The Fifth Cellar (Phantom of the Opera)

Chapter 27 - Reunited

 Evangeline's POV:
I walked out of the house and got into my carriage. I had left a note for my uncle and Jaguar. I had told them I was going back to the Opera House for a while. I needed to check up on some things and then I would return. There was a friend I needed to check up on. I looked out the carriage windows and felt tears running down my cheeks. I knew that when I got back, I would see Christine on Erik's arm and he would be perfectly happy. He wouldn't want me around any more.

Two Days Later:

Evangeline's POV:

I walked down the wet tunnels into the cellars of the Opera House. No one noticed that I had returned and I didn't want to be noticed. The tunnels were dark and silent. There was no sounds of laughter or gaiety. It was likely that Erik had left the cellars and taken Christine away from them. She didn't like the dark or being underground. He had probably found her another home where they could be happy. I felt tears pouring down my cheeks at that thought. I should be happy for Erik. And I was. I was crying over my broken heart.

I finally arrived at mirror tortured chamber. I walked out of the mirror room and into the house. It looked like a disaster zone. Everything was a mess. I knew one thing; Erik had either left or Christine wasn't here. I walked over to his piano and found a note addressed to me:

Dear Ballet Rat,

I have left everything to you. I want you to take my violin and use it. My piano and organ are in perfect condition and will fetch a good price if you need the money. As for everything else, well, do what you want with it. As for the lair itself, I want you to burn it. Burn it to the ground. That way I and what might have been left for the generations will be gone. I have left you a map, lining out the traps. I would like you to disarm them. I have left instructions as how to disarm each. As for Don Juan, I am taking it to my grave. It burns and no one should have it. I never should have written it. It goes with me to my grave. Let none be tainted by its darkness. I don't know if I am buried yet by the time you get this note but I will no doubt be dead. Christine is to come back and bury me. Help her. She can't do it alone and shouldn't. And one last thing, Ballet Rat, I never called you by your name nor told you what you really meant to me. I was a fool. An idiot. You touched me, held me, told me how much you cared about me with every word you said and I chased after a dream. I never even thought that I might be hurting you. As I think over it you helped me but I saw the pain in your eyes as you did so. Ballet Rat, to befriend me was bad enough, but to care for me any deeper is a curse. To have my love is a curse. But I need to tell you that I believe that I loved you. You, Eva! I loved you. Even more than Christine. I went crazy over a pretty face and never saw the jewel that was right in front of me. I can not tell you how sorry I am. But be glad I never told you in life. As I said, it is a curse to be loved by one such as me.

Erik

I dropped the letter and stared down at it on the floor. He loved me. He loved me. He loved me. That echoed in my mind as I realized that I might have had him had I told him I loved him. But he was dead.

“Wait!” I said to myself. He might not be dead yet. I started to search around the house. Then I remembered. He had a coffin in his room. I bolted inside and saw his organ. Don Juan was gone. In its place was another note:

Don Juan burns. Let it burn me.

I picked brushed my hand along the keys then looked toward his coffin. I walked toward it and look down. Inside laid Erik. He looked dead but he always had. I sat down beside the coffin and took his hand in mine. With one hand he clutched his Don Juan to his chest and I held his other. It was cold. I searched frantically for a pulse but found none. I screamed at the top of my lungs and clawed my face in agony. I shouted his name to roof of the fifth cellar but he didn't respond. I tore at the cloth around my heart and I knew I ruined the dress. Suddenly I knew what I had to do. There was room in the coffin for two. I climbed in and laid down beside him. I wrapped my arms around him and whispered,

“I will soon join you, my love. We will be reunited in death.”