The Phantom of the Opera
Christine and Erik (The Phantom of the Opera) singing “Past the Point of no Return”
Past the point
of no return
the final threshold -
the bridge
is crossed, so stand
and watch it burn . . .
We've passed the point
of no return . . .
Christine had agreed to Raoul’s plan to lure the Phantom out and capture him. The policemen were all over the place in the Opera House. They were all waiting for Raoul’s signal to step in and arrest the Phantom.
Just a couple of hours before the play started, Christine had been terrified with the idea of performing with the Phantom. She knew he was going to take her away by force and she didn’t want to go with him. The last time she had seen him, he had been angry and possessive of her and it had frightened her. She had seen the darkness in his soul. She loved Raoul and they had gotten engaged secretly…or so they thought, for the Phantom had found out and he was enraged with jealousy. Christine had told Raoul about this encounter with the Phantom and he had sworn to protect her from him. So the plan tonight was to go along with the Phantom’s request to have her perform the play he had written “Don Juan Triumphant”. She had begged and pleaded with Raoul to not force her to do this. She was afraid for her life and the others. She did not have the courage to face her teacher and former friend.
She was standing facing the audience, waiting for the Phantom’s appearance. She had just finished her solo….When she heard his beautiful and intense voice when he started to sing his part. She turned around and fought against the urge to flee from him. She smiled forcefully and started to sing her part after he was done….
But something happened...Because the more they sang, the stronger the emotion they put into the words they were singing. As they moved up the stairs to a balcony that had been built on the stage and kept singing, she could feel his gaze locked on her and saw an adoring look in his eyes. His eyes were pleading with her, they were full of hope and love. She had never seen this side of him and it touched her heart. She responded by putting more emotion and strength into her singing, and felt as if she had no desire to stop singing. The sensation to run away from him also disappeared the more she sang. Once they reached the end of the song, and sang the last part together, she met his gaze and did not break away from it.
And as they sang the last line of the last paragraph of the song, he reached for her and turned her into his arms. He embraced her lovingly and brushed his face into her neck and caressed her face tenderly. Surprisingly, she did not feel disgusted by his touch and she leaned into his chest, supporting herself against him. She closed her eyes and inhaled softly. She did enjoy the touch of his hand, the feeling of his strong, toned chest pressed against her back, his scent and the closeness with him. She felt a strange warmth fill her whole body and the more he brushed his fingers gently on her face, the more the feeling grew within her. With that she realized that she did love him. Deep inside she yearned for him and she had showed it as he sang with him for she had never sung with so much passion and such great intensity before.
She opened her eyes in surprise as she heard The Phantom singing softly “Say you’ll share with me, one love, one lifetime…Say the word and I will follow you…”
Christine turned around and looked at him, with tears in her eyes. She wanted to go with him. She looked towards Raoul, who had been looking at all that was happening with awe, and whispered “ I’m sorry Raoul…” and with that, she wrapped her arms around the Phantom’s neck and kissed him deeply and when she let go she sang softly to him “Anywhere you go let me go too, Love me that’s all I ask of you…”. The Phantom had not expected such a response from her and stood there looking at her speechless with surprise in his eyes. Raoul had the same expression in his face when he saw Christine kissing the Phantom.
After a few seconds, Raoul quickly regained composure and signaled the policemen to go in. As the policemen moved into the stage and blocked the exits, the audience realized that what was happening was no longer an act or part of the play, and started to mutter and move about nervously. Raoul shouted 'Christine!' and she in response, took off the ring he had given her and laid it gently on the ground. She was nullifying their engagement. With sad eyes, she waved to him goodbye and then reached for the Phantom's hand. She moved closer to the Phantom when she noticed the policemen closing in on them.
As the policemen moved in closer to them, The Phantom put one arm around her waist and held her securely against himself and with the other arm, he held onto a rope. A trap door opened underneath the balcony where they were standing and they fell down into another trap door that opened underneath the stage. They disappeared into the underground passages of the Opera House. Christine had made her choice and had chosen Erik (That’s the Phantom’s name). She loved his talent, his devotion to her and his genius (Remember, the Phantom was a composer, architect and magician…A genius just like Madame Giry said…). She did love Raoul very much but tonight she had come to the realization she loved Erik more...Therefore, she had chosen to be with him instead….
Erik carried her in his arms as he walked through the secret passages of the Opera House. She rested her head on his chest and held onto him. Erik could not believe Christine had decided to come with him and was now in his arms, clinging to him. He smiled to himself, feeling happy for the knowledge his love was not unrequited. He placed a gentle kiss on her soft hair as he stepped into the boat that would take them to Erik's lair.
