The Phantom's Melody (The Phantom of the Opera)

27. The Truth is Revealed

The three of us sat in Christine's room at the dormitories. Christine finished patching up the wound on Raoul's arm and brought him a change of clothes. Once they were both settled, all eyes were on me.
"I think you have some explaining to do." Raoul said as he pulled on a clean linen shirt and folded his arms.

I looked down, unable to meet either his or Christine's gaze. "What do you wish to know?" I asked.

"Well, for starters, how do you know this Phantom? Or I suppose Erik, as you called him." He asked, pinning me with his gaze. I knew he wanted nothing more than to protect Christine, but there's no way he thought I would ever hurt her, did he?

I sighed. "It all started after Christine's performance of Hannibal. The night you came to see her for the first time after becoming the patron for the Opera Populaire." I explained to them my first encounter with the Phantom in the prima donna dressing room, and then the ones that followed after Christine's brief disappearance with the Phantom.

"It wasn't until after El Muto that things changed. I knew that whoever this Phantom was, he was dangerous and he had some kind of fascination with Christine. Unlike you," I shot Raoul a glare, "I believed that her Angel of Music did exist." I looked down. "I blackmailed him into giving me singing lessons like he had with Christine. I told him that if he didn't, then I would lead the managers to his underground lair." I explained. "Maybe I was selfish and maybe I should have told them about him, but I was just trying to protect Christine. Even if my own personal feelings started getting involved."

Raoul just stared at me. "So, what exactly? He's been tutoring you all this time?"

I nodded. "Yes. For the past twelve months or so." I admitted.

Christine looked away when she heard my answer. "You've been lying to us this entire time?" She whispered.

I bit my lip. "Christine...I'm sorry." I said quietly. "I didn't know he had planned any of this. As both of you are surely aware, he's a genius. He would never have revealed to me his plans." I shook my head and ran a hand through my unruly curls. "But Erik isn't a monster." I looked at Christine. "I know you believe that, too."

Raoul pressed his lips together when Christine didn't respond. "He's a murderer." He said cooly. "He's killed without a second thought. That genius you mentioned? It's turned to madness. He must be stopped."

"By what? Killing him?" I glared at him. "We can't fight fire with fire. If we do, then things will only end in more bloodshed."

Raoul returned my glare. "I will protect Christine. If that means his death, then so be it." He said before turning towards his fiance. "I will protect you." He promised, taking her hand and gently squeezing it.

She closed her eyes and looked down. "Raoul is right, Lucille." She said quietly before lifting her head to look me in the eye. "How far will this Phantom go if we don't stop him now? I can't let anyone else die because of me."

I averted my gaze, wishing I could just as easily turn my back on Erik, but I couldn't. "I understand." I took a deep breath and faced the two of them. "But Christine shouldn't be the one who puts her life at risk."

Confusion flickered across Raoul's face. "What do you mean?"

"The Phantom is relying on Christine's performance. He'll be there for certain. But instead of putting her on stage, let me take her place." I said as I looked at Raoul. "He won't expect us to go off script like that. He expects us to follow his masterpiece word for word. Perhaps if we throw a curveball his way, he might stumble. It could be your only opportunity to catch him." I explained.

Raoul examined me carefully. "You're willing to do that? Why?" He asked skeptically.

"Because," I said quietly, "I care about him. The last thing I wish to see is his death. So you must promise me that if I do this, you can't hurt him." I looked up at him. "Please."

He pursed his lips, seeming to debate my request for a moment before he responded, "Okay. I'll do what I can to make sure he's taken in alive." He agreed.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." I said softly.

Christine looked at me with worry in her warm, brown eyes. "Lucille...you don't have to do this." She reached out and touched my arm.

I pulled my arm back and shook my head. "Yes, I do." I turned away from them and walked out without another word, feeling anxious and scared all at once.

I had to believe in Raoul's word. It was the only hope I had that no harm would come to Erik. However, I was determined to take one last measure at protecting him, even if it was a hopeless venture.

*~*~*

I snuck down to the catacombs of the opera house, against all better reason, and took the secret passageway that bypassed the lake and led to the Phantom's domain. Perhaps this was stupid, and maybe he would finally just kill me once and for all, but I had to see him. I had to at least try and reason with him.

I let my candelabra lead the way through the darkness, quickly making my way down the winding staircase. When I reached the bottom, I shimmied through the hidden alcove and walked into the candlelit cave that served as his lair. My gaze darted around the room and I froze when I saw him crouched near the lake, tendrils of mist swirling around him.

"No one would listen, no one but her. Heard as the outcast hears." He sang quietly, so low I could barely hear him. "Shamed into solitude. Shunned by the multitude. I learned to listen,
in my dark, my heart heard music." I quickly hid behind the wall when he stood up and turned in my direction. "I longed to teach the world. Rise up and reach the world. No one would listen, I alone could hear the music..."

He walked past the wall of trinkets and paintings, his fingers grazing the portraits he had drawn of Christine. "Then at last, a voice in the gloom...seemed to cry 'I hear you; I hear your fears, your torment and your tears.'" He turned away from the paintings and picked up a single red rose that sat on his desk. "She saw my loneliness. Shared in my emptiness. No one would listen. No one but her, heard as the outcast hears."

He sank down into his chair, placing the rose on his desk as he peered at it with a look of longing in his eyes. "No one would listen. No one but her, heard as the outcast hears..." He whispered so softly, closing his eyes as he hunched over his works of art.

I stared at him from behind the wall, feeling tears stain my cheeks. "Oh, Erik..." I whispered, taking a step forward, but then I stopped myself. I peered at him and then at the miniature display, no doubt of Don Juan.

No matter what I was to say to him, he wouldn't stop whatever he had planned. No, he had to see this through, even if it was to his own detriment. I glanced over at him again and sighed. Christine was everything to him. Maybe he cared about me too, but she was the one who saw him at his darkest point in life. She was his Angel of Music.

I turned away from him, disappearing back through the alcove and into the passageway. The premier of Don Juan was only a day away. Erik planned to be there and so did I. If he had plans to take Christine, then I would stop him before he could. Raoul wasn't going to forgive so easily this time if anything happened to Christine again because of the Phantom.

I only hoped that Erik wouldn't figure out what I was planning.