Chapter 1

"Go." Erik told Christine. "Leave and take him with you." Christine couldn't believe what she was hearing. This man, whom she had just kissed passionately, was telling her to leave. Why does he want me to leave? She wondered. Without another word to him, she went and untied Raoul. As they were walking towards Erik's boat, many questions were going through her mind. Did Erik not realize that, when she kissed him, she was telling him what her feelings were? Why did he let Raoul live? So many questions continued to plague her mind. Then, as they were leaving in the boat, Christine realized what she needed to do. "Raoul, stop the boat." She said. "Why?" He asked. "I need to do something." She replied. As she was walking back towards the lair, she thought about what she was about to do. She then looked back at Raoul. There, behind her, was the man that, until only a little while ago, she had thought she loved. She had realized after that passionate kiss, that what she felt for Raoul was only a childhood romance. What she felt around Erik was much more than that. As she reached the end of the tunnel, she noticed that there were only a few candles lit now. When she walked through the lake, she could hear music. As she got closer to the room where he slept, the music got louder. She also noticed that he was singing along with the music, seeming more childlike then she had ever seen before. After a couple of minutes of just listening to him sing, he finally noticed her presence. "Christine, I love you." He sang to her. Without saying a word to him, she went over to him, slipped the ring from her finger and placed it in his hand. She then turned to back to go to Raoul. As she was walking back, she kept praying that Erik got the message she was sending him when she gave him back the ring: that she wanted to be with him forever and only him.