Thank you to all those who have been constantly reading and reviewing to the chapters I have been posting, I have finally reached just over a thousand views in two weeks! Regarding the last chapter, I am fully aware that in the 2004 movie there was a three month hiatus between the "All I Ask of You" roof scene and the Masquerade Ball. However, my writing skills are not sharp enough to write enough, well written, chapters to describe why the phantom had not shown himself. Therefore I had to change it to only a couple of days. That puts the production of Il Muto in December which also explains why it was snowing heavily in the movie!

Also, my mom surprised me with The Phantom of the Opera sheet music to the 2004 production (for the piano) and I am so in love with it that I will begin to upload it on Vine!

I remain your obedient servant,

PhantomsAngel1870

Chapter 10: The Masquerade

Erik left Christine alone in his room and shut the door quietly as to not wake her from the sleep that she so desperately needed. He noticed when he came to get her that evening that Christine had applied some of the stage makeup that was roughly the same shade as her underneath her eyes to try to diminish the dark circles that crept underneath her skin that gave away her poor sleeping habits.

Before the incident occurred Erik promised himself silently that he would make sure to get her to sleep early even if that meant putting laudanum into her tea to relax her completely that would lull her brain into a deep slumber. But because Christine had somehow managed to fall into the lake, something Erik was still unsure as to how she had done it, she had only sped up the slow tranquil process that Erik had planned out for the evening. He had planned to play a few lullaby's that swarmed into his mind right now, make her some herbal tea and sit her down with a good story. He was sure that would have worked, but for now that plan would just have to wait for another day.

Erik smiled to himself as he thought of their future together and that he was able to tell himself that there would be another day for them to do absolutely nothing in each other's presence. It was astounding that they have become so accustomed and relaxed to each other's presence that the idea was comfortable to each of them. Maybe in a few years' time I will be able to ask her the question I have been burning to ask her, then we will be able to live our lives together once and forever all. Erik smiled to himself and sighed as he realized he had a very important surprise that he had promised Christine a few minutes ago.

As he walked out of his hallway into the main area Erik put some water on to boil to make some coffee and walked into the room containing Christine's wedding dress and began the process of slowly undressing the mannequin so that the materials did not get dirty or damaged. With each article he removed he placed them on the chaise lounge that was laid off to the side and folded each one carefully to make sure that no wrinkles were to be created.

After he was finished with the last few smaller pieces Erik wiped his brow as sweat beads began to form and run down his neck. He untied his cravat and unbutton his vest as he set those aside by Christine's white dress and placed his jacket on one of the hooks that he had installed in the wall. The cool air hit his right, deformed, side of his face as he placed his mask on top of a table that was nearby and went to his storage room that contained all his food on the left side, extra sheet music and quills and wax to the right and at the very end there was a door that led to one of the Opera Populaire's secret gardens. But Erik, and he alone, tended to this garden and had created one of the finest rose gardens in the entire city of Paris. It was in the rose garden that Erik would pluck a red rose and remove each thorn, no matter how many pricked him, to give the final smooth rose to Christine with his signature black ribbon.

Once Erik reached a chest and opened it he set to the task of finding the fabric to begin the long process set before him. After a while of shifting through various shades of black and red Erik decided that those would not best suit a virtuous and innocent girl such as Christine. Ultimately in the end Erik picked several shades of pink ranging from a pale baby pink to a darker shade that was identical to the roses in Erik's garden.

He carried the roles of fabric back to the now naked mannequin and set to work. Throughout the process of making this dress Erik decided upon an off the shoulder style with parts of the dress bunched up in the back. He knew that woman, but a few men, prominently created clothing for the outside world but throughout the years Erik learned that he could only rely on himself to create clothing that specifically met his physical needs.

Erik returned to the kitchen when he heard the water begin to whistle and made his coffee with some of Persia's finely made coffee beans. He made a mental note to retrieve some more from the store the next chance he had. After he was done making the strong concoction he went to check up on Christine to make sure that she was still sleeping.

He slowly pried open the door and looked in to see the most heavenly sight. Christine was laying on her side in a spooning position with her front part of her body pressed tightly against a pillow. Her back was bared to whoever's eyes laid upon the angelic sight and her massive amount of curls sprawled everywhere. Erik felt his heart pound loudly against his ribs and reminded himself that he was a gentleman, and being a gentleman will be the way to keep Christine's love.

With a firm nod Erik, as quiet as a panther, stoked the fire that was dwindling down in the corner on Christine's side of his, their?, bed and added more wood and some whiskey to make the flames bigger and brighter. He basked in the warmth for a moment and wondered what it would be like if their lives were as simple as this. Is it possible? Would Christine really wish to be with someone, something that looks like me? To kiss and look upon a face as ugly as mine? Oh dear god what if our child inherits this curse! Erik's continuing nightmare's plagued him once more and he began to shake his head firmly to push them away at the present.

With one last look at Christine's still sleeping form Erik went back into the main room to finish up the last few details and layering to Christine's dress before he deemed it worthy of her unearthly beauty. Roses found themselves placed on the back of her dress, and white satin sleeves that were made to fit off Christine's shoulders were applied as well as a layer of clear satin that laid upon the pink layer to give off a more feminine look were applied. Erik decided he would tell Christine that she was to be Juliet from the Shakespearian play.

After Erik was done with his creation and a last look over he almost completely forgot the most important piece—her mask. He quickly moved to his work desk and pulled out a regular mask that covered both eyes and set about to designing it to match her dress. The ending result was that the mask had a rose on the right corner and it was a pale pink color with a rose lace pattern with an elastic tied to the back so that she didn't have to worry herself with holding it up the entire night with a stick. Once the glue was dried on the mask Erik carefully placed it on the mannequin and returned to his room with the intent to sleep.

But as Erik watched Christine sleep innocently on his, their?, bed he decided to stay the night in the guest room, Christine's room, instead. He slowly peeled all his layers, except for his underwear, off his body and crawled beneath the sheets and allowed his body to pass out from the all the excitement of today and did not awake for many hours until he heard some noise being made in the kitchen.

Erik peered through a small slit of his eyes that he opened up to identify the intruder whom of which was currently in his kitchen making so much noise at, he looked up at the grandfather clock nearby, nine in the morning. Logic told him that it could not possibly be Madame Giry because it was a Friday and the corps de ballet had a three hour rehearsal on each Friday that began strictly at nine, but since it was the day of the Masquerade Ball for the New Year Erik knew that the woman would most likely be in the ballroom leading the people who were setting out to prepare all last minute touches. Therefore, he concluded, it must be Christine! Almost immediately Erik became nervous and excited all at once.

Did she see the costume yet? Oh god I hope she likes it, I know it will never have any competition with her own beauty…Erik's train of thought rambled on and he became so deep in thought that he didn't realize that Christine had walked up to him with breakfast until he felt something touch his arm.

Instinctively he grabbed whoever's hand was laid upon his forearm and anger came almost immediately. But as his eyes met those of the intruder Erik relaxed and released his death grip on the very same woman he was just thinking about. As the events that had just occurred replayed in Erik's mind he realized what he had done to the only woman he loved and madly blushed before excusing himself.

Christine stood there in shock, not just from Erik's vice-like grip he had on her wrist, but from the way that Erik had blushed in embarrassment and fled from her like the black plague. Christine stood there for a while aimlessly, she didn't know what to do at this point but take the tray back into Erik's room to leave for him if he became hungry later. She picked up the silver tray and began walking towards the hallway that contained all their rooms and stopped midway her journey and nearly dropped her tray in surprise.

Right before her very eyes was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen in her life! The dress itself was flawless with stunning details and accessories fit for a princess, and every second Christine was looking at it made her fall in love with it more. Almost subconsciously Christine walked towards the dress after placing the tray down on of the tables and admired it carefully while she barely touched the smooth fabric and awed at the stunning mask that went with it.

A mask? Christine thought. Obviously the dress was feminine and made for a woman to wear, but where did it come from? How did it get here? Christine knew that it was not there before she had fallen asleep so it must have arrived while she was dreaming of her and Erik at the Masquerade Ball…

That's it! It must be for the masque ball tonight, Christine thought triumphantly to herself as she continued to study it. All too soon she began to daydream about wearing it tonight…being held in Erik's arms as they danced…him leaning down to kiss her softly for all to see that she was his…and Christine continued to sway everywhere as if she were in that dream, dancing away with her prince in disguise. Oh how much she wanted it all to be true, all he had to do was ask and she would be his.

Erik controlled his breathing as he stood in his room. He would not have reacted as he did if he knew at all that it would have been Christine's hand that had laid itself upon his arm. Oh god, what have I done? Erik groaned as he thought of what Christine must be thinking about him right now. After a while of working out all the options he finally decided to go back to her to apologize for his rude behavior towards a beautiful woman such as herself. He smiled knowing that it was the best method to win back Christine's trust that he so feared that he had lost.

As he walked out of his room he listened for a second to hear where she would be at and after a while he heard shuffling in the room that contained not only her wedding dress now but also the masquerade ball dress. Erik's heart started beating faster and he got a little shaky as he walked towards the room containing the surprise that he had created only for her. Luckily though, Christine had not heard Erik in his journey to the room and he saw that she continued to hold the dress up to herself. Erik leaned back against the wall adjacent to the room and let out a huge sigh but immediately regretted it as soon it was released.

As Christine finally placed the mask on she heard someone outside the room and knew that the only logical answer was that it was Erik, and dear god how much she wanted to see him to apologize for her rash behavior. So Christine carefully walked outside the room to find Erik and begin to beg for his forgiveness.

As Erik turned around to enter the room he felt his body collide with another and he unceremoniously fell to the ground on his butt. Christine, who knew that she was going to fall, grabbed onto the closest thing by her and soon fell on top of Erik. For a while both people looked at each other, both of whom were equally astounded and slightly embarrassed that they found themselves in such a compromising situation.

Christine was the first one to move and she quickly got up sputtering apologizes so fast that she was unsure if Erik caught even one of them. Erik felt her hair brush against his good side of his face and stood up himself as he brushed off the dust that collected onto the back of his pants.

"Oh dear god! I am so sorry Erik, if I knew that you were out here I would have made my presence more clear, I thought that you were reading or about to practice or even writing music! But I swear that if I had known I would have—"

Erik kissed Christine on the mouth to silence her ranting. He found it adorable how concerned she was for him and it was something that he would never ever forget. He also knew that he should be apologizing, not her, because Christine has nothing to apologize for. Never.

"Mademoiselle, it is I that should be apologizing for running into such a beautiful young woman such as yourself. In fact, I am entirely in the wrong for placing you into such a compromising situation that you had found yourself on the floor." Erik's face reddened slightly as he imagined what had just happened not a minute ago. How her body pressed against his in the most intimate way possible, and how neither of them fought the feelings they had both felt for what seemed like hours.

"I am in your debt Christine, you may ask whatever you wish of me and it will be my command," Erik promised Christine as he took her hand and kissed it. Silently, Erik was hoping that she will not beg of him to stay out of her life, or to leave her forever. He would rather her to command him to kill himself than to leave her.

Christine hovered for a second as she processed what Erik had just told her. I can have him do anything that I wish? Anything! She looked over at her masquerade ballroom dress and took a deep breath before continuing to voice her sole request of the man before her.

"Very well Monsieur Le Fantôme since you so insist that I tell you of anything that I desire, I wish for you to attend the Masquerade Ball with me tomorrow" Christine said with confidence and a light air of humor when she spoke Erik's title. She watched his reaction turn from surprise to admiration to worry in the span of a few seconds time. Before Erik could voice his worries to her Christine grabbed his hands and spun them around. The sound of Christine's laughter filled his heart and Erik smiled back at her as she cupped his face.

"Just think about it Erik! Imagine how much fun it will be, plus everyone will be wearing a mask, nobody will be asking questions except for your name. You told me once that you never got to experience life from above and I want you to now. Please Erik, for me?" Christine begged him with her big brown eyes pleading to him.

"Your wish is my command Christine," Erik told her as he bowed in her direction. "I will pick you up tomorrow at Madame Giry's house. Is there any costume in particular that you would care of me to wear?" Erik asked her as he watched her blush slightly.

"Well in fact Erik I have been reading a few short stories from Edgar Allen Poe. I am reading 'The Mask of Red Death' and I do believe that you would look very handsome in the color red." Christine said as she kissed his cheek. Erik thought that this was a perfect idea and nodded his head before bowing again to her before kissing her forehead.

"What a splendid idea Christine, in fact I believe I already have something I could use to make the costume. But for now it will be goodbye until tomorrow night." Erik decided it would be for the best to send Christine off to the Giry's house tonight so that there would be no scrambling tomorrow before he went to retrieve her tomorrow for the dance. But first, he must inform Antoinette of the news.

Yes, he thought, I would need to discuss this with Antoinette. And it has been such a long time since we have talked that I think I will go and surprise her. So as Erik sent Christine off for the later rehearsal that was due to begin in thirty minutes he gave her a note to give to Madame Giry and he kissed her goodbye as they reached her dressing room mirror.

There was a new skip in Erik's walking and for some reason he felt the urge to hum. So as he went through the different hallways to reach Antoinette's room anyone underneath the Opera House would be able to hear the sweet melody that was produced from Erik's lips.