Demon

by Laura DeLuca

Rebecca gasped and then covered her mouth when the sound bounced off the high ceilings. Finally, she caught on. She might have been a little slow on the uptake, but now it all made sense—the secretive whispers with Quinn, his strange nervousness. She felt her eyes fill with tears as Justyn reached into his pocket. With trembling fingers, he pulled out a ring, got down on one knee, and took her hand in his own.

  “Becca, my lady, my love. From the very first time I heard you sing, I knew you were my angel of music. But over the years, you have become my angel in every other way possible. You are my muse and my soul mate. I…I love you to the very core of my being, and I want to spend the rest of my life beside you.” His normally steady voice cracked with emotion, and he looked up at her with real tears in his eyes. “Will you give this phantom the happy ending that fans everywhere have always dreamed of? Rebecca Hope, will you marry me?”

  Rebecca knew she was smearing her makeup, but she couldn’t stop the tears from falling as Justyn slid a white-gold band with a single solitaire diamond onto her trembling finger. He still wore the mask, but she saw the anxiety in his eyes. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her response. She couldn’t believe he had been so worried. Could he possibly have any doubts about what her answer was going to be? She only wished she could think of a response half as eloquent as his proposal.

  “Oh, Justyn,” she sobbed. “Yes, yes of course I’ll marry you!”

  Smiling and weeping all at once, Rebecca helped him to his feet. He tilted her face so that their eyes met, and she fell into their dark depths, mesmerized by the unsuppressed devotion she saw there. When his lips parted, she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he spoke to her as the phantom one final time. His voice rang out strong, clear, and enchanting as he sang the last line of the play, substituting Christine’s name with hers.

  “Becca, I loooovvvvveeeee you.”

  There was thunderous applause mingled with sniffs coming from the audience. Even from the sidelines, their college friends, including Quinn and Frankie, were watching with approval. Their mothers were both wiping away tears in the audience. Yet despite the crowd that watched their every move, in that perfect moment when his lips finally found hers, Rebecca felt as though they were the only two people in the world.

  About the Author

  Laura “Luna” DeLuca lives at the beautiful Jersey shore with her husband and four children. She loves writing in the young adult genre because it keeps her young at heart. In addition to writing fiction, Laura is also the sole author of a popular review blog called New Age Mama. She is an active member of her local pagan community, and has been studying Wicca for close to eight years. Visit her website at www.authorlauradeluca.blogspot.com for more information.