Something cold and dark stretched itself across the hallway as
Christine waited for the lamps to be lit. It was harder now than
she had anticipated, her gaze drawn to the flame which wavered
as the glass shade was put back in place. Months had past since
she had left; left behind the horror which had haunted her for
so long…yet now, in the warmth and comfort of Raoul's home she
felt lost…more lost than she had ever felt in the winding
backstage passages at the Opera Populaire. She was weak; she
knew this and cursed herself for being so. She had always needed
someone stronger than herself to guide her, to take her father's
place and now it was Raoul that led her from the darkness of her
memories…and out into the light.  And he loved her, more than he
did when they were both children, when neither of them knew what
love truly was. She loved him too; the tenderness and
understanding he showed her was unlike any she had ever known.
He never once asked her about what had happened; accepting that
it was something t