1 Ghost of Music

"Remember, love never dies..."

She could hear those words echoing in different parts of the black space she was in, afraid to make a step forward and afraid of staying still. Where was she? The only memory she had was seeing a big white light reaching for her and then waking up in the darkness of nothing and everything. She was embracing herself, both arms wrapped up her chest, very aware of her nakedness. The darkness that surrounded her felt somehow familiar, she felt safe in the moment she let the darkness circle her and welcoming her as an old friend.

"Have we met before?" She asked to the nothing and everything. The darkness, gently dressed her in a white smoke with a simple white long dress, barefoot and hair loose, when was the last time she had her curls all down and free?

The white smoke disappeared, she smiled at her outfit, simple yet beautiful.

"Remember, love never dies..."

She heard it again, a voice so familiar she could even swear it was her own voice, but how did her voice even sounded like? She knew she was a woman for a fact, so present in her body it was hard to ignore.

"Christine..." A male voice said making her tremble at the sound. "My Christine..." The man said again, between sobs and a sadness so present in his string of voice it was hard to not let her chest feel the grief in the man's voice even when the voice came out of nowhere, a voice she could hardly recognize.

"Remember, love never dies..."

"I can't hear that anymore! What does it even mean?" Christine yelled extending her arms to her sides, the everything and nothing in complete silence, she left a sigh let go. She sat down, feeling no floor at all but finding herself wrapping her legs to her chest, somehow understanding somehow very lost. Her eyes all watered as tears roll down, the white smoke appeared slowly and caressed her face like wiping the tears away. Christine passed her fingers through her cheek, she saw the tears in her fingertips as her hand started to shake, she was crying, she was actually crying but couldn't feel her tears anymore, the heat of hot water was completely gone, she couldn't even feel her chest heavy or her need for some fresh air that she somehow knew always happened when she cried. No more hot tears rolling down her cheeks, not even the headache and pain in her eyes, she couldn't feel her body anymore.

"What then?!" She asked desperately to all directions.

The everything and nothing watching her from the distance, feeling the heat of her soul, the consequence of having such a passionate heart in life. She was dead for a fact, no power was strong enough to change it, but they could give her a brief gift, something that could make her feel peace and maybe joy by watching who she used to be. The everything and nothing were not always kind, but they understood love, every single type of it, mostly the one Christine lived: she bore the seed of the man she loved, she had an un breakable bond with that seed that went beyond death itself, and a love that music already entwined. They understand, the everything and nothing, beyond mortals yet with knowledge of humanity.

The white smoke appeared at Christine's feet, surrounding her entirely like a tight embrace, she closed her eyes and after a few seconds she felt solid ground beneath her. The singing of some birds made her curious, she opened her eyes very slowly, letting her eyes absorb the light of the sun above in the blue sky.

"Remember, love never dies..." She heard again but this time fading out in the distance.

Christine found herself under a big tree where the birds were singing and interacting with each other, a beautiful green and open field in front of her, she turned and saw a big house in front, it looked elegant from the outside. A road of river rocks well placed in the floor guided to the steps that led to the big wooden door of the entrance, in the right corner of the house there was 2 big wooden doors where horse steps could be seen in the mud, definitely the entrance to the stables where the horses lived. In the left corner of the house there was a metallic grating black door just in the middle of the corner of the house and a green wall that went all the way inside the property.

"Where...? Where am I?" Christine asked out loud more to herself than to anyone. Yet her curiosity was still a part of her essence, she got closer to the grating door and tried to open it noticing she could pass through the solid door without a problem, her expression saddened, she was aware of her state even when she didn't even remembered how, who, or what happened to her.

Christine walked down the green hall to a bigger inner garden behind the house, her eyes widened at the breathtaking sight of such a gorgeous garden. She walked through tall trees, green walls, a maze made of different flowers and tress, a fountain in the middle and an unbelievable collection of exquisite statues resting in the grass, some of then with bindweed around them like protecting them with so much delicacy and care.

Easily, Christine forgot herself and ran through all the garden, took her time for admiring every statue, caress every flower even when she couldn't feel it, watched the tall trees still growing higher to the sky and felt a sudden warmth in her chest, was it even possible?

"Remember, love never dies..." the voice said again in the deepest part of her.

"Sasha! Come back!" Christine heard while a little brown dog with long tail ran towards her near the fountain. She saw the dog intrigued as the dog looked straight into her eyes, her eyebrows raised.

"Can you see me, little one?" She asked gently to the dog who was sitting in front of her while shaking her tail. Sasha, the prettiest dog, could really see her.

"Sasha! You know dad doesn't like you wandering for too long in the garden past the statues." A boy, a little boy with dark brown hair said to the dog, the boy happily scratching Sasha's belly. Christine frowned, very aware of her body as her womb suddenly hurt, she could still feel. What she didn't realize yet is that she could only feel her stronger connections and the places where they were mostly felt. She knew who the little boy was without a doubt.

"Gu... Gustave?!" She asked reaching her hand to her son's face, unsuccessfully accomplishing touching him. She wanted to feel his heat, to embrace him, it was his son, her whole body trembled when she saw him safe and sound, beyond that, seeing him happy. "My... my son." She said taking her hands straight to her belly, feeling the pain coming from her womb.

The connection between a mother and her son, un breakable bond of love and something beyond that, so unexplainable yet so understandable was there, she could feel it. She took one hand to her cheek and felt her face all watered, has she been crying all along?

"C'mon Sasha, time to get back." Gustave said carrying Sasha with big efforts, Christine following him instinctively.

She entered the house, definitely the elegant simple front made no justice to the beauty underneath that roof. A wide staircase that started near the front door, a living room with dark couches at her left and big windows, and in the walls different posters of different plays, classical operas, even german operas could be seen. Christine walked slowly to appreciate such posters in the wall, 'Hannibal' sounded familiar just like 'Il Muto' in the wall.

"Remember, love never dies..."

The bark of Sasha took her out of her thoughts and saw her already in her way upstairs as Gustave followed her. She took back her way to see where her son was heading, taking one step after the other until she realized of the gorgeous crystal chandelier that was hanging above her since she was admiring the walls. She looked at it closer, some crystals were broken and in the side of one metal piece was written 'Lot 666-remains', Christine didn't know what it meant but it was very clear that with some crystals broken, the little rainbows created by the dim lights were worth every single crack.

A strong piano sound made her turn her face to the end of the stairs in the upper floor. She swallowed. What was that sound and why was her son so eager to go to it?

She walked down the hall finding more and more oddities in the hall, interesting statues or some extravagant costumes. She stood in front of one big red suit, with a skeleton face and a hat so big it even had feathers in the top, a long red cape falling from the shoulders of the suit.

Christine kept walking until she reached the end of the hall, a door with the figure of an angel in the middle caught her attention. She took a breath and stepped in the room. The most extravagant yet unbelievably beautiful room of all the house: a big black piano in the middle of the room, different suits very well placed far from the big windows, a big mirror and in the corner of the room a white dress protected by a crystal box was there. Something inside her felt herself pulled by the dress, it was so exquisite and beautiful, shiny little rocks made it as it belonged to royalty, little white pearls fell from the shoulder and the tail of the dress went wider as it went down.

"This dress." She said, passing her hand through the crystal stopping in the moment her fingertips were so near the white dress.

"Remember, love never dies..."

Her eyes went to the walls of the room, a countless posters and framed drawings were hanging from the walls of a beautiful woman in different graceful dresses announcing different opera performances, she looked younger in the ones of the Opera Garnier in Paris but apparently she sang and performed in so many different places making her last appearance in Coney Island, North America.

"Christine Daaè." She read, the name of an angel of music indeed. She was without a doubt a very beautiful woman and her career seemed to be very successful. She could guess that whoever owned the house was a really art lover and a very big fan of this opera singer, but what was Gustave doing here?

Christine heard the piano again, this time played softer and sweeter. She looked at a man dressed in a black suit, he was in front of the piano, his back facing Christine. Without noticing, she heard a whimper coming from Sasha who was sitting near her feet and looking up at her, Christine couldn't help to smile and reach her head, curiously she could caress Sasha's head.

"Come Sasha! Dad is going to play for us." Gustave said calling for his furry friend as he tried to sit next to the man in front of the piano. Her chest became alive again, suddenly feeling all full, her suddenly alive heart bumping faster and faster, feeling herself being pulled to the man behind the piano.

Sasha jumped to the man's legs, he caressed the dog gently, "little one, ready to sing?" He asked the dog putting her carefully on the floor. He began playing some notes and the dog instantly followed, same as Christine, who recognized the scale instantly and hummed it as she walked to the piano. Every step made her heart go faster, why did she know that melody? How could her body follow the scales perfectly just as Sasha was doing it? Why did Gustave call him dad?

"Remember, love never dies..."

She rounded them, until she got face to face with a man with a big scar in his right side of the face, a mask in front of him resting in the piano. She looked at Gustave, who looked so calm and happy, he even rested his head in the man's arm.

"Who are you? A guide? A guardian?" She asked, somehow feeling pulled to him, not feeling a fraction of fear at the man's face. His eyes looked so sad, his face peacefully enjoying the music and a shy smile appeared on his face when Gustave leaned on to him. His fingers caressing the piano keys, his voice suddenly filling the room, she felt her soul soar and surrendered to his voice. She had heard him before, such a beautiful and gentle voice, a companion in her so many prayers to her late father, a voice who always had an answer to her prayers and guided her; a man who had loved her beyond reason.

"Erik..." she whispered gathering all her strength for not collapsing. Of course, the father of her son, the man she always loved and yet she wasn't there anymore. If she was alive, if she could only be there she would have brought them some tea and sing with them, maybe teach Gustave how to dance, and afterwards putting him to sleep and enjoy the company of the man she loved so much before falling asleep in his arms. "My loves." She said, feeling the pain increasing in her chest, white smoke gently appearing beneath her feet, how long has she been dead? It really didn't matter as her only wish was coming true: her son was bonding with his true father.

"No! Please, not yet!" She pleaded in vain.

Erik and Gustave practiced in the piano.

"How was it again, son?" Erik asked stopping his fingers in the piano keys.

"Dad! You can't forget it! Mom taught it to me."

Christine looked at him, something very hot stinging in the corner of her eyes, tears falling from her eyes and finally feeling her cheeks red of the overwhelming memories coming back to her in one melody strike. The power of music goes beyond any distance, any circumstance, any loss, even death itself, as love it always finds a way to stay even when we don't understand at first how.

"Look with your heart..." Gustave sang slowly, finding the right keys in the piano to play.

"...and not with your eyes." Erik continued.

"A heart understands, a heart never lies."

"Believe what it feels and trust what it shows..." Erik sang until his voice broke.

The white smoke reaching Christine's knees while she kept crying, confused by her own feelings. She knew she taught both of them well, she only regretted not being there to hug them, to sing with them, to live with them. She had no idea of how she left, there were so many things that remained a mistery to her, yet the most valuable things in her life were in front of her, loving each other and embracing each other roles, something she only saw in her wilderst dreams. There was not much of her past in her memory, she saw Erik break down while singing with their son, she took a step forward and caressed his cheek. Both totally in shock. Christine could feel his cheek, her warm tears rolling down, for a brief moment he looked up and met Christine's eyes. Her mouth wide open, his shaking hand wanting to touch where her hand was but afraid of losing whatever warmth and peace he was suddenly feeling near him. He knew it, she was there, he could feel her but said nothing instead, he as same as her knew perfectly how love can go beyond anything. Erik blinked fastly, trying not to breathe, he slightly smiled to her eyes and she smiled back even when he couldn't see her. Both feeling an energy pulling them to each other, Christine more alive than ever as Erik felt inner peace and relief. Erik knew all of the sudden she was happy, she was happy to see how things ended and seeing him finding that opportunity of happiness he desperately needed, all to find it in the son he brought to this world with the woman he loved. Christine felt proud, inner peace invading her as the white smoke was reaching her chest, she could go and wait for them in a long long time, knowing perfectly she would always be watching over them.

She suddenly understood, she was the beautiful woman of the posters, all of them was she and an ache took place in her heart knowing perfectly Erik needed to see her. The click was made as soon as the white smoke continued the way up her shoulders, she could lastly sing, "remember love never dies..." hoping he could hear her. And he did, Erik heard a slight whisper in his ears, smiled at himself and nodded with a smile.

Christine, all covered in the white smoke, waiting to the unknown to happen.

"Dad?" Gustave asked a little worried.

"Love never dies." Erik whispered to himself. "Sorry son, let's sing the rest together."

Gustave smiled, the last thing Christine could hear and see was his son and the man she loved singing together: "The heart always know."

The everything and nothing claimed Christine again, the gift was granted, and all her pain was suddenly gone. She felt peace, she saw everything she didn't know she needed to see. Suddenly, a beautiful light appear in front of the darkness, a familiar voice that made her feel like a little girl again called to her: "Little Lotte?"