CHAPTER NINE

Christine's Fear

During the next few days, Christine took Raoul all over the opera house. They had lots of fun exploring the upper levels of the building. Many rooms had interesting old furniture in them. But for some reason, Christine never took Raoul lower than the first floor.

One day, Raoul and Christine found a hole in the ground. It was a door in the floor, and it was open. Raoul was curious. "Let's see what's under this Opera House!" he said excitedly.

"No!" Christine said. "Anything below the first floor belongs to ... to him."

Raoul looked at her. "To him? So the Phantom of the Opera lives down there!" Raoul said.

"Of course not! Honestly, Raoul, are you crazy?" Christine said. She looked nervous.

She tried to drag him away from the door, but Raoul did not want to leave. Suddenly, the door closed so quickly that no one saw who shut it. The two looked at each other.

"Do you think that was the Phantom of the Opera?" Raoul asked.

"It couldn't be," Christine said. She sighed and decided to tell Raoul the truth. "Raoul, believe me. He is working on his opera. When he works on his opera he thinks of nothing else. He doesn't eat or even sleep. It was probably one of the opera workers."

Christine promised Raoul that the phantom was not paying attention to them. But Raoul thought to himself that she was hiding something. For the next few days Christine looked behind her. She would jump at nothing and run away from shadows. It was as if she was haunted by a ghost.

One afternoon when they met, Raoul was shocked by her looks. She was pale, and her eyes were red.

Raoul hated to see her look like this and not know why.

"Christine, my love, I will not go to the North Pole," he said. "Please, tell me the secret of your Angel of Music, this Phantom of the Opera that everyone is so scared of. Then, I will take you away from here. I will take you far away so that he will never find you again."

"Be quiet, Raoul!" she cried. "What if he hears you?"

That said, she ran with Raoul up the stairs. They ran until they had reached the roof of the opera house.

Christine was careful to look behind her the whole time. She thought that no one was following them. However, she was not careful enough. She did not see Erik, the Phantom's shadow following them!

Although Christine did not know it, Erik had not been working on his opera. Instead, he watched Christine all the time. When he saw her happy with Raoul he became sad and angry. He would do anything to keep her!

Christine and Raoul sat on the roof for a long time. They leaned against each other and watched the sun set.

Finally Christine began to speak. "Raoul, earlier you said you would take me away. I want to be with you more than anything. If I suddenly change my mind when you come for me, do not listen. Take me by force."

"Are you going to change your mind?" Raoul asked.

"I don't know," Christine said.

She suddenly threw her arms around Raoul.

"Oh Raoul, he is like a demon ... a monster! And he says he loves me and will keep me with him forever. I shall die if I go underground and live with him!"

"Then don't go," Raoul said simply.

"He's not truly evil deep inside, but he'll make us all suffer if I don't do what he wants," she cried. "We only have one day left, Raoul. Erik told me he will stop working on his opera tomorrow. He will come for me and take me down there. Then he will cry and tell me he loves me in that desperate voice, looking at me with that hideous face!"

Christine was sobbing terribly.

"No!" Raoul cried. "I will not let you go back there again. I will take you away now!" Raoul tried to pick her up, but Christine would not let him. "No, Raoul. I can't just leave like this," Christine said softly. "It would hurt him too much. Let him hear me sing one last time tomorrow night. At midnight, come to my dressing room, and we will leave in secret. You must be there tomorrow, no matter what happens. Erik will wait to take me with him. I think that if I go with him tomorrow, I will never return."

There was a sudden noise.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"It was nothing," said Raoul.

"I hate living like this," Christine said. "The first time I saw his face, I was so afraid he was going to die, or he would kill me."

"Why would he die?" asked Raoul.

"Because I had seen his face. He could not bear it that I knew what he looked like." This time, both Raoul and Christine heard a cry of pain. They looked around the roof, but they saw no one.

"Don't be afraid," said Christine. "He is working on his music. We are alone on this roof."

(end of section)