CONEY ISLAND

GUESS WHO

10 YEARS LATER

"I'm tired," Raoul said, when they finally arrived to the hotel. "I'm going to a bar." With that he walked out, leaving Christine and their son, Gustave, to unpack by themselves.

The second Raoul shut the doors, Gustave ran to the piano and opened it. Christine smiled to herself, happy to see that her child didn't obey Raoul's strict no-music-in-the-house rule. At least someone in their house dared to.

She started unpacking, but couldn't focus, so instead she sat down, leaned back, closed her eyes and let herself be taken away by the music.  "Mother would you sing?" asked Gustave after a while. "You never sing anymore," he said with his innocent voice.

Christine missed singing, so she sang. Hours passed and all they did was sing and play. Gustave knew basic piano skills, but when it combined with his mother's voice it sounded beautifully.

"It's bed time now, Gustave," said Christine after a while.

Gustave didn't object, he was tired from the trip. She put him to bed and sang him a lullaby, then returned to unpack. She noticed a strange toy on the piano, playing a familiar melody, one that she would recognize anywhere, anytime.

She stumbled back, the memories flooding her mind. Suddenly the mirror opened and he stepped out once again. It felt like deja-vu *help me spell it*.

But only this time, he wasn't real. He was dead. They had found his body, burned in the catacombs of the Opera. He couldn't have survived that. And yet he stood there, alive as the day they met, staring directly into her eyes.

She couldn't really control her mind in that moment. She ran to him, hugged him tightly, making sure he's really there, and then in the next moment letting go and running back, realizing that she no longer loves him. She ran to the other side of the room, startled and shocked, and yet happier than ever. She quickly shut down the happiness and focused on the anger.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I could've asked the same of you," he said, stepping closer. This time she didn't move back. She spend too much energy trying to not embrace him.

Her eyes explored his covered face. He wore a mask a bit different than his old, but if you wouldn't spend years examining it as Christine did after his 'death', you probably wouldn't notice the difference.

She broke the silence, saying, "I came to sing."

His look brightened up. "That's good, because when I heard about your arrival -"

"You mean when you arranged it?" said Christine with a harsh voice, causing his smile to fade.

"It wasn't my doing," he said, monotonously. "I had spent the last 10 years avoiding you, trying to give you a better life! I wouldn't have dared to destroy what I tried to give you!"

He spoke with so much emotion, that Christine got trouble breathing. His enchanting voice was echoing in her head as he spoke. It took her a moment after he stopped talking, to fully process what he said and react to it.

"Give me a better life?" she asked. "So by a 'better life' you mean, leaving me? Running away, so I could spend the rest of my days with a man that I don't love? I loved you," she whispered, blinking away the tears.

"No," he said quietly, looking at the floor. "You pitied me."

"Don't tell me how I felt!" She exploded. "I loved you, but you left me! So I married Raoul and we have a happy life. And a great son. And then you lure me back here and expect me to sing an Opera for you!" Erik flinched at the mention of Raoul and their son, but otherwise managed to stay calm and feelingless.

"You need the money," he said as quietly as it was possible. "I'll give it to you. All of it."

Christine thought about it. They needed the money. They really did. But could she sing for him?

I know I can't refuse and yet I wish I could, sang a voice in her head.

"I sing..."

"Your debts get payed."

"And afterwards what happens? Can I, can we leave?"

"And never see me again," added the Phantom.

"I... I have to think about it," she said.

"I understand." A short moment of silence followed. "Christine," he started, but he couldn't finish. Somebody started knocking on the door very loudly.

A familiar voice started screaming. "CHRISTINE!" Christine grew even paler.

"It's Raoul," she said, trying to hide the fear of a drunk Raoul before Erik. "You should go."

"I will be expecting an answer by tomorrow," he said as he slipped through the mirror.

Christine unlocked the door, her hands shaking and let Raoul and the smell of alcohol in their apartment. "WHERE WERE YOU?!" He said, screaming.

"A-asleep. And please don't shout darling, you'll wake Gustave." And I don't want Gustave to see you like this, she added in her mind.

This is all a bit rushed amiright