A/N #1: I have phan art of Cameron, Emilie, and Red Death Christine. Let me know if you want it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the bits and pieces of the Phantom song Down Once More/Track Down... that I use, which I had to change in order to make sense.

A/N #2: Just so you don't get confused, Cameron is bold and Emilie is italics for singing at the end.

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Christine dragged Cameron down the passageway, going down to her lair. She was angry with him, and she let it show by how roughly she was pulling him along.

"Christine!" cried out Cameron, struggling. "Christine, please - let me go!"

"You're too late, Cameron!" she shouted, pulling him along more roughly. "You've betrayed me for the last time! No more of this, do you hear? No more!" She pushed him into the gondola, got on, grabbed the rowing rod, and rowed away.

Meanwhile, Emilie had just gotten to the dressing room with the mirror. She rushed over to the mirror, grabbed it by the end, and tugged on it with all of her might. It finally opened it to her, and she ran down the passageway.

Down below, Christine rowed the gondola onto the shore of the lake. Grabbing Cameron roughly by the arm, she stepped onto the shore and started to pull him into his room.

"You lied to me, Christine," he gasped, starting to look angry. "You lied... why did you lie? Christine... why? Why?" Then, suddenly, with no warning at all, he freed himself from her grip and grabbed her by the throat. He shoved her into the wall and pinned her there as she struggled for breath, choking and gasping.

"I should do to you what you have done to others, Christine," he growled, tightening her grip on her neck. "I should kill you! I hate you, do you hear? I hate you! And I mean it this time!"

She managed to choke out a single word. "Please -"

After another moment, he released her, and she fell onto the floor, coughing and gasping for air. Then he turned away from her and started to walk away.

She lay there on the floor for a minute, struggling to breathe, until she finally regained her normal breathing. Angry at him now, she got up on her knees and pulled her Punjab lasso out of her cloak, which was hanging nearby. Then she tossed it onto the floor, where his foot was going to be in a moment.

Not paying any attention, he stepped right inside the noose of the punjab. She yanked on it, causing it to tighten around his ankle, and she tugged on it, causing him to let out a cry of surprise and fall down flat on his face. She stood up and pulled on the rope, dragging him across the floor the where she stood.

Suddenly afraid, he started crying. "I'm sorry, Angel," he sobbed, cowering in front of her. "I'm sorry, Christine... I won't do it again, I promise!"

She untied the rope around his ankle and grabbed him by the arm, causing him to stand and meet her eye to eye. "You'd best be careful about what you do, Cameron!" she shouted. "Do not make the mistake of thinking that I care too much for you to not do you great harm!" She shoved him in the direction of his bedroom. "Now go get dressed! Put on your nicest clothes - we're going to have a wedding!"

Terrified, he ran into his bedroom and closed the door behind him.

Not too far from Christine's lair, Emilie came to the lake. There wasn't a boat there. Sighing, she jumped into the water and began to wade through it to get to Christine's lair.

Christine went into her bedroom and opened one of the drawers in her dresser. She dug through it until she found and pulled out what she'd been looking for - a simple gold men's wedding band - Cameron's wedding ring that she'd bought for him.

Satisfied, she walked out of her bedroom and stood there in the main part of the lair, waiting for Cameron.

After a few minutes, she heard the sound of Cameron's bedroom door opening and the sound of Cameron's voice singing angrily.

Have you gorged yourself at last

In your lust for blood?

She turned to him and stared up at him, dressed in the nicest outfit that he could find. He looked angry as he continued singing and walking towards her.

Am I now to be prey

To your lust for flesh?

When he'd walked over to stand right in front of her, she replied:

That fate which condemns me

To wallow in blood

Has also denied me

The joys of the flesh...

She reached a hand out to his face, but he turned away from her. So she contented herself to play with his blonde hair as she continued, starting to sound sad.

This face, the infection

Which poisons our love...

This face which earned

A mother's fear and loathing

A mask - my first

Unfeeling scrap of clothing

She slipped the ring onto his ring finger and turned him around to face her.

Pity comes too late,

Turn around and face your fate...

An eternity of this -

She held up his hand that he had the ring on and pointed to her face with the other hand, and remorseful tears filled her eyes - she hadn't wanted to do this to him, ever.

Before your eyes...

She placed his hand down and joined their hands for a moment.

After a moment, he let go of her hands and started walking towards the row of mirrors that she had. He pulled the cover on one of them down as he sang softly:

Your haunted face

Holds no horror for me now...

She turned to him, looking hopeful. Was he accepting her for what she was at last?

But then he finished:

It's in your soul

That the true distortion lies...

She bowed her head for a moment, losing all hope of ever being loved by him. Then she looked up and saw Emilie standing at the gate, soaked. "Oh, look," she sneered. "Your lover's come to save you! How predictable!"

He turned his head toward the gate and saw his fiancee. "Emilie!" he gasped, running to the edge of the lake's shore.

"Emilie," said Christine, giving Emilie a mock - courteous curtsy, "this is indeed an unparalleled delight!" She walked over to where Cameron stood as she sang:

I had rather hoped

That you would come...

And now, my wish comes true -

You have truly made my night!

She grabbed Cameron by the arm tauntingly as Cameron struggled, protesting, "Let me go!"

Emilie exclaimed:

Free him!

Do what you like,

Only free him!

Have you no pity?

Christine turned to Cameron and shrugged, telling him,

Your lover makes a passionate plea...

Cameron shook his head.

It's really useless...

But Emilie persisted.

I love him!

Does that mean nothing?

I love him!

Show some compassion!

Chirstine pointed at herself and replied, "The world shows no compassion to me!"

Emilie begged:

Cameron, Cameron -

Let me see him...

Christine shrugged and pulled the lever to open the gate.

Be my guest, ma'am...

The gate opened, and Emilie stepped inside the lair and started walking towards Cameron and Christine. As Christine started walking down towards Emilie to meet her, Emilie sang:

Mademoiselle, I feel welcome

Did you think that I might harm you?

Cameron, unexpectedly, finished as he followed behind Christine, singing:

Why would she make you pay

When the killing is mine?

Then he suddenly grabbed her by the neck and started choking her. Christine - and Emilie, too - looked shocked as Christine started choking and gasping for breath.

"Cameron!" gasped Emilie. "What on earth are you doing? You're going to kill her!"

"That's the point!" shouted Cameron. "I'm going to choke her to death, and when she's dead, we'll run away and be rid of her forever! I'm saving you the effort!" He tightened his grip on Christine's neck.

"I wasn't coming down here to kill her, Cameron!" exclaimed Emilie. "I was just coming down to stop her from killing you! Then we would run away and be rid of her forever!"

"Well, now she can't ever come after us!" replied Cameron coldly. "We'll never have to worry about her again!"

Emilie looked desperately from Cameron down to Christine, whose face was starting to turn blue. She wasn't going to let Cameron kill Christine. She rushed over to Cameron and grabbed his hands, trying to pry them off of Christine's neck. "Let - go!"

"Not until she's dead!"

"Stop it!" Emilie screamed. "Look - you're choking the life out of her! Don't do this!" She grabbed his hands and kept trying to pry them off of Christine's neck until, finally, she succeeded and his grip was released.

Christine fell into the water. Emilie quickly stuck her arm in and pulled her out of the water. Then Christine gasped and started coughing, trying to get air back into her lungs.

When she could breathe again, Christine looked up at Emilie, who had a hand on her shoulder, trying to make sure that she was all right. After a moment of realizing that Emilie was repaying her from when she'd not killed her during their winter swordfight, and had shown her compassion, she bowed her head and started to cry.

After crying for several minutes, she looked back up at Emilie, who was still looking down at her. Then she pulled away from Emilie and started walking back up to her lair. "Take him," she cried out to Emilie. "Forget me - forget all of this. Leave me alone... forget all you've seen. Go now; don't let them find you!"

Cameron grabbed Emilie's arm and started to pull her away.

"Take the boat; swear to me never to tell the secrets you know of the angel in Hell," cried Christine, and then ran up to the main part of the lair. "Go now! Go now and leave me!" Then she ran into the swan bedroom.

Christine sat on the bed in her swan bedroom, listening to the monkey music box that Erik had made - she'd taken it from her mother's grave after Erik had died one day - play the tinkling melody of Masquerade. She looked down at her mask, which she was holding in her hands, resentfully, as she softly sang along with the music box.

Masquerade...

Paper faces on parade...

Masquerade...

Hide your face

So the world will never find you...

Then she put on her mask. Straightening herself, she saw a shadow in the corner of her eye. She looked over and saw Cameron standing there. Then she managed a small smile and sang softly:

Cameron, I love you...

Cameron looked at her for a moment, then walked over to where she was sitting. He took one of her hands in one of his and overturned it so that her palm was facing upward. He placed the gold ring that she'd given him in her hand, then closed her hand and placed it back down. Then he shot her a look of pure hatred and then turned and walked out of the swan bedroom.

She looked after him for a moment, then bowed her head and started to cry. As she cried, she heard Cameron and Emilie singing as they rowed away.

Say you'll share with me

One love, one lifetime...

Say the word

And I will follow you...

She walked out of the swan bedroom to the edge of the lake and watched them row away. Emilie turned in her direction and waved and smiled at her a little bit. Then she turned back to Cameron.

Share each day with me

Each night, each morning...

As she watched them row out of sight, she sang softly:

You alone can make my song take flight...

She stood there quietly for a moment until she heard someone calling her name. "Christine!"

She turned and saw Francois running into the lair, a pistol in his hand. "Right here, Francois," she sighed, walking over to meet him.

He saw her. "Oh, there you are, dear," he sighed with relief. "I never thought I'd get down here..." He looked around and saw that the lair was empty. "What have you done with Cameron Luc and Emilie Chastain?"

"I let them go. I couldn't do much more."

"I see." He nodded. "Well, it's all right, dear... except for the minor detail that there's an angry mob coming down here to kill you."

"What a shock," she sighed. "Well, you'd better leave, then. I don't want you getting hurt, mon ami."

"But what about you?"

She patted his arm reassuringly. "I'll be all right. God knows when we will see each other again."

He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then we shall leave it to Him."

She gazed at him for a moment. "Take care of yourself, Francois," she said softly. "Take very great care... your tiresome nosiness has become very dear to me. Now go."

"Goodbye, Christine," he whispered, then turned and left the way he'd come.

She looked after him for a moment, then ran up to where the mirrors where. Then she shouted, "This isn't the end!"

With that, she picked up a candleabra and began smashing the mirrors. When she broke the last mirror, the weak wall behind it broke, and she could see a passageway - her escape to freedom.

She grabbed her cloak and put it on. Before she stepped through, she looked behind her and took one last look at what she was leaving - the only home she'd ever known.

"I'll return," she vowed silently to herself. "I'm just not sure when..."

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A/N #3: THE END! But don't despair, good readers... there will be a sequel! The story continues in No More Darkness! Let me know if you want to be informed when it's up, or just be on the lookout for it! (I'll probably wait about a month before starting it... if I can bear to wait that long; ha ha.)