I jolted from my sleep as a loud knock at my door woke me. I muttered in annoyance, quickly noticing that the sky outside my window had only just begun to get light. Everyone in the Opera Populair was on break until the managers and Patron could decide what to do about Erik's opera, so whoever had decided to wake me up so early was seriously going to hear it later.
I groaned and turned over in my bed, pulling my sheets up to my chin to keep out the cold. I had only just begun to fall back asleep when the knocking began again, this time harder and louder. I sighed and threw the covers off of me, tumbling out of bed. My bare feet padded across the freezing floor as I rushed to my door, turning the handle and throwing it aside. I was ready to give whoever woke me a piece of my mind, thinking that it was possibly Jacob Baseeri, but my face fell at who was standing at my door.
"Christine?" I asked, puzzled, "W-What are you doing here?"
Christine stood at my door wearing a white nightgown, her hair falling across her shoulders in dark brown curls. Her face was full of worry as she stared at me.
"Scarlet." she whispered.
I tilted my head at her, "Yes, Christine? What is it? Is something wrong?"
Christine took a deep breath, "I know we're not on good terms right now," she began, "But I didn't know who else to ask. I know that Raoul wouldn't let me go without half of the navy with us, Meg would be too scared to even try and leave the Opera House. And Madame Giry would have been completely out of the question. She'd bite off my head as soon as I'd ask. I just... didn't know what to do, or who else to come to, and I didn't want to go alone."
"Wait, wait, wait," I said, putting up my hands to stop her rambling, "I'm too exhausted to take in so much information at once. What are you talking about, Christine?"
Christine's mouth closed and she gulped, "I... I just..." she took a nervous glance behind her, then turned back to look at me, "I need to see my father's grave," she whispered, "I used to do it once every other week if I could, but I haven't for the past month. With... with everything that has been going on...I just..."
"Got sidetracked?" I finished for her.
Christine nodded slowly, "I just... I just have this funny feeling that if I don't go now I never will again. And I don't want to go alone. It's alright if you refuse, I just wanted to ask you."
'Shoot.' I thought to myself, 'It's the grave scene. With all the worries of the Masquerade and Erik's Opera I completely forgot about what was next to come.' I looked around for a moment, then turned to look back at her. In her white nightgown and curly hair, her doe eyes looked even more childlike; innocent. Unbeknownst of what was to come in the next few days. I sighed and smiled.
"Of course I'll go with you."
Christine smiled at me and grabbed my hands, "Oh, thank you, Scarlet!" she whispered, "And another thing," she continued, "I apologize for Raoul's behavior yesterday. He didn't really mean to get so upset. He just..."
"Was trying to protect you. Don't worry, Christine. I understand."
"He really regrets his actions. From the moment we left the Populair yesterday he wanted to come back and apologize to everyone."
"Well, once I hear it from him I think we'll be on good terms again." I said with a smirk. Christine giggled and nodded.
I rolled my eyes, but the corners of my mouth were still turned up into a grin, "Ok, ok, go get ready, I'll meet you down by the stables, alright?"
Christine nodded and hurried away. I gently closed the door behind me and rested my forehead against the wood, "What am I getting myself into?" I whispered., "Erik's probably going to kill me the moment he sees me in that carriage... Probably."
XxX
I softly tiptoed down the stairs and towards the stables as quiet as I could, hoping not to wake anyone, especially Raoul. If he knew that I was letting Christine leave the Opera house after everything that happened in the auditorium yesterday I'd be thrown from the Opera Populair before I could say, 'Don Juan Triumphant'. I dressed for the occasion as best as I could, a long sleeved, black dress swirled around my legs as I entered the stables. My worn leather boots didn't do much against the cold, but I was warm enough from adrenaline alone. While I had been getting ready, I furiously brushed out my hair and decided to let it down and forgo putting it up for the sake of getting to the stables in time. I had snagged a black cloak as I left and as I entered the stables I threw it around my shoulders, the cold already making my teeth chatter.
"Christine?" I whispered, "Are you here yet?"
"Scarlet?" I heard a small voice mutter. I moved around a wall and spotted Christine next to a large carriage. She wore a black, laced dress, with a dark, red veil around her head. Around her shoulders she wore a cloak and held a bouquet or roses in her arms. She smiled softly at me as I walked over to her. I quickly noticed the man sitting at the front of the carriage. He sat wordlessly, a black cloak wrapped around his form. My breath hitched in my throat, the night of the masquerade flashing through my mind. There was no way I was getting out of this one.
"Here," Christine said, pulling me out of my daze. I could feel my face turn red and I prayed that she didn't notice, "I brought you these." she continued, holding out a pair of white, leather gloves to me, "I figured you might need them."
I smiled softly and took them from her, "Oh, Christine, they're beautiful. You didn't have to."
She shrugged, "I know. I may have stolen them from the costume department. I just thought you may need them."
I nodded, "Thank you. I'll return them when we get back. I hope no one will miss them." I joked, glancing back over at the cloaked man as I slipped the gloves onto my hands. His head was tilted slightly towards the two of us. He's been listening.
"Well," I began, tearing my eyes away from him and looking down at my gloves, "We'd better get going, yes? We'll catch our death just standing here." I mused. A dumb inside joke, and I scolded myself the moment the words left my mouth. Hopefully I didn't jinx anything.
Christine, though, chucked softly and nodded, "Of course." The two of us turned and climbed into the carriage, "To my father's grave please." Christine muttered to the cloaked man. His head slightly turned towards us, and I just barely caught a gleam of his green eyes and his slicked back hair under his hood. He turned away and snapped the reins causing me to gasp as the carriage lurched forwards. Christine held out a hand to steady me, a small smile echoing on her face.
"You've never been on a carriage before, have you?" she asked, her smile fading quickly.
I shook my head, "No, I have, I was just startled that's all. I guess I'm not quite awake yet." I took a glance around and gazed back up at the Opera Populaire, distracting myself from the driver when I spotted Raoul looking out one of the windows at us. He looked at us in worry and fright, and I could just hear my contract being torn up in the back of my mind. The carriage lurched again and we began to pick up speed as we raced away, Raoul's face fading.
Christine turned away and gazed out of the vehicle as we rode along. I gazed out the other direction, watching as the snow covered hills passed us by. Melting snow splashed under the carriage's weight, the vehicle bouncing slightly as we passed through a forest and over a pasture.
"In sleep he sang to me," I heard Christine softly murmur.
"In dreams he came," I turned to look at her and watched as a lone tear slid down her cheek.
"That voice which calls to me,
And speaks my name."
Christine turned to gaze back at me, her eyes full of sorrow and without another word the two of us began to hug the other, silent tears streaming down our cheeks and freezing in the cold air. Christine, mourning for her Father for the last time and I mourning for the life I might never live again. It was there in that moment that loss truly hit me, and I couldn't help but let out a sob, holding onto Christine as hard as I could.
"I'm sorry," Christine whispered, "I'm sorry I didn't trust you. I'm sorry I was so rude to you. I was just so scared and I didn't know what to do, I just started shutting people out. I shut you out. I even shut Meg out. We didn't even talk once during the Masquerade and I just feel so bad!" she cried, "I was just so scared. The one person I trusted in my life and practically depended on turned on me and I thought that everyone would do the same! I feel so bad!"
I shushed her and stroked her hair gently, glancing up at the driver, wondering if he could hear her over the roar of the hooves against the frozen ground, "Hey, hey, it's alright," I assured her, feeling her tears soak through the sleeves of my dress, "It's alright. You don't have to worry, and you don't have to apologize. I understand why you acted the way you did. Meg and I are your friends, and no amount of shutting us out is going to keep us from you," I took a shaky breath, "I know how you feel, Christine, losing the people you love, and knowing that you might never see them again."
Christine sniffled and pulled away from me, "What do you mean?" she asked as she wiped her tears away.
I gulped and took a glance at the driver, "Well, um. I moved here from somewhere... very far away. And the other night I learned that I might never be able to go home again."
"You remember where you came from? Your home?"
I blinked, suddenly remembering that everyone at the Populaire thinks that I've got amnesia, but I nodded anyway, "Yes. I've found out that I don't have a home to go to. Not anymore. Something happened, back at home. A horrible accident. That's why I had to leave, but I thought I was only going to stay here a few months, maybe. At least until I found out how to get back. But now I can't go home at all. I'm never going to see my family again." I sniffed and wiped a tear away, taking a deep breath, "Look at us," I chuckled softly, "Looks like we both have lost family. People that we love and care for."
Christine nodded and squeezed my hand in hers, "Yes, but we have each other now. You, Meg and I. We'll take care of each other."
I smiled and squeezed her hand back. It was then that the carriage pulled to a stop in front of a large wrought-iron gate. I peered inside and spied angels and gravestones.
Christine turned to me, "We'll get through this together." I nodded.
Christine muttered a thank you to the driver and stood up, slowly exiting from the carriage as I followed in her steps. I watched as Christine reached out and opened the gates. The carriage slowly began to drive away and I turned around, the driver and I staring at each other. A gleam of porcelain as white as snow disappeared in the distance. I took a deep breath and turned around, following Christine into the graveyard.
"Little Lottie thought of everything yet nothing." Christine murmured to herself as the two of us began to make our journey, "Her Father promised her that he would send her the angel of music. Her Father promised her... Her Father promised her."
I strode a little ways behind Christine as she carried on, her eyes glassed over as her feet carried her to her destination.
"You were once my one companion.
You were all that mattered.
You were once a friend and Father,
Then my world was shattered."
I watched Christine silently as we passed grave upon grave, my heart falling at her words. I took a quick glance around us, seeing if I could spot any signs of Erik nearby. Turning my head every which way yielded no answers, and I nervously looked back to Christine, losing myself in her voice.
"Wishing you were somehow here again.
Wishing you were somehow near.
Sometimes it seams if I just dream,
Somehow you would be here.
Wishing I could hear your voice again.
Knowing that I never would.
Dreaming of you won't help me to do
All that you dreamed I could.
Passing bells and sculpted angels
Cold and monumental-"
I gasped slightly as someone grabbed me from behind. I opened my mouth to call out to Christine, but a black, leather glove stifled my cries and I was silently dragged away from her sight. Christine didn't even bat an eye and kept singing as she reached the top of the hill without me, turning past large, hooded statues and continued to her fathers grave. I was turned around and roughly shoved against a large gravestone, the hand still covering my mouth. I gazed up at Erik as he glared down at me. I was once again stuck between him and a wall. I felt my face flush but I brushed it off, pretending that it was just because I was startled, or even the cold.
"You weren't supposed to be here," Erik growled in a low voice, "You being here wasn't part of the plan. You have a bad habit of interfering, Scarlet."
I shoved his hand away from my mouth and he snagged both of my wrists in his tight grasp, "You think I don't know that, Erik?" I whispered. I turned my head and craned my neck to glance over at Christine, who hadn't noticed I was gone yet.
"Too many years fighting back tears.
Why can't the past just die?"
I turned back to Erik and struggled in his grip. He didn't even budge an inch, and his piercing gaze never left mine.
I looked into his eyes, "Let me go, Erik."
"Wishing you were somehow here again!"
He shook his head, "I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Knowing we must say goodbye!"
I struggled harder, but it was still the same. He held fast and wouldn't let me move even a centimeter, "Erik, you let me go right this instant."
He moved his hands so only one was gripping my wrists, the other cupping under my jaw. I suddenly had flashbacks to the first time that we had met and my blood ran cold.
"Try to forgive!"
"Erik, don't."
"Teach me to live!"
He shook his head, "Forgive me."
"Give me the strength to try!"
I felt him flick his wrist where my neck and jaw met. I felt my body tense up and collapse onto him, my vision going blurry, but this time never fading to black. Erik held me in his arms and gently set me down upon the snow and I could feel the cold seeping through my cloak and into my skin. My vision was swirling in and out, much like the day that I had appeared in the Opera Populair, yet this time there was no pounding headache. I could feel my mind wanting to close in on itself, but I yearned to stay awake.
"No more memories, no more silent tears,
No more gazing across the wasted years!"
Erik wiped a stray hair out of my face, and I shivered at his touch, "I'm sorry. I have to do this... I have to." Without another word he whisked away, disappearing into the white of winter. I wanted to call out to him, but my mouth wouldn't open. It was like my body wasn't responding to me. It was almost like the last time he used this trick, yet I hadn't passed out. Instead my vision swirled and I tried to move my fingers, trying to break myself out of this paralysis I was in.
"Help me say goodbye.
Help me say goodbye!"