Love Never Dies: Secrets Revealed (Melody and Taboo)

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine wasn't expecting anyone to answer her. She knew that no one would be around to hear her, or, she thought so. When her music teacher appeared out of nowhere and put a rather dirty hand over her mouth, she felt the need to gag. When he released her, she hissed back at him. "How dare you!?" It was a little over a whisper. "You should know not to invade my private prayers." She couldn't keep her knees from shaking when he spoke. He was such a handsome and beautiful person, whether he agreed or not. "I did not say that I want you dead. I never thought you'd hear me." She sighed and did as she was told, like always. She obeyed his every command. Opening the door, she stepped into the hallway. "Miss, is something wrong?" A maid asked, to which Christine shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong. It was just a stray dog." She lied. It killed her to lie, but it caused the maid to leave, believing it. She opened her door and came back to Erik. "Well, I hope you're happy. I had to lie."

 

[Taboo]

With a sigh, Erik stepped back out from the shadow. "I had no choice but to enter in such a manor and make you lie, I would have been dead if I stayed on that ledge." He said casually as he walked towards her.


"Something told me to come here in search of you, Christine." Erik said soberly. "I wasn't going to come in, but I heard you say…" He trailed off, still doubting what he heard, and shook his head. "Never mind. I just needed to see you once more." He said quietly, extending a hand to stroke her cheek, but quickly pulled it back, remembering she wasn't his. "I must leave." He said, as he turned back towards the window. "All I ask is that you forget your Angel of Music and be happy, my sweet Christine. Even if that means marrying Raoul." He said this last sentence as if it were an insult as he went to the window ledge.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine's heart beat wildly. She felt as though she would faint if she actually had the pleasure of his fingers touching her. "Erik, please, don't go." She wasn't ready for their story to end. She sprinted to the window just in time to stop him. She held his hand.


"Erik, you can't. It's...it's raining and you aren't wearing the proper clothing for a walk back to the Opera Populair like this." She squeezed his hand gently. "What did I say?" She wasn't going to let that go as she sat at the end of her bed.

 

[Taboo]

Hesitantly, Erik followed Christine away from the window. "Christine, I can't be seen. This place is too open and I'm a wanted man now." He didn't seem afraid of death, but more afraid of being seen with only his mask to cover his disfigured face. In such a light and open area, he felt a kind of shame to be seen by Christine, causing him to walk into one of the darker corners of the room.


"Nothing, I believe my senses are playing tricks on me." Erik shook his head as he felt the ring in his pocket. "After all, this says all I need to know." He whispered as he pulled the ring out of his pocket and stared at it, wishing it hadn't been returned to him.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine looked up at him, then, the ring. Oh no! "Erik, I can't. You know that." She stood up and closed his hand around the ring. "Erik, you know how I feel about you, but I can't. I'm to marry Raoul in the morning." She wanted so badly to hold him. "But, that doesn't mean that we can't stay and talk." She kissed his cheek. "Please, don't go." There was no way she was going to let him leave without one chance to be 'together'. "I need you right now. Raoul is out celebrating our engagement right now." She failed to mention that he was gambling all of their money away. "I don't want to be alone. I hate thunderstorms."

 

[Taboo]

Erik's distress and confusion turned to anger as Christine refused him once more, proving to him that she was still not completely devoted to him. "Tonight I begged you to let me spend my life with you and offered everything I had! We could've been happy, but you tore away my mask and betrayed me!" He sneered, not trying to keep his voice quiet anymore as he pulled away from her and went across the room.


"I begged you not to leave me to live the rest of my days as alone as I was before I knew you, but you only wanted your sweet and beautiful Raoul." Erik's voice was rough as he stood across the room from her with clenched teeth. All he could see was red, not believing that Christine was telling the truth. "Again and again I've tried! What's holding you back now? If you really did want to marry me, you'd leave Raoul behind." He said bitterly.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine was as frightened as she had been earlier. "Erik..." she timidly got up and crept toward him. "Erik, I told you that I loved you and you allowed me to leave." She had tears in her eyes. "But, before you do anything, I need you to do something for me." She took his hand again. "Please, keep your voice down or we'll never get to do what I want to do." She leaned forward, her lips parted ever so slightly. "Please, kiss me." Her lips touched his before he could stop her. "Mmm, now, please, let's be together tonight."

 

[Taboo]

Erik took Christine's hands in his as she kissed him, his anger almost completely leaving him. "Only if you promise to leave with me in the morning, Christine." He whispered to her, his voice full of sincerity and hurt. "I can take you away, to a place where we can be married and live happily." He closed his eyes and pressed her hand to his face so that he might feel her warmth, if only for just a moment before looking back into her eyes. "If you still wish to marry Raoul, I cannot stay and steal from you the happiness you deserve. Just say you'll leave with me, say you'll end my loneliness and my sorrow." His eyes were full of pleading and longing for her to agree, so that he might not lose the first and only woman he could love.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine had to think about this. She was supposed to marry Raoul in the morning. She couldn't just leave him now. "Erik, what- I can't promise anything to you right now. That's a huge decision." She explained quietly. "Please, try to understand that I can't promise you what you are asking of me." She stroked his cheek with her nails. "Please, tell me that you understand my position." She had tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn't care. "Say you love me every waking moment, turn my head with talk of summertime." She sang quietly. "Promise me, Erik, that you aren't angry. Please, let's do this before tomorrow." She unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt.

 

[Taboo]

Erik sighed, looking down at Christine with his pleading and adoring eyes. "Christine, I've promised all this to you and more, yet you still haven't promised me to leave." He took both of her hands in his again, hoping she might see his reason. "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime. Lead me, save me from my solitude. Say you want me with you here, beside you. Anywhere you go let me go too. Christine, that's all I ask of you." He sang to her, just like he did earlier that night during the Don Juan, begging her to leave with him and hoping she would see his reason. "Leave with me and we will have every day, every night, every moment to be together. Please, do this one thing for me and I shall do whatever you ask of me for the rest of forever." He pleaded, his hands squeezing around hers.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine wanted to say 'yes', but there was no way that she could. "Erik, please, just do this for me and I will be forever in your debt." She pleaded. "Please, we must hurry. Raoul will be home soon and then..." she started crying. "He'll separate us forever." She kissed his hands again, squeezing his. "Understand that I love you both. That's why I can't just forget one and go with the other." She unbuttoned the next two buttons. "Erik, I've lived for your voice since I was a little girl. Each time you would have to leave our mirror, I would kiss it." She admitted. "But, that is over, Erik. We can't go back to child's play." She wrenched herself from his grasp and kissed him passionately.

 

[Taboo]

Erik returned Christine's kiss shakily, as he had no experience with woman and wasn't as sure. "I will take you away from him Christine." He whispered into her lips. "I can design a new mask, one to make me look like I have a human face so that we may be happy, forever." Gently, he pulled her face to his, kissing her again so that she wouldn't have the chance to say no again. He pulled her close as he kissed her, his heart pounding from her merely touching him, something that no one else had ever been willing to do.


~Fade to black~

 

[Saiyan Princess]

After one night of passion, Christine lay in her bed, bare and warm. She was smiling in her sleep. "I love you, Erik." She whispered in her sleep. As she slept, she wrapped her clothes around her, as though she were just sleeping and didn't actually do what was supposed to be meant for a husband and wife. Raoul came through the front door, drunk and pitiful. "Christine?" He knocked on her door now.

 

[Taboo]

Erik was already standing by the bedside, completely dressed except for his mask, which he held in his hands when he heard Raoul at the front door. Despite his promise, he felt a shame that he hadn't at least married her first, and couldn't bring himself to take Christine away. "Goodbye Christine… Forget your Angel and be happy with Raoul. You deserve better." He whispered before putting on his mask and climbing silently from her window and back into the darkness of the night.


Once Erik was back to the shack, he laid on the bed, knowing he wouldn't get any sleep. But in that darkness, he decided on a way to be sure Christine would be happy, and not have to endure the loneliness and pain he felt. He decided that before he left to America, he would tell Madame Giry to send word to Christine and Raoul that Erik was dead.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine woke twenty or so minutes later. She turned over, to her right, and saw nothing. She felt nothing other than the aftermath of what she had endured for the first time last night. "Erik?" She whispered into the dark. When she received no response, she sat up and started to panic. She was to swear her love to him and he just left! "Erik! How could you forget your angel?!"


Madame and Meg Giry searched desperately for their friend. "Erik? Where are you?!?" They were frightened that, perhaps,their friend of many years was caught. "Erik! Please, answer us!" Meg called into the dark.

 

[Taboo]

Erik sighed as he heard his name being called, once again. Pulling himself from the bed, he went to the window, "Giry! I am right here! There is no reason to shout." He mumbled groggily, exhausted from the night's events and lack of sleep. Deciding to keep what had happened to himself, he quickly thought of an excuse. "I needed to get out of this stuffy shack." He said, letting them inside.


"Meg, I have a task for you." Erik turned to look at Meg with a serious expression. "I believe it will stop the police from chasing me."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Madame Giry heard him and raised her skirt, running to him. "Erik!" She exclaimed breathlessly. "Thank heaven you're safe!" She threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight to her chest. "Thank God, I thought you got caught." Meg eyed him for a minute or two before speaking. "Oh, of course. Anything for my friend." She smiled at him. "What do you need?"

 

[Taboo]

Erik stood still as he was hugged, looking as if his mind was elsewhere. Before saying anything else, he peeked out the window to make sure no one was around. "I need to you to go to the De Chagny manor and deliver a message to the Vicomte and his new bride." He turned back to face them, his face not betraying his inner emotions as he explained his plan. "You must tell them that the Phantom, Erik has died. If they believe I am dead, I can be forgotten." He didn't include that he thought it was the only way he could make Christine lead a happy life with Raoul. "Decide the cause yourself, just make it believable." He turned away, tucking his hand into his pocket to feel the ring. "In order to continue living, Erik, the Angel and Phantom must die here in Paris." He said decisively, prepared to start completely new in America.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Meg couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Y-You want them to believe that you are dead and call off the search?" She was taken aback by this sudden change in plans. "I will do as you ask, but you must stay hidden until we leave for Coney Island." Meg made him look at her. "Swear to me that you will not be seen." Before receiving an answer, Meg took a fake will and one of Erik's more tattered,ruined masks to make sure that her story was believable. "I will try my best. I'm an actress, after all." She giggled to herself before she left, working up tears by remembering a sad song from her childhood and knocking on the de Chagney door.

 

[Taboo]

Erik nodded to Meg as she left, agreeing to stay in the shack until it was time to leave. After all, he had nowhere to go anymore and there was no point in leaving. He sat himself back on the bed, putting a hand over his eyes as the exhaustion from the night caught up to him. "Madame Giry, what are we going to do in America?" He asked quietly.


Meanwhile at the Chagny manor, one of Raoul's servants answered the door. "Good morning, Mademoiselle. Can I help you with something?" She asked before Raoul peeked around the corner to see who it might be. Once he saw it was Meg and that she seemed very upset, he excused the servant and went to greet her.


"Miss Giry, what brings you here in such a state?" Raoul opened the door wider to invite her in. "Please, come in and explain."

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Madame Giry was so.shocked by Erik's request that it took her a few minutes to answer him. "We'll find something, anything but this. We can't stay here. Still, we must sort out a plan." She had no idea.


"Oh, Raoul!" She threw her arms around his neck, trying to imagine a drunken man attacking and killing Erik. "It's awful!" She followed him inside.


Once she was able to calm herself, she watched as Christine came in and sat next to her husband. "Chr-Christine..." Meg trembled. "It's ab-about Erik." She kept imagining the stabbing. "He was stabbed by a drunken man!" She screamed. "He's dead!"

 

[Taboo]

Erik rolled over to face the wall, finally feeling tired enough to sleep. "I shall have to find yet another name to go by..." He yawned, about ready to fall asleep as he thought about what the future held for him. "I need sleep. Stay here if you wish, just wake me when Meg returns." He said as he removed his mask and closed his eyes.


Raoul's eyes went wide as he heard the news, of course not from sadness but only shock that this Phantom was gone so quick. "I am just surprised the police did not catch him first." He said almost blatantly before he realized how the news might affect Christine. He put a comforting arm around her, unsure how she would react to hearing her Angel of Music was killed, even if he felt mostly relief from the news.

 

[Saiyan Princess]

"I shall do whatever you wish of me, Erik. I promise you that much." She, acting as a mother figure, pulled up the blanket over Erik's broad shoulder and kissed his cheek. "Good night, my friend. Sleep well." She turned down the single lantern that lit the night sky. "May heaven bless your dreams."


"You're lying!" Christine shot out of her seat, her fists clenched. She couldn't stop her anger and sadness as she grabbed Meg by her shoulders. "Tell me you lie!" She shook little Giry, but Meg only shook her head.

 

[Taboo]

Erik caught Madame Giry's last comment before he fell asleep and chuckled. "Heaven? Heaven has already forsaken me for having a cursed face." He snorted disdainfully as he closed his eyes again and slipped into a sleep with feverish dreams that began and ended with Christine.


Shocked at Christine's behaviour, Raoul jumped from his seat and pulled her off of Meg as gently as he could. "Christine! My dear, you must calm yourself!" He said trying to lead her back to the sofa. "Just think, we will never have to worry about him lurking in the shadows to steal you from me ever again." He spoke gently, wondering why she could be so upset about a man that she feared so greatly before. "We can be happy without having to hide from that monster." He kissed her hands, hoping to calm her before turning back around to Meg.


"Miss Giry, are you sure it was him?" Raoul asked Meg, wanting to be sure that he was rid of the monster that had tormented him and Christine. "Could it have just been one of the people escaping the Opera House after the chandelier fell?"

 

[Saiyan Princess]

Christine was so very upset that she didn't even notice that her husband had removed her from Meg's vicinity. "Raoul, he was with me since I was five years old. I cannot simply forget my Angel of Music that easily." She whimpered and buried her face in her Raoul's chest. "God, I can't believe God took someone else from me!"


"Monsieur, I know it was him." She passed them the tattered mask. "This is what was left of him." Christine yanked it from Meg's grasp and sobbed into it, screaming as though she herself was stabbed.