Phantom of the Opera Christine Baby

A/N: Based on song called _Angie Baby_, by Helen Reddy.

xoxo

_You live your life in the songs you hear,_

_on the rock and roll radio..._

_And when a young girl doesn't have any friends,_

_That's a really nice place to go..._

Seventeen year old Christine Daaé stood in her room, the radio's tune wafting throughout the room, enveloping her as she slowly let her body sway along with the rhythm, her mind filled with thoughts and dreams of her prince as he moved her swiftly across the floor, embracing her.

A small smile was planted on her pale face and lips as he moved with her. From the perch of his arms, she noticed the school bus pulling up beside her next door neighbour's house, outside. A young, handsome boy bounded out of the bus, along with one of his many friends. A radiant smiled glowed on his perfect face. He had amazingly blonde hair that hung around his face, framing it. He also had a nice lean body, to go with it all. Yes, he was the vision of perfection. And all the girls loved him for it. Except for Christine that is…

A girl opened her window up from the bus and stuck her head out.

"Raoul!" she called, earning his attention. He turned and looked, and she blew him a kiss and giggled. But her attentions were soon brought to Christine's window, as she could see the figure of Christine in her room, dancing. She knew that Christine was watching, so she purposely placed her index finger, and thumb to her forehead in the shape of the letter 'L'.

Raoul noticed the girl from the bus looking in the direction of Christine's window, and looked up at it as well. He watched the form of Christine, move back and forth in a hypnotizing way. His eyes remained fixated on her, forgetting about his friend and the girl for a few moments.

"Are you coming Raoul?" Gabriel asked his friend as he climbed out of the school bus. He waved goodbye to some of the people on the bus, as it left down the bend of the street.

"What? Oh -" Raoul was brought out of his thoughts as his friend interrupted him. His friend stared at him curiously. Raoul shrugged off this strange feeling that had seemed to come over him, and pushed past his friend.

"Come on." Raoul grumbled, trying to cover up his embarrassment.

Gabriel paused a few moments and looked up into the room that his friend had been looking into. He saw a young girl swaying back and forth in the room. He realized instantly, that it was Christine, the touched girl. _Can't be possible, Raoul wouldn't like that freak._

_Folks hoping you'd turn out cool,_

_but they had to take you out of school..._

_You're a little touched you know,_

_Christine, baby._

xoxo

_Nearly 11 years ago._

_Christine sat in the corner of the classroom, in her desk, alone. She watched as all the kids played with their friends and had fun. She sighed as she looked down at her entwined hands on her lap, and wished for her prince to come and take her from this world she knew she didn't belong in. She didn't belong anywhere, simple as that._

_"Oh no, It's the touched girl!" a boy shouted suddenly, pointing at Christine and pretending to be scared. His friends quickly came and did the same._

_"We better run, she may try and touch us as well!" Gabriel, Raoul's friend yelled loudly in mock horror._

_"I've already been touched!" a girl held her finger up and cried. "I'm going to turn insane now!" _

_Christine gazed at all the kids that had now formed around her, taunting her and pretending to be her. Her face became a mask, as she hid any feeling. She didn't say a thing, something she had always done._

_"What's wrong Christine? Are we not good enough for you?" Raoul asked her in a tormenting voice._

_Christine was sure that they would be all over her, when she heard a familiar voice. "Children, go back to your desks, now!" Christine's teacher barked at the taunting students, who quickly became deathly silent and ran back to their seats, sitting perfectly._

_Shortly after that, the teacher had taken Christine's hand, and led her down to the office and phoned her father._

_"Have you ever considered putting her in counseling? It may be the thing she needs..." her teacher rambled into the phone, to her father. "I'm calling because the students were picking on her again."_

_Christine shut her eyes and drowned out the sound of any voices, a picture of her prince coming into her mind. She dreamed that he would pick her up and hug her tightly, whispering sweetly to her, that she would always be safe. And then suddenly, she would be wearing a dress in the finest of linens, and he would be twirling her across the floor of a grand ballroom. She would then gaze up at him, and notice the beauty that he radiated. And not just outer beauty, but inner beauty as well, something that she knew that many people lacked. But her prince was different from the others... His black hair swept away from his nicely shaped face that held what many a people who never actually wore on their outside, but on their inside._

_"Christine, baby?" the voice that Christine recognized instantly, brought her out of her thoughts. She gazed up into her father's youthful and concerned face._

_Christine never said a thing, much to her father's dismay. It was that day that he decided to take her out of school. He knew it was to much for her. She was different... And that was the day Christine discovered her love for the radio._

xoxo

Christine still moving along with the music, noticed the handsome boy -Raoul- watching her, but paid no heed. Once he had left, she had smiled to herself and continued her special dance with her prince, in the circle of his embrace.

_Lovers appear in your room each night,_

_and they whirl you across the floor._

_But they always seem to disappear,_

_when your daddy taps on your door..._

Gustave tapped on the bedroom door of his only daughter, Christine. He could hear the tunes from the radio coming through the door and sighed, running in his hand through his thinning hair.

His only daughter Christine, was a mute. His wife, before giving birth to Christine, had been classified as insane and put into a sanitarium. Everyone thought that when she had given birth to Christine, that her insanity had touched Christine. He had tried putting her in school, thinking she would talk eventually, but she never did. Kids picked on her, and her teachers complained to him, telling him to put his daughter in a place for the insane. Gustave had actually considered it... But he loved her to much, and couldn't bear the thought of losing his only daughter.

"So what if she is different?" he silently asked himself. "She's still my daughter." _And I love her._

_Christine girl, are you alright?_

_Tell the radio good-night_

"Christine, are you alright?" Gustave asked his daughter through the door. No response came. He was not shocked. Christine had never spoken before. He was always met with silence and eyes filled with emptiness from his daughter.

"Tell the radio good-night Christine." as soon as the words had left his mouth, the sounds from the radio had stopped almost instantaneously, as if she had been expecting him to utter those words.

_All alone once more,_

_Christine baby._

Christine still stood, waiting for her father to walk away, and then began to sway even without the music. Still imagining her prince being there with her, holding her, she closed her eyes and felt his embrace around her waist. She laid her head on his chest and sighed deeply as the soft tunes played softly in the background.

_Christine baby, you're a special lady,_

_living in a world of make-believe._

_Well Maybe._

Raoul stood in his room, her room across from his, the curtains brushed aside. Christine's blinds were open as well, giving a good view of her standing in her room, swaying along, her eyes closed, and her mouth in a small smile. He never noticed till now, just how beautiful Christine really was. Her face was so porcelain like, holding softness at the same time. Her curly chocolate brown locks hung down her back and swayed along with her body that was not too small, nor big. It was perfect. She had breasts that were nicely sized, and nice luscious curves that were really accented when she danced in the moonlight.

Raoul suddenly stumbled back from the window as Christine stopped dancing suddenly, and her sapphire blue eyes became sharp and stared into his, as if she knew. She did not budge nor blink and remained perfectly still as the moonlight gave her an eerie essence.

He turned away from the window in shock at being discovered. But when he turned back to face her window, she was gone. He could see nothing but darkness in the room.

"Get a hold of yourself! She's Touched Christine!" Raoul muttered angrily as he turned towards his bed, feeling all sweaty. But he could not explain the strange attraction he held for the mute girl. He saw what a lot of others didn't see, and that frightened him, and made her more appealing at the same time.

Raoul kicked his bed in anger to what he felt, and let himself land on top of the covers. He flopped over and stared at the ceiling, thoughts and ideas plaguing his mind.

xoxo

"And you're sure you'll be alright, Christine baby?" Gustave asked his silent daughter for the umpteenth time.

It was Gustave's sister's birthday, and he was going to visit her. He had thought of bringing Christine, but she was always in her own world, with her rock and roll music and dancing. Not to mention the fact, that Gustave didn't want his sister making any comments about Christine. It angered him when his own family told him what to do with her. He knew he was making the right decision, keeping Christine home.

Christine nodded her head and leaned over and embraced her father.

"I love you Christine." Gustave spoke touchingly to his daughter, holding her by the shoulders.

Christine nodded in response towards her father. Gustave would be lying to say he was shocked. He just wished that sometimes Christine could return the sentiment back, even if only for him.

Gustave left shortly after and Christine climbed the stairs, retiring to her bedroom, where the music called to her. She turned the radio to the rock and roll station, and let the music envelope her and her body began to sway along with the beat.

Her lips curled upwards as her prince took her into his arms and whispered his love for her.

xoxo

_Stopping at her house is a neighbour boy,_

_with evil on his mind._

_'Cause he's been peeking in Christine's room,_

_at night, through her window blind._

Raoul had seen Christine's father leave, hours previously. Knowing that this would be his only opportunity, he had made his way over and stood in front of the front door, his hand hovering over the doorknob. But before he could open the door up, the door swung open itself. He peered inside, shocked, wondering if Christine had opened it... But found nothing.

"But that's impossible..." he trailed off as he glanced up and looked into her window from where he stood, and saw her form moving along with the beat of the music. He decided to think nothing of it, and let it go. Maybe it was his sign to continue.

He stepped over the threshold, and closed the door quietly behind him, before ascending up the staircase, towards Christine's room. He heard the tunes from outside her bedroom door and slowly opened the door to Christine.

_I see your folks have gone away._

_Would you dance with me today?_

_I'll show you how to have a good time,_

_Christine baby._

The music suddenly died at that moment, leaving Raoul a bit shocked, as he hadn't seen her turn it off... But her face looked expressionless as she gazed at him, no hint of shock on her face.

"Let's dance." he said softly, yet roughly, as he didn't wait for her response, but pulled her body to his in a rough manner. Christine did not argue as he swayed his body with hers, and kissed her hard on the lips, holding her tightly. He was slightly shocked when she didn't even fight him, but he paid no heed.

"I'll show you how to have a good time." he breathed, nipping her lip and tasting the funny taste of blood.

_When he walks in her room, _

_he feels confused, like he's_

_walked into a play._

_And the music's so loud,_

_it spins him around._

_'Til his soul has lost its way._

The music began to play now, and again Raoul was shocked. She was in his arms, how could she have possibly turned it on? But the thought passed as he cringed as the song started to get louder.

Raoul suddenly felt strange as he pulled from Christine's embrace. He was met with the sight that she no longer wore her simple clothes, but was now dressed in an immaculate white dress that spread out before her, like an angel's gown. The room that was once her bedroom with a bed and a radio, was now a stage filled with peoples of all colours, wearing masks and spinning viciously around him as they laughed and taunted him.

He clutched his hands to his face as he felt like the music kept getting louder and louder. And try what he may, he couldn't escape. The colours were spinning faster and faster now, making him spin as with them as well. He felt almost faint, as his soul began to fade.

_And as she turns the volume down,_

_He's getting smaller with the sound._

_It seems to pull him off the ground,_

_toward the radio he's bound never to be found._

Christine's small hand turned the volume knob down slowly. The sound started to get lower.

Raoul cried out as he noticed Christine getting bigger and bigger, her face still a mask. He felt himself being drawn closer and closer to her and the radio, and he knew then that his mask would have to come off from his inside as he received his final judgment.

xoxo

Christine sat quietly next to her father on the couch in the living room, across from a police officer, who pointed to the headline on the cover of the newspaper that lay in the midst of debris on the coffee table in front of them.

_The headlines read that a boy disappeared,_

_and everyone thinks he died._

"And you think my daughter did it?" Gustave demanded of the female cop, who sat across from him, showing him the newspaper article.

"I'm not accusing her, this is just formality. I have to ask everyone in the neighbourhood about him." the female cop quickly explained to Gustave, who seemed agitated.

"Yes, but look at her officer," Gustave pointed to his quiet daughter who sat next to him, her hands folded nicely on her lap," she's been a mute her whole life. She spends her days in her room, dancing to rock and roll music. Do you honestly think she could have just offed a boy?"

The officer looked at Christine and quickly said, "It's ok, she's not on the suspect list. I just needed to ask you both questions. So I assume then you both don't know anything?" she confirmed.

"You assume correct." Gustave said as he shook his head and quickly escorted the female cop to the front door.

_'Cept a crazy girl with a secret lover,_

_who keeps her satisfied._

_It's so nice to be insane,_

_no one asks you to explain._

Christine took this moment, and rose from the couch as her father showed the cop out. She ascended the staircase to her bedroom, and opened the door. She was instantly greeted by her prince and the sounds of the rock and roll music wafting from the radio, in the corner.

"What is the verdict my princess?" Prince Erik asked Christine, as he took her into his arms and whirled her across the floor, till she wore a golden gown that hung swiftly around her body.

"It's so nice to be insane... No one will ever ask me to explain." Christine smiled up at her princes' masked face in glee, as she fixed the golden tiara on her head.

Prince Erik looked down at Christine in happiness, before catching her mouth in a sweet kiss. The two both pulled apart and laughed.

_Christine baby, you're a special lady,_

_living in a world of make-believe._

_Well, Maybe._

xoxo

Gabriel walked along the sidewalk the following week after his friend's death. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and he was kicking a pebble on the sidewalk. He stopped as he found himself in front of Raoul's house. Even after being bombarded with questions from the police and his parents, even Gabriel had no clue as to what had happened to his friend.

Gabriel's attentions were all of a sudden caught though, as he noticed a movement in a window upstairs in Christine's house. He inched himself closer to the window in curiosity and began to see more of Christine. She was dancing...

"What the -" Gabriel muttered.

The back of a young man was facing the window, and in his arms, was... Christine! It definitely wasn't Raoul, for the man's hair was a jet black and cut fairly short. He could see Christine's head nestled on the man's shoulder.

"I wonder if her father knows..." he whispered suddenly.

The back of the man suddenly turned, and he saw the man front on. He was struck as he noticed that the man had half his face covered in what appeared to be a mask?

Christine pulled from the masked man's embrace, and she stood perfectly still, staring out of the window and into Gabriel's eyes. Her blue eyes burned into his, and she didn't budge, nor blink.

Gabriel stumbled back as the corner of Christine's lips curled upwards and she winked, placing her index finger on her lips.

_Christine baby, you're a special lady,_

_living in a world of make-believe._

_Well, Maybe._


End file.
