Chapter 22

She stood out on the stage and waited for the music to start. The lights stayed off a moment longer as they prepared her song. Gary was standing on one side of the stage as Erik stood on the other. Now Ashley knows how Christine must have felt in Love Never Dies. Her mind was telling her to stay with her father as her heart was telling her to stay with Erik. What is she to do now?

The music suddenly began to play and a soft blue light fixed itself on her. Ashley kept her eyes closed trying to will herself away from this terrible situation. But as the music continued to play, she knew that she had to sing. This was the moment she longed for. But the felling of running off the stage was also niggling in her mind. When she opened her eyes, she began scanning the crowds hoping to see a familiar and/or friendly face. She looked to the door and saw her friends sitting in the corner watching her. She tried not to focus on her decision and began singing…

Who knows when love begins
Who knows what makes it start
One day it's simply there
Alive inside your heart

It slips into your thoughts
It infiltrates your soul
It takes you by surprise
Then seizes full control

She snuck a quick glance at her father on her left and saw the look on his face. He was still waiting to see if she would flee from the stage, but she kept her feet rooted to her spot.

Try to deny it
And try to protest
But love won't let you go
Once you've been possessed

Then she looked over at Erik who was watching her with pride. He knew that this was something special for her and he was glad that he could witness her great triumph.

Love never dies
Love never falters
Once it has spoken
Love is yours

Love never fades
Love never alters
Hearts may get broken
Love endures
Hearts may get broken
Love endures

Ashley now knew that there was no chance of her running away now. She wanted this more than anything. And if it wasn't for Erik, she probably wouldn't be here right now. Yes, the Angel of Music, no… the Phantom of the Opera, no… Erik, the man she loves, was her music. Without him, she knew that music would not be what it is to her today.

And soon as you submit
Surrender flesh and bone
That love takes on a life
Much bigger than your own

It uses you at whim
And drives you to despair
And forces you to feel
More joy than you can bear

Love gives you pleasure
And love brings you pain
And yet when both are gone
Love will still remain

She looked back over to Erik and felt a smile appear on her face.

Once it has spoken
Love is yours
Love never dies
Love never alters

Hearts may get broken
Love endures
Hearts may get broken

She looked to her father and saw he was backing away and then finally leaving.

Love never dies
Love will continue
Love keeps on beating
When you're gone

Erik watched his Lost Angel sing with all her might and felt his heart swell with pride. She certainly has come a long way from the shy and lonely fourteen year old girl he met those years ago. He began backing away from the stage and let her have her moment.

Love never dies
Once it is in you
Love may be fleeting
Love lives on
Love may be fleeting
Love lives on

As the last of the music died away, the audience burst into applause, giving the girl a standing ovation. Ashley felt an overwhelming joy at hearing them cheering for her. The rush of the music, the sensation of the applause, the knowledge that she had achieved what she longed to do. She bowed to the audience then made her way off the stage. By the time she made it back stage, her father and Erik had both disappeared. Christine had disappeared long before the show started so she knew there was no point. Just then, she was ambushed by her clubmates.

"Ashley, you were incredible!"

"I never knew you could sing like that."

"Why didn't you say you could sing?"

"Why aren't you a music major?"

"You sang like an angel out there!"

"Guys, please!" She shouted above their praises and questions. "Don't you think I'm overwhelmed enough as it is?" At that they all began backing off from her. Robert then came from the opposite wing and approached her.

"Ashley, you were sensational out there!" He said elatedly. "You should consider a professional career. As a matter of fact, I know someone in New York you can talk to." He said as he began pulling out his phone.

"That's very kind of you," Ashley said, "but I'm already planning on going to Paris with Erik." Robert stopped at her words.

"Oh, well I hope Erik will allow you to pursue a music career." He said hopefully.

"He wouldn't think otherwise." She said and turned back to her friends. "I'm probably gonna go back to the hotel. I'm feeling exhausted after what I just did." They all broke out laughing at this.

"A couple of us will go with you back to the hotel." Chelsea said and a few of the girls stepped forward and agreed to go back.

"Great. Just let me grab my things and we can go."

All through the train ride back Ashley felt like she could take on the world. That one triumph had given her such a rush that seemed to still linger in her even now. She didn't even notice the stares she was receiving since she was still wearing the dress she wore during the show. And as soon as she made it back to the hotel, the three girls who brought her back walked her back to the room and Ashley told them they could return to the con if they wanted.

"Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" One of them asked.

"Yeah. I'm just gonna go to sleep. It's been a trying day on me." In more ways than one. She thought and smiled at her own thoughts. She pulled out her key card and slipped it into the reader to open the door. "I won't be going anywhere, so you can go back."

"Alright. But if you need one of us, just give us a call or shoot us a text." Ashley nodded then opened the door and entered the room. The lights were off so she knew no one else had returned just yet, which was fine with her. She flipped on the lights and walked into the sleeping area and found, on the pillow of the large bed, the blue rose from before. She went over and picked it up and brought it up to her face.

"Dearest child, my Ashley, what a triumph you gave them tonight." She turned to see Erik standing behind her. How he managed to get into the room she did not know, nor did she want to know, but was happy to see him none the less. He came over to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "My Ashley, all the dark lonely year now put right!"

"The song was beautiful, so very beautiful… every note, every word…" She moved her hand to touch one of his that rested on her shoulder and held onto it as she turned herself completely around to face him. "And it felt beautiful, and I felt beautiful…"

"Lost in the music once more, feeling it rise up and soar, set free once again!" And without another word he pulled her to him and began kissing her. If this is what she was rewarded with every time she sang, she could definitely get use to this. Erik then lifted her up in his arms and began spinning them around as Ashley let out girlish giggles before sitting down on the bed and continuing raining kissed down upon his angel. They both heard a knock at the door and they both turned in that direction. Ashley reluctantly removed herself from her lover's embrace and went to see who was at the door. She checked through the peep hole and saw her sister standing on the other side. She quickly opened the door.

"Christine, how did you-"

"I followed you here." She said. Ashley stepped aside and let her elder sister into the room. "I came to say you were breath taking tonight Ashley. You really put the audience in a state of awe tonight." She hugged her little sister and began stroking her hair. "Now it's time for you and the Angel of Music to be free to live together." Ashley looked up at her sister with surprise.

"You know about Erik too?" She asked.

"We all knew." She said bluntly. Ashley began feeling a stab of betrayal. "When dad found out you were alive, he told us not to tell you anything. Since you seemed to have no memory of that time, he thought it best. But Gary and I knew it would be a matter of time." She turned to find Erik standing not too far away. Christine took her little sister and brought her over to the masked man whom she rivaled her for since the very beginning. "Now, you can finally be free." She took his hand and placed Ashley's smaller hand in his. Ashley couldn't help but smile at her gesture.

"Thank you Christine." She said with tears threatening to fall. But before they could relish in this happy moment, the door opened revealing Ashley's three friends who came with her from the convention looking much disheveled.

"Ashley, there's something wrong!" One of the girls said.

"What is it?" Ashley asked.

"There's police swarming the building!" Another of the girls said.

"Police? Why?" Ashley asked.

"They say they're looking for you." Now Ashley was just as confused.

"Why are they looking for me?"

"We heard them say they received a tip that there was a madman after you and they need to protect you." Ashley couldn't believe what she was hearing. Who would tell the police such a… and then it hit her.

"Father." She whispered but it was loud enough for Erik to hear.

So, the bastard went back on his word. Erik thought heatedly. He had hoped that he would have been honorable while agreeing to his terms, but it seemed he expected too much.

"So how do we get the two of you out of here?" Christine wondered.

"The police are all over the place." One of the girls said. "But when we came up the stairs there was no one guarding them. We can probably get them out if we take the emergency exit!"

"But we'd have to be quick because if you take that exit the alarm will go off."

"It's are best bet." Christine said. "First Ashley should get into more suitable travel clothing."

Gary stood in the foyer along with the multiple police officers that he called for some time ago. He wasn't going to let this man get away again.

"Sir, are you sure they would be here?" One of the officers questioned.

"My daughter said they were staying at the Marriott hotel. They must have come here." He answered and anxiously started tapping his foot. The police managed to find out that the group from the school was staying on three separate floors so they decided to check them first. But there has been no luck so far. Suddenly, the fire alarm started going off and people began pouring into the foyer to get out.

"What happened?" The chief officer growled.

"Someone must have set off the fire alarm!" One of the other officers shouted.

"Keep a watch at the doors! Keep a look out for the girl or the man!"

"Sir! I went to check the stairs and found the emergency exit door was open!" The officer motioned for a few more officers to step forward. Each of them holding the three girls. "These three wouldn't let us near the door when we came to investigate." Gary stepped forward and examined the Anime Boston badges they were wearing and saw the group name typed on it.

"Where did they go?" He questioned.

"Not even we know where they're going." One of the girls said. "All we did was help them escape."

Christine, Ashley, and Erik didn't bother looking back as they ran down the city streets. Ashley had changed from her dress to a pair of black pants, a black shirt with the Nobody emblem on the front and her Organization XIII coat. She had the hood pulled over her head and the chains tucked away so they didn't make noise or got in her way.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Erik asked Christine.

"We need to get you two out of the city." She said over the sound of traffic and crowds around them. "You need to find a way to get back to your world. If you do that, you should be safe."

"That is a good plan, but how exactly are we going to do that?" Ashley asked.

"First, let's worry about finding a way out of the city." They began rushing down the steps towards the train station. "I say you two should take the bus and get away from here. It may be late but I'm sure you can figure something out." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a train ticket and gave it to Erik. "Use this for the train and follow the red line towards south station. Get off there and the bus station should be nearby. Ashley, I assume you remember where it is."

"Fairly certain." She replied.

"Alright." Christine pulled her sister into a tight hug. "Be careful kid."

"I will." They pulled away and Ashley and Erik turned to run their tickets through the gate machines to enter the train platform.

"Where did they go!" Gary bellowed as he interrogated the three girls before him.

"We told you, we don't know!" One of them shouted. "They could be anywhere in the city by now."

"Sir!" An officer approached the small group. "We just received a sighting of a man and two women headed down towards the T. One of the girls had pink hair while the other was wearing a black leather coat with the hood pulled up. And the man was wearing a white mask." The girls' faces paled at this information.

"Any idea where they're headed?" Gary questioned.

"We're not sure as of yet. We are determining that now."

"Sir!" Another officer rushed up to them. "We just found out they were taking the red line train southbound."

"Any reason why?" The police chief asked.

"We're not sure. We may have to wait until they disembark before we can assume anything."

Gary started pacing the lobby as he took in this new information. That madman had taken his daughter and was headed who knows where. But as long as he had no knowledge about how to return to his world, he would find him.

The train finally stopped at South Station and Ashley and Erik got off the train and made their way to the surface. Luckily for them, the bus station was only a hop, skip and a jump away.

"Okay, we're here. Now, where do we go?" Ashley wondered.

"First, we need to determine how we get back to Paris." Erik said. Ashley began thinking about how she had managed the trip a week ago. All she knew was that she fainted and just woke up at the opera house. So, she thought back even further to her first trip. She remembered being at school… her teacher had come into the classroom with a guest… they explained that they were going to be holding auditions for something…

A tiny light bulb went off in her mind.

"Erik, I know where we should go." She said. She took Erik by the hand and they walked into the bus station. She looked around and found the ticket counter then walked over. "Excuse me, when is the next bus to Londonderry?"

"That would be in the next ten minutes." The man at the desk said pointing to one of the gates with a big electric sign indicating the bus to various destinations, including Londonderry.

"I need two bus tickets for that bus!" She exclaimed. The man jumped a bit at her change in tone and began writing up the tickets.

"And what, pray tell, is in Londonderry?" Erik asked.

"Londonderry is my home town." Ashley explained. "It's also where this all began. I remember how I was at school when they announced the competition. So, I have a feeling, if we go back we can find our answers." It was time to put this mess to rest. Ashley was more determined than ever to make sure nothing got in the way of her and Erik's happiness. And if that meant breaking her father's heart, so be it.

Gary continued to pace as the officers continued their investigation. It had been over an hour since the Phantom escaped with his daughter and knew it was a matter of time. But as long as he had no knowledge of how to return to his world, he knew there would be plenty of time to catch him and free his little girl.

"We've figured out where they went." One of the officers said. "They got off at South Station and from there, we've had some eye witnesses see them enter the bus station."

So, they're leaving the city. Gary thought. Clever. But where are they going.

"From what we gathered, they bought two tickets on the next coach bus to Londonderry." Gary's face paled at this. Londonderry. Did he know a way to return by going there? How did he know to go there in the first place? But then he thought of his daughter. He must have gotten it from her.

"Thank you gentlemen, I can take it from here." Gary said flatly.

"Sir?" The chief questioned.

"I will no longer require your services here. I can handle them where they're going."

The song used in this chapter was Love Never Dies and Ah, Christine! (with altered lyrics) from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Love Never Dies.

Now things start getting hairy. I decided of sending them back to where it all began. We're going to have the final confrontation very soon. I hope you're ready for this. We've got the final chapter then the epilogue coming up. I hope you're ready.