Epilogue: A mystery to be continued...
Three months later...
Erik stood mysteriously in Marie Claire's dressing room, placing the very familiar skull wax seal on the parchment envelope. There was a performance going on, so he could slip in and out unnoticed. He laid out two roses for Chrisitine and Marie Claire, and two letters, one each for the vicomte and one for Arthur. As he sealed the second letter, the singing from the theater drifted in through the room and into Erik's ears. He stopped for a moment, the beautiful, lyrical notes mesmerizing him. He instantly recognized the voices as those of Christine and Marie. How beautiful, how perfect those voices were. Then he heard a soft tenor join in, and recognized it as Arthur's. As he listened, his soul soared with the music, but at the same time filled with fury. These voices were his creation, these were his proteges! He had created them, and they had betrayed him! As the singing stopped, he could hear the sounds of a roaring standing ovation. This was the first performance since the opera house had been repaired, so the public was very excited. Then another familiar voice was heard, the voice of the vicomte, who was thanking everyone for their patience during the repairs. Erik's blood boiled at the sound and again the anger took over the immense sad emptiness that he had been feeling over the past months. A slight vehement growl escaped his lips even though there were tears in his grayish eyes. He clenched his fists as he walked out of the room, taking one last glance at the mementos that he had left for his unsuspecting prey. He gave a sly half smile as he pulled his hood over his face and slipped out a side door and out of the opera house. He walked through the streets of Paris, plotting and comtemplating. He would take his time, heal his wounds, and then return a man more fearful than they could ever imagine. As he stepped into his old home in the abandoned Opera Populaire, he whispered something to himself.
"Their chains will be mine, they will belong to me"
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Marie Claire entered her dressing room tentatively, but with a joyful smile on her face. The show had gone extremely well, a grand reopening with no disturbances. But deep in her heart, she wished that Erik could just come and enjoy the music like everyone else instead of wreaking havoc about the opera house. But as she approached her dressing table, she froze in fear. There before her lay two deep red roses, each with a black ribbon about the stem, and two envelopes, each with the crimson seal of a skull. She stared as she silently picked up a rose, fingering the petals. Then the door came open and Arthur came in, a jovial smile upon his face.
"Marie..." he started with enthusiasim, but stopped when he saw her white face. He came closer and gave a small gasp of surprise at what her saw.
He wrapped his arms around Marie, holding her tightly. They stood in silence for a few moments until the door came open and Raoul and Christine entered, both laughing with jubilant smiles on their faces. But their smiles faded as they came closer. Christine grasped Raoul's hand when she saw what Erik had left for them. Raoul put a protective and comforting arm around her shoulders, hating having to see such fear in both his beloved wife's and daughter's eyes.
"Do you think that he is still living in the vaults?" asked Marie, looking up at her parents.
"No dear, I doubt it." said Christine, trying to give her daughter a reassuring smile.
"Andre and Firmin had the vaults sealed." said Raoul, squeezing his daughter's cold hand warmly. "He can't possibly be in this opera house."
"But he must be close by." said Arthur gravely.
"Yes... he must." said Raoul slightly absentmindedly as he picked up the letter and began to open it. But as he did, Christine put a gentle hand over his.
"Please Raoul, don't open it yet. I'm not ready to see what's inside." said Christine.
Raoul nodded and put it in his coat pocket, as did Arthur. Marie Claire picked up the roses as the laughter and chatter outside called to the group. As they walked slowly towards the door, each seemed to decide that what was to come, would come, and fearing or worrying about it now would serve no purpose. When they reached the door, Marie blew out the candle and the room went dark as the four made their way back into the light, hoping that darkness would not overcome them again. And hoping perhaps that the Phantom too, would find his way.
And so ends part one of my strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera.
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A/N: Well, I hope you like this. Its the final chapter in this story. I've put a lot of hard work into this, and its got to be my favorite story that I've ever written. I'll probably make some adjustments to it in the future, so I hope you'll read it again. I've started work on the first chapter of the sequal, which will be titled ' A strange affair.' Ya I know so original. But the first chapter should be up in a few days. So I hope you loved this, but never fear for the sequal is near, and it will feature all of our favorite characters. So please read and review! I love you guys! And yay Phantom came out, I've watched it like four times!