In the Presence of an Angel (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 27- To Teach

Chapter 27- To Teach

Christine spent the rest of the day alone in her bedroom. After Erik had excused himself from the room, she gave herself some time to think things over. Ok, so I've been here for what feels like a long time now. I wonder what Dad's doing.. I wonder if he's out there looking for me.. How long will it take for him to find me? When will police -since I'm assuming they're involved- consider Erik to be a suspect? How much longer am I going to have to be trapped in here? Her hand reached for the walkie-talkie under her bed pillow. She only hoped Erik hadn't decided to go see Nadir. After listening to make sure Erik wasn't standing outside her door, she decided it was safe and buried her head beneath her pillow to talk. "Nadir?" she called softly.

"Christine, how are you?" his worried voice came through immediately. He sounded both weak and tired.

"I'm fine." She decided to get directly to the point, because who knew when Erik would return. "I've come up with a way to get us out of here. I'm going to make Erik see that what he's done is wrong."

"How are you going to do that?"

"I'm going to teach him how to act like a decent, sane human being," Christine replied with sureness in her tone.

He paused before nervously saying, "I just hope you have some good teaching strategies."

She paused, too. "Well.. I'm coming up with them. Any advice?"

"Do not underestimate him. He may be insane, but he is still a genius. He could easily catch on to your plan. You must be careful."

"He won't hurt me," she reassured. "I'm the only one who can help him. I realize that now. And who knows? Even if he finds out, would he really get mad about it? I'm trying to help him."

"You're trying to help us," he interjected.

Christine hesitated. But.. Yeah, I'm trying to get us out of this more than anything. I am trying to help him, though. That's been a goal of mine pretty much ever since I met him. I think I can succeed. She agreed nonetheless. "You're right."

"Well, it seems you have a lot to think about. I don't really have good, pertinent advice. Every attempt I've ever made to try to help the man has always backfired. Perhaps you are the only one who can get through to him. I wish you luck. Christine, I suggest we turn these devices off for a while to save the batteries. Don't worry, though. We will talk again soon."

Christine didn't like the idea of losing all ties to him, but she forced herself to trust him. "Ok, but not for too long."

"Until tonight?" he suggested.

"Ok. Um.. be careful." Stay alive..

"I will be fine, Christine," Nadir reassured. "You are the one I am worried about. Take care of yourself."

"I will." After turning off the walkie-talkie, Christine had time to ponder. Why didn't Nadir bring up the fact that Erik lied to me about letting me go? And why didn't he talk about Erik's nightmare? They were key events in this whole nightmare, so she thought he would have at least mentioned them. Her questions were impossible to answer, though she tried to come up with reasonable explanations for hours.

By the end of the day, Christine had gained enough courage to take a shower, changed into fresh clothing from her creepy-elegant closet, eaten food that Erik must have dropped off while she had been in the shower, and developed some pretty good plans to help him. She was thoroughly exhausted. Now, it was all a matter of putting the plans into action. I have to stay confident that this will work. She yawned. I need rest if I'm going to do this tomorrow. Her final thoughts were of Erik. I wonder why he hasn't come back yet.. What is he doing?