A/N: Sorry for the short, sad chapter. I will make a longer one next time I promise. I sort of felt like this chapter was a turning point into future drama... Anyways I hope you guys realize this is an ERIK/CHRISTINE story... I've gotten a couple PMs telling me how it "should be Meg". That's not how I planned it, sorry. You're actually supposed to dislike Meg in this story. Right now I suppose you feel sorry for her, but I assure you it will not be like that later. LND Meg isn't exactly lovable. Anywho, please review!

And a huge thanks to my lovely new beta nibblesfan. Thanks so much! Please go read her stuff, guys. She's an awesome writer :)

Did I mention? REVIEW.

{Rose Diamund}

Eternally Yours

7. The Empty Mirror

It was hideous. The right side of his face was completely scarred a disgusting red. It was pitted on the topside of his forehead, making it look as though bumps were along his face. His skin was marred, like it had been burned many times; as if his flesh had been turned inside out. Dried blood caked his face, and his right eye was a bit more closed then the left, with a deep pit around the eye and his cheekbone. Slashes were across his face, and there were a few long white scars. Along the top of his forehead, there was one single vein that seemed to pop out of his skin, blue and pulsing. At the mask being ripped off his face, his teeth were barred in the most frightening grimace Christine had ever seen.

Her mouth opened, but no words escaped. Instead, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell to the damp stone floor with a thump.

Tears rolled down Erik's cheeks, and he let out a cry of anguish, crumbling to the ground himself, sobbing. He wiped the tears from his eyes violently, and took Christine in his arms. He went to his swan shaped bed, and gently set her down. His hands slid around Christine's face, his tears falling onto her face and into her hair.

Meg could only stare, her body pressed against the wall. She couldn't take her eyes from Erik's face. A horrified look was plastered to her face, but she remained completely still, just staring. She could feel her chest rising and falling as she breathed hard.

Meg turned on her heels and ran as fast as she could, running from the lair, from Erik, the image of his face now burned in her mind. She ran through the mirror into Christine's dressing room, falling on to the chaise in a heap of sobs. Her whole body shook and she covered her face with her arms.

Down in the lair, Erik stood from the bed, swallowing his sobs. Tears rolled slowly down his cheeks and he stared at his beautiful Christine, her eyes closed lightly and her breathing even. Now she was hidden from his monstrosity, unable to see him. Even she, the first person to have ever seen him as a man, had recoiled in disgust at his hideousness.

Erik went over and picked up his mask from the floor, and put it back on his face, capturing a few of his tears. He picked up a candlestick from his desk, and went over towards his many mirrors. He took one last glance over at Christine, singing softly to her, his tears flowing down relentlessly

"You alone… can make my song take flight…

It's over now, the music of the night!"

He looked at his reflection briefly, wincing a bit at his monstrous distortion. He cried out wretchedly, and brought the candlestick back, smashing the mirror with all his might. Then the next mirror, then the next. Until finally he reached the last mirror, covered by a red velvet cloth. He ripped the cloth away, revealing one last mirror.

He clenched his fists around the candlestick, until his knuckles turned white. He smashed this last mirror with so much force, a few shards of the mirror stuck into his wrists, soaking the sleeves of his shirt crimson with blood almost immediately. The pain was unbearable, but Erik didn't care. He let the candlestick fall from his hand, taking one last look at Christine. He ripped the mask from his face, and threw it behind him, not caring where it landed.

Where the mirror had been now revealed a long, dark corridor. Erik pulled the cloth closed behind him as he entered.

Meg looked for Christine through the buzzing crowd of chorus girls. Where was she? Her performance was in not two hours! Meg silently cursed Christine in her mind. Not just for being late, oh no, Meg had seen what Christine had done to Erik. What grief Christine's foolishness had brought upon them all. And now she was probably weeping, as though she cared for her "Angel" of Music. But Christine didn't understand anything of Erik. She didn't know him like Meg did.

For so long, Meg had wondered the same thing that Christine had. What hid behind the mask? But whenever she had questioned him of it as a child, he had always grown cold and angry. So Meg knew better then to rip it off.

Why did Christine have to be so damned curios? She'd ruined everything. Erik would not see anyone now. Perhaps she'd never see him again; Meg bit her lip at the thought – her trick to hold back tears.

She saw Erik's distortion once again in her mind. So grotesque, so abhorrent, but still… he was Erik. He was still the man she had loved for so long, the man she yearned for so long. Meg had always dreamed that Erik would one day reveal his true face to Meg. She had fantasied it over and over again, but now Christine had ruined it.

She had bewitched Erik, entranced him with all her talent and beauty. He worshiped her, and she had let him fall. He had been forced to tears – no, not only tears. He had sobbed, for his darling Christine could not accept him as he was.

But Meg could.

But he would never see that, would he? She realized with a tear in her eye. He'd never see her as more than Marie Giry's daughter. Someone who could write lyrics. Someone to listen. But he'd never see her as the woman who could bring him bliss. Who could love him. Who could see beyond the darkness, the mask, the hate. Who could look deep inside his soul and love him. Really love him.

But he'd never know. He loved Christine. He'd never understand what she would do for him to love her.

What she had done for him to love her.

But she daren't speak of it. She couldn't. It was bottled up inside her hollow soul. A shameful secret locked inside her mind, beating relentlessly for release. But she kept it locked. She allowed it to swallow her senses, to force her to cry every night. Because it was for Erik. It was all for Erik.

It was only for him.

Christine woke with a start, her head throbbing. Her vision was blurred by tears, she realized. Had she been crying? She wiped the tears from her eyes, and her vision began to focus. That was when she realized. She was in the lair.

Christine gasped, and leaped out of bed, letting out a small cry of pain. God, her head hurt. Had she fallen? Oh, yes. She remembered. She… she must have fainted.

But then she remembered everything.

"Oh, God," She said, closing her eyes and feeling tears run down her face freely. She did not bother to wipe them away now. "Erik," She said breathlessly, seeing his face clear in her mind. "Erik!" She called, running from the bedchamber and searching around the lair.

That was when she saw it.

All the mirrors, shattered. A red cloth hung in front of one of the mirrors, and slowly, she pulled it from the mirror. It, too, had been smashed in. Only it revealed a dark corridor, leading God only knew where.

Tears rushed further down her face, and her breathing quickened, her heart pounding in her chest like a hammer. She saw among the shards of broken mirror a dropped candlestick and… Erik's mask. "Oh my God," She said, covered her mouth with her hands, and sobbing harder. And on the ground near the mask… a liquid… was that? Oh God – blood.

Erik's blood.

"Erik," She said between sobs, crumbling to the ground. She pushed herself up, and allowed the glass to stick into the palms of her hands. "Oh, Erik…" She cried, "Erik! What have I done?"

But it was too late. Erik was gone.

There you have it. And the drama begins to unfold or whatever. Please review! And I will try to update as soon as I can!

{Rose Diamund}