Chapter 14 The End and the Beginning

A/N: Yes, for anyone wondering (especially you, Aquarian Wolf), Nathaniel is a reference to Nathaniel Parker, the man who portrayed Edward Gracey in "The Haunted Mansion" movie.

Leotabelle13 and Jase – Thank you for the kind reviews! Leota, yes, I am now a big-time fan of 'The Phantom of the Opera'. I thought that, too, after reading the awesome book! Well, you'll just have to wait and see how Chris turns out in this chapter, won't you:)

BalletRat – If you don't like my work, don't read it.

"Chris! NO!" Melanie shrieked. The ballroom had flung itself into a mass panic; it was almost as if everyone were holding their breath for Chris to pull the trigger. But Melanie's cry of terror came too late; Chris pulled the trigger and it felt like the life was being sucked from Melanie when she saw what happened in a split second. The bullet, aimed at the Phantom's heart, missed by about two inches and shattered a part of his rib cage.

The Phantom bent over in two, gasping for air, uttering cries of pain. He stood back up, taking his hands away from his body. Melanie shrieked again. A large wound had leaked onto the Phantom's faded purple suit, beginning to mix with the beating rain from outside.

Melanie began running to the staircase, but Chris thrust out his hand to block her way.

"No, Melanie! He's a terrible thing of the night! Do not go near him!" Chris cried sternly over a terrible rumble of thunder. By now, the Phantom's knees were trembling and he was looking very sick.

"You don't understand! He's not a horrid demon; he's my friend, and I won't let you hurt him!" Melanie ran as fast as she could up the back staircase and back to her room, grabbing a cloak. She said a silent prayer, hoping that Chris had not caused any more trouble.

Unfortunately, when Melanie had arrived, the Phantom and Chris were nowhere to be seen, and neither was anybody else. She jumped to the window and climbed out, looking around as quickly as she could through the rain. But, again, there was no sign of them.

The only place they could have gone is up, Melanie thought quickly. Her eyes darted upwards, looking to the roof of the house. She could just see the Phantom's skeletal arm hanging over the edge, his face a look of unconsciousness. Melanie could hear Chris cursing the Phantom for being born and calling him a foul creature of darkness who should have never shown his face at their wedding.

"Chris! Please! Don't!" Melanie called up. The Phantom's eyes blinked open and looked down below him. Melanie ran back inside, following her instincts to the roof, through the many hallways and passages that she had almost memorized. She found herself soon enough on the roof, coming up through a door leading to it. The rain stung in her eyes for a minute, but after gaining her vision again, she found Chris and the Phantom, both hands on the rifle, glaring each other in the eyes. The Phantom's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness—if he had eyes—and Chris's blue eyes shone with hatred. They both tried forcing the rifle towards each other, holding it over them like a mere twig. Chris had his hand on the trigger. Melanie, thinking quickly, ran up and grabbed Chris by the back, knocking his aim way off and shooting into the distance.

Chris pushed her away with his arm and shoulder blade, making her nearly lose her balance. It was a good thing he did, though, for Melanie saw below her in the mist a glowing something or other. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was glowing a sickly green and sparkling in her eyes. She suddenly remembered what it was—the earthquake.

"Oh no," Melanie gasped to herself.

Letting out a vicious cry, Chris nearly knocked the Phantom off the edge of the house with one force, but the Phantom fought right back. Melanie tried to think of another idea. But by now, the Phantom had let go of the rifle and grabbed Chris by the neck, not strangling him, but choking him to say the least. Chris had let his rifle drop from his hand, fear coming over his face.

"Let me go—please! I'll never come back! Melanie and I will leave you alone forever! I'll do anything you say!" Chris pleaded.

"You want to please me?" the Phantom asked in a sinister voice. "Leave Miss Ravenswood here." He let go of Chris, letting him drop to the ground, closing his eyes for a few minutes.

"Phantom!" Melanie called from the other side of the roof. The Phantom spun around, seeing a glowing angel standing in the rain. He walked toward it, unsure if he was worthy of its presence.

"Melanie?" He said, in a tone of disbelief. "I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am…you don't deserve him…I mean…" the Phantom mumbled.

Melanie smiled softly. The two began walking towards each other in a trance-like state, their gazes never wandering. The two soon met with each other, the Phantom's skeletal fingers entangling themselves in Melanie's wet hair. Melanie stroked his hand, looking up into his face. She almost felt she saw something in those empty eye sockets—

The Phantom's face suddenly went blank, and Melanie felt her mood flinging from happy to worried. She grabbed the Phantom as he began slumping down, looking quickly—and frightfully—over his shoulder. Chris had drawn his best hunting knife from a small pouch attached to his belt and had thrust it down through the Phantom's cloak into his back. Melanie glared fiery eyes at him, not able to bear it any longer. She gently but forcefully put the Phantom down at her feet and looked up into Chris's surprised face.

"That's it, Chris!" Melanie screeched. She stepped over the Phantom's unconscious body and faced Chris. He wasn't prepared for so mighty a blow from so tiny a girl.

"Don't—you—dare—touch—him—any—more—you—terrible—thing—You—are—the monster—not—him!" Melanie introverted between hits to Chris. Chris soon fell unconscious, dropping to his knees and fainted.

Melanie stood over him like a towering statue, her eyes glaring. Chris's eyes fluttered open, looking up to her. Lightning flashed behind her face, casting a dark shadow onto the ground. Chris looked dumbfounded.

"Melanie…" he coughed, "I'm sorry…" Chris fell back unconscious.

"Well, sorry isn't good enough, 'darling'," mumbled Melanie. By now, the Phantom had woken up, but he still looked very ill. Melanie helped him to his feet by putting his arm over her shoulder.

"There isn't much time—Chris will be waking up soon, and you have to do something," Melanie said instructively.

"I've got just the thing," the Phantom said in a raspy voice, an evil look in his eye.

00000

Melanie stood in the center of a small, dimly lit room, the chandelier covered with dust, a small mirror hanging between two large, and wood-covered walls. Melanie looked into the mirror and thought she saw reflected her former self, rosy-cheeked, bright, shining eyes. Suddenly, a large door in one wall quickly slid open. Melanie entered and found herself in a small, circular gallery. Above her, there hung four portraits, also of her former self, looking just as beautiful as her picture in the foyer. The Phantom had told Melanie his plan. She willingly accepted and waited. A sniff or a sob would escape every few minutes, but she held them back.

The room suddenly began to stretch, just as the Phantom had said it would. And with it, the four portraits on the wall did not stretch, but revealed more than met the eye. Melanie gasped for a moment at what had been shown—but calmed her. She began to sing a song to herself that she had heard as a child, but by now couldn't even remember where she had heard it. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed high above her; Melanie looked up quickly and saw Chris's body swinging from a noose high above her. Tears sprang to her eyes, but she knew it would all turn out for the better. Still, Melanie knew she would miss him. The Phantom's laughter echoed throughout the room and in her ears. Melanie quickly covered her ears. Soon, all had disappeared, and Melanie found herself back in the portrait chamber. The Phantom's shape quickly vanished from overhead. Melanie quickly took the path back to the roof, following the path again. She came to the roof, the rain still stinging her eyes, and looked around.

Melanie found the Phantom laying, tired and wounded, gasping for air, near the window from which he had just hung Chris. It had taken all his strength to pull the heavy rope. Melanie ran to him, kneeling to his side. She rested his head in her hands. He opened his eyes and looked up to Melanie, smiling gently.

"Melanie, are you all right?" he asked in a raspy tone that brought tears to Melanie's eyes.

"Yes; are you all right?" She asked back.

"Yes," he said before coughing. "Why did you come back up here for me? I'm just a poor, unhappy creature, you know."

"No; of course you aren't!" Melanie dismissed the very idea from her mind. "I came back here because I—" Melanie choked. "This whole mess is my fault. I should never have let Chris see you; then this never would have happened." She motioned to the wound in his back and in his rib cage.

"No…" The Phantom trailed off. "It'll all work out for the better. You don't deserve someone as horrid as I."

"Don't say that!" Melanie put a hand to his mouth. "I'm with you again; everything will be fine."

"At least…" the Phantom ran his fingers through Melanie's hair and ended by gently touching her cheek. "…I got to see a beautiful angel…before I went to Heaven." Tears leapt to Melanie's eyes and she held the Phantom's hand. His hand dropped from Melanie's cheek and she felt his life going with him.

"No; please," pleaded Melanie, as if the Phantom could somehow return to her. "Please! I can't lose you! I…" Melanie placed her head on the Phantom's chest, barely hearing a heartbeat. "…I love you."

Melanie wrapped herself in the Phantom's cloak and cried, her pure tears mixing with his wound and with the pounding rain. Suddenly, Melanie heard the very faint beating of a heart. It grew louder, and louder, until…

She opened her eyes and saw, to her amazement, the Phantom changing before her eyes. He rose off the ground—only a little—his feet dangling mid-air. He turned away from Melanie and his cape spread itself out like a couple of great batwings. His great collar hid his face as well. Small motes of light were coming to him like metal attracted to a magnet. They came faster and faster until it was like a mini meteor shower. A large blast of light for the finale, the Phantom's body came slowly and majestically to the ground. His cloak fell over him and covered him almost entirely.

Melanie started toward the figure, unsure, but leapt back a bit when it moved so suddenly. It stood up and the Phantom's cloak fell away. Melanie could see human skin instead of bones; hair instead of a gleaming white skull…then the figure spun around to face her.

It startled Melanie so to see anyone but the Phantom in that faded purple cloak. A tall, thin man with curly, dark hair and gleaming green eyes was looking directly at Melanie. He was pale and very thin; his cheekbones stuck out almost severely. Melanie couldn't see any resemblances to the Phantom in this strange man.

"Melanie—don't you recognize me?" The man came forward, grasping her shoulders. He was smiling so gently, Melanie couldn't help but smile back. Still unsure, she ran her fingers a bit through his hair—not him. But then she looked into his eyes…she hadn't seen anything so pure since…

She gasped. "Yes; of course I recognize you." She smiled. The man placed his hand on Melanie's cheek, and she felt it just the way she had felt the Phantom's skeletal hand. Slowly, he drew her face towards his. Melanie slipped her hand onto his chest and kissed him lovingly, as he kissed her in return. Suddenly, Melanie felt she was in a different world. When she opened her eyes, the world looked so different. They still stood on the roof, but the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to shine through the clouds onto them. From what Melanie could see, the town was back to normal, though she couldn't see every detail of it.

The two embraced, the man kissing Melanie on the cheek. "You can call me Nathaniel," he whispered in her ear. She drew back and looked up into his face, which now didn't look tired or weary. It looked beautiful.

Nathaniel led Melanie through the door down the winding hallways and corridors of the Manor, which now looked much nicer and more cleaned-up. Cobwebs no longer lingered from the ceilings; Melanie fear of spiders suddenly attacking her no longer frightened her. All Melanie watched was Nathaniel, who was leading the way like an adventurer deep in the jungles of Africa.

The two finally reached the ballroom, where the servants and maids were all gathered together, cheering the couple on as they approached. A few familiar faces were in the crowd that Melanie recognized—Edward, Phineas, Mrs. Rose, Ezra—as well as many Melanie had never seen before. They no longer looked like ghosts—Melanie could see Mrs. Rose's cheery cheeks very brightly glowing red. Edward didn't have dark circles around his eyes any more; he looked quite normal, actually. Madame Leota was in the room as well—her disembodied head wasn't trapped in a crystal ball any more—and she held a little girl with dark hair in her arms, the little flower girl at the wedding. The little girl looked exactly like her mother, but much younger. She was still throwing petals around, all over the place.

Nathaniel offered Melanie his hand and escorted her down the carpeted steps. Melanie looked over her shoulder to find a picture of the Manor as it currently looked—white, red and green paint—but also saw a faint image of a skeletal head made of clouds that was slowly fading away into the picture itself. She laughed to herself and looked back onto the festivities at hand. She found herself at the bottom of the stairs, all the servants coming straight at Melanie and Nathaniel.

Mrs. Rose hugged Melanie tightly. "Oh, I knew you could do it, dear! I just knew it!"

"Yeah—I love you too, Mrs. Rose!" Melanie tried saying, which was not easy through Mrs. Rose's tight grip. Madame Leota came next.

"Thank you so much, Miss Melanie! We just knew you could do it!" Madame Leota wore purple, puff-sleeved dress, gold necklaces around her neck and a long trail of black hair down her back. "Lottie, what do you have to say to Miss Melanie?" She asked the little girl she carried.

"Thank you," said Lottie in the sweetest of voices, placing a rose petal in Melanie's hand.

"No, thank you," Melanie joked, motioning to the petal. Lottie smiled and Madame Leota carried her over to Nathaniel.

"Miss Melanie! I…" Phineas stopped himself short, unsure if he should hug her or not. He quickly took her hand and shook it. "I just wanted to say…nice work. Nice work indeed." He went to Nathaniel as well.

"Miss Melanie! So nice to see your bright and shining face again!" Edward said, grinning widely. "You know, you're looking just fabulous in that dress!"

"Aw; that's so sweet!" Melanie kissed him on the cheek.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't go getting mushy on me!" Edward pretended to wipe her kiss off, but Melanie could tell he had enjoyed it.

After saying many, many "You're welcomes", Melanie and Nathaniel rejoined each other.

"It's nice to see the house in so clean a shape," Melanie said, looking over the new, clean ballroom. But Nathaniel wasn't paying any attention to the ballroom. He only thought of Melanie.

"I'm so sorry to change the subject so randomly, Melanie, but…" Nathaniel pulled something out of a nearby pocket. It was a small, navy box. Melanie backed up, going up one stair. He bent down on one knee. "Melanie Ravenswood…will you marry me?" Nathaniel opened the box, and inside was a dazzling diamond ring, a diamond the likes of which Melanie had never seen before. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears. After a moment of thought…

"Yes, Nathaniel, I will marry you!" She threw her arms around Nathaniel's neck, kissing his cheek. His arms wrapped around her waist and the two of them shared another kiss before enjoying a long waltz in the middle of the room. Somehow, Melanie felt the Phantom Manor was her one and only destiny, now and forever.

"Billy, will you hurry up already?" Maddie called, anxious to get up the tall, steep hill. Billy struggled his fastest, his legs not as physically fit as Maddie's were.

"I'm coming; I'm coming!" Billy cried, huffing and puffing all the way.

"Come on; let's go check out the cemetery! We still haven't explored it yet!" Maddie exclaimed as soon as Billy had reached the top. The two passed the tall, menacing Mansion, which no longer scared them as it once had. It was now a dirty brown in color, shutters coming off their hinges, windows cracked, shingles about to fly off from cause of some wild storm. The cemetery was no longer the family cemetery alone; important residents of the town had now taken up life in the after-life there.

The two preteens explored the space for a bit, reading the various, funny epitaphs on some of the headstones—some of which weren't even headstones.

"Yeah, this place is great," Billy pulled his coat tighter to him, feeling a bit creeped out. "Now can we go back home?"

Maddie sighed. "I guess; we've been here for a while. We couldn't have possibly miss—" she stopped herself mid-sentence. There were two large crypts near the back, covered with vines and leaves. "Wait—Billy! Get over here!" Maddie called her brother over, motioning for him. "I think I found something!"

There were two large nameplates on top of the crypts. They were barely visible through the vines and leaves.

"Help me clear these off," Maddie said. Billy snapped the vines, while Maddie brushed the leaves off. The kids read the names on the crypts, though they were a bit hard to read after so much beating.

Billy read:

Devoted wife, loving mother

1841-1925

May her soul rest in peace"

Maddie read:

1840-1926

Devoted husband, loving father

Non Omnis Moriar"

"'Non Omnis Moriar'?" Maddie asked. "What does that mean?"

"I think I might know," Billy said. "I think it means, 'I won't completely die'."

"Whoa…tough luck for this guy," Maddie shrugged.

"But don't you think it means something?" Billy asked, his voice full of fear. Maddie's eyes widened and the two of them looked up at a window of the Manor. They thought they saw a shadow quickly glide past—just for an instant—and then vanished. They both looked at each other in horror.

"I think we should get out of here; fast," Billy suggested. The two of them ran from the cemetery as fast as their legs could carry them. Suddenly, Billy heard something. He hadn't heard it before, when they were by the crypts, but he heard it, very suddenly…

"Do you hear that?" Billy asked, turning to his sister.

"Hear what? You ranting about imaginary sounds? Yes." Maddie scoffed.

"No, not that—it sounds like a heartbeat." Billy's teeth chattered.

"Billy, you seriously need to take a chill pill," Maddie rolled her eyes. "I think your ears have problems." The beating sound suddenly stopped.

"See? It just stopped! It—" Billy stopped when he saw the expression on Maddie's face. "…It was probably just my imagination."

"No; you think?" Maddie rolled her eyes again. "Come on; mom's gonna be really mad at us for being gone so long." Maddie started leading the way, quickly glancing at the center window of the Manor. She almost thought she saw a white shape, a face…but shrugged it off and continued down the road, with Billy right behind.