In the Presence of an Angel (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 20- I Don't Want You to Die

Chapter 20- I Don't Want You to Die

Christine lay on her bed in a sort of paralyzed state wishing she could just go to sleep, forget everything. It was going on three days now. In three days' time, she had only gotten six hours of sleep. Every time she closed her eyes and tried to relax to get sleepy, it only made things worse. She just couldn't forget. She couldn't make the memories disappear.

Although, perhaps she wasn't trying hard enough. If she were to talk to anyone about it, they would probably all tell her to distract herself by doing something else- read a book or listen to music. That just wasn't going to work, though. There was no way to escape her thoughts, and those thoughts consisted of a face and an insane man.

When she initially came home after everything had happened, she'd told her father that she wasn't feeling well. Not telling her father what had happened was a spur of the moment decision she'd made. Actually, she wasn't going to tell anyone, not her father, not Meg, not Raoul.. This was something she would have to deal with on her own. After all, no onecould understand unless they had been there themselves.

She'd then locked herself in her bedroom and headed for her bathroom. With each step, her walk was getting shakier and shakier. Her hands fumbled with the shower knobs until, finally, the water sprayed downward. Trembling, she took off her clothes, Erik's blood dry on her fingertips. Once she was in the shower, she scrubbed the blood off her hands... and she kept on scrubbing for twenty minutes. A blank, numb sort of expression seemed glued to her face the entire time.

Then, after the shower, Christine had unthinkingly pulled on a pair of pajamas and climbed into bed. She lay staring up at the ceiling while images of Erik trailed through her mind.

The first day had been no different than the previous night. Christine simply lay in bed all day. When her father had knocked on the door, she'd said some lie about a headache. He'd asked if she wanted anything to eat, but food was the last thing she really wanted. Eventually, though, she did agree to him fixing her some soup. Really, more than anything, all she wanted was dreamless sleep. But 'dreamless' never came.

The second day was like the first, and the third was beginning like the second.

Maybe I really am sick, she thought while staring up at the ceiling. The word 'sick' only brought images of Erik and his insanity back to her mind. She shuddered and shook her head a few times. How long has it been since I moved around? It was sometime in the afternoon. Her father was at work and the apartment was quiet.

After a few minutes, she closed her eyes wishing for sleep to take over. But then the nightmares will come. Her lower lip quivered. Am I going to cry? In truth, Christine hadn't cried once. Only in front of Erik did any tears escape her eyes, and she was still glad she had cried in front of him. It seemed like that had really woken him up. He seemed to realize what he'd done. Not that it mattered. No, the damage was complete.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her cell phone rang. The sound made her literally jump and she stared at it on her bedside table. Is it… him? Sweat began to appear on her furrowed brow and her heart was racing. One ring.. two rings.. three rings.. In the end, Christine decided she didn't want to know. Whoever it was didn't leave a message, so she tried to just let it go. No use getting all worked up over it… For all I know, it could have been Dad. Her father usually called the apartment phone, not her cell phone, though.

A painful sound escaped her throat and she closed her eyes tightly while wrapping her arms around her body. Please just leave me alone! I don't want to think about you anymore! I don't want to dream about you or see you every time I close my eyes! You're creepy and insane and obsessive and… I'm scared of you..