—   Down Once More

Her eyes widened as Erik grabbed her by the shoulders. Had she gone mad? It was certainly a valid question, but no…she was not mad. She allowed her arms to fall to her sides as Erik pulled away only to stumble backward when more embers fell between them. He was hissing at her to go back to her precious Vicomte, but truth be told, if the Vicomte had heeded her warning, and taken a horse and run away from the inferno that was the opera house now, he would probably be a few miles away by now, and certainly not within earshot. And after everything, Erik was certainly not in his right mind at this moment. How could she leave him?

“Erik…I sent him away before I came back here. I am not going back to him. Yes, you may have released me, but I had already made my choice. I am not going back on it now. I am not leaving without you.”

She glanced toward the exit nearest them which was the opposite of the one she had come in, and thought of making her way toward it, but for some reason her feet were rooted where she stood, and would not budge. Was this man willing to give up on everything they had built to simply wither and die?

An impossible situation indeed. Oh how she wished he would come to his senses and realize she was going to make good on her promise to stay with him of her own accord even after he had released her. It broke Christine’s heart that Erik had never experienced love in its truest and purest form. Especially from his own mother, who should have nurtured and protected him, but instead shunned him simply because of a deformity that he was born with and did not ask for. Oh her poor unhappy Erik…

A spray of hot embers rained down, pulling her from her reverie, pulling her to her senses; causing her to bolt before the wedding dress she was in caught fire. She bolted toward the escape route but stopped just in front of the opening, the expression in her eyes pleading for Erik to please come to his senses and come with her. She held out her hand for him to take as she heard the mob coming closer. “Erik…please.” her voice cracking and breaking as tears pricked her eyes, her voice threatening a sob. “Please…allow me to protect you just as you protected me.”