Hello! Thank you so much for the reviews of the previous chapter! I try to reply to a lot of them, but some of you submitted them as guests, which is fine but I wasn't able to reply and tell you how appreciative I was. They were all amazing and I just wanted to thank you all for that :) Ok without further ado, here is chapter 29. Please let me know what you think! Your input really does help!

Phanty belongs to Leroux and Lloyd Weber.

Erik

I had to keep my mind focused on the sounds around me as I descended; the scuffing of my boots on the well travelled stone beneath me, Madame Giry's hushed tones from my right, and my love's concerned voice from my left. I had lost much blood, but the problem was the pain. Of course I would not allow those around me to know my pain, but it was there. Each step had me imagining my flesh tearing open, my stomach wound oozing blood as I walked. I had always had a vivid imagination. It is a requirement of one who does not venture outside of his home for months at a time, and also a requirement of a designer. Usually it acted as my aid, but not tonight. Imagining it only threatened to add nausea to my list of complaints.

"Christine…" I grimaced.

"Erik, you shouldn't talk." She replied, her voice anxious.

"Talking is what I must do. Tell me something… anything."

Christine looked to Madame Giry nervously.

"Ahh… I don't…" She looked down. "What to say…?"

"We have not had problems with conversation in the past." I managed. "Tell me something interesting."

"Like what?"

"Anything, Christine." My tone sounded harsher than I had intended, so I offered her a warm glance following my clumsy words. "Something about you… I assure you that whatever you say, I will find captivating."

She thought for a moment, then a smile came to her lips as she spoke.

"Sometimes, I enjoy eating food upside down…" She smiled.

"What?!" I scoffed. "What does that mean? You stand on your head?"

"Oh! Look who is becoming humorous!" She teased after an awkward laugh. "I mean so say, some foods; tarts or… bread with jam, I eat them upside down. That way the flavour hits my tongue before the dull part."

I looked at her in stupefaction for a moment before reacting. I could not help but laugh outwardly at what she had told me, something I immediately regretted due to the pain it caused.

"Christine, that is bizarre! But I did not mean for you to tell me something that would make me laugh." I said. "I am in enough pain as it is."

"That was not my intention." She replied, seemingly annoyed at my reaction. "And there is nothing bizarre about it."

I heard a guarded snicker escape Madame Giry, but she quickly covered her mouth in order to disguise it.

"Clearly not." I said. In spite of my pain I could not help but find enjoyment in the moment, simply speaking with Christine and learning about her. After the drama that had ensued recently, it was a gloriously domestic moment and I was truly cherishing it. We walked on for several more minutes like this, Christine and I discussing trivial matters, Madame Giry remaining silent save for the occasional comment or laugh.

Then, something happened. It all changed. In a single moment the perfect harmony was destroyed and hope was lost. I do not know why I had not expected it. I do not know why my intuition or keen sense of hearing had not alerted me to what was about to happen. If I had only turned around sooner, if we had only walked faster, perhaps things would have been different.

The conversation ended abruptly. Suddenly I felt both a shift in weight and an absence of warmth on my left side.

Madame Giry cried in both surprise and horror. Slightly forgetting herself and failing to hold my weight alone, she faltered and I fell to the cold ground. I did not need to ponder long on what had happened.

My support was taken from me.

Christine was taken from me.

I looked up from my place on the cold stairs and immediately my eyes fell on his pistol, Raoul was gripping it tightly, holding it up in the air as an unspoken threat. To my horror he was holding Christine tightly, his fingers curled around her small arm with a vice-like grip that made me want to break each of them, one by one.

How had he found a pistol and returned so quickly? Perhaps one of the many gendarmes patrolling the Opera had assisted him. Why had they not accompanied him as they had prior?

"Erik…" My angel whimpered, shaking her head as if it were all her fault. I wanted to hold her.

"Do not touch her!" I yelled in rage, attempting to sit up and failing with a pained yell.

"Or what, Erik?!" He mocked.

"You will regret it, Vicomte!" I spat.

"Monsieur…" Madame Giry began, walking toward him. Raoul held the pistol out before him, stopping her where she stood. She glanced at me and I met her gaze. But she stood before him just as helpless as I.

"Please. Do not do anything foolish!" She reasoned.

"That is not in my nature, Madame. I am taking Christine with me tonight." He switched his grip on Christine, holding her across the shoulders, his arm dangerously close to her neck. I could imagine he and I in a similar position. My arms locked around his throat, squeezing tighter… tighter…

"I do not plan to hurt anyone…" He continued. "…But if…"

"No! Let go of me!" Christine struggled.

"Do not dare harm her!" I warned. I attempted to make my threat as deadly as possible, difficult when lying on the ground.

"Do not make this arduous, Christine, or I will seek to make things arduous for your friend!" He gestured to me. "…More so." He added with a smirk. I wanted to kill him.

"No!" Christine cried, roughly pulling at Raoul's arm. "No! Don't!" She turned to me. "Erik, it is alright. I will go with him!"

"Christine!" I began, my voice desperate. I shifted where I was, still somewhat sprawled out on the ground where I had fallen. "How can you expect me to allow this?" How was it that she was acceding so easily? And she wanted me to do the same!

"You must."

"…but… Christine…" We had been so close, so close to beginning our life together but just like everything else that was good in this world, everything that was pure and perfect and right, I was allowed no part in it.

"I will be alright!" She repeated. "And you will… you will think of something. You always do." She seemed hesitant, unsure. Brimmed with doubt, her words sent a chill through me. What if I did not 'think of something?' What if I could not? I looked up at Raoul. "If you hurt her…" I rasped.

"I would never hurt her." Raoul responded with haste. Strangely, something in his eyes told me that he spoke the truth.

"Then what is that for?" Madame Giry cried, pointing at the pistol in his hand. I had forgotten she was there, so concerned was I for Christine.

Raoul turned to the woman beside me.

"This? This is not for her!" He looked at the pistol in stupefaction before pointing it at me. "This is for him! If she tries to escape with him! I would never hurt her." He repeated.

I thought nothing of the action, I had had pistols poised at me in the past, but perhaps he would never hurt her, not physically. The sentiment filled me with ease, but regardless, he was taking her from me and that was enough. My gaze bore into him but it faltered slightly upon hearing his words. He loved her. That much was clear, but if that were the truth, why would he put her through such an ordeal? It angered me. He angered me. And yet I was submit to him the only light in the darkness that was my life, the only person who had ever loved me. I took a painful breath before acceding to my aggressor.

"What am I to do?"

"Erik, no!" Christine cried. I received a confused glance from Madame Giry. Seemingly neither of them could comprehend what I was doing. Nor could I.

Raoul smiled. Not an innocent, boyish smile that I had seen on him months ago and that would have suited his age, features and sensibility, but a crude smile; wicked. It angered me further.

"You are to turn yourself in to the Gendarmerie."

My stomach dropped.

Of course.

How could I have expected anything less from him?

I saw Christine struggle away from Raoul upon hearing his words and it was difficult to watch.

"No!" She cried. "Raoul, you cannot be so cruel! Erik, you cannot! Just go! Leave now." She turned to the woman beside me. "Madame, please, take him and go!" The tears that had begun as clouds in her eyes were now streaming down her face, and the sound of her pained voice cut through me. It broke my heart to watch and listen and know that I could do nothing.

Raoul continued.

"Surely you are aware of the fact that they have been seeking your whereabouts ever since Buquet?"

I nodded. I could not recall a time in my life that did not involve pursuit, the law, or a combination of the two. I sneered up at him. He smiled at me. He was proud of his plan. That much was evident on his pugnacious face. He had bested me and he knew it. It would mean the end of me and it would mean the end of the life Christine and I had planned… but I had to accede. For Christine's sake, I had to. Perhaps later I could think of a plan, perhaps not, but for the moment it was the only way that I could assure Christine's happiness.

"How long do I have?" I asked, struggling to hold myself up where I sat.

"Erik, no!" Christine cried.

"A week." He said plainly.

I nodded again. It was fair. I would have some time to recover before I was subject to whatever the law saw fit to put me through for my crimes. More importantly, I would have time to think of a way to avoid that and rescue Christine. I scoffed inwardly. Rescue? When did the villain become the hero? But I would be a hero for Christine, or I would be the villain again if she asked it of me. I would be whatever she needed.

"Why can't you just let us be!?" Christine cried. She brought her hand up to slap Raoul in the face. The sound seemed to echo through the caverns. Madame Giry gasped, shocked, but I could not help but smile. It had had little effect on her captor but I had enjoyed seeing it nonetheless and I daresay that Christine had enjoyed doing it.

"Christine!" Raoul responded, rubbing his cheek irritably. He pointed at me. "He is a murderer! Am I the only one who can see any sense? I am not being outrageous in suggesting that he turn himself in for a crime he most definitely committed! I am not!" He took her by the shoulders then, shaking her slightly and my blood began to boil. "If he loves you, he will do the right thing! And if he does that, you will be free Christine. Free to be on your own… or be with me…"

"I would never be with you! Not after all you have done! And not after this life I have lived with Erik. I know how I should feel, and how I want to feel, and you could never compare!"

For a moment, retaliation looked imminent on Raoul's behalf, perhaps violence, but instead he simply scowled.

"Come, it is time to leave." He said, roughly pulling her up the stairs after him.

"Christine…" I called weakly. Suddenly the situation became real. Raoul's snide comments did not matter, nor did my smart retorts. This was not about anything other than Christine and she was slipping away. I was not ready for her to leave, to leave me. "Christine." I repeated.

"Monsieur, no!" Madame Giry protested. "Where are you taking her!?"

Raoul ignored her.

"Wait, Raoul! Please… just wait!" She commanded. He stopped and looked at her.

"Wait for what, Christine?"

"Let me say goodbye to him." She wept. "If you are taking me away, that is all I can ask of you. Allow me some words with him. If you have any love for me at all…"

"You know that I do." He replied softly.

"Then please."

Raoul looked to me, then to Madame Giry before turning back to Christine. He was terribly disgruntled by it all, but like me he could not deny Christine something she asked. He nodded solemnly.

Immediately, Christine rushed to me, falling beside me on the stairs and embracing me tightly. As I held her, I looked to Raoul who had raised his pistol toward me.

"Try anything at all and you will not even make it to the gallows."

I did not respond, simply eyed him. I had no energy for arguing and it would not help the situation. Did he honestly think that I would be careless enough to try anything when it could put Christine in danger? The barrel of the pistol was staring me in the face but it would be only to easy for him to miss and…

"I love you!" She wept into my marred cheek, derailing my thoughts.

"I love you, Christine."

God, I did.

"You cannot turn yourself in. Please tell me that you have a plan!"

"I do not." I spoke into her curls. "Not yet."

"And if you do not come up with one?" She asked, pulling away, her hand on my cheek.

I shook my head and shrugged as much as injury would allow.

"What? What does that mean!?"

"I do not know, Christine. If I have to turn myself in so that you can be free of him, I will do it. It seems the simplest option."

"It is not an option!"

I said nothing.

"Erik!" She shook me, sending a wave of pain through my lacerated torso. I grimaced but she did not seem to care. "If you give up, what am I to do?! What am I to hold onto? What is the point!?"

"Do not speak like that!" I said, holding my chest and bracing myself in case she decided to lose her temper again. "Do you not think that I would do everything possible to fix this!? To make you happy?"

"It is not about me! It is about us! All that matters to me is us! Don't you understand? If you are taken, I should just stay with Raoul, as there will be no point in doing otherwise!"

Was that sarcasm? From Christine?

"You do not mean that." I spoke.

"I do not want that!" She retorted

"What do you want?"

"I want you!" She cried. I saw Raoul shift uncomfortably behind her, but he did not speak, nor did he start toward us. Perhaps there was some decency left inside him or perhaps he knew that he had already won…

"You cannot give up!" She wept.

Give up…

No, I would not give up, not on the inside. I would forever pine after the woman who held my heart, but perhaps that was all I could do. I was beginning to see the many factors working against us. I could not even walk and I could see that the chance of actually being able to rescue Christine was slim at best. Even if I healed faster than humanly possible, how ever would I find her in my condition? Scale the walls of Raoul's estate? Avoid or defeat any guards he may have only to face Raoul one final time before rescuing Christine her from her tower? It sounded like something out of an adventure novel I had read. Not something viable for just one man in the real world! No matter what, I would have to turn myself in in order to free her. One final act of selflessness inspired by love and then it would be over. No, not an adventure novel, more like a Shakespearean tragedy! That would be more apt for someone like me.

"It is hopeless, Christine." I admitted.

"The man I knew would not speak like that." She spoke, clearly disappointed. "I do not know when I will next be able to say this…" She added, her voice thick with emotion. "Erik, I love you."

I looked down, tears now welling in my own eyes. A foreign, yet warmly familiar instinct told me to cover my face, and so I brought my bloodied hand to my cheek and looked up at her once more.

"Christine, why do you love me? How is it that you can? How is it that you are able to put such faith in me when…"

"Why would you ask me that?"

"I… don't know." I wiped my tears haphazardly, ashamed of them. Then my hand found my deformity and covered it once more. I was ashamed of myself, ashamed that I needed to ask those questions and ashamed of the life that had motivated them.

"Erik…" She took a deep breath. "You still doubt me?"

"I doubt myself." And that would not be quick to change.

"Listen to me. If you want to know, I shall tell you." I saw her glance up at Raoul, perhaps testing whether or not he would allow her enough time. I hated that he would be so near to hear our conversation, but part of me did not care. I focused on the woman before me. "You are not the easiest person in the world to love, and not because of your face!" Gently, she pulled my hand away from my face and continued. "You can be short tempered and sarcastic and self-absorbed and… simply frustrating! But you can also be so loving, caring, and passionate." Several more tears escaped her eyes and she sniffed but she was smiling. She let out a small laugh as she continued. "You can be snarky and devious but, sometimes you let your guard down completely and there is this happy, innocent child that I see… I don't think that you are altogether aware that you let me see him. But sometimes he is there, in a smile or a laugh when you forget yourself; forget who you are now or, at least who you make yourself out to be. You can be serious, protective, intense, playful… there are so many facets to you, Erik and I am so glad that you have allowed me to see them, to know you. I know there are more and I want to be able to learn those too… and… I am certain that we will have a lifetime together to achieve that." She touched my face gently and I leant into her hand as she spoke. How could I live without her touch?

Christine continued.

"You can make me feel like a queen with a simple touch or glance, and I know that you would do anything in your power to make me happy and keep me safe because you are doing it right now. I love you because you love me, but I love you because of who you are. Who you really are." I reached up and wiped her tears, ignoring my own and everything else around me. "Your heart is so full. There is a lifetime of love inside you that you were never able to let out and I see it when I look at you. I see it in your eyes, and when you look at me."

I choked a sob and pulled her into an embrace. I had heard enough. My heart could not bear any more of her words. She spoke the truth, she saw through me, and though it terrified me that someone could love me that much, could know me that much, it made me love her more desperately than I had ever conceived possible. But she would soon be taken from me. I could not let that happen. How could I have allowed myself to give up hope? Even for a mere moment?

"I love everything about you and I am so sorry that it has taken this long for me to tell you." She cried into the crook of my neck.

"Christine…" I choked. "Thank you."

We held one another there on the stairs. Tears mingled with blood. Love and lust mingled with passionate longing and an agony, aching and deep within my chest, deep below the surface wound the silly boy had inflicted upon me. To lose Christine would be unbearable. She wanted us above her own happiness, and selfishly, so did I. I would have to think of a way for us. I would have to.

She pulled away and our lips met. The kiss was as passionate and longing as our first had been. Not in any way chaste or apprehensive because though we were both determined to be together, a niggling voice in each of our heads told us that it could be our last. Christine pulled away first, holding my face in both hands she spoke words that threatened to stop my heart right there on the cold, stone steps.

"You are the love of my life." She said. "You are my destiny, and I know that we will be together, one way or another…"

I choked back another sob, crushing her to my chest with ferocity that made my wounds scream but I ignored them. I could not weep. Not fully. We had tasted each other's tears but I could not entirely submit myself to emotion, not yet. I had to be strong for Christine.

"Yes." I managed. "We will. I love you." I whispered. "With all that I am."

She placed a kiss on my neck, a return of my declaration. I closed my eyes and held her, relishing in the otherworldly comfort, warmth, and contentedness I would have to go without for some time.

"Come." Raoul spoke after clearing his throat. "It is time to leave, Christine."

He seemed vexed somehow, and not by our performance or declarations. He was almost… remorseful?

"Come." He repeated.

Even now, I was not prepared to let her go, but I would see her again. I had to tell myself that. I would hold her again, be held by her again and kissed by her again.

"I love you." I repeated. "You must go. You must."

She nodded through tears.

"I know." She cried, placing several kisses on my lips as she begrudgingly pulled away. "I know." She repeated. "Please, be safe." She looked at Madame Giry. "Look after him…"

"Of course." The woman beside me spoke.

Christine looked back to me. Immediately, I pulled her into a final, tender kiss.

"I live for your kiss." I whispered.

"Well stay alive, for there are many more to come."

I smiled, a reward for her attempt to make light of the situation.

"Farewell, my love." She said, standing up.

"For now." Was my reply.

"Come." Raoul spoke quietly, holding his arm out to her.

"Do not speak to her like that." I snarled as he climbed the stairs with Christine. "And how do I know that you will keep to your word?"

"You do not. But if I had wanted to, I would have ended your story here tonight."

"And why haven't you? You have your name, you do not want that tainted, but you would have killed me down here. No one would have known."

"Erik, stop." Christine warned.

"Yes Erik. Stop." Raoul mocked. "Do not tempt me."

"Why have you not simply arrested me? Why are you giving me this time?"

"Out of charity for Christine." He snapped, not meeting my gaze. "That is all."

Beguiled by his response, I said nothing, only gave Christine a reassuring smile as she climbed the stairs to the surface… away from me.

Then, she was gone.

Just like that.

"What have I done!?" I growled as soon as they were out of sight, rolling onto my back with my head in my bloodied hands. "How could I have let her go?"

"You had no choice." Madame Giry approached me. "Come, we must continue our journey. Christine has instructed me that I must take care of you and I do hope that you will not knowingly make things difficult for me, as is usually your prerogative. Let me help you to stand."

I lacked the energy or heart for a sarcastic comment and so she received merely a grunt for her efforts, but I complied. I yelled as my wounds, attempting to close were once more stretched open.

"I hate him." I grumbled as we continued to walk. A child's statement but I was tired, hungry and in pain and so I did not care to mask my emotion.

"She loves you." She said. I looked up at her. Perhaps she had not heard me.

"She really does."

"Yes." I mused. This, I knew. Finally, I knew - too late. "But I have lost her."

And I want to die.

"Not yet."

"I have failed her."

"You haven't!"

"I should have just done as she told me. I should have stayed where she left me… but I had to follow her. It is my fault!" I allowed myself to fall into the stone wall beside me and remained there, using its strength to keep from falling.

"You followed her to keep her safe."

"She is gone… She is gone!" A sob escaped me, and it left me feeling even more pathetic than I already did. Nothing brought me to tears, none but Christine. Madame Giry embraced me then and I wanted nothing more than to hide or die from the shame.

"No. Don't." I said, looking away from her and shifting uncomfortably.

"Erik, it is alright."

"You… you should not have to see me like this." I hated that she was.

"I have seen you worse." She said. It was true, she had, but that was when I was a boy. Long before this persona had overcome me and had proceeded to dictate my life. She had saved me once. She had brought me here and though it was a debt I could never repay, as the years wore on I withdrew further within myself and spoke to no one. That was, until Christine had found me above the stage on that fateful night and changed my life, changed me.

This woman had been the vessel through which I had controlled the Opera, she had inspired the fear felt by the occupants, she had helped create the mystery that was my persona. But I had not spoken to this woman since she had found her way into my home upon the start of my courtship with Christine. Before that, it had been through letters only. I had not spoken to her in person in months and it had been years since we had shared a proper conversation - therefore being in such a domestic setting with her was beyond awkward.

But as she held me tighter it became increasingly difficult to resist complete surrender to my emotions. I wanted to weep shamelessly for what had been taken from me, as hard as I had the night of Buquet's murder. The murder that Raoul was using as leverage now...

But I would not. It would do no good and it would be wasted time. I had to come to terms with the fact that she was gone, and the fact that I was the only person capable of righting that.

"You have." I spoke, a delayed response to Madame Giry's words. I looked at her. "But I was a boy then. Christine needs a man."

"And I believe she has one."

I smiled guardedly before pushing myself off the wall and with Madame Giry's help, continuing toward my home.

Christine

"I hate you." I sneered, snatching my arm away from him after a few minutes of walking.

"Christine, please. Do not be like that!"

"You are taking me against my will. I can be however I wish!"

"Chris…"

"Why are you doing this to me?! You claim to love me?"

"I do love you!"

"You would have me leave him like that? Bleeding to death on the stairs for your own gratification? Do you know what would happen to me if you should end his life? I would die, Raoul. I would be no more. Perhaps if you loved someone as much as you claim to love me, you might understand that."

"Taking you like this is the only way to show you who the better man is."

I stopped walking, as did he.

"Raoul, he would never do this. He would never put his needs or wants over mine. I am happy with him! Can you not see that? Why can you not just accept that?" I pushed him roughly and he staggered backward slightly, but did not react. "I will never love you. Going through with this will ensure that!"

"Christine! For the last time, he is a murderer!"

"And if this all goes the way you wish it to, that is exactly what you will be." His gaze met mine. "So tell me Raoul, who will be the 'better' man then?"

Raoul looked down. He did not speak.

I looked behind me. I missed Erik. Already, I missed him.

Do you hate me? Hopefully not. Please let me know your thoughts!