Hey guys! So here's the next chapter! I am adding a bit more of Leroux to Erik, but he will still be more ALW. Thanks for your reviews you guys are amazing. As usual, I don't own Phantom or it's characters. Please R&R so I will post more!
8888888888
"Ral, No! Please! I-I can't! It wont work!" She couldn't do this. She knew she couldn't.
" Christine, It's ok. Don't you see that the plan is fool proof? The police will be there, and that hell-spurned demon won't touch a hair on your head before he will be dead. I promise." He wiped a tear off her cheek, but not in his usual gentle manner. Oh Raoul, she thought Don't you know that's not what I'm concerned of? He would never hurt me… but now I have to hurt him. But she couldn't tell him that. She decided to casually try to save her Angel's life.
" Must he die? I mean, It seems, I guess, well…. harsh. And besides, how will we know it's him? He a master of disguise."
" You will know him. Your identification of him will be, in the end, his undoing."
Christine paled. She could not deny there was a fear of the Phantom in her heart, but there was also a tie, a connection there also. Love. the realization of it hit her square in the chest. True, it wasn't innocent, Head-over-heels love like she had with Raoul, but a deep, passionate love that in the end could be her undoing. She feared him, because she knew what lied beneath the mask. But could she one day learn to see the beauty beneath the deformity, and love it? And how did Raoul dare ask her to betray her beloved Angel?
"I… I can't! Raoul, listen to me. You can't win this one! He is strong… smart… and a magician! Please Raoul, let this one go. Just let me play Amnita and perform the show without the plan. I promise, nothing will happen."
He wasn't listening. " I will go tell the cast the plan. They should be at practice. Come Christine, you are our leading in the plot." Andre followed Raoul. She couldn't believe what she was hearing! He acted as if she hadn't said anything. This wasn't the man she was in love with, something had switched in him. Christine clung on his arm.
" No Ral, Plea-" but he had shoved her off of him, glaring.
" It's the only way, Christine. You have a contract. You have to. Now come, and don't say a word once you get there. He stiffly grabbed her wrist and began pulling her along.
The cold, robotic tone in his voice. Where was the sweet, romantic boy she loved so much? Gone was the soft love shining in his eyes. It was now replaced with a grim determination. He was being foolish. But how could she refuse? He wouldn't listen to her.
They burst into the rehearsal room, where everyone sat rehearsing their parts for Romeo et Juliette. They all looked up at the group, surprised.
" Christine, you're alright!" Fifteen year old Meg Giry jumped up and embraced her best friend.
" Look who decided to appear." Carlotta sat, smirking at Christine. " What, the Phantom of the Opera was finished using you?" She laughed scorningly, And Christine stared at her feet with a red blush tainting her cheek.
Raoul started to say something, but Meg wrapped her arm around Christine's shoulders protectively, glaring at a satisfied looking Carlotta. "You have no right to say such things, Senora. Besides, all us ballet girls know reasons you haven't been at practice that would make a sailor blush." the room erupted into giggles and the Italian Diva sat back in a huff, crossing her arms while Senor Piangi hounded her, demanding to know the meaning of this.
"Thank you." Christine mouthed to her dear friend as Madame Giry escorted her to an empty seat.
" Attention, attention if you please." Monsieur Andre tried to clap his hands to get everyone's attention, but to no avail. " Madame Giry, If you please…"
The echoing of the hard cane hitting the worn wood floor caused everyone to jump and face her, the ballet girls automatically fixing their positions.
" Merci, Madame." The older woman nodded and Andre began to address the group, passing out all of the parts to their holders. " As you know, Ms. Daae was kidnapped by… Our clever friend. He has sent her back under one condition. We perform his Opera, Don Juan Triumphant. But we have a plan, you see. Since Ms. Daae is his protégée, He will be there to see her playing his leading lady. When she recognizes him, she will give the sign and we will shoot, and the Opera Ghost will bother us no more. It is as Monsieur DeChagny stated, it is foolproof." Andre smiled unconvincingly.
The room was silent as they went over their parts. But, of course, Carlotta was the first to break the silence, her heavy Italian accent voicing her opinion.
" Have you seen my part? What is this…this… Insult? I should leave right now!"
Meg sniggered a bit and whispered " Please do." which got her a giggle and swift poke in the ribs from Christine.
Carlotta sneered but ignored the comment. " Besides, this piece is trash anyway." she tossed the sheet carelessly to the ground by her feet.
Madame Giry scooped it up and glared at the Diva. " Would you say such things in the presence of the composer?"
" The composer is not here."
" Don't be so sure."
Everyone looked around worriedly and Carlotta snatched back her paper, and, for once, not uttering another word.
The practices continued throughout the week with little to no excitement. Finally, opening night was upon them and Christine was a nervous wreck. She had tried to go to Raoul for comfort but received a cold : " You must do this, Christine. We are depending on you. Our future is depending on you. Christine rolled her eyes thinking of it now.
" Well gee, thanks for the support Ral. I love you too." She felt like sarcastically replying, but bit her lip instead. So with conflicting thoughts, she went down to the chapel, her usual place for peace. In full costume, she collapsed in front of the small picture of her father and candle.
" Oh, Pappa, I'm so lost." She sobbed into her hands. " Why would God give me this choice? Why me?" She sat there for a long while. Right as she was leaving, she felt a familiar presence. All of her hairs stood on end and soft goose bumps covered her skin. Her heart leapt and she stood to face her Angel.
" Christine." He simply said, but it was enough. All the concern for her, passion, even anger came through that one word. She could see every indent of the smooth and handsome right cheek and the white masked side in the flickering candle light. The only thing evident of the twisted flesh beneath the mask was the swollen bottom half of the left side of the lip. But this never bothered her. She closed her eyes, heart racing through her chest.
" Angel… you know don't you." It was more a statement then a question. Of course he knew… he was, of course, the Phantom of the Opera.
" Yes. I know." He took a step closer to her, which was a lot in the small room. she could smell his musty cologne. " But I must ask, do you really want to hurt your Angel?"
" No, you know I don't." A tear glistened on her cheek and he lifted a bony hand to wipe it away, but thought better of it and turned around, head hung. " But I have a responsibility, Erik, to my managers, the patrons, to Raoul…" She saw his shoulders tense, as if the word itself was a whip to the back. " I… I love him, Angel. I have a duty to him."
Erik turned and fell at her feet like a groveling animal. " But Erik loves you more! He promises… I promise to do nothing but love you, forever and ever, for the rest of my miserable life. All he's ever done is love his Christine." She hated seeing him cry.
" I really have to go." She choked in a sob and turned to leave but his cold hand caught hers.
" Wait! Erik will make Christine a deal. If she can truly say she hates poor miserable Erik, then give the signal to shoot. But," his blue and gold eyes bared into hers " if you can't, if you can say you have some hint of love for this old monster in your pure, angelic heart, then spare me. But if you loathe your Angel, I have no reason to live anyway. I will see you tonight, Mon Ange." and with that he disappeared into the shadows, leaving her more conflicted than she was before and not ready for the fast coming show, where she would have to break one of the men she loves hearts. Twisted every way….
There you are! Iknow, my French is bad in this chapter but I don't have time to fix it at the moment. Please R&R! I Love you all!