Destiny Takes Time

Chapter 17 – Devastation

I can’t stay here. This is his domain.

Roughly, Christine wiped her tears away and, still holding the letter, she fled the room.
Not even realizing it, she ran right past Raoul as he stood down the hall, leaning back in a corner. After he saw her rush by with all the color drained from her face, he smirked; it had turned out just as he’d planned. Using the note he had taken from the dressing room some time before, he had practiced copying Erik’s handwriting with meticulous accuracy. Finding someone who could reproduce the rose seal had been rather troublesome but worth it. She appeared to have no doubts that the note he’d left came from the Phantom.

Raoul followed her at a distance as she headed for her bedroom. It came as no surprise when he heard the sound of things being moved around inside. She was packing. All he had to do was catch her before she left, and that shouldn’t be too difficult.

When she emerged from her room, he went to her.

“Christine, what are you doing with all of those things?”

His feigned surprise was convincing enough.

“I’m leaving.”

“Well, where are you going?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s away from here.”

“Are you taking a holiday?”

“Not exactly, Raoul. I don’t plan on coming back.”

“Let me accompany you. My family has property in various places. You can stay as my guest.”

“That’s kind of you, but I might not be very pleasant to be around for a while.”

“If you need to keep to yourself, I understand.”

She looked at him and saw a faithful friend, someone who, as far as she knew, had never let her down.

“All right, but I want to leave immediately.”

“It’s not a problem. I’ll call for my carriage.”

When Christine left that day, she only said good-bye to Meg as Madame Giry was out running errands.

“Christine, what’s wrong? Why don’t you want to stay here?” Meg was completely baffled.

“I can’t explain it to you right now. Perhaps later on, after I’ve had time to think and feel better, but not now.” The way she spoke, however, made it sound like she might never feel better.

“Just promise me that you’ll stay in touch. I will miss you so much!”

Christine threw her arms around her friend and cried into her shoulder.

“I’ll miss you, too. The reason I have to go has nothing to do with you. Please understand that.”

Meg nodded and watched her go. Raoul was walking briskly behind her with her things in tow, trying to keep up.

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Erik had calmed down after having the rest of the night and the day to think about what he’d seen. He would ask Christine about De Chagny’s behavior and insist that she dispel the young man’s silly notions of courting her. It wouldn’t do for him to stay angry and perhaps ruin what they had together just because he couldn’t control his temper.

Jovanka’s words had come back to him later in the night as he lay awake in bed – “Things might interfere with the path that you are to walk with each other. Love is like a rose; it must be handled gently or it can be lost.” He had decided that he would handle the situation calmly and prepared everything to make this evening very special for Christine.

Erik grew impatient when he came to the mirror of the dressing room and saw only Madame Giry inside. She appeared to be straightening things. He waited, but Christine never came. When it looked like his friend was just about to leave the room, he decided that he should speak to her. She was just about to open the door but stopped at the sound of the mirror sliding open.

“Wait,” he called to her.

“Hello Erik.” She looked very upset about something.

“Is anything wrong, Anne? Where is Christine?”

Madame Giry brought a hand to her mouth and looked down before approaching him.

“There is no easy way to tell you this…” she began with tears welling up in her eyes.

“Is she ill? Has something happened to her?”

“No, to my knowledge no harm has come to her.”

“Then…where is she?” His expression showed concern and confusion.

“Christine…she is gone, Erik.”

“What do you mean she is gone?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“She has packed her things and left the opera house. From what Meg told me, she does not plan on coming back.”

His mouth fell open, and all of the color in his face was gone in an instant.

After what seemed like a very long pause, all he could manage to say was, “Why?”

Anne couldn’t bear to see him like this, but he deserved to know the truth.

“She did not say,” she replied, throwing her hands up in an expression of helplessness and finally allowing herself to cry.

He closed his eyes, which had instantly filled with tears, and covered his face with his hands.

“Erik, I am so sorry. I wish that there was something I could have done, but I was not here when she left,” she said sadly.

He turned his back, and Madame Giry saw his shoulders shaking. He was not just crying; he was sobbing uncontrollably. She came nearer and placed a hand on his arm.

“Anne, I wish to be alone,” he told her in a whisper so soft that she could barely hear him.

“Very well then.”

She squeezed his arm gently and let go. Anne knew Erik well enough to understand that it was useless to try to comfort him. He didn’t want to be seen in his weakened state, and it had been a long time since he’d been so desolate. To insist on staying would be to insult his pride. Madame Giry gave in to more tears once she’d closed the door behind her.

Erik sank to his knees and let out a cry that could only be likened to that of a wounded animal. He had planned to ask Christine to marry him that very night.