Under The Spell Of A Phantom.

Twelve: Shattered Hearts.

"Mr Johnson, what are you doing here?" Ruby asked, still in Erik's arms.

"Stay away from him, you're coming home with me." He demanded, walking towards them.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Erik said, coldly and bitterly.

Mr Johnson stopped a few inches from them, avoiding the mad mask man's intense gaze.

"Ruby please, your mother is deeply worried about you. It's not safe here, especially him" He ordered.

She shook her head while tightening her hold on Erik, wild horses would have to come and tear away from the man she loved.

"See? She's made her choice, now leave old man!" Erik cried, pointing at the doorway. Mr Johnson stared at him with a sneer across his face.

"Oh no, I'm not going anywhere until Ruby learns the REAL truth about you." He said, with a edge.

A harsh shiver ran down her spine, she feared of what could happen next but she had to remain strong.

"I'm warning you, if you don't leave I will do something I may or may not regret." Erik replied, gritting his teeth.

"That's right, bring out the inner violent man in you. The dark monster you locked up ever since that night where you killed her!"

Ruby's jaw dropped, she slowly turned to face Erik with horror dancing in her eyes. The only emotion in his face was rage, just like before.

"What are you talking about, Mr Johnson?" She asked, looking at him. A chuckle came out of the man's lips, it unsettled her deeply.

"Oh, he didn't tell you? Ah, I remember. You said it didn't matter about the past, all what did was now and you kissed him." He replied, folding his arms.

Erik's body tenisoned to a point that she felt uncomfortable being in his embrace, he noticed her trying to break free which made him even more angry.

"You have no right to be here and spread such lies! I'd never murdered her, she left with Raoul. I let her go." He said, finally releasing Ruby.

She backed away from Erik but her eyes never left him to study his body lanaguge and if he was telling the truth or was lying.

"Rubbish! De Changy told me two weeks ago that Christine Daae died while trying to give birth to his son!"

The sudden outburst made Erik sink to his knees, his body violently shaking and loud wailing escaped from his trembling lips.

Ruby watched him, a man destroyed by this heart-breaking news. She looked at Mr Johnson who seemed to enjoy seeing Erik's torrment.

"Who is this Christine Daae?" She asked. He turned to her, still having that uneasy sneer across his face.

"A beautiful teenager two years younger than you that suddenly became the diva of the Opera Poplaurie after Carlotta left. She was tutored by a mysterious being named the Angel Of Music. But at the same time, there was a Opera Ghost and a Phantom Of The Opera. All three were the same man. Him." Mr Johnson pointed at Erik.

Ruby gasped at this but she needed to know more information. "So what happened?"

"After her pefomance which pleased the audience, there were two people that were after her heart. Raoul Da Changy, a handsome gentleman. And Erik, the Phantom Of The Opera. Seeing the pair together, he was jealous enough to steal her from Carlotta's room and take her down in the deepest parts of the opera house. In his lair was dozens of pictures of her scattered across the walls, he promised her a life of singing if she would stay with him in the darkness forever. Yes, she was entranced and maybe in love with him that very night. But curiousity won, she took off the mask and discovered a truely horrific sight."

Within that, Mr Johnson grabbed Erik tightly and forced him to stand under the light so his disfigurement appeared before her eyes.

Though Ruby had seen, caressed and kissed it, she couldn't stop the once buried fear rising in her eyes. He saw her in a state of distress that he lowered his head down.

"No, you monster! You show that to her so that she can see sense" He roared, ripping off the wig and threw it aside so that he could grab Erik's real hair in his tight grip.

Ruby placed her hands over her mouth to cover her wailing, the shaking of her legs nearly made her fall on the floor.

"Can't you see you are upsetting her?" Erik cried. "She needs to know the truth, filth!" Mr Johnson hissed in his ear.

"What did he do to her?" Ruby asked, lowering her trembling hands to hang loosely by her hips. She could barely look at any of them due to her tear-stained eyes.

"Well, he threatened her that she could never escape now she knew the truth about him. But he let her go for now, she was terribly scared so she fell in Raoul's arms after the hanging of Joseph Baquet, a man that did nothing more than look at the dancers. He killed him in cold blood because he did not get his wish of Christine being in the lead role which instead went to Carlotta, a stupid but wise choice to the two new mangers. Now, she and Da Changy were secretly engaged to be married but Erik took her ring the night of the New Year. Not only doing that but he also had a new opera he was working on during the quiet few months without him. He demaned that Christine should be in the lead role, a fate that will bring his downfall. Why don't you tell Ruby the rest?"

Mr Johnson kicked Erik to the floor, agony was written across his face. "Come come, we haven't got all evening!" He cried, sitting down on the couch.

Ruby watched him crawl towards her but she took several steps back, it was enough for him to stop and rise his head to look at her.

"My love," He muttered, tearfully. "Just tell me, Erik." She replied, shaking her head at him. He lowered his head so his chin touched his chest. With a heavy sigh, he began.

"I followed her to the graveyard where her father was, just seeing and hearing her sing captured my heart forever. All I wanted was her, it didn't matter about anything else. She still thought of her Angel Of Music, I sung to pull her back in my arms but Raoul stopped it from happening. We had a sword fight, he was going to take my life but she told him not too. I wanted revenge for the both of them, he for stealing the love of my life and she for betraying me. So I killed the leading man, Pinagi, so that I could seduce Christine as Don Juan, the leading character of my opera. What I didn't realise as I sang a song she and he did, Christine would take off my mask and reveal to the world of my shame. In my rage, I stole her once more back to my lair and force her to marry me. Madame Giry must have told Raoul where I was because he came to save her, I wouldn't allow it. So I gave her a choice: be with me forever and let him go or refuse me and he would die. But she just came towards me, place the ring I took from her and kissed me fully on the lips. Afterwards, I let her go and be with him instead of me. All I have left of her is the ring and the haunting memoires that will never die until we both do."

Exhausted, Erik slumped to the floor silently sobbing for his dead lover and the loss of a another. He knew that she would never forgive him for what he has done.

Ruby couldn't speak, the shock took away her speech and left her mute. Mr Johnson rose up, clapping his hands loud enough for both of them to look at him.

"Well done, excellent speech! Now tell her how you escaped from Paris to live here." He ordered, coming increasinly close to Erik. "No, I've had enough." He whispered.

A growl escaped from the man's lips but calmed down, the monster was right. "Yes, a lot has been said and I'm indeed tired from it all. Another time Ruby will learn how you escaped." He said.

Mr Johnson walked towards to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, the never ending tears falling down her face.

"Come, let's leave this place." He said, with a small smile. For once, Ruby did what she was told and followed him out of the room heading towards the front door.

But Erik quickly got up and slammed his body against it, a furious stare burned at both of them. "You will not take her!" He roared, his heart thundering against his chest.

Mr Johnson looked at her, so small and fraigile she was. He did this, it boilled his blood to a point where he didn't think he could stand a minute longer without causing violence.

"You make the descison, Ruby. Either stay with this mad man or come home with me and see him one last time tomorrow. I leave that up to you." He said, stepping aside.

She turned from him to Erik who slowly softened his hard gaze on her, it was left in her hands to make that choice. "I'm going." She replied, bitting her lip down.

Victory was across Mr Johnson's face while Erik opened the door and stood with his head hanging low. "Then leave," He said, his voice cold and very bitter.

Both walked out to feel the cool early evening air caress them, Mr Johnson walked on ahead with his head held up high but Ruby turned around to look at him.

"Erik, look at me." She said. For a few moments, he slowly rose his head burning a intense stare back at her. Age old shivers ran up and down her spine.

"What you have told me has shattered my heart forever, no other can heal or made it whole again. After tomorrow, I will never ever see you again."

With that, Ruby turned away and carried on walking. She instanly regretted those cruel words but it was the truth, he really did break her heart.

Erik watched her disappear, feeling the beating organ tearing up to smaller and smaller pieces. With a painful sigh, he limply went back inside and shut the door.