Chapter 3

It was getting dark and I was back at the Opera House. There was a performance going on so it was easy to blend in with the crowd. I was able to sneak past a couple people I knew, and since I was becoming more familiar with a lot of Erik's trap doors, getting under the opera house was becoming easier and faster.

When I got to the lake I saw the boat there, right where I had left it. I hesitantly stepped in it, being as quiet as possible and started rowing toward Erik's lair. Getting to his lair seemed to take longer, simply because I was a little nervous about his mood. Pushing the entire boat by myself was very difficult, and it astounded me that I did it twice as fast when I was fleeing from Erik. The lake was very quiet, and in the candlelight it almost seemed peaceful. Pretty soon I reached his lair and I saw Erik. He was at his piano, his back was facing me and I noticed he wasn't playing. He was holding up his head with his hands and looked discouraged.

I slowly stepped out of the boat and stood there at the edge of the lake. Erik lifted his head, sensing my presence, and turned around. I held my head up a little higher, and deeply gazed at him with content eyes.

He wasted no time and came to me, falling to his knees and saying my name in sweet apologetic sobs. He had his arms out, but did not touch me with them. I knelt down to his level, fighting to hold my composure.

"Christine, you came back to me…why?"

I looked into his eyes and tried to be strong.

"Because I don't want to be a coward, Erik." I said.

He smiled at me through his tears and held my hands in his.

"I must tell you I hate the way my temper controls me, Christine. I hate a lot of who I am…but I hate it most when I hurt you." His eyes were fixed away from me, wrapped up in his thoughts.

"I am not harmed Erik! You do not harm me, you just bring out-" I took a breath feeling tears run down my cheeks.

"..how weak of a woman I am-"

"You are not weak," he said completely serious.

I stood up, feeling angry at myself and took steps around him. I let out a slight sarcastic furious laugh.

"I am but a small being lost and deprived of a father, I can't determine what love truly is and yet I have this-this moral compass! Strapped to me which doesn't allow me to do anything on my own! Anything I want to do, and still again! In the end I have this delusion that I am this emotional wreck when half the time I'm the only one around who can keep it together!"

I turned to Erik, who was now standing also.

"That's why you can't start believing I am plotting against you Erik, I plot against myself!"

I was ready to fall hard on my knees but before they hit the ground Erik caught me and held me tight in his arms, quietly hushing me.

"Oh, my beautiful Christine," he said, tucking my messy curls behind my ear.

"I'm here."

It was late, and I lay once again in the cold hard boat bed shivering. I couldn't stand this anymore.

"I'd rather sleep on the floor," I grumbled as I crawled out, half awake. I walked over near his organ, and looked at the old clock he kept around. It was nearing midnight. That's when I looked down and realized Erik had left a small lit candle on top of his piano. I walked over to it to blow it out, but stopped.

At the stoke of midnight, light a candle next to a stone wall…

I looked around. All was indeed silent. It took the candle and walked over to a bare wall. I closed my eyes trying to remember the entire passage I had read. I placed the candle on the floor and got down on my knees. I lowered my face so it was level with the flame. Steadily, I ran my hand and fingers though the flame. My shadow bounced as the flame flickered. Then I starred into the small fire. I watched the color of it and the way it glowed. Then I heard a noise in my head...was it in my head? It was…music. It was very faint, and I knew it couldn't have been Erik. Besides, this was...a harp. Four low notes on the harp being played repeatedly in descending order. The flame was flickering like crazy, and my hesitant eyes slowly glanced up, to meet the wall.

Shadows, many shadows...neither of them were mine. They weren't in a specific form…but wait, they were. I leaned in closer. Two shadowy figures, one clinging on the other as the other desperately tried to free itself. The two shadows were looking in the same direction, looking at the same thing. The taller figure, the one grabbing and holding the other from escaping, pulled out something that looked like a gun. With this the smaller shadow put all its energy into freeing itself from the other's arms. The tall shadow slowly and steadily pointed the gun at what they were both looking at.

The candle flickered, and the two shadows morphed into one...one shadow, reaching out...limping...limping...falling.

I let out a cry and gasped as I sprawled away from the candle and the wall. I fought to get to my feet but stumbled and fell again. The wall was blank now, and the candle was no longer flickering. Soon I could hear Erik rushing to find me.

"Christine, what is it?"

I felt my heart beating out of my chest as I tried to recover from the shock. I was breathing heavily and did not look at Erik, but kept my eyes on that wall.

"Heavens Child!" He said seeing how spooked I was.

I reached out and touched the wall, trying to find a trace of what I saw. Erik looked at the wall himself, then back at me, then back at the wall again.

My breathing slowed down a little and I glanced over at Erik and his bewilderment. He waited for me to respond, looking puzzled.

"Something- startled me-I-I had a nightmare." I said, looking down at the floor.

He reached out his hand.

"Come Christine, I will take you back to your bed."

As I lay there in the boat bed, my mind was spinning. I saw someone's horrible fate through that wall. Who was it? The shadow that was grasping the smaller shadow, not letting it get away...was it Erik not letting me go? Was I never going to warm up to this man?

What haunted me the most was the gun. Somehow Erik was going to get hold of a gun, and kill someone. Was someone going to come back for me?

Then it hit me. Raoul.

Yes, Raoul was going to come back for me, and Erik was going to..

I clenched the blankets and bit my lip. It couldn't be.

But I couldn't fight it. One thing was for sure in my mind…someone was going to come back for me. And in my head it was most likely going to be Raoul.

Fate had unfolded and revealed itself…all though a stone wall lit with candlelight.

The next morning I couldn't help but be more quiet than usual, being that I was still disturbed from the night before. Erik only questioned me about it once, when I answered that I didn't remember so I must have sleep walked. I didn't eat much, not that I ever did, but Erik kept insisting it. He was worried about me, and I could tell.

When he spoke to me he spoke with subtlety.

"Christine, what's wrong?" He asked quietly.

I looked up at him, and tried shrugging it off.

"Oh I just fear I am not myself today."

He sat there looking at me for a minute, then stood up and walked over to where I was sitting and knelt down infront of me. He had a slight anxious smile on his face.

"I have a surprise for you my dear." He said.

I studied him for a second, and took his hand as he led me to his room. Before we got there he stopped.

"Close your eyes," he said.

I couldn't help but smile a little; he was trying to be cute. It just struck my as ironic. He led me to his room, and then told me to open my eyes. When I did, I saw my most missed possession sitting right infront of me, my vanity. I stared at the dressing table, smiling like crazy and ran to it.

I looked into the mirror seeing my face, feeling like it had been ages since I last saw it.

"Erik how did you get this?" I exclaimed with joy. Then I turned around to face him.

"and how did you know I was missing this most?"

Erik just stood there smiling at me.

"I just knew you would Christine."

I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his stomach and laid the side of my head on his chest.

"Thank you, Erik." I said.

"My my, what a happy mood I have put you in!" He said proudly.

I giggled against him, and couldn't help but silently laugh at myself for getting so excited over a dressing table.