Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera
So apparently, it has become clear that I can never manage to post my Halloween stories ON Halloween...but at least I'm close, right? ;)
Just a warning, there is character death in this story, so if you are weak of heart, turn back now. Still reading? Great! I hope you like it! :)
Thud...thud...thud...
Christine's eyes snapped open. There was that infernal noise again.
Christine rolled over in the bed and stared up at the ceiling as she listened.
Thud...thud...thud...
Of all the things that had occurred during the past fortnight she had been in this underground kingdom- the crying, the bursts of anger, the proclamations of love, the murder threats- this had to be the strangest of anything she encountered. It constantly thudded, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something was following her. She had asked Erik about the mysterious noise, but he had laughed it off and told her she was imagining things- hallucinating, was his exact term. Some nonsense about lack of sunlight.
Christine gave a humph, surely she wasn't imagining such a thing, and she obviously was not a lunatic, her mind was as sharp as a tack, thank you very much. She sighed and pulled the cover up to her chin and let her mind drift away to other things, she didn't wish to dwell on the subject of her sanity for long.
Perhaps Raoul would know, she thought, he wouldn't think me a mad person...
Her thoughts were often about Raoul, he was like a ray of sunshine in this dungeon of a house. Prison, as Christine tended to refer to it. But she couldn't seem to focus her thoughts on him tonight, her attention continually getting snatched away from her current daydreams and focused back on that thudding sound.
Christine ground her teeth.
It had only been occurring for the last three days, but that was quite enough time to thoroughly bug Christine, seeing as the thudding was getting so loud and so persistent that she could barely hear herself think anymore.
It was a very unpleasant feeling.
She groaned and clamped her hands against her ears in an attempt to drown out the sound, but that only made it louder.
Thud...thud...thud...
Christine flipped the covers off her and set her feet on the floor, sliding on her slippers then, reaching for her robe, she slipped it on over her nightgown. She stood up and turned the gas lamp that was beside her bed up so that it gave her a little light to see before venturing out.
She had to know what that noise was.
The hallway was dark, but the lamp from her room shone through her open door, giving her enough light to see.
She heard it again.
Her head whipped around in the direction she thought it was coming from, and with a look behind herself, she set off in that direction. Each door she passed, she pressed her ear against, listening for the familiar sound, and each time the thudding was there but no different than it had been when she was in her room. It was as if the sound was following her! It was quite annoying and was putting a damper on her mood, she just wanted to find where the noise was coming from!
Thud...thud...thud...
She stopped. The thudding grew extremely loud, pounding against her ears. She pressed her hands to her ears, before she even noticed where she was- right in front of a door.
This must be where it's coming from!
She took a steadying breath before opening the door and stepping inside.
Oh no...
She had to take hold of the door frame to hold herself upright. Erik lay fast asleep in his coffin of a bed, his mask discarded on the floor. Christine thought she might gag- she had wandered into Erik's private quarters, a place that was quite forbidden to her, she could only imagine what he would do if he found out that she was inside it without his permission. She shut her eyes and began to turn around, she had no reason to be here in this room, she could go back and just forget about-
No! Her mind seemed to scream at her. You must find the noise! You must put a stop to it!
Christine unclamped her eyes and stole another look over. She was so close, the thudding had never been this loud, she could almost feel it against her chest. It was coming from within this room, she just knew it was. If only she could find it.
She slowly released herself from her safe place against the wall and took a shaky step into the room.
Thud...thud...thud...
Christine put a hand to her heart as she neared the coffin, her breath become more labored with each breath even though she was doing her best to be quiet. The thudding grew increasingly louder, as if it was the only sound in the world.
Thud...thud...thud...
She now stood over Erik, her eyes fixated on him, and the thudding seemed to come from where she stood. She bent down and pressed an ear to Erik's chest.
Thud...thud...thud...
It was coming from Erik! Christine gasped and quickly stood up and backed away. Whatever was making the thudding was inside Erik. She had to get it out and stop it- there was no other way! But now...how to get it out without waking Erik? Surely he would be appreciative that she let him sleep while she managed to remove the darned thudding thing. After all, it must be quite annoying from him to hear it all the time as well.
She glanced around looking for something to quickly remove it, for the thudding was growing louder and faster by the second, and she was very tired and wished that it would just shush itself so she could go back to bed. A knife would do the job, but then she would have to find a way to stitch him back up, and she had never been any good with sewing. Her gaze landed on her maestro's desk, the very place where he kept his pistol. Yes, a gun would do nicely. She would only have to shoot the thudding thing out of Erik and all would be well!
Thud...thud...thud...
Christine gasped- it was growing faster! She needed to hurry lest the thing drove her out of her right mind.
She rushed over to his desk and pried open the top drawer. She picked up the gun, holding it as if it were a newborn babe that just been placed in her arms. Only after a few seconds of looking at it, she came to a conclusion:
"Far too loud."
And she set it back in the drawer.
Her hand reached up to rest on her forehead- how was she supposed to get it out now?
Thud...thud...thud...
A knife would have to do.
Christine shut the drawer and looked through the rest of the contents of the desk until she spotted it. There, laying on top of the desk, gleamed Erik's paper knife. She snatched it up then gave a weary glance back at Erik.
Asleep.
Good.
She turned around and quietly made her way over to him.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It was getting louder! She had to stop it, it was going to wake Erik before she could remove it! She positioned the point of the knife right over where she believed the thudding to be coming from- his heart.
"Careful," she said under her breath.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
She pressed down with the knife, just barely piercing the skin.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Christine?"
She gasped and almost dropped the knife, Erik had awakened.
"Christine- Christine, what are you doing?"
He was beginning to sit up now. This would do no good at all, she couldn't get thing out with him awake! Christine let go of the paper knife with one hand and pushed him back down.
"I'm helping you- you'll see!"
THUD! THUD! THUD!
She grabbed at her hair with her free hand as if she was going to yank it out.
"Don't you hear it? Thud, thud, thud...over and over- I can't take it! And Erik, it is coming from inside you! Can't you hear it too? Doesn't it keep you up at night? Is it not driving you up a wall!" With each word she pushed the knife down deeper into his chest.
Erik grabbed at her wrists in a feeble attempt to prevent the knife from going any further.
"Christine...stop...you're- stop! Christine, stop!" Erik choked out, his grasp on her wrists becoming weaker and weaker.
"No! I mustn't stop! I've almost gotten rid of it! I mustn't stop...I mustn't stop..." she pressed down with all her might on the knife, and with one final heave, the thudding grew quiet. Very quiet...why it was nearly gone! Christine allowed a smile to creep up on her lips.
She stumbled backwards, her hand over her heart. She had done it! The noise had been quieted at last. She breathed a sigh of relief, never had she been prouder of herself than this very moment. The room was dare she say it, peaceful.
Thud...thud...thud...
Christine froze.
Thud...thud...thud...
It couldn't be- but she had gotten rid of it! Yet the sound was rushing towards her as if it were a stampede of horses rushing into battle.
"No!" she wailed, grabbing at her ears and falling to her knees. "I put a stop to you! You are to be quiet!"
But her yelling was in vain, and a heavy sob escaped her as she sat on the floor.
Thud...thud...thud...
She lifted her head and slowly crawled over to where Erik lay. It must still be in him! That was it, she had failed to completely eradicate it, that's all. Yes, that was it...
Christine raised herself up on his coffin and looked down upon him.
He was still, eyes frozen wide with shock and the knife still stuck in his chest.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Christine let out a scream, falling back down on the floor.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Her chest rose up and down in perfect synch with the thudding. She placed her hand on her chest and allowed it to rise and fall as well.
So she had been wrong, no wonder she had thought the noise was following her, it was within her.
With a few labored breaths, she pushed herself up off the floor and onto her feet. It was clear to her what must be done- what had to be done.
Shaking, she walked over to where Erik lay. Funny, she thought, that the once 'living corpse' was now a real one. Perhaps she would have shed a tear had his death been under different circumstances. Maybe she would have been heartbroken, whispering 'I love you' to the man that lay dead in front of her. But she hadn't the time nor energy to dwell on what might have been at that moment. Instead, her attention drifted from her dead angel to the knife sticking upright out of his chest. She drew nearer, her hand hovering over the handle of the knife. Doing her best to keep from shuddering, she jerked the knife out of his chest.
She held it in the palm of her hand, rolling it over once as if examining it.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Her eyes squeezed shut as the noise became prominent once more in her mind. She held the knife carefully as she pulled the front of her night gown down just enough to easily access the place that she could feel the thudding coming from. With a deep breath she jabbed the knife into her chest.
She cried out in pain and shoved it in deeper.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
It was still there, she hadn't managed to stop it- what was she doing wrong?
Christine was beginning to grow lightheaded, the room going in and out of focus, but the sound was still going strong.
So she gave the knife another good push.
She felt all of her breath go out at once and her knees buckling under her, but she kept plunging the knife deeper and deeper with each push. She fell to the ground, her head hitting it with a soft 'thump'.
Thud...thud...thud...
It was becoming quieter! Christine pressed down against the knife again, not knowing whether or not she pushed down the right one for at the moment there seemed to be twenty sticking out of her bare chest. She felt her breathing soften as she listened.
Thud...thud...thud...
The sound was nearly gone now, just a distant noise in her ear. She had done it- she had managed to rid herself and the world of the dreadful sound! Perhaps soon she could sleep peacefully again, and go about her day without worrying about it following her around...
Then it grew so quiet that it very well might have been silent.
So Christine smiled.
Then everything was still.
The End