I just want to thank everyone who has been constantly reading and reviewing my story! I'm sorry I did not finish writing this chapter sooner (school work has been getting in the way and yes this story is MUCH more important than school work but my parents don't think the same way that I do, plus I have to memorize a LONG scene for my drama class so that is a lot of fun...)
Anyway, thank you for all your support and now here is the performance, hopefully, everyone has been waiting for!
Your obedient servant,
PhantomsAngel1870
Chapter 23: Don Juan
Christine knew that it was all up to her and Erik to make tonight's performance as smooth as possible. She would have suggested that he stay in his home the entire time during the performance but even she knew that trying to persuade him to do so would be useless. She could hear him now telling her that he would rather kill himself than to leave her alone in such a dangerous situation—he was truly a gentleman.
As she untangled herself out of his embrace she smiled up at him, she felt tears forming at the corners of her eyes as she wished there was absolutely some way out of performing this opera but she knew that it was hopeless. Raoul had them all trapped into playing their parts through tonight so he could try and hurt her Erik. Why couldn't he just leave them alone? She sighed and felt Erik's lips press against her forehead before he began talking to her again.
"Christine, my dear, it's time to go to the wings to be ready for our performance," Erik crooned to Christine as he felt her relax against his body. He needed to get them to their places before they were late. If the DeChagny boy saw Christine was late Erik knew that the Vicomte would think something was up. He couldn't stand having that fop near his Christine, he didn't deserve to be near such a creature of perfection such as the woman standing before him! Why was he born with all the perfect features? Why did he have everything that rightfully belonged to Erik? His brother, the one person that he used to love because he never feared his face— but even he betrayed Erik.
Erik never liked talking about it but the one thing that caused him to leave his home that one night so long ago was because of Raoul; Raoul and his reaction to Erik's face. It had been so long ago yet the memory never faded, Erik always knew that he would never forget the night that changed his life for the worst. He remembered how it was raining that night and how Raoul had begun to grow more and more curious about the white mask that laid on his brother's face. Erik always knew better than to get really close to Raoul because he knew that the wrath of his mother was horrible and he refused to try to make her angry by playing with his brother no matter how much the little babe pleaded and begged. It was after five years that Raoul had started asking about the mask and Erik knew that telling him about it would only end in heartbreak for Erik and traumatization for Raoul so he refused to answer his younger brother about it opting to read a book about military tactics instead.
Raoul had started scooting closer towards his older and much more mysterious brother continuing to prod Erik about his mask. Erik looked at the little boy once and continued reading his book. Using his sensitive hearing he could tell that a thunderstorm was about to happen very soon and went to close the curtains to shelter his little brother from the frightening sight of lightening. As Erik reached the window he felt a breeze hit his deformed side of his cheek and turned around to see Raoul holding it in his chubby little hands.
As Erik watched Raoul look up to him, and Erik was hoping that he would be the first one to see the beauty that lies beneath the horribleness of his face, a bolt of lightning stroke right outside their window. Erik watched as Raoul's grew wide in horror and Erik stepped closer to comfort his little brother when the worst thing Erik had imagined occurred.
"Stay away from me you monster!" Little Raoul shouted at the monster that stood before him. He was disgusted by the horrible misshaped face that stood before him. He didn't know what the monster did with his older brother but all he knew was that he didn't want that monster, that thing, anywhere near him.
Erik watched in horror as his younger brother, the only person in the household that truly wanted to be near him, backed away from his as if he were the black plague personified in a human body. Erik didn't want his brother to be scared of him so he began walking towards Raoul to try to comfort him.
"Raoul it's me, Erik, your brother." Erik said soothingly to Raoul as he began to walk towards the five year old. For a second Raoul stopped what he was doing and Erik really thought that he wasn't scared anymore because of the way he was looking back at him. Erik held out his hand towards his brother when another flash of lightning struck outside the mansion. The lightning scared Raoul once again and when he saw the monster in front of him he screamed bloody murder.
The doors flew open as soon as Raoul voiced his scream and immediately a maid, butler and Mr. and Mrs. DeChagny rushed inside to see what had happened to have caused such a scream. As Mrs. DeChagny saw her son, Raoul, crying in a heap on the floor she gasped and immediately dropped next to him begging him to answer her questions.
"What is the matter my darling? What has scared you so?" Mrs. DeChagny was fretting over Raoul as Erik hid himself in the dark corner of the room. He knew that whatever the outcome was going to be tonight, it was not going to pretty for himself. He pressed himself against the wall tightly and as he tried to move his leg out of the treacherous light glow of the candle in the room he accidentally kicked the table beside him causing a noise to procure. Raoul's ears immediately picked up the small disturbance in the quietness of the room and shakily pointed a finger in Erik's direction.
"There's a monster in our home momma, please make the monster go away. I don't want it anywhere near me. Please momma make it go away forever, it's so horrible." Raoul's harsh words sliced Erik's heart open and caused him to grasp his chest in shock. He wasn't aware that he was caught until he felt the sharp sting of his mother's very familiar slap against his perfect cheek.
"Get out, get out now," Erik looked up as he heard his mother's venomous voice growl at him. Her ice blue eyes pierced his soul and Erik knew at that moment what true hatred towards someone felt like. Her stare looked deep into his soul and he was frightened for his life. He ran up to his room and grabbed a premade bag filled with some of his clothes and food and took out the back door. After that Erik remembered how he was captured by the gypsy's and he shook uncontrollably as those horrible memories resurfaced to his mind.
Christine watched as Erik had a moment to himself, she didn't want to interrupt him during his thoughts because she knew all too well how he would forget where he was at during his flashbacks. But as she watched him shake violently she walked up to him and placed one of her hands over his heart causing him to look down at her intensely.
Christine smiled gently and kissed Erik's cheek to soothe his worried mind. She knew that this was not the time to get overly excited and anxious. She couldn't forget how this was the night of all night's—this was the night that would determine everyone's future and it all depended on her and Erik.
Erik seemed to be able to read Christine's thoughts as he held out his arm for her and began to lead her to the backstage area. When they reached the entrance to the wings Erik saw that a police officer was already stationed at the entrance which caused him to curse underneath his breath. Christine looked at him curiously to see what the matter was but with a quick kiss to her forehead Christine knew that whatever Erik had planned would make everything alright.
Erik leaned down to Christine and whispered, "Go ahead my dear, I have some business to finish up. I will meet you here once I am done before it is time for us to go on for the third act," and with a quick flurry of his cape Erik was gone, vanished into the darkness of the hallway behind them.
Erik quickly hurried down the hallway to find the leading tenor's dressing room. When he had finally made it to the entrance he realized that he was extremely short on time and ended up having to knock on Piangi's door. When Piangi opened it expecting to see his wife, Carlotta, he was so surprised to find a man that he suspected to be his understudy in full costume that he didn't make a sound as his mouth dropped open in shock. For a split second Piangi looked around the hallway for help but silently cursed Carlotta as he realized that were not going to be any guards down this hallway because she had specifically told them not to be stationed near her dressing room; which also included Piangi's dressing room as well.
Erik quickly held up his white cloth with chloroform and pressed it against the leading tenor's mouth and nose forcing him to smell the drug that will cause him to pass out. Luckily for Erik, due to Piangi's poor health and diet it did not take long for the larger man to succumb to the drug and with all the power and might that was in Erik's body he dragged the man into his bed making it look like he had passed out to get some sleep before the performance. As Erik walked away he remembered that Piangi would be able to tell the guard's that someone did this to him and so with the blunt end of a candlestick Erik hit Piangi's back of his side hard enough to make him forget the past thirty minutes but not hard enough to kill the man.
Once Erik was done tidying up his mess he looked at the clock beside the doorway and rushed back to the wings of the stage to be ready for the performance of his lifetime. It was ten minutes before show time and he knew that he needed to be ready in five if he and Christine were going to pull this stunt off.
As he came closer to the entrance to the wings Erik began to slow his run down to a leisure walking pace. Just as he was about to step over the threshold into the right wing a guard holding a gun with bayonet stopped him from entering.
"Excuse me sir but I cannot just let you go in there," the police officer told Erik as he looked him down for anything suspicious. His boss had told everyone not to allow anyone with any suspicion onto the stage for fear of it being the phantom of the opera.
"I understand officer, you are only doing your job. But as you can see I am just but the leading tenors, Piangi's, understudy. I am here to play the role because he is not here and it is my job to make sure that the opera runs smoothly so we do not antagonize the phantom of the opera. How could we perform 'Don Juan' without Don Juan onstage?" Erik persuaded the officer into relenting him access to the stage. Erik was sure that Christine was in her place waiting for the que for her to enter on stage to begin singing but Erik knew that she would never be able to if he was not able to get on stage quick enough.
"Well, you are in costume and you do sound like a professional singer. Very well then I hope you, what is the saying, break a leg?" The officer pulled his gun away from the entrance and smiled at Erik as he allowed the man to go into the wings. Erik returned a smile out of politeness and quickly walked into the wing area to begin warming up his voice for his first performance in front of an audience. He wasn't going to allow himself to become nervous—not now when Christine needed him the most. All the while as he ran through his scales he heard the chorus singing their song.
"Here the sire may serve the damn,
Here the master takes his meat!
Here the sacrificial lamb
Utters one despairing bleat!
Poor young maiden! For the thrill
On your tongue of stolen sweets
You will have to pay the bill—
Tangled in the winding sheets!
Serve the meal and serve the maid!
Serve the meal and serve the maid!
Serve the master so that, when
Tables, plans and maids are laid
Don Juan triumphs once again!"
Overall Erik was pleased with the chorus' ability to stay in tune with his exceptionally difficult song for them. He knew that they were never challenged with any of the other common operas and it was only up to him to make them work for their living. He also knew that they were already ten times better than when they had played 'Hannibal' months and months ago. As a manager of the opera house, in his own way, Erik was proud of them. Except Carlotta. She could have done much better. But he knew that he was needed on stage now and so he walked out with Hugo who was playing as Passarino. With a grand gesture Erik began singing his lines,
"Passarino, faithful friend,
Once again recite the plan."
Erik watched as Hugo laughed and pointed towards him as he acted out his role in the opera,
"Your young guest believes I'm you—
I, the master, you, the man
When you met you wore my cloak,
She cannot see your face.
She believes she dines with me,
In her master's borrowed place!
Furtively, we'll scoff and quaff,
Stealing what, in truth, is mine.
When it's late and modesty
Starts to mellow, with the wine…"
Erik walked around on the stage as he had instructed Piangi to do during rehearsals. Of course the large man believed that he held some power over the phantom and refused to learn any blocking that Erik had strictly instructed upon and believed that his own blocking would make the opera more "believable". However, tonight, Erik was going to do what was written in the script and so he came in and began singing his lines amazed as how they flowed out of his mouth
"You come home! I use your voice—
Slam the door like crack of doom!
I shall say: "come—hide with me!
Where, oh, where? Of course—my room!"
Erik laughed near the end and began switching out his cloak, hat and sword with Hugo's onstage as they discussed their plan with Aminta. Erik hated how the men during dress rehearsals treated Christine but he knew that it was all necessary for tonight, and he vowed that he would never make Christine feel threatened ever again. Erik stopped thinking as he realized that he was onstage once again and listened to Hugo's lines,
"Poor thing hasn't got a chance!
Here's my hat, my cloak and sword."
Erik placed the attire onto his body as he listened to Hugo telling him about Christine. In character, Erik began to laugh out loud as he heard of how easy it will be for him and Christine to be alone together for the play and returned with his lines,
"Conquest is assured,
If I do not forget myself and laugh…"
Erik went backstage momentarily as Christine made her entrance onto the stage. She looked around at the audience in front of her taking it all in. She had to do this for her and Erik's future together, there had to be no mistakes. She glanced up quickly to the private boxes and located Raoul in his regular box three. For that split second, which was enough to tell, she saw Raoul gazing at her in the most undignified manner possible in a man. She was utterly disgusted by the way his eyes scanned her body, what little of it was clothed by the costume she was wearing. But now was not the time to be thinking about these things—she had an opera to run and with a new determination she walked out in the middle of the stage with her basket of roses and began to sing,
"No thoughts
Within her head,
But thoughts of joy!
No dreams
Within her heart
But dreams of love!"
Taking a few minutes to be ready, Hugo and Erik finally returned to the stage after Christine's solo was completed and they looked at each other and nodded before Hugo processed with his lines,
"Master?" Erik smiled a little bit at the appropriate nickname and the excitement of what was going to happen next with him and Christine. He looked back at Hugo and pointed to the offstage direction as he recited,
"Passarino!
Go away for the trap is set and waits for its prey…"
Erik waited for Hugo to finally leave before he continued with his passionate song for Christine and Christine alone.
"You have come here
In pursuit of you deepest urge,
In pursuit of that wish,
Which till now has been silent,
Silent…"
Erik watched as how Christine reacted to his every word. He saw her body begin to relax under his singing and she slyly turned around to face him. He glanced up quickly towards the Vicomte in box three and pressed his finger near his mouth on his last 'silence' to remind Christine just how important it was to stay in character and not let anything slip—because if they gave the Vicomte anything to suspect what they were doing and who Erik was, everything would turn in chaos. When he was given a slight nod from Christine he continued on in his song,
"I have brought you,
That our passions may fuse and merge—
In your mind
You've already succumbed to me
Dropped all defenses
Completely succumbed to me—
Now you are here with me
No second thoughts
You've decided
Decided…"
Erik walked towards Christine and gazed deeply into her eyes. He wanted her to know how proud he was of her for doing this for the two of them. He would have never asked her to do such a thing if there were any other option available. But with the Vicomte being the patron to the opera house and with all the fantastical friends in higher places he has it was nearly impossible for them to deny him this. But as the Vicomte called the bet he was completely unaware that Erik had an ace up his sleeve. Once Erik reached Christine he began to circle her and sing once more,
"Past the point of no return—
No backwards glances!
Our games of make-believe are at an end
Past all thought of "if" or "when"
No use resisting:
Abandon thought,
And let the dream descend…"
Erik quickly spun around behind Christine and pressed her body against his, just as they had done that time so long ago when he had sung to her about the music of the night. He glided his hand down her throat and thoughts of their intimacy were brought the forefront of his mind as he touched her once again in this passionate duet. When he began singing again his voice was huskier with desire,
"What raging fire shall flood the soul?
What rich desire unlocks its door?
What sweet seduction lies before us?"
He quickly unclasped Christine's golden bracelet and hid it in his sleeve as the play instructed him to do. Don Juan was a known thief and womanizer and so Erik knew that he had to portray both sides of the Casanova in this play. As he had hidden the bracelet from Christine he began to release her from his hold he finished up the last part of his solo,
"Past the point of no return
The final threshold!
What warm unspoken secrets
Will we learn?
Beyond the point of no return?"
Christine felt exhilarated by the way that Erik was beginning to sing to her. She felt all the blood boiling in her blood, she was ready for this man all over again! She was beginning to understand just how important their passionate making was last night, how it affected the play. She understood how Aminta was supposed to be feeling at this point and she knew just how to act it. As she turned to face Erik once again she began singing as Christine and Aminta, about their night last night and the nights to come, as the innocent and wanton woman inside of her,
"You have brought me
To that moment when words run dry
To that moment when speech disappears
Into silence, silence.
I have come here
Hardly knowing the reason why
In my mind I've already imagined
Our bodies entwining
Defenseless and silent,
Now I am here with you
No second thoughts
I've decided,
Decided."
Christine was beginning to feel so overpowered by this play, not only did it allow her to speak her wanton thoughts so freely to the man she loved but it also allowed her to be the seductress that Erik deserves. She, too, began to feel voice becoming more passionate as visions of their love last night flashed in her mind only making the song more powerful than she ever sang it before,
"Past the point of no return
No going back now
Our passion play has now at last begun,"
Christine and Erik had begun to slowly make their way up the duel staircases that led to a catwalk balcony for them to continue singing on. At the middle of the staircase Christine stopped and sang out to Erik pleadingly,
"One final question,
How long should we two wait before we're one?"
Christine watched how Erik's eyes swam with love and passion at her question that both she and Aminta yearned to hear the answer to. Christine was surprised at how much she and Aminta were similar and couldn't help but wonder if Erik had planned it this way as she continued to sing her heart out to Erik,
"When will the blood begin to race?
The sleeping bud burst into bloom!
When will the flames at last consume us?"
The two lovers finally reached the top of the stairs and Erik casted his cloak off onto the rail as he and Christine closed the distance between them. Below them, the background dancers, were dancing intimately in a tango-esque dance that followed closely to Erik and Christine's blocking. When the two people finally reached each other and held onto each other for dear life they began to sing in harmony causing the entire opera house audience to gasp at how perfect the two voices were for each other.
"Past the point of no return
The final threshold!
The bridge is crossed
So stand and watch it burn
We've passed the point of no return."
At the end of their duet Erik had Christine pressed against him once again. Erik waited for the intensity of the moment to die down before he switched the mood and professed his love for her in front of the entire audience, to them it will only seem part of the play but he knew that Christine knew that it was really a question just for her—Christine not Aminta. As the orchestra switched the songs Erik ran his fingers through Christine's hair and began singing softly for her,
"Say you'll share with me
One love, one lifetime
Lead me, save me from my solitude
Say you'll want me
With you here
Beside you,
Anywhere you go
Let me go too!
Christine that's all I ask of…"
Erik had already kneelt down and protruded the ring when he felt the sting hit his arm. He looked up to see what had happened and saw blood spurting out of his new wound. When he lifted his eyes further he saw the Vicomte standing in his private box with a smoking pistol in his hand.
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Raoul had sat watching the play from the beginning and hated every second of it. The first and most horrible thing about the play was the entire theme of it: sex and lust. What kind of sick twisted man would write such an opera to be held in Paris' most prestigious opera house?
The second most disgusting thing was watching how his Christine allowed this man to touch her in ways that only Raoul should be allowed to do. But there was just something so familiar about the man that Raoul couldn't put his finger on—he knew that he had seen him somewhere in his life but he couldn't place exactly where it was that they had met.
But it wasn't until he heard him begin to sing that Raoul knew that he had at least heard the voice before. That man down there with his Christine was the same man that had sung that love song with Christine. Raoul started to become angry as he realized that this was the same man that was courting Christine, really it was more like a secret courtship based by the way that they were rarely in public together.
Raoul couldn't stand knowing that there was someone that was better than he was, by god he was the Vicomte DeChagny, he should be able to get anything and everything he wants! But Christine didn't want him, but some low life opera singer—typical. She could have so much if she would just agree to marry himself, but instead she chooses to be with a poor scum of the streets singing to save his skin. Raoul simply couldn't allow this union to happen! It was up to him to become Christine's knight in shining armor that she desperately needed and so therefore he knew that he had to take it in his own hands before Christine did something stupid. So without thinking twice about what he was doing he pointed his gun at the man kneeling down before Christine with his diamond engagement ring and shot.
The entire audience began to scream and grow frantic but Raoul was not concerned with them, he needed to know how well his aim was from such a long distance. He watched as the bullet hit the intended target and watched him fall to the ground of the catwalk, but to Raoul's disappointment he saw that he had only hit the arm of the man. He also saw how Christine frantically was checking on the man before her, never worrying about anything else. But Raoul knew that she won't have to worry about anything else after tonight.
He leaned over to the chief police officer standing guard at his private box and motioned for him to come over to him. The chief was surprised at the Vicomte's rash actions to the man onstage but he knew that the Vicomte must have had reasonable cause to have shot a man during a strange time such as he did but nonetheless listened and carried out Raoul's orders,
"Please tell your men to take those two to my home and leave them in the charge of my men. The three of us have matters to discuss."
OHHH what a cliffhanger! Am I mean? Haha so what did you think about the play? In this version Erik didn't kill Piangi! Yay! He's grown up so much :') How do you feel about Raoul? And this mysterious need to talk to Christine and Erik? Hmm...Review and tell me what you think will happen next!