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

29. The Final Melody

"Track down this murderer, he must be found! Hunt down this murderer, he must be found!" I could hear the growing mob in the distance, panic rising in my chest as Raoul and I descended into the darkness of the catacombs below.

I'm sure that Madame Giry and Meg would fend off the angry mob for as long as possible, but that still didn't leave us with much time. Erik had taken Christine and god only knew what would happen next. Things had not gone according to our plan even in the slightest. I should have known that Erik's ego was too big for him to just stand back and watch his work be performed. No, he would show everyone how it was to be done. I still wondered if he expected me to be in Christine's place, however. He didn't let on any display of surprise, but that meant nothing with Erik. He was great at hiding behind a false mask.

I snapped out of my thoughts when we reached the next landing. I looked down and narrowed my eyes at the winding stairs that led further into the catacombs. "It's not far from here." I told Raoul as I led him down the stairwell.

"How could this happen? You promised that taking her place would ensure her safety." Raoul snapped at me.

I refrained from snapping at him myself. "She would be safe right now if a) you hadn't disappeared and b) if she hadn't run straight into the lion's den." I shot back. I had no idea what she was thinking. Why would she run in like that? Perhaps she thought I was in danger, but still...I shook my head. No use worrying about what had already happened.

He glared at me. "I was recruiting the officers. Why else do you think they showed up on the catwalk?"

"I had it under control." I snapped.

He scoffed. "Yeah, I could tell by the starstruck gaze in your eyes."

I wanted to curse at him, but I figured now was not the best time to be fighting. "Let's just focus on getting Christine back." I said calmly.

He hesitated before nodding in agreement. However, when we rounded the corner, Raoul misstepped and a trap door opened beneath us. A scream escaped my mouth, and unlike the few times before, Erik was not there to catch me. We fell through the chute and crashed into a lake of water below. I struggled to reach the surface, gasping for air before suddenly a gate of bars started to descend from the ceiling above. "Shit..." I muttered under my breath as Raoul resurfaced next to me.

Frantically we both looked for an exit, but the bars were coming down too quickly. Raoul quickly took a deep breath of air and descended below the water, searching for an exit or some way to stop the gate. "Raoul!" I yelled before sucking in a sharp breath of air as I was forced under the water.

I opened my eyes and searched through the cloudy water, quickly finding Raoul struggling to turn the valve connected to a series of pipes. I swam across to him, grabbed hold of the rusted metal and helped him turn the wheel. With a victorious creek, the valve spun and the gate suddenly stopped, ascending back up towards the ceiling.

We swam to the surface, gasping for air as we grabbed hold of the cobblestone ledge and pulled ourselves out of the water. I took a moment to catch my breath, muttering a curse as I pushed myself to my feet. "Jesus, Erik...you're really not making this easy, are you?" I mumbled to myself before helping Raoul up off the ground. "Let's go."

It took me a moment to figure out where we were, but to my delight I found that we had reached the bottom. "It's this way." I told him, pointing ahead at the canal of water. "Watch your step," I said pointedly.

He nodded, carefully following my lead this time. We trudged through the murky water, my dress feeling like a dead weight around my body, but when we reached the bend of the canal, I sucked in a sharp breath. "We're close. Stay quiet and keep behind me." To my surprise he listened.