Small Anomalies (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 23: Success

Raeann's POV

When I wake up, I realize that I'm not in the library anymore. I pull the covers from over my head and see that I'm in my room. I smile at the thought of Erik carrying me here while I slept. I look next to me and notice that Erik's sitting in the chair, gazing at me lovingly.

"Morning, love," I smile at him.

"Good morning, mon amour," He says soothingly and I blush at his use of French.

"You could have slept in bed with me," I raise an eyebrow and sit up.

"Oh..." His face turns red. "I wanted to have your permission first."

"Come over here," I slide over so he can sit next to me. I wrap my arms around him and rest my head on his shoulder.

"Better," I smile, but pull away when I notice something.

"You're wearing your mask," I frown. "You know you don't have to wear this around me."

I carefully reach up and remove it, kissing his cheek. His eyes fill with tears and he pulls me as close as possible to him.

"I know," he whispers. "It's just going to take some getting used to."

"Take all the time you need," I kiss him softly on the lips.

He responds immediately, and soon he deepens the kiss. He runs his hands through my hair and I moan in delight. When we break apart, he starts kissing down my neck. His lips are warm against my skin and my heart flutters.

Suddenly, something hits me. I pull away quickly and run to the corner where my violin case is. I dig through it, pulling out my torn jeans. I'm relieved when I find what I'm looking for at the bottom of the front right pocket.

"Raeann, what is it?" Erik's voice comes from behind me. I turn to face him with tears in my eyes, holding up the crinkled paper.

"My mom's suicide note," My voice cracks and tears flow freely from my eyes. "I never read it." I'm filled with guilt that I forgot about something so important.

Erik is silent, and I know that he's unsure of how to respond. Instead, he kneels beside me and holds my hand. I let go, slowly unfolding the paper, and then take his hand again. I take a deep breath and begin reading aloud.

Raeann and Beatrice,

My sweet, beautiful girls. I'm sorry we must say goodbye, but I couldn't be in pain any longer. I apologize for putting you through this, but there were more reasons for me to die than to stay alive.

I love you more than anything in this world. You were the light in my dark life, and you shine so brightly. I pray that your light never goes out.

Don't think this is your fault. None of my actions had anything to do with you, only with myself. But now, here are things that I never got to tell you.

Raeann:

You are the oldest and you must take care of Bee. I'm sure you already know this, but please keep it in mind. You are such an intelligent girl and I know you can do wonders in this world.

Also, you are at the age where you will soon find love. Choose wisely who you give your heart to. You'll know when you make the right choice. Nobody's perfect-keep that in mind-and you and your love will go through a lot together, but in the end you'll find happiness. This I'm sure of.

Raeann, my beautiful daughter, find your happiness in life.

I stop reading, letting tears invade my eyes. They drip onto the paper, blurring the pen. I decide to let Bee read her part by herself.

Turning to Erik, I whisper, "I've found my happiness in life." I kiss his deformed cheek and he lets my tears run onto his skin.

"Can we go to the music room?" I ask. I need to hear Erik play again to get my mind off the sadness.

He nods and holds out a hand for me, which I gladly take. We walk down the hallway and into the familiar room. When we reach the piano bench, I sit down next to him.

"Erik, can you sing for me?" I whisper.

"Which song, my love?" He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear.

"The first one you sang for me," I kiss him softly. "Music of the Night."

"Of course," He agrees. I close my eyes as he plays the piano and starts to sing.

Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation

Darkness stirs and wakes imaginations

Silently the senses abandon their defenses

I let myself succumb to the power of his voice and the pain I feel is replaced with love for him.

_____

Bee's POV

I sit back and rest my head against the seat. Closing my eyes, I listen to the noises the car makes as it goes through the woods. Madame Giry, Nadir, Evan, and I are going back to look for Erik's house once again. Hopefully we'll find it so we can rescue my sister.

"Bee, we reached the clearing," Evan nudges me. "We're still going to ride the car, though. We got lost too easily last time."

"Alright," I sit up, keeping my eyes peeled in case we find any signs of what direction to go.

We reach the hill again after several minutes of driving. Instead of following the trail we took last time, we go forward until the hill comes to a stop. We drive down so we're at the bottom of it now, where we all decide to go left. There's enough space between the trees for us to drive through, which makes us hope that this is the path we're supposed to go down.

The drive is nerve wracking. There are no signs that we're going the right way, and even if we do reach the house, Erik will most likely put up a fight. From what I've heard about him, he's incredibly skilled at harming people.

I start to give up hope as we drive for a half hour without success. It feels like Raeann is worlds away, and I choke back tears. I lean my head against the car door in surrender. Just as I start drifting to sleep, the car stops.

"We're here," Evan says in disbelief. I look out the car window to see an elegant house, one that can only belong to the man we're looking for.

"I'll finally see Raeann again," I smile at the thought and start to open the door, but Nadir stops me.

"I'll go in," He states boldly. "I don't want you to get hurt. I highly doubt Erik would try anything, but he's unpredictable. Although I'm not sure if he'd attack me..."

"Okay, whatever you say," I give in. "Just go quickly so we can save my sister."

Nadir ignores my comment, but opens the car door. I watch worriedly as he ascends the stairs to the front door. He tries to open it, but it's locked. He pounds on it several times, and after a few minutes he breaks it down.

I lied... Halfway through this chapter, I decided to split the ending into two parts, so that means that next part is the epilogue! I'll have that posted as soon as possible (probably later today)!