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Chapter 32 – Heaven is With Her

Erik

Entry 16

The vicomte threw himself at me no doubt thinking that he had the upper hand. But he was wrong. I moved towards him matching his force and dragging us both to the ground as I tried to put as much distance between Christine and the vicomte as I could. I was prepared and as soon as we collided with the ground I rolled to the side and away from the other man. He was not prepared for such a reaction and released his hold on me in shock. I took advantage of this and sprung to my feet.

I saw his gaze rest on Christine and I immediately stood before her doing my best to block her small body from the mad man who was picking himself up of the ground. His eyes were glowing with fury.

Her hands gripped at me and I reached behind with one of my hands and captured one of her small ones in my own. I was more than a match for any man but even I would not underestimate the strength that madness gives to a man and there was no doubt within my mind that the man before me was insane.

Christine was pressed tight against my back and I could feel her heart thumping wildly.

"So this is the man that you chose over me Christine," he spat at us, his eyes looked past my shoulder to where I am sure Christine's face was. His eyes were empty of all emotion though his face showed nothing but burning rage, his features twisted.

"A man who hides his face and lives in the ground. I was not fooled, I know that fake appearance he created in not his real face," he snarled not making a move towards us but standing still.

His words cut at me. He was telling her things that I already knew.

"You refused me to be his...his plaything," venom dripped from his words and anger bloomed within me at his referring to my Christine in such a way as his mind once again began to twist things to match his distorted mind.

"No one refuses me. Especially a little opera whore," he screamed and my whole body tensed at his words. How dare he? Christine is all purity and goodness and yet he dared to throw such insults at her.

"Raoul please don't do this," she breathed against my back. Her voice was shaking but there was still strength in every word as she begged with him.

"Remember our childhood Raoul," she begged him and her hands clutched at me tighter. I could hear the sadness in her voice.

He barked out a laugh at her words, his eyes no longer empty but wild and blood shot.

"I wanted you from the moment I saw you again Christine. And you expect me to give you up like that,"

I could feel Christine's head pressed into my back as she shook it. I could feel the sadness coming from her and I knew that it was hurting her to see the man that had once been a friend to her act this way, to say such things to her.

"You could not lose me Raoul, you never had me," she whispered.

That seemed to make the man before us snap and he launched himself at us.

I pushed Christine away as far as I could before I was once again forced to the ground.

What happened next is a blur.

We fought and struggled for I do not know how long and despite my best efforts my face was forced into the ground and I felt his knee pressing into my back, his inhuman strength keeping me pinned in place. I felt his fingers clutching at my mask and panic seized hold of me and I struggled wildly trying to shake his hold.

I felt the cool air hit my skin and I knew that he had taken my mask from my face. Christine now knew what I looked like. What I had been hiding from her.

The vicomte gripped my hair forcing my head away from the ground.

"This is what you are in love with Christine?" he spat and I closed my eyes not wanting to see the look of horror in my loves eyes. Helplessness and loss washed over me.

"This half man?" he added, his words dripping with hate as he shook my head savagely.

"Raoul leave him alone. Please," I heard the broken words of Christine and opened my eyes. She was still on the floor where she must have landed when I pushed her away from me. She was staring at the two of us, her eyes wide with fear.

I did not know what was going on within his mind but I would not let him hurt her. I would die first. She could reject me for lying to her if she wished but I would never allow this mad man to harm her.

The vicomte concentration had lapsed as he took his eyes from me and focused on Christine. I took advantage of this and brought my elbow back to make contact with the side of his face. He let out a cry of pain and fell away from me to land on his back on the ground. I struggled to my feet and caught sight of Christine crawling backwards and huddling into the wall - as far as she could get from the vicomte. I dragged my gaze from her as the vicomte once again got to his feet panting for breath.

He flung himself at me and the struggle began once again. I cannot say how long it lasted only that it finally ended. After he had backed me up against the wall and tried to press my head as far back as it would go with a burst of strength I did not think I possessed I slammed my fist into the side of his head sending him sprawling backwards. I braced myself, prepared for him to get to his feet. He did not.

I stood silent and still for a few more seconds and approached him slowly when there was no movement.

For the first time I glance around and saw that our struggle had brought us out into the mercifully empty corridors of the Opera.

He was still breathing but I noticed a long cut on his head. He was unconscious.

I spun around and found Christine curled up against the wall where I had last seen her. She watched me with wide eyes.

"Erik..." her voice broke and I darted towards her and wrapped my arms around her shaking shoulders.

"I'm so sorry Erik, this is all my fault," she repeated over and over again to me - her head buried in my neck.

I did not understand how she felt that this was her doing. He was clearly unbalanced. How was that her fault?

I soothed her as best as I could, rocking her gently and stroking her back at a loss for words.

With my face resting against her hair I felt the soft strands against my skin and remembered with vivid clarity that I no longer had my mask on. She had seen my face.

I drew away from her slowly and pushed her against the wall until she was leaning on it.

I needed to find my mask. She was clearly to upset to face the horror that is my face.

"I will return you to the dormitories mademoiselle," I told her, my heart breaking as I searched the floor from my position next to Christine for my mask.

"What...what do you mean...Erik?" she gasped and I looked to see her eyelashes glistening with tears as she stared at me wide eyed.

I quickly looked away from her and resumed my search.

"Erik what do you mean?" her voice was verging on panic now and I felt her hands gripping my shoulder to spin me to face her.

"What. Do. You. Mean?" she asked again speaking through her teeth.

Was she going to make me tell her?

"You have seen me Christine..." I drew in a deep breath trying to remain calm and collected, trying not to reveal my feelings. I had lost her. The vicomte had won. Not in the way he had wished but he had.

"No, no, no, no," she screamed at me wrapping her arms around me. I lost my balance and fell to the floor with her on top of me.

She rained kisses down on my face - my scarred and ugly face - the face that had made me a freak among freaks. A child only fit to be ignored by his mother.

She braced her hands at each side of my head.

"I have told you again and again Erik. Over and over. How much will it take for you to understand? For me to explain," she cried at me, tears fell down her cheeks in rivers.

"I love you. I fell in love with you before I even saw you. When you were only a voice. It was you that I fell in love with not your face but you. What is in here," she touched my chest just were my heart is.

"This shell means nothing to me, my love," she whispered hoarsely pressing her lips firmly to mine before resting her forehead against my own as we had done so many other times.

"What will it take for me to prove this to you?"

All the while I had been laying in shock.

Could it be that she really did not care about my face.

I truly believed that she did love me but there are some things that even love cannot look by. My own mother had not been able to see past my face and yet this wonderful girl could.

She had looked me straight in the eyes and told me that she loved me. She had touched my face and kissed it. She had not shied away and averted her gaze or begged me to cover it. Her eyes - now that the fear had ebbed away - were filled with the same love that I had grown used to seeing over the past months. The deepest and sincerest love I could ever imagine. And it was directed at me.

What she was saying was true.

She did not care about my appearance.

I wrapped my arms around her and crushed her to me, holding her close and tight.

"I love you Erik, with all of me. My whole soul. How can I prove this to you?" she asked into my shoulder.

I released her from my hold and she pulled away from me once again looking down at me, her eyes glistening.

I reached for her face and cupped her cheek in my palm. I smiled as her eyes closed and she leaned into my touch.

Christine loved me. Despite everything. She loved me. Years of fear dissolved with the knowledge.

Throughout the years she called me her angel, indeed she still did. But the truth was she was my angel and always had been. She had brought light to my world with her presence. She had accepted me for what I was at every turn.

"You don't need to do anything my love," I whispered and she opened her eyes and looked into my own.

I felt my heart overflow with the happiness that consumed me, with everything that she did and every word she spoke she showed her love for me.

"Just be yourself my love. You are all I need."

I carried her back to the lake, closing the entrance to the passage and not even sparing the still figure of the vicomte a second glance. He was alive and no doubt would be found.

Christine fell asleep in my arms as I carried her to my home - her head resting against my shoulders and her hand held tight to my jacket.

She was exhausted but would not release me from her hold when I moved to place her on the bed.

So that is how I found myself in this position. A monster with an angel asleep within my arms.

She has mumbled my name in her sleep and every time she has pressed herself closer to me, a small smile playing across her features.

She loves me for myself despite the mask and what it hid. I have found acceptance and love with my angel. I have found my heaven.

~~~The End~~~

Awww. sob sob.

I hope the ending isn't too cheesy for you all. I tried to get the balance right and hopefully I have.

I hope that you have all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and I would like to say thanks to my regular reviewers. Your reviews were so encouraging :).

Please let me know if you have enjoyed my story as a whole (or whatever).

Thank you for reading.

:-) xx