More Than Just A Dream

Its Over Now The Music Of The Night

I turned slowly to see Christine.
She was almost unrecognizable. Her face was slightly swollen and was red and bumpy. Her hair was almost non existent and consisted of bleach blonde clumps here and there.
Her drab dress was dirt covered and had holes and rips everywhere.
So she disappeared, and she decides to come back now? This is extremely bad timing.
She raised her hand and I saw a glint of silver. I squinted my eyes to focus on what she had.
It was a gun.
My eyes widened and I felt my heart triple in speed at the sight of it. SHE HAD A GUN!!!!
"Christine, no need to do anything irrational, please just sit down and clam down. You don't know what you're doing right now, please just put down the gun." Erik said his voice calming and hypotonic, he was trying to put her under his spell.
It worked at first, but her glazed over eyes regained control and she brought the gun back up to head level. "NO! You won't use your tricks on me! Not anymore!" She yelled her voice sounding crazed.
"Christine, what are you doing?" I whispered my face holding compassion for my once close friend.
"Don't try that on me Amiele! You stole him from me! He was mine! All mine! But then he went to you!" She accused me shaking her hand that held the gun, me and Erik were taking small steps back to lengthen the distance between us.
I slowly pulled out my phone, making sure to hide it from Christine's sight.
I texted Dexter as quick as I could.
Me: help, at opera house. Christine. gun.
I didn't wait for a reply, trusting he would get it and get here as fast as possible.
"We need to stall." I whispered to Erik my voice low and my lips barely moving. He grabbed my hand and squeezed, he understood.
"What about Raoul? I thought you loved him?" I asked trying to be calm, but fear bled through my thin facade of soothingness.
"I love Raoul, I do. But I realized I loved Erik when he chose you at the masquerade and not me! When he sang with you in Don Juan and not me! So when I chose Erik instead of Raoul, I woke up here married to him." She explained in a sneer, her voice croaking multiple times.
"Don't do anything you'll regret, please Christine. You don't love me, you love Raoul, go back to him, he loves you too." Erik attempted to convince Christine, but she would have none of it.
She shook her head viciously, "I love you, and you love me! Amiele is the only thing holding apart our love! But if I kill her then you'll never be with me!"
"Christine, please think this through! Don't do this! I'm your best friend, and your mine. Best friends don't fight over things like this." I pleaded, dragging on my sentences to buy us some time.
Her face contorted with a broken hearted angry facade. "Friend? Friend! You both betrayed me! What you did was unforgivable! You stole him from me and brainwashed him into loving you!" She sneered her hand holding the gun steadying as she aimed the gun at Erik. "And since I can't have him, no one will!"
Her finger went to the trigger and I heard three screams say "NO!" In unison, me being one of them.
I tackled Erik to the ground shoving him out of the bullets aim. Dexter had in fact arrived, and he had tackled Christine just after she shot the bullet. Sending the gun scattering away on the stage in multiple loud thuds.
"Erik are you okay?" I murmured worriedly groping his face with my hands to make sure he was alive and there. I was on top of him, my face equal to where his neck was.
He kissed me on the lips and pulled back, "just fine. You?" He was ok! I sighed in relief at the thought of him being fine.
He kissed me again and I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen, I grunted into the kiss. Pulling back and rolling off of him so I was on my back.
My hand went down to my stomach and splatters of crimson blood stained my skin.
"Oh no." I whispered staring in horror at my hand.
Erik sat up quickly and looked at me. "Amiele are you alright?" His voice was laced with concern and I watched as his face dropped as his eyes landed on my stomach where blood was leaking out of my wound. He stared at it in pure horror, before his face was drained of color. "No. No NO! Why did you push me out of the way? Why couldn't I have been shot?! Why!? WHY DID YOU DO IT?!" He cried his voice cracking as he grabbed me and pulled me closer to him.
I groaned in pain at the quick movement, my eye lids threatening to shut. I pushed them open looking at Erik's tear streaked face, I caressed his cheek slowly, wiping away the tears, trying desperately to push down the immense pain in my stomach area.
"Why? Why?...." He whispered his voice cracking terribly, sobs were racking his body and he didn't bother to keep them silent, his whole body was shaking profusely.
"Erik, I did it," I paused and groaned in pain, gritting out the rest of the sentence through my teeth. "Because I love you. It's what you do for the people you love, you would've done the same for me."
He cried into my hair, bringing me close to him. "Why not me? I don't deserve you! I'm a monster! I should be the one dieing not you!"
"Erik will you kiss me, please? Just one last kiss...." I trailed off ignoring his statement, everything was starting to get blurry and a pounding headache bubbled inside me.
He pulled back slowly, sobs escaping his mouth as a single tear fell on my cheek. "Don't say that... You'll be fine...."
I shook my head slowly, "I'll always be with you. Please remember me, I'll always love you." I whispered in pain, not just physical but emotional too. I didn't want to leave the one I loved, I knew he would be dead inside, like I was when I thought he never existed.
He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips, I smiled into it, all of my pain fading for the small moment our lips touched. "I'll never forget you, I love you beyond words Amiele." He croaked through a sob.
I looked up at him, my eye lids slowly fluttering close. I tried to keep them open but it was hard, they were heavy like a thousand pound weight.
"You alone can make my song take flight...." Erik sang in a whisper, his voice cracking as more tears streaked down his face. The pain was beginning to become unbearable, it only escalated moment by moment.
"It's over now the music of he night." I sang back with the rest of my strength my voice cracking, I smiled weakly at him one last time before the darkness consumed me.