Chapter 77

What would it do to you, dammit!" Leroy shouted. Both Anthony and Raoul glanced at the masked man. Erik knew that Leroy already knew the answer to his question.

"It would kill me..." Erik whispered. Christine closed her eyes against all the tears that now fell freely. Leroy pressed the pistol roughly against Christine's temple. Raoul had slowly begun to try and grab the pistol at his feet without Leroy noticing and so far it was working.

"Tell her goodbye!" Leroy said; his voice emotionless.

"No!" Erik pleaded, taking a step forward, once more Anthony and Raoul held him back. Leroy was quiet for a moment, thinking about what he could do to bring more humiliation to Erik before he killed him and Christine.

"Then take off your mask and let us see what you are hiding," Leroy shouted. Erik did not answer. Leroy pushed Christine to the floor and she fell onto her hands and knees, crying out in pain, her voice melding with Erik's plea. Leroy raised the pistol and pointed at Christine.

"Show them or I will kill her!"

"Erik!"

"Christine!"

"Show them!"

Erik closed his eyes and tore of the mask...willing to do anything for Christine. Silence filled the room and Erik dropped to his knees and Christine began sobbing, knowing this was her husbands greatest humiliation. Leroy was so shocked by the sight in front of him he nearly dropped the pistol. Anthony had unconsciously taken a step back and Sienna, who had remained quiet, buried her face in Anthony's chest, trying to get the sight of Erik's ravaged face out of her mind. Raoul, too, had taken a step back and Erik swallowed back the need to grab his mask and run. His face was his greatest sin. It was the reason he had given up on love.

"You truly are a monster," Leroy whispered. Christine shook her head.

"No!" she cried. They all watched as she crawled to her husband, where his hands were covering the side of his face not even the devil could love. She pushed his hands away from his face and buried her body against his chest. Erik had no choice but to wrap his arms around her in relief. She was whispering repeatedly how much she loved him. Leroy was still not over the fact that Desslar looked like that. The side of his face never covered by the mask was one of the most handsome many women had seen, and then there was this side...

"You deserve to rot in hell!" Leroy said, raising his pistol. Raoul had managed to slowly grab the pistol without Leroy noticing. Raoul knew that this had to be his only chance and he raised the pistol and fired.

Two more shots sounded along with the first.

Three bullets.

The next few moments went by in horrible slow motion and before it was over not one person in that room would ever be the same. Leroy had seen Raoul raise the gun at the last moment and he turned his gun and pointed it at Chagny, both men firing at the other. The sound of two bullets hitting flesh caused Sienna to scream in fear. Leroy looked down at his chest in disbelief where his wound was and slowly he dropped to the floor. His eyes flickered for several moments, trying desperately to stay open but slowly they closed...forever.

Anthony shouted in disbelief when Raoul slumped against the wall behind him, clutching his shoulder, his face a mask of pain. Anthony ran to his friend and put his arm around him, supporting him against his body. Both men looked around themselves frantically, they had heard a third bullet, they were sure of it. Michael Delauney stood in the doorway, a pistol in his hands as he stared at the sight of his son in front of him, dead...just like the first.

The next sound they heard was something none of them would ever forget. That one sound carried all of the heartache and disbelief any of them had ever heard in their lives...it was almost inhuman...and it had erupted from Christine's throat in a gut retching scream. Her eyes were staring in disbelief at the blood that was slowly staining Erik's chest.

He had groaned softly in pain when the bullet struck him from behind and he, too, looked down at it in disbelief. Christine had been pressed against Erik's chest when all of the bullets had gone off and the one that hit her husband barely missed herself. Painfully Erik's eyes rose to meet Christine's and she began shaking her head, another scream erupting from her throat.

"No! Erik...God, no, please!" she cried. The sound of her voice caused Michael to come out of his trancelike state and he ran, Anthony taking off after him. Sienna helped support Raoul and they both looked on helplessly as Christine pressed frantic hands to Erik's chest, trying to stop the blood that seeped through her fingers. Erik said nothing, trying to keep himself upright against the pain. The look in Christine's tear filled eyes was breaking his heart.

"Erik...please make it stop!" Christine pleaded, her voice beginning to shake. Erik knew it was no use. He took Christine hands in his own and forced her to meet his eyes.

"I would always give you anything, my love...I cannot give you this," he whispered.

"Make it stop!" she whimpered, trying once more to stop the blood that was now covering her own body.

"I love you," he whispered.

"No, don't say that! This is not goodbye! I refuse for this to be goodbye!" she sobbed. He leaned forward and with what remaining strength he had he leaned forward and kissed her, her lips trembling against his. Erik cursed God then, for taking him away from the only person he had ever truly loved like he loved her. His hands came down and rested on her stomach. A wracking sob shook Christine's entire form. Sienna and Raoul glanced at each other questioningly.

"He will love you...tell him about me...the bad and the good...I want him to know who I was," he whispered. Christine pressed her hands against his, trying to will some of the life she and the baby had into him, anything to make him stay with her. If he left her she could not promise that she would not follow him soon. She could never raise this baby on her own...she would not survive.

"You are going to be alright, Erik! You have to be alright!" she sobbed. He smiled and pushed a curl away from her face.

"The time I had with you was the kind of life I had always wanted to live...you gave me everything...and no matter what happens I will always love you, spit-fire," he whispered.

"ERIK!"