Across the hall, Christine lay on her bed, her golden hair down and curling around her on the pillow, her blue eyes gazing rather unseeingly at the ceiling. She was too involved in thought to really think about what this looked like. Seeing Erik's face had stirred something within her, and made her feel like there was more to him, to this...living arrangement, or the relationship that they had. Something didn't feel quite right. Like they were hiding something, a secret. Were they thieves? Meant to be dead? Fugitives? Questions flooded through Christine's mind the same way that they had when she first awoke to find this strange masked man at her bedside and her voice gone, taking her memory with it. So many unanswered questions that never really held a point to her before were now in the forefront of her brain, begging for answers. But she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know the answers she'd receive.

Besides, Erik probably wouldn't tell her anything. If she had learned anything, it was that Erik was a very secretive man. Christine didn't even know his last name!
And, she added as an afterthought, my last name too, I suppose. She didn't want to doubt that they were married. Could any man really be so cruel as to lie about that? If they weren't married, then what else in her life were false facts?

At the other end of the small hallway, like so many times before, Erik was also in the middle of deep thought at the same time as Christine. He too was curled up once more on his coffin bed, questions, angers, thoughts, and conclusions racing through his superior mind. If Christine figured it all out, how long would he have before then? Would it be possible to keep her from remembering somehow, or make her fall in love with him?
Or is Erik just being paranoid? Erik let out a humourless chuckle at the thought. It wouldn't be the first time he had been wrong about something, though those times were rare indeed.
But then, perhaps Erik's conscience was right- maybe he shouldn't have lied to her about them being married and everything else. Maybe she would have loved him if he was honest?

Both of them plagued by endless queries, they both fell into a deep sleep.

~POTO~

Rage. Desire. Passion. Hate. So many emotions flitted through Christine's body that she couldn't keep track of them as they ravaged her. Love, and hate...those two confused her more than any of the others. They were dancing around each other, daring the other to defeat it, but neither could. It was like they were permanently entwined, but that made no sense. Love and hate could never exist together, could they?
No, that thought was absurd! Christine let out a small, mute laugh at the very thought of the two opposites co-existing as such. But at the mirthful expression, both rose up at her, towering hundreds of feet above the young girl, hissing and screeching at her, ready to attack at her scorn. They leaped, shredding her gown and tearing her to pieces, blood pooling thick and bright underneath her limp body...

Christine silently gasped and jerked awake from her strange dream, breathing heavily and very confused. What could have possibly brought that on? She wondered, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead and lowering herself to her pillow, resisting the urge to go to Erik's room and ask for him to comfort her. No. Something about him felt...wrong. And she had to find out what it was before she trusted him again. She needed to know if he had lied to her.
Allowing the lids on her sky blue eyes to gently slide shut once more, she fought to put the dream from her mind and go back to sleep, only for the darkness to turn into another disturbing dream...

~POTO~

Erik let out a soft yawn, his deformed lips stretching to draw in air. He sat up, removing the covers from his lanky frame, and stood, realizing that this was the first night in years that he had slept more the two or three hours at a time. He'd actually had a restful sleep!
He allowed himself a small, discreet smile as he selected a clean suit and a full black mask and went to change, promising himself to visit Christine and act like a real husband to her for once, while there was still time.

But when he knocked on Christine's door, she opened it, fully dressed in a dark purple gown, split into two sides with a black lacy front with a gentle flower design on it, and long purple sleeves reaching into a u-shaped neckline with purple shoes and a black hair ribbon. Erik swallowed, struggling to find his voice.
"You look...so beautiful, my Christine." He managed with a slight smile. But she did not smile back.
Erik frowned.
"Is something wrong, Angel?" he asked, taking her hand against his better instinct. "Can Erik help?"

Christine simply gazed at him for a moment, then released a mute sigh and asked for a quill and ink with paper through hand motions. Erik nodded and left for his room, returning shortly with a writing utensil, an ink jar, and a sheet of blank, yellowish-white paper for her and handed the objects to her. She cringed slightly as their hands touched, sending a shock through Erik's hand. He frowned again, the worst case scenario popping into his head.

Christine looked pained, and bending her head, began to write. When she finished, Christine handed the inky page to Erik, and he read it, hardly daring to breath.

Erik,

You should know that I remember now. Everything. My full name. The Opera house above us, Raoul Viscount de Changy, my fiancée, and the Persian trapped in the chamber of endless trees. The scorpion and the grasshopper. And I remember that you are the Phantom of the Opera, the man who nearly killed us all.

I know you lied.

So Christine remembers. Hope no one thought that was too predictable. And I must say, Christine is at fault a bit here because she's the one who refused to marry Erik and instead decided to endanger thousands of people...even in the book it was a hard choice for her. In my opinion it's just a reveal of how shallow she really is, to need to think about which is more important.
Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed that chapter! It's the last one before the two endings.

See, this is more like how I used to update. Bit longer, bit more plot advancement. Although I am sorry that this isn't the best chapter I've written. Sort of rushed and not done as well as it could have been, and I think I had Christine a bit out of character. But hey, I tried! Thanks for reading anyway.

Thanks to newbornphanatic and phangirl2017 for the lovely reviews! Cookies to you both. I've decided that make sure that I don't leave anyone hanging for the ending, I'll write them both and stick them into the story at the same time. But at any rate, the happy ending will appear first. This was the last chapter before it, so after this, comes the happy ending and then the sad ending. I know that the ending of this story was a bit rushed in publishing, but I'd rather finish it before I have to go back to school and get clogged with homework . So both endings should appear within the week, or at least before Tuesday, when I go back to school, I hope.

To phangirl2017- no problem! I like getting asked questions though I can assure you I didn't intend for it to be two paragraphs long...
Ah, the musical. I love the music and lyrics, they're addicting. I know everyone's lines by heart, the phan I am.

To newbornphanatic- Hmm. don't think I've ever made anyone cry, but let me know if you do! I hope it won't be too sad, but I can get a bit carried away with my writing, especially the sadder stuff that I write. But I'd love your opinion on both endings!

And everyone else! I'd love your opinions on my story!

Till the endings! And sorry this was so long! That's me, long winded...

Bye!