Our Phantasy

Chapter 12

ERIKS POV

It has been a week since Christine and I have been married, and now we were preparing for the grand reopening of the opera house in two weeks. All auditions had been done and today was the first day of rehearsals. I was sitting in box 5 watching all the commotion and madness. I had written a letter to the managers saying the opening opera was to be Hannibal. I wanted this to be like the night when she had her first triumph, hopefully minus the whole Raoul ordeal. I scanned the crowd of lead singers and the Chorus until I finally found what I was looking for. Christine was sitting on a corner of the stage looking over her music. I let out a small laugh. She knew the music inside and out, I made sure of that. The two of us rehearsed the music together until it was nothing less of perfection. This way, Christine could sneak out of some rehearsals and we could spend more time together. This also allowed us to keep having voice lessons together, which we both wanted.

I could tell she was still extremely nervous to sing, and she had a good reason to be. When that insolent boy held her against the wall by her neck he damaged her voice. That demon damaged my angels beautiful voice. Yet another reason to kill him the second I see him again. The first voice lesson we had her voice kept cracking on simple warm ups, and she was straining her beautiful instrument to try and get the notes out. I had to chase her down after she ran out of the music room, and then proceeded out of the lair entirely and into the dark tunnels. I finally found her crying in a gloomy black corner and she kept saying she wasn't good enough. After much protest I finally had to carry a now limp Christine back in order to make her sing again. It took some work, but together we slowly reached perfection once again. She was ready, and I knew it. I just wish she did too.

Finally it was her turn to sing her piece. I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for the moment her extravagant voice would fill the theater and envelope me in its heavenly bliss. The second the first note escaped her lips my eyes fluttered closed and leaned back in my seat, then I let the music take me. She was perfect. I couldn't have been more proud of her. As soon as my angel was done everyone erupted into a thunderous applause and I looked down to see her beaming on stage, which made me smile. Then she looked up at my box, even though she couldn't see me she knew I was watching.

"Excellent job ms. Daaé," the maestro said once the applause had died down. "We won't be needing you again until tomorrow." She smiled and nodded, then turned and practically ran up to my box. She still had that rush of adrenaline when she finally came running to me. I gracefully swooped her up into my arms and spun her around.

"I did it!" She exclaimed in a child like way.

"Indeed you did, and you were flawless." I respond kissing. Her hand gently, which made her blush. She then wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my chest as I wrapped my arms around her waist. We just stood their for a few moments, enjoying each others company until Christine finally spoke.

"I sang for you, you know." She said just above a whisper. I loosened my grip on her waist so we were facing each other, our foreheads touching.

"I love you for that." I whispered back and then closed the distance between us and kissed her soft lips.

"I need to watch the rest of rehearsals." I said while pulling away. She nodded and I gently grabbed her hand and led her to my seat, then pulled her into my lap. She snuggled into my arms with her head against my chest and I played with her hair as I watched the chorus warm up. The rest of the leads were about to sing and I need to know if they are worth keeping.

Christine's understudy was going first and I could tell the girl was a complete mess. My angel was a tough act to follow. The song began and the girl started to sing. I felt Christine tense up against me and my jaw locked into place. It was bad. She might as well have been Carlotta, she belted the notes to a range she couldn't reach, she had no emotion, and her voice was incredibly shaky. She will not be staying.

I look down at Christine who is now fast asleep in my arms. How she could fall asleep during that performance is beyond me, but then again I did have to wake her up at 5:00 am this morning. I learned the hard way it is not a good idea to wake a teenage Christine up before 8 am. I am looking down at my beautiful angel when all of sudden I heard a commotion on stage. I look up to see that the girl who was to be Christine's understudy is throwing a fit on stage. She really could be Carlotta. The managers are trying to console her and the maestro is trying to get her to leave. She refuses to leave and began singing at the top of her lungs again. I am getting quite irritated at how childish this girl is.

I finally yell "Enough!" And my booming voice echoes through the massive theater. Christine was jolted awake by my sudden outburst and I had to catch her before she fell out of my lap. I direct my next statement to my managers. "She leaves or their will be consequences." I leave no room for negotiation. Everyone has a look of panic on their faces. That's right, there is still an opera ghost. The managers quickly remove the girl from the stage.

"Loud mouth" Christine mutters to herself. She still hasn't forgiven me for waking her up this morning. Might as well have fun with this.

"What was that my dear." I ask in a mocking harsh tone.

"Wha- oh nothing" she says innocently.

"Really? I could have sworn you said 'loud mouth'. you aren't lying to me are you?" She shook her head no still looking so innocent. "Oh really cause you know what we do to liars?" I ask as I look into her big brown eyes. Again she shook her head no. "we do this" I said picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder. She lets out a slight shriek of surprise as I go to one of my secret tunnels and carry her down to the lair. She keeps squirming in my arms and protesting but I keep a tight grip. When we get down to our home I set her on the couch, but begin mercilessly tickling her. She shrieks again and can't stop her fits of laughing. She tries to fight me off but to no avail.

"Ok...." She gasps "You...win..." She says trying to catch her breath. I laughed

"Well where's my prize?" I asked sarcastically. Without warning Christine leaned forward and kissed me with so much love and passion that I was stunned for a few moments. She pulled away and giggled at my still stunned expression. After regaining my composer I smiled and caressed her cheek. "I have to go back to the rehearsals, love."

"Awwww." she said looking up at me with those big innocent eyes.

"No one said being a ghost was easy. Besides if there are more people like that miniature Carlotta in my cast I will need to fix it." I let out a tired sigh knowing all of the work I would have to do. The managers are idiots.

"Fine, I'm going to take a nap because a certain 'ghost' decided to wake me up in the middle of the night." She said sarcastically and glaring at me. Yep, she's still mad. Teenagers.

"How many times do I have to apologize before you are going to forgive me?"

"As soon as you let my rehearsals be at 9:30?" She asked hopefully.

"Alright, only cause I love you." I said wrapping my arms around her waist.

"Thank you" she said then pecked my unmasked cheek. "I'm going to get some sleep."

"Alright, I'll be in my box of you need me." I kissed her forehead. "Sleep well mon ange." And with that I snuck back up to watch the rest of rehearsals.