Your Voice

Chapter 9

Hey guys! Before I begin this chapter, I just wanna thank y'all for a 100 reads! Pretty crazy for an aspiring writer like me. Keep reading and voting, thanks so much! I also wanna give a shoutout to my bestie Devi Cakes who inspired a bit of this chapter. Enjoy! And once again, thank you so much! xx

Christine

"Well, Madame, I shall look into this matter. I shall have a chat with the cast that was rehearsing at the time of the incident." The lawyer sitting across us straightens his pile of papers and gets up to leave.

"How much will it cost?" Erik says in his business tone, standing up.

"Not too sure about the full price. I'll keep in contact via post. Good day." He nods politely and leaves the room. I feel a chill running down my spine and fold my arms, gazing out the window. It was a beautiful day; the sun smiled down on a snowy Coney Island, the sleeping lights still looked like a dream scattered across the landscape, and yet we were stuck in the opera house worried and tired - Erik and I have both been worrying about Raoul the whole time. Gustave and his new best friend Amelia were oustside, lying in the snow, a shivering Meg tossing snowballs at the children. Warm hands rest on my waist and familiar lips brush against my neck. I feel the worries disapear almost impossibly quickly, and I let my fiance take control of me, desperate to escape from the anxiety of now.

"Angel, it's alright, we've already gotten the best lawyer in Manhattan, I'm sure it will be fine." He reassures me doubtfully.

"Hold me, Erik." I circle my arms around his neck and he draws me into him, and I just want to be there forever. He plays with the ring on my finger. The only thing that's motivating me to go on - other than Gustave - is our wedding and our future together. Ever since I was a little girl, I had always dreamed of being a wife, but after being one to an abusive man, marriage is something I daren't go near. But Erik is different. I know it. After being abused all his life, I don't think he could bear to lay a finger on me.

"Christine, darling, really, how did you forgive me for murdering and leaving you? It's a question I've been thinking about for years." He whispers softly into my ear.

"I really don't know Erik, but I remember that night, when you took me down to your lair and made me choose between Raoul and yourself. Since you revealed yourself to me, I had thought you a murderer, but I learned to see beneath the mask you show the world, and I saw a broken little boy, full of potential, full of a yearning to be loved, and I saw how much you loved me. I think the murders are a side effect of being ostracized and hated by the world."

"If you thought this, Christine, why didn't you say you loved me?" His voice breaks and a pang of guilt hits me like a pebble thrown at a window. Why didn't I?
Forgive me, I beg you, if you can
I've brought you nothing but woe
Tomorrow night, I'll sing with all my might
Sing for you again
Erik kisses my neck, sending fire through my body. I just want to be enveloped in his love, to just be there forever.

"I love you, Erik." I press my lips against his, trying to let him know how much I love him. My fingers run through his hair and all negative emotions vanish. We break apart, and his lips curl into a smile.

"Come on Angel, I promised Meg that I would see her perform." I say, taking his hand and starting towards the theater, which was already being filled up.

"Box five," Erik points at the box nearest to the stage.

"You really haven't changed much." We made our way to his reserved box, where Gustave was already sitting.

"Mummy!" My son hugs me and his father. "Miss Giry told me there would be a special performance tonight."

"Yes, there is. It's the last one of tonight's show." Erik leans in closer to me and whispers. "You haven't forgotten your aria, have you?"