But he was not alone. Christine whispered to him, thinking him unconscious. She told him it was not his Emma, but his Christine. Christine...his little spit-fire, a woman who had her own hidden fire that he seen numerous times and refused to ever see banked. He did not have Emma, but he had Christine. Even if he did not have her love.
He heard Chagny come into the room and ask to speak to his wife alone. They were both foolish to believe that he was not aware of their conversation. He had told that handsome fop that he did not want him anywhere near Christine and here he came, sneaking in the middle of the night, hoping to steal a moment of his angels time while the demon lay resting.
But the angel consented and crept from the demons lair.
The door closed and Erik opened his eyes to find the room empty. A low, ominous growl erupted from his throat. How dare Christine sneak off with Chagny. He would not have her with the fop because he was all to aware that they were close to developing a relationship. Over his dead body.
Struggling into a sitting position his protesting body demanded that he lay back down. He would not let that happen. He needed to get to Christine, something telling him that he was not going to like what they were doing.
He made his way slowly to the room he knew Raoul and Anthony were sharing, hoping that the sick feeling in his stomach was just an overreacting imagination. He opened the door and the sight that greeted him caused a dark red haze to block out all rational thinking.
xXx
It happened so quickly Christine almost was not sure it had really happened. She had been kissing Raoul when the door had burst open and an animal like growl had erupted into the room. The young pair had pulled apart to see Erik standing there, a murderous look on his face.
He charged at them so quickly Raoul could not back up fast enough. Erik's fist connected hard with Raoul's face and the young man fell back, his head hitting the wall behind him with a sickening crack. Christine screamed when Erik's fist connected again and again with Raoul's undefensive body.
"Stop, Erik!" she pleaded. She gasped when the back of his hand connected with her cheek, tossing her to the ground like a rag doll. She felt blood fill her mouth but ignored it, knowing Erik's rage was blocking out any rational thought and knowing that he could easily kill Raoul. She threw herself at him, knocking him off balance and allowing Raoul's body to fall limply to the floor. They landed on the floor, Erik's body pinned beneath her much smaller frame. He growled and pinned her beneath him, holding her arms roughly on either side of her head. He looked ready to hit her again and she turned her head to the side, her cheek pressing against the cold hard floor. Several tears made their way onto her alabaster skin and she swallowed.
Erik cursed her several times before standing and pulling her roughly with him. He began tugging her with him out of the room and no matter how much she struggled he was far to strong. She pleaded with him to stop and she called his name numerous times, hoping he would come out of the daze he seemed to be in. He ignored her and when they reached their room he threw her upon the bed so roughly she cried out.
Once more his hand connected with her face and she crumpled onto the bed, a sobbing mess. Erik advanced on her again but his body seemed to have given out on him. He collapsed on the floor, becoming very still and very silent. The only sound that filled the room was Christine's quiet sobs.
Get up, Christine."
Christine moaned softly and opened her eyes, her head pounding mercilessly. Her eyes opened to see her brother standing over her, an expression on his face she had never seen before. Her cheek felt swollen and she was sure it was bruised and she felt ready to throw up.
"Anthony...what is it?" she whispered, wanting to close her eyes and forget everything that had happened. Anthony picked her up into his arms and she tried to protest but found herself far to nauseous to say anything. She looked down at the floor to see that Erik was right where he had fallen after hitting her. She had to look away from him and buried her face in Anthony's shirt. She said nothing as he carried her out of the room although she was curious to know what her brother was doing. When she felt cool air caress her skin she looked up at her brother with questioning eyes.
"You might argue, Christine, but he hit you. I will not allow you to stay with him any longer," Anthony said. She should have known this was going to happen. But it would only make things more difficult.
"Anthony, please, bring me back," she said. Angry eyes met her own.
"I promised you that if he ever so much as laid a hand on you I would take you from him, Christine! I never go back on my word," he said. He put her into a waiting carriage and she could do nothing to get out because he blocked her way as he climbed in with her. They were moving before she could open her mouth and she sat back, knowing it was useless to try and escape now.
"Anthony, you do not understand-"
"All I need to understand is that purple bruise you have on your face, Christine," Anthony interrupted. He was in protective brother mode and she knew that he would not be swayed from his course of thinking.
"He had every right to be angry, Anthony," she whispered. She had betrayed him by kissing Raoul and she was very much ashamed of herself. She had felt nothing when she kissed Raoul and now knew that it had not been worth betraying Erik for.
"Raoul told me that he was kissing you, it makes no difference, Christine," Anthony said.
"Where is Raoul?" Christine asked.
"I sent him ahead, I did not think it was a good idea for the two of you to see each other so soon," Anthony said.