Chapter 16: Showtime
It was the day of opening night and Christine and Erik spent the whole day getting ready at that theater. Christine was in her dressing room and she felt fine, more than fine as a matter of fact. She stared at herself in the mirror. With her ballerina costume and plastered on stage makeup, it made her smile; it was nice for her to be a star again.
Meg and Nadir were in the front row and Raoul was in the back. The two roommates were worried about Christine. She hadn't felt that constant anxiety because she never let herself think of the past anymore. If she had been, she would've felt that something was off about this day too. Everyone was excited for the show to start and Christine couldn't wait to see Erik on stage since they hadn't seen each other all day long.
As the curtain rose, Christine felt a surge of excitement go through her. She couldn't wait to hear the claps, to see the faces of everyone, and play make believe on the stage. The music began and the prop chandelier rose. It was time to play this part for the first time and the last time.
The first half of the show went beautifully. From the twirling colors of the dancers to beautiful music from Christine and Erik, and every perfect scene made the audience on the edge of their seat for more. No one had any idea how good the leads were. When it was intermission, Christine and Erik got changed into their masquerade gear.
"Hello, hello," Christine called to Erik quietly and grinned at him while she fixed her moon tiara. "How are you holding up?"
She was returned with a grin and a light kiss from him so he wouldn't ruin their makeup.
"Great! This is fun," he gushed. "I feel so connected to this character. I never thought I would, but it just feels… right. You know?"
"Yeah… I know," she sighed and wrapped her arms around him in his bulky, red costume. "Listen, after the show, I got you a little present to show you how proud I am of you and… And how much I love you."
"You did? But...I didn't get you anything…" He frowned and looked a little ashamed.
"Oh hush," Christine chuckled. "I don't need anything, I have you."
"We better get in our places. I love you so much."
Erik brushed his hand across her jaw lovingly and cupped her chin. Christine couldn't help but feel a surge of affection towards him and leaned into his touch.
"I love you too," she said with one last kiss. "See you when the curtain falls."
In the audience, Meg and Nadir chuckled when Erik stormed the stage, breaking up the merriment of the masquerade. However, while they were enjoying the show, Raoul was staring Christine down as she strutted on stage with his own character. All was going well and Erik seemed to become more and more like his character, not knowing it was his old self and before they knew it, they had reached the scene of Don Juan Triumphant.
Together, Christine and Erik were on stage, touching and swaying with one another. Christine shuddered visibly at the sound of Erik's voice and his actions were sensuous to the point that it caught Nadir's attention. This wasn't quite acting anymore.
"Something's wrong," he mumbled to Meg, as Erik's voice grew more desperate.
However, it was only making Christine hot and flustered on stage, instead of making her suspicious. For all Erik knew, he truly was Don Juan and he was trying to win the lady before him. There was something tense in the air as they came closer on stage when Christine would reveal his mask.
Christine finished her verse of The Point of No Return and whipped the hood off his head. She let out a sharp gasp and backed away from him like she was supposed to. His eyes widened and he tried to run but the guards held guns at him so he couldn't. He took a breath and started to sing to her, the song Raoul had sung. He begged for her love and came over to her, dropping to his knee as he held out a ring and slipped it on her finger.
"Anywhere you go let me go too," Erik sang gently, her hands reached up to cup his cheeks as if to kiss him. "Christine that's all I ask of-"
The audience was completely silent as Erik let out a gut-wrenching cry when Christine tore the mask from his face. That's when Erik gripped her wrist with a force that he didn't at all do in rehearsals. It even made her let out a soft whimper and he rushed them off stage with an urgency that was blind and desperate. Instead of going backstage and letting her go so they could change, he kept going down below. The cast members watched in shock and thought it was part of the act, but Erik raced her down to the basement.
Blindly, Erik raced below. Not noticing the fact that he was surrounded by young college students, props, and technology that didn't at all match the setting he was used to. Even when Christine tried to call out to him to stop, he couldn't hear her. He just rushed to the lowest point of the building, where he thought he belonged.
When they didn't emerge back on stage for a while, Nadir made Meg get up, and go backstage. He knew something was wrong. They didn't notice, but Raoul had vacated his seat from the back row.
"What's happened?" Meg whispered nervously.
"Erik seems to have taken a trip down memory lane," Nadir stated intensely.
