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Emptiness	By : Josephine1881 Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Slash Views: 8257 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Author's Note: Happy Halloween, my dear readers!

Disclaimer: See Chapter One!

Chapter Thirty-Five

“What do you mean – ´Which one do you want´?” I stammered.

In truth, I knew perfectly well what my brother meant. After all, I wasn’t stupid. I just needed a little time to regain my composure, and I thought that asking such a question would give me that time. Besides, I wanted to hear Philippe explain himself.

For a moment, my brother looked puzzled. Then he raised an eyebrow and gave me a knowing smile.

“Oh,” he said. “I see. I see. You’re not such a shy little boy after all, are you? You don’t want one girl – you want both!”

It was such an absurd interpretation of my words that I was even more dumb-struck than before. This seemed to be all right with Philippe, for he had already continued speaking without waiting for my reaction.

“Well, if you insist,” he went on. “I can’t say I’m not glad to hear that you finally realise how much you’ve got to learn. And of course, you can learn much faster with two girls instead of one. Do you want to do it right now or wait until after dinner? I could call for the girls immediately, and then – “

“No!”

I had found my voice at last. I couldn’t possibly let my brother call for the girls and face the embarrassing consequences. I caught him by the wrist before he could open the door.

“All right, all right,” he said, still smiling. “After dinner it is, then. Perhaps you should have a drink or two first anyway. You seem rather tense.”

I let out a snort of derisive laughter. Of course I was tense! Here I was, having just been dragged out of a wonderful, if brief, encounter with the man I loved, and my brother was trying to push a girl into my bed!

“I will not have either girl,” I told Philippe, stressing every single word. “I will not do it. I want you to understand once and for all times that my life is none of your concern.”

My brother nodded.

“Yes, you’re definitely tense,” he said. “You’ll forgive me for being so frank, but I think one girl will be more than enough for you, at least at the beginning. It’s all right to be nervous, you know. But I have just the solution.” He snapped his fingers. “I’ll come with you. I can help you. I’ll show you how it is done properly. What do you say to that?”

I glared at him. Anger was constricting my throat, making me unable to speak. My mind, however, was working furiously. How could he talk to me like that? How could he treat me like a stupid little boy who knew nothing about nothing? It was he who was stupid!

Never in my life had I felt that insulted. I got along with the person I had chosen to be with very well without my brother’s assistance. Erik had always told me that I was good at what I did. We had learned together, and we were learning still. That was the way it was supposed to be, not the ludicrous way Philippe had suggested. How could he assume, even for a moment, that I would let him watch me sleep with a girl?

I couldn’t tell him any of my thoughts, for my throat was still too tight for me to speak. But I could at least wipe that smile off his face. With a strangled roar of fury, I seized him by the throat and slammed him into the wall behind him.

Philippe’s eyes widened. For the first time, the look of smooth self-confidence vanished.

“What are you doing?” he asked, gasping for breath.

“Keep your mouth shut!” I snarled. “For once in your life, keep your mouth shut and listen to me! From now on, you will leave me in peace. You will not question my way of living, you will not judge me by the number of my lady friends, and you will not bring me girls! Do you understand me?”

My brother nodded.

I released him, breathing heavily myself now. I hadn’t known how exhausting it was to restrain someone physically. It was a good thing that I had never got into many fights as a boy. Yet even as I gasped for breath, I felt a wild sort of triumph. I had made him listen to me. I had made him understand. For once, I had stood up to my brother, and it felt fantastic.

I should have known it was all too good to be true. Before I could turn away from him or even decide what to do next, the puzzled expression on Philippe’s face had given way to a sneer.

“You just can’t bear the thought that I’m right and you’re wrong, can you?” he claimed. “I only wanted to be nice to you, to help you be a normal young man, like me. I know you’d love to have one of those girls... or any girl at all. But your stupid pride is keeping you from accepting a favour from me. And why can’t you accept it? Because you’re jealous of me. You know that you’ll never have as many girls as I have. You lie awake at night, imagine the things I’m doing, wishing you could be like me, but you never will.”

“Stop!” I called desperately, but he just went on talking, as though he hadn’t heard a thing. He had always been good at ignoring me.

“I can’t help it that I’m more handsome than you,” he said. “I know how to have a good time with a girl, and they sense it. They all want me, Raoul, all of them.” His eyes glittered maliciously, and I knew that the worst was yet to come. “Even your little singer Christine wanted me. One night, after the performance – “

“No,” I croaked. “She didn’t... she wouldn’t have... not her...”

“Oh yes,” my brother said, sounding utterly delighted. “We ran into each other in the corridor leading to the dressing rooms. I was there to see another girl, but I forgot all about it the moment I saw Christine. Her face was still alight with happiness because she had received so much applause. Her cheeks were flushed, and her chest was heaving... And what a lovely chest it was. Do you remember how tight her costumes were? I could see how excited she was, and she grew even more excited when she saw me. I praised her for her voice and stroked her cheek. Then my hand happened to wander lower...”

I clapped my hands over my ears to block out his horrible voice, and still he wouldn’t stop tormenting me. I was too weak to fight again. There was only one thing left for me to do. I ran for it. I pushed past him, not caring what he shouted after me. I fled upstairs and into my room, slamming the door shut behind me. At last, I was safe.

In my haste to get away, I nearly ran headfirst into Erik, who was standing at the door, fully dressed again.

“Raoul!” he said, looking shocked. “Raoul, what has happened? Why are you crying?”

It was only then that I noticed the tears pouring down my face. I tried to wipe them off with my fingers, but more and more kept coming.

Erik pulled a handkerchief out of the pocket of his trousers and handed it to me. I dried my eyes a little. In between sobs, I told him all that had happened, right from the moment I had left the room. While I spoke, fresh waves of pain and humiliation washed over me, resulting in even more tears. Soon, my face was as wet as if I had held it under water.

When I was finished, not with crying, but at least with talking, I dared ask the question that had been on my mind all the time.

“Can it really have happened? Did Christine and Philippe ever – ?”

“No!” Erik said firmly. “It never happened, I assure you. I watched Christine walk to her dressing room every night after the performance, to make sure that she was safe from men such as your brother. I’d have seen it and stopped it. And anyway, Christine would have never... not with a vile, evil...”

His voice seemed to fail him, just like mine had done at the idea that Christine and Philippe could have ever been together. I looked up at him to say something consoling, but the words died in my throat the moment I clapped eyes upon him.

Erik had changed. His whole body had grown tense, and his hands were balled into fists. Somehow, he looked much taller than before. Yet the biggest change had happened to his eyes. Little bolts of lightning seemed to be flashing across the golden surface. A shiver ran down my spine. I had seen Erik like that once before, back in the days when he had been nothing but the Phantom to me. I knew what it meant.

“It is enough,” he said. His voice was not loud, but so intense and with so much barely controlled fury that it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “That man has insulted the woman I love and the man I love. He has made you cry for the last time. He will not go unpunished.”

With a swift motion, his hand darted under his cloak and pulled out a well-used rope.

“I will end it,” he said. “Once and for all.”
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Emptiness