"This can't be right!" Raoul cried.

Christine watched Raoul pace back and forth across the floor, his footsteps sounded like loud booms as they echoed across the empty room, sending shivers down her body. Christine looked down at her feet, the room was so cold without the warmth of the candles. Christine was lost in a disarray of emotions, she didn't know whether to be sad or angry, Raoul had done so much for her these last few months. And they weren't even meant to be together! So much money down the drain, all because of her.

Despite the fact it had been so warm and cheerful just hours ago, people chatting about the decorations or the family and how happy they were to see Raoul finally getting married, the smell of freshly cooked roast engulfed the room. It was cold. The joyous music from earlier rang against her ears to a point where it practically hurt, it teased her with its sweet grand rhythm that had even enough to make his own father cry.

The memory was engraved in her mind, it played over and over again, more times than could seem possible in the short amount of time since it had happened. She remembered the countless stares she got as she made her way down the aisle, everybody was watching her with great interest, the bride after all would be the center of attention for marrying Raoul de Chagny, everyone would want to see her at last. Even his mother gave her the tiniest smile as she made her way down the aisle to Raoul.

Raoul's mother had never been very fond of Christine, though she always showed it in this way . Most of the time you could find her fanning herself with the most beautiful fans Christine would probably ever lay her eyes upon. The most popular fan being a black one with a faded gold floral pattern on each end and in the middle, the thing was probably more expensive than Christine's finest dress. Her obnoxious perfume would burn in her nose when Christine was stuck sitting besides her, she had a hard time enjoying the food that day.

She would simply stare at Christine. She would make some off hand comment every now and then about how much food was on her plate, or how the color of her dress didn't match her skin tone. Christine often didn't know what to say around his family, so she was usually very quiet around them, his mother of course loved pointing that out in front of everyone. She had asked her about the whole 'phantom' situation, immediately making her the center of attention, leaving her not knowing what to say.

She had no doubt in her mind that Raoul's mother was overjoyed about this entire situation.

Christine sighed, pulling her knees up to hug them, "Perhaps...It is for the best..." She mumbled sadly. Of course she didn't want to leave Raoul, she really thought they were meant to be together.

Raoul spun around to look at her, "C-Christine...How could you say that?..." He whimpered, the betrayed look on his face was like that of a puppy that had just been kicked away by its master. Christine huffed in annoyance, "Raoul I don't like this anymore then you do, but we just aren't supposed to be together." Her tone was cold, unforgiving, she hated it. Raoul took a shaky breath, she looked away.

Raoul's gaze was cast down to his dress shoes, he sighed. "What now?" Christine closed her eyes, putting a hand to her forehead. She had been hoping he wouldn't ask that question, because she herself didn't know for sure what was to happen now. She couldn't stay with him if they weren't married. "I-...I don't know, Raoul..." she paused, there was only one other place she could go. "I-...I guess I'll have to go back to the opera populaire,"

Raoul's eyes widened, "Christine, are you insane?!" Raoul stepped closer to her. Christine shook her head, "You and I both know I can't stay with you," Raoul bit his lip. "Christine, maybe we could just-" Christine glared up at him, she would not stay around to be insulted by his mother. "It wouldn't be proper." She said simply, turning her head away from him.

"Christine! You can't go back there- What if he tries to kidnap you again?!" Christine sighed, "I have no other choice, Raoul I can't stay with you, and I don't have anywhere else to go, I need to stay somewhere, you can't guard me every time you think somethings gonna happen."

Raoul's breathing was heavy, he swallowed sharply. No, Today was supposed to be perfect, they were supposed to be married right now! "I know....but still, Christine I love you.."

"Raoul...don't make this any harder than it has to be..." Christine looked down at her lap tears glossing her eyes. "Its best we say our goodbyes and carry on with our lives, we aren't soulmates Raoul...let's wake up from this stupid dream and move on.."

Christine gulped in an attempt to soothe her burning throat. A small sniffle broke the silence, "C-Christine..." Raoul rubbed his face, he wanted to say so much, but at the same time he couldn't form any words as they tangled up halfway up his throat.

Christine blinked back tears. "O-Oh, Raoul..I'm so sorry..." She stood up and ran over to bring him into a tight embrace. Raoul clung onto her. This couldn't be it. No. It just couldn't...

The couple sat in the room, the sunshine started to slowly fade away. The colors of the window melted into dark shadows that crept across their hunched forms. But they still held onto one another, they just needed a little more time to say goodbye.

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One week later...

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Christine had been absent from the opera populaire for half a year now, it looked bigger then she had remembered, the walls stretched greater then she could picture in her mind. She sighed closing her eyes, the memories were still haunting their empty halls, she could practically smell the fire that was once rippling through the halls, engulfing everything in its path.

Christine shuddered at the thought, she opened her eyes and suddenly the fire was gone, the hallway was empty but the memories still lingered. All she could think about was that night, 'Christine I Love...you...' his velvet voice was broken and weak. His amber eyes that harnessed a raging flame, were teary and heartbroken.

She'll never forget the look on his face for as long as she lived, she had always been told to never look back, yet she had. She didn't know why she did, but she had to. And there he stood, watching her with a broken heart and an unstable mind. There was no telling what he might've done had she stayed any longer.

Christine made her way to the ballet dorms. Exactly the same. The fire never got very far outside of the auditorium, the halls were obviously affected as well but it had been six months so they probably fixed a majority of it. Surprisingly Firmin and Andre didn't give up on the opera populaire so easily, a huge amount of publicity came after the accident.

Not all of it was good of course, many people didn't believe the 'Opera Ghost' and many of the family's wanted to sue for having poor construction choices. Though it took a while Christine was surprised to hear a wealthy family who was intrigued by the story of the opera ghost had decided to donate money to fix the place up. Christine set her bag down onto the bed, she could hear the music from downstairs flooding through the walls and up to her ears. She hadn't realized how much she had missed the music until now.

"Christine!"

Christine perked up, turning around at the familiar call of her name, "Meg!" A large grin stretched across her face. A small blonde stood in the doorway, she ran over to Christine, who met her halfway holding one and other in a tight embrace.

"Oh, how I've missed you!" Said Meg.

Christine nodded, "I know, I know...I've missed you too..." She whispered in her shoulder. "What are you doing here, what about Raoul?" Christine's fingers dug into her back, "M-Meg..." she couldn't say it, she'd just come right back to the place she had been trying so hard to escape months ago. She'd been so sure Raoul was it! But she had come back a failure. "I-...he...W-We weren't..."

Meg's eyes widened, there was a short pause. "I'm sorry, Christine..." she moved her hand up and down the brunettes back in an attempt to calm her. "But that's just how it is sometimes..." Christine choked on an oncoming sob. "But why me? Don't you remember the hell I went through a few months ago just to go with Raoul?!"

Christine tried to blink back tears, what had she done to deserve this? "I-...I don't understand it...why me?" Christine sniffled, it took a moment's silence before she spoke again. "W-What..." Christine held her tighter, "What happened to him that night?" Meg bit her lip, she didn't want to make Christine uncomfortable. "He's...he's gone, Christine..."

Christine blinked. "What...What do you mean?"

Meg sighed, pulling Christine off by her shoulders. "By the time we all got down there...He was just...gone," Christine exhaled, shoulders slumping. Her chest felt tight like she couldn't breathe- but...air was still coming. What was this feeling? She felt like something was suddenly weighing her down.

"D-didn't he come back?" She asked hesitantly almost in disbelief. Meg shook her head, "No, mothers gone back down there several times, he's never there..." Christine's eyes focused on the wall behind Meg. He had to flee out of his own home because of her, she shifted away from Meg.

"Meg...can I be alone for a while?" She asked in a small voice. "I need some time to think..." Meg nodded, "Of course..." her voice was edged with concern. The blonde glanced back at her, hesitant to leave her alone after all that had happened but she left the room.

Christine sat down on her bed. Madame Giry told her to take as much time as she needed before she started practicing again, the faint familiar tingle of cosmetics and perfume tickled her nostrils. That only made her feel worse, it reminded her of a time where a day could actually be pleasant and happy.

Meg, her and the other girls doing each other's hair and makeup way past their curfew, 'accidentally' giving them just a little too much shadow, or curling the others hair just a little too tight to see how they would react and then the room would erupt in laughter when the girl would shoot up complaining about what they had done before starting to giggle herself

Just when things had started to look up, when she thought all this drama could finally end with her happily ever after. Reality had to come to force her eyes open and face the truth. Christine sighed allowing gravity to pull her down on the rough uneven mattress, a sudden feeling of unease crawled up her spine.

Her chest felt tight again, her breath coming in short staggered pants. She shook her head, his music playing silently in the back of her mind. The beautiful tune made her breath hitch, the tune was almost too perfect . Perfect to a point where it was creepy, yet it intrigued her. She wanted to hear it- No, she needed to hear it again, not the same Erie theme which was only that of a faded memory.

'Christine...~'

"A-Angel...!" A sharp gasp was suddenly torn away from her. Her body jerked up off of the bed, her eyes wide with fear. Christine scooted back until her back was met with the wall, she carefully examined the room.

She'd heard him, she knew she had heard him! Where was he? "Angel..." she whimpered, her hands clutched the blankets tightly. She was alone. Dear god she didn't want to be alone, "Angel please..." No, she needed her angel! She'd never thought she would ever feel the need to see him again in all her life, the opera populaire wasn't her home, the music was pointless if it wasn't his. She wasn't supposed to be with Raoul.

She remembered sitting on the porch of the De Chagny mansion feeling empty as ever. Raoul's youngest cousin annabelle was playing Mozart in the background only made her feel worse.

It was her angel.

Oh god she had to find him!