed since their last encounter overflowed within her, taking control. She couldn't help but let the tears she'd been fighting all evening slowly trickle out. "Oh Erik, I'm so sorry for denying you."

He held out his hand to her. "Come home to your angel of music."

Christine reached out to take his hand when she heard her name being called in the distance. "Raoul!" she exclaimed as she looked over to see him approaching them.

Raoul pulled Christine away from Erik. "Whatever you believe, this man, this thing, is not your father!" He then turned his focus onto Erik. "How dare you! You can't win her love by making her your prisoner!" He grabbed her by the hand as he led her away, taking her back to his car with him.

"So be it," Erik said with a low, threatening voice as he watched them leave.