CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Erik's Sacrifice

Christine reached out and turned the scorpion. All the gunpowder was at the bottom of the lake now.

She stood very still, staring at the ground. When she looked up at Erik, it was with a look of pure hatred. She stared at him and did not look away.

She had pitied him before, but now she hated him. Christine hated everything he had done to her and to her lover.

For the first time in his life, Erik felt frightened. He had never seen anyone look at him that way before.

Christine walked over to Erik and looked him in the face. She spoke quietly in a deadly cold voice. She said, "I hate you, Erik. I hate you with all my heart. I will marry you, to save the man I love and the innocent people in the Opera House. You can make me marry you. You can do anything you want with me. I am not afraid of your face. But you cannot make me love you. So I will hate you for the rest of our life together."

Something broke inside of Erik. He realized the meaning of love. Christine truly loved Raoul. He knew now that in seeking her love, he had made her fear and then hate him. He could not bear that the one person he loved hated him so deeply.

In that moment Erik's love of revenge and hatred and his desire to keep Christine left him.

Erik pulled on a lever. It stopped the water from filling up the cellar. He opened another trap door and grabbed the Persian and Raoul. He had saved them.

With a cry of joy, Christine ran over and helped him lift the two people out of the water.

"Go!" he cried. He stared at her with eyes full of regret, and pain. "Take them and leave me!"

Christine didn't move. She could not believe it. Was Erik really letting them go?

"Go now, I tell you!" he cried. "Leave me alone, and never come back!"

This time Christine grabbed Raoul and the Persian and began dragging them away. After a long time she got them to the first floor of the opera house. There, both men soon awoke.

Soon after this, Christine and Raoul left Paris. The Phantom of the Opera was never seen again. There were no more strange incidents in the Opera House, which made Richard and Montcharmin very happy. People discovered the underground house on the lake, but no one knew who had lived there.

Christine wanted to escape from the sad memories of what had happened in Paris. After a time, she no longer hated Erik for what he had done. She understood and pitied him once more. She thought of him sometimes, and hoped in her heart that he was at peace.

Some people said that these two lovers took a train into the North. They were rumored to have gone to the far off country to marry and live together. It is said that if you visit the part of that country where Raoul and Christine lived, you will meet their descendants. All of these people have Christine's beautiful voice.

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