In The Wings

Act III Scene II

For Paul, the only logical thing to do was to run after his girlfriend. He didn't bother trying to think through it, he just stood up and bolted. There ws no doubt in his mind that this was what he was supposed to do.

Even though Christine had gotten a head start, he was putting all of his effort into catching up with her. She was fleeing without even turning behind for a moment, not even when his heavier footsteps began to echo down the hallway. The girl had made her decision, at least for this point in time-she wasn't going to look back. She didn't believe that she could look back.

But as she burst through the doors at the end of the hallway, spilling into the bus lot, she couldn't help but find herself coming to a stop. Christine was about to fall down onto her knees when Paul rushed up behind her and hooked his arms around her waist to pull her back up. Although she thought about it, she did nothing to resist.

"Christine," Paul murmured. He helped get her back to her feet, putting his hands on her shoulders until she felt stable enough to support herself. "Christine, please tell me what's going on with you."

"You know exactly what's going on!" she cried out. "You were there the whole time, weren't you?"

"But you got the role that you wanted," Paul protested. "You should be there, taking your rightful place as Clara."

"Paul, you don't understand..." Christine said, tears rushing to her eyes. "I can't go back."

"Why have you run all the way out here? Christine, I'm playing Fabrizio and now you're going to be playing Clara! We need to go back and sort all of this out!"

"No," Christine said, pulling him slightly closer. "He'll find me there and then...then who knows what he'll do! Look what he's done so far, Paul!"

"Christine, what are you talking about? Who?"

"The voice, the Angel of Music, the...the..." Christine was struggling to find the right word to express her feelings. "The Phantom!" she finally said, finding his true name.

Paul shook his head. "This 'Phantom,' 'voice,' 'Angel of Music,' Christine. It's all in your head. I can help you through this, you just have to-"

"No, Paul. I've seen him. I've been places that you could not imagine. He hides in the darkness and he brought me there with him. Paul, it was real, it was real!" Christine shook her head. "If I go back, he'll take me back there and he'll never let me return."

Paul stared at Christine for a moment, unsure of how to help her.

"But..." Christine said, starting to remember something better. "His voice, it was so beautiful. It felt like it was filling my spirit with an unbelievably strange and beautiful sound. It was like I was made of music, Paul. It was like I was soaring..." she continued, falling into a bit of a daze.

Paul shook his head and took both of her hands in his. "What you heard was a dream and nothing more."

Suddenly, Christine's expression changed. She was still drifting away in some other world, but it was no longer about the ethereal music she had heard. "Yet in his eyes was so much sadness. Those eyes...they threaten and adore," she explained.

"Christine!" Paul said, trying to snap her out of it. "Christine," he said more calmly. Then Christine's eyes connected with his and she was back down on Earth. Paul could see it in her eyes.

"Christine," purred a voice, but only Christine heard it. It was the voice, the voice of the Phantom!

"What was that?" Christine shrieked. She started looking around wildly, but then Paul moved his hands to Christine's shoulders and made her stand steady.

"Christine, let me help you. I'll be your light to battle the darkness."

Christine only stared back at Paul for a moment.

"I'll keep you safe, no one will harm you. I'll keep all of your fears away."

Christine took a deep breath and started to reply. "All I want is freedom, no more of this darkness, Paul. And now..." Paul nodded, urging her own. "I want you, beside me to help me along."

Paul looked very happy about this, so happy that he decided to continue. Their eyes locked and they both shared a smile. But Paul's voice got very quiet and calming.

"Say you'll be mine, Christine. Say the word and we will be together. Just say that you need me beside you." He took in a big, heaving breath. Paul was very nervous about this, but he was keeping himself calm. "Anywhere you go let me go too. Christine, that's all I ask of you."

Christine looked up into his eyes, her face such an odd mix of emotions that Paul could hardly decipher it. "Paul, what are you trying to say?"

Paul sighed, afraid that she had not understood the message. He decided that he might as well just spell it out for her, saying, "I love you."

A smile ran across Christine's face. "I love you," she replied.

There were no more words to be exchanged. The two melted into a close embrace, falling into their kiss as if it were the most natural movement they could possibly pull off. These emotions had been building up inside of them for the past few months, and now that it call be let out without any fear it felt like they had been filled up with bubbles inside and could very well float away if they tried.

The tricky thing about escaping a ghost is that the ghost can follow a person anywhere. Christine's newly named Phantom had followed her, had heard every last word exchanged between her and Paul. He had played the witness to their vows of love, had watched all of their actions. They wouldn't hear him, but he still murmured to himself as the couple continued with their embrace.

"Oh, Paul," Christine breathed as she finally pulled herself away from him. "I think I have to go back now. They'll be wondering where we are!"

Paul felt his lips curl into an enormous grin, the same words from before spilling out: "Christine, I love you!" The two went into another kiss, this one filled with the estatic energy that surrounded the air around them.

The couple joined hands and began to walk back into the building. Their ends of their lips didn't seem to be able to turn down. For that point in time, it felt like the two of them would be eternally happy. But, of course, they hadn't noticed the Phantom who lurked over them like the shadow of a storm cloud.

Even though she wouldn't hear his words, the Phantom began to speak to himself. His voice cracking every other syllable, he uttered, "I gave you my music and made your song take wing. Now you've repaid me by denying me, betraying me!"

He could hear the echos of her happy, loving chatter with Paul. His fists clenched until they had turned a snowy white. The Phantom was trying to keep his willpower, but it was getting exponentially harder each and every moment.

"Of course. He was bound to love you when he heard you sing, Christine," he seethed. "But let me tell you this: you will curse the day you didn't do all that your Phantom asked of you!"

A/N And I updated this on the day it was supposed to be updated! On the side we have the song that this is based off of, which is "Why Have You Brought Me Here/Raoul, I've Been There." Of course, it was also based off of "All I Ask Of You." And "All I Ask Of You Reprise." I'm including those in the external link.