A Phantom Christmas Carol - *Phantom of the Opera*

Chapter Seven

A/N: Sorry for the delay - here's the next chapter. :) for video clip - asterisks (*) are unspoken thoughts. Clips from 2004 movie Phantom of the Opera music: from Phantasia by Andrew Lloyd Webber- I'm really sorry that the video is still catching up to story lol- since what appears here is what was in previous chapter (yet there are a few differences from written work too)...Also, music was blocked by YT after I finished vid, so I had to go back in and put in another song- rather than make my viewers wait even longer, while I fixed everything to fit music, I decided to post as is, which is why it doesn't always match instrumentals/beats, etc, as I try to always do...

Twisted Every Way

VII

The moment they entered one of the dormitories belonging to the ballet chorus, the Phantom noticed a lone figure kneeling beside one of many cots in the room.

His heart leapt in foolish joy then immediately plummeted in despair. He held back from walking the rest of the way inside, wishing only to leave.

"Have you not yet learned you have no choice in these matters?" the Spirit asked, not unsympathetically, her hands wrapping around his forearm, pushing him forward with her. Through the thickness of his sleeve her ghostly touch chilled his flesh, the first time she had laid her hand upon him. Conversely the effect produced within him a peculiar sort of warmth he could only describe as peaceful, and he ascertained it was the substance of her being.

They came to stand beside the quiet young woman for whom he would give the world. Her huge brown eyes shone with a gentle innocence that first enslaved his heart. Her thick curls caught the luster of nearby candlelight. Recalling their softness, he wished he could touch her glossy locks, for he was certain she was no diaphanous shadow of the present.

Christine pulled from beneath her cot a small carved, oak box and lifted its hinged lid. To his amazement she withdrew a rose, withered by time, and cupped the blossom in her small palm, holding the stem with her other hand as though it were made of spun glass. A black ribbon trailed across her fingers, and he watched as she lifted the memento, touching the rose against her lips and inhaling its trace of musky sweetness.

"Where have you gone, my Angel?" she whispered. "I now know you're no true angel as you led me to believe; you are a man. But I don't know what else to call you." She gave a small vulnerable laugh devoid of humor and brushed the darkened petals against her cheek. "Do you now despise me for learning your secret? I was foolish and insensitive. Please forgive my curiosity. Rail at me if you must, tell me how cruel and ungrateful I am, only do not abandon me in this deep well of silence any longer..."

The Phantom's heart ached as he witnessed a tear, as precious as a jewel, slide down her pale cheek.

"And yet ... though I've not seen or heard you ..." She brought the rose to her heart, cupping it to her breasts. "I sense you here with me." She lifted her face in awe to look at the beamed ceiling. "For the first time since you escorted me from your lair all those weeks ago, I can feel your presence, as if you now stand beside me. Are you there, Angel?"

He looked with alarm toward the Spirit. "She knows that I am here?"

"There exists a bond, so strong, as to remain forever unbroken by the shadows of time or place."

He pulled his brows together, pondering her indistinct words, before returning his attention to Christine. The light shining from her face had faded, her manner now crestfallen.

"But I must be mistaken. It is only another case of wishful thinking. If you were here you would speak to me, I know it. You would not make me suffer so, despite my recent failings. Therefore, you are not here, and I am imagining this moment." She closed her eyes, bowing her head. "Almighty Father, in my childishness I've hurt my angel dearly. Please help him. Open his eyes to the truth of my..."