The Man Clad in Black (Phantom of the Opera)

A Conversation with Christine - Chapter 14

"I'm sure you don't remember me, Mademoiselle, but -" Christine started with a sniffle, although you shushed her gently.

"Of course I remember you, Christine," you said with a small smile on your lips. You feigned happiness... even though she was the girl who had been the cause you so much heartbreak, you couldn't bring yourself to be rude to her - she never meant to hurt you... however, even her mere presence hurt you. "You were brilliant."

Christine, seemingly oblivious to the fact that you were sick, continued to hug you for a few moments.

"He's horrible," she whispered, her voice trembling as she spoke.

You were taken back.

"Who?" you asked. At that moment, she pulled away from your hug, and tears stained her face.

"I saw you there, [Y/N]," she whispered, wiping her face as she looked around for a moment. Perhaps she was searching for any possible way that Eri - er, the Phantom - could listen in, and she went absolutely pale. "That night... he took me away, and - and... you were there, and you were crying!"

Your heart sank.

She had seen you? You were almost certain she was asleep, but apparently...

"I... Christine, I don't know what to say..." you squeaked. Just recalling that night was a painful thought. It wasn't only the fact that he had whisked Christine away - it was that he nearly killed you because of it.

Christine sat at the edge of your bed and held your hands in hers, a small smile playing on her lips. It was one of pity - perhaps an "I'll-be-there-for-you" type of smile.

"[Y/N], you don't have to say anything," she said softly, caressing the back of your hand with her thumb. "I'm sure you don't want to remember what you saw, so I won't make you recollect those thoughts..."

"I know you didn't mean any harm, Christine," you said, returning the same smile that she had given you.

"Yes, but he did," she said softly. "He didn't want to harm me, but... I was afraid that he would hurt you. He's a monster - "

You couldn't help but feel a little offended.

"Christine, I can assure you that he's a good man," you said with a frown. You internally cursed at yourself for defending him, but once the words escaped your mouth, you knew you couldn't take them back. "He's just... misunderstood, I suppose."

"He's killed people, [Y/N]," she said, her voice breaking in the middle of her sentence as she began to choke up. "And his face... I was curious and I - and I pulled off his mask, and his face was just... hideous. It was like it had been broken apart and poorly-put together again, Madame - it's the face of fear itself!"

Just from the urgency in her voice, you could tell that she was being serious.

"He's killed someone?" you asked quietly. You suddenly found your heart sinking in fear - it all began to add up. The reason he seemed to alarmed when you mentioned that you knew what he's done, why he was so willing to stab you with a rapier just because you were intruding - you could hardly believe it.

Knock knock knock.

Your conversation was cut short.

"Christine?" a male voice chimed. You knew that it wasn't Erik - he didn't sound like that. "Are you in there?"

The interruption seemed to release some of the tension, but more now than ever, Christine's eyes pleaded for you to listen to her.

"Promise me that you'll be careful," she whispered, her eyebrows furrowing. "Please, [Y/N]! He's a dangerous man, and I would hate for something horrible to happen to you!"

You nodded quickly.

"Of course," you whispered, worriedly looking at the door before averting your gaze back to the girl in front of you.

The knocking continued.

"Christine?"

Christine seemed a little flustered, and she quickly called out a "one moment!" before turning back to you.

"I'm so sorry - I wish I could stay longer," she said with a frown.

You shook your head.

"Please don't worry," you said with a small smile, waving her off. "I've got soup to last me for days - I should be fine."

Christine, instead of saying anything else, quickly wrapped you into a final hug before rushing to the door.

"Raoul!" Christine exclaimed with a smile as she opened up the door. On the opposite side of the door was the Vicomte de Changy, who was standing there patiently with a pleasant smile on his face. You personally thought that he excessively focused on his looks, but when you spoke to him, he was always quite kind...

However, that didn't make you any less uncomfortable when he planted a kiss into Christine's lips.

Not that you had a problem with it - in fact, you thought that they were practically built for each other - but it truly began to make you think... if the two of them were in love, then why would Erik try to take that away from her?

As the Vicomte noticed that you were in the room, there was immediately a pitiful look in his eye.

"[Y/N]... I heard you were sick," he said with a frown. Apparently, word had gotten around that you had the flu, and it seemed that people cared more about you now than they had before. You were surprised that the Vicomte even knew your name.

"It's nothing," you said with a smile. "I should be over it in a few days."

The Vicomte - Raoul, as you heard Christine call him - flashed you a smile before he turned back to the girl practically fawning over him. You could tell just from her gaze that she was in love.

"Good, good," he said with a smile. "If you need anything, make sure to let Christine or I know - we'd be happy to help."

"That I will," you said with a smile. "I'll see you soon, Vicomte."

You sent him a smile before turning to Christine, then smiling a little more as she gazed at you happily.

"You too, Christine."

"Get well soon, [Y/N]," Raoul said, waving to you as he found himself out of your room again. Politely, one of the two - you weren't quite sure who it was - closed the door behind them, and you were left some time alone to think...

Little did you know, however, all hell was about to break loose.

A/N: Dun dun dun!! Haha, what did you all think of this chapter, and what kind of "hell" do you think I'm talking about? Thank you all for voting and commenting, and I would like to especially thank peppermint-twist for commenting on my past couple of chapters! And thank you kawaiinfinity for adding this book to your reading list... it truly inspires me to see that people are enjoying my content! Anyway, vote, comment, share, and all of that good stuff... and I will (hopefully) see you next chapter! 💖