/ Wow, I'm not dead! I know I've been missing for a while and haven't written a damn thing, so here is a little something-something for all my buddies ^^ Reviews and favorites are love!/
"Erik, where are we going? I thought you said we're going on a carriage ride in le Bois?"
"We are, my darling, we are. This is merely a shortcut."
"Since when do shortcuts outside lead up?"
"Just trust me, my dear. You know these walls tell me their secrets and heed my wishes."
"If you say so, Erik."
"I do say so, you inquisitive little thing!"
Everything must be perfect, absolutely flawless for my flawless Christine. She is an angel, after all, and does an angel not deserve perfection?
We exited the confining safety of my false walls to stare down a dizzying, nine storey drop the the hardwood stage below. To my great pleasure, Christine fastened her little arms around one of mine in fear, eyes tightly screwed shut as a mousy squeak escaped her lips. Oh, what a wicked devil I am, for taking such happiness in her terror!
"I don't like it here! You know how much I'm afraid of being up this high!" Her voice continued to crack with fright. I smiled down at her indulgently even as I bit my tongue so as not to reprimand her for possibly hurting her voice. Albeit reluctantly, I pried her vice-like fingers from the sleeve of my tailcoat.
"You needn't fear- Erik shan't allow his Christine to fall." I offered a timid, gloved hand in assistance across the narrow catwalks. I scarcely breathed as the Swedish Songbird slowly reached for my hand, only to pull away before brushing my palm.
"I'm not sure… Please, I don't want to fall…" Christine grew silent when she noticed my questioning, intense stare. She visibly paled as the the shadows concealing most of my figure caused my eyes to glimmer golden and cat-like in their deep sockets.
Why should she be frightened of falling? Did I not just promise to never allow her to fall? Since when had I broken a single promise to her? Where was her fear founded? Why didn't she trust me?
I felt a tightness in my chest as my eyes narrowed in growing anger. Curling and uncurling my fingers slowly, I made an impulsive move, much faster than Christine could hope to follow or prevent. Simultaneously, I snatched the little soprano around the waist and wrapped my other arm around a free set rope hanging from the rafters above.
"Erik, what-?"
I jumped.
Right of the catwalk.
A nine storey, straight drop to the stage.
I've never feared the edge, never felt even a tremor of icy panic or terror when staring into its cold nothingness. Danger was my playground, and Death my dearest old friend.
She screamed.
Why was she screaming? We weren't even falling anymore, so really, why was she screaming like that? I'd only allowed us to drop ten meters or so, not far, not far at all. We were hanging there quite comfortably, for I'm rather spry for my age; spry and very, very strong for being little more than a corpse. Really, she was beginning to annoy me, that girl, and nothing good ever came of annoying me! She would ruin her voice at that rate, and I would not allow such a travesty!
"SILENCE!" I am a master at controlling my voice, so it was no real feat to overpower Christine's screeching. That God-awful noise which had been issuing from the soprano's mouth wouldn't have halted any more quickly if I'd slit her throat.
And really, that would have been drastically inconvenient. I was wearing my best tailcoat, after all, and it would have been unnecessarily bothersome to stain it.
"Christine," I spoke calmly, unfazed by our terrifying situation. "Do stop fidgeting, child, it's rather difficult to hold you when you're shaking like a cornered mouse."
Christine froze, scarcely breathing. Sighing, I adjusted my hold on the set rope, also twisting a foot around it and where it was knotted to better distribute the respective weight of the little diva and I.
"Now, do as I tell you exactly as I tell you, Christine. I don't wish to drop you to your final curtain call," I chuckled morbidly at my own macabre jest. "I'm going to lift you up a bit, and you are going to wrap one arm around my shoulder, and the other around my waist- I know you don't care much to be near me, my dear, but we're already quite pasted that now anyway." Slowly, and with evident terror, she snaked an arm up my back to dig her fingers into my shoulder, her other arm wrapping in a crushing grip around my ribcage. I silently basked in the euphoric pleasure her simple touch brought me, keeping my own arm around her waist to prevent her fall. "Yes… now go ahead and stand on the shoe which I have on the rope- don't worry, it's perfectly acceptable for you to step on my foot, Christine. We're not dancing, so no matter of grace will be disrupted in the act. Very good."
We were facing each other now, though her sapphire eyes were tightly screwed shut while my own saffron gaze studied her with adoration. "Open your eyes."
"...No." Christine swallowed difficulty, breathing heavily through her nose; lucky girl, to have one.
"Yes. Trust your Erik," I spoke in a whispered, purring voice that bade her to obey my words without question. She cracked open her beautiful eyes and stared uncertainly into my masked face. "Are you falling, Christine?"
"You let us fall, Erik!" The little blond singer argued.
"Are you falling, Christine?" I repeated. A moment of silence.
"...No."
"Did I say I would not let you fall?"
"You did, Erik."
Satisfied with the realization dawning on Christine's face, I loosened my hold on the rope only enough to slip down to the nearest catwalk, gently setting her own two feet before jumping down myself. She did not so much as flinch. I clasped my gloved hands together, smiling beneath my mask. "Trust your Erik, Christine, for he will never allow you to fall." I offered her my arm, which she took without hesitation this time. "Shall we continue?"
"Yes. And Erik?" I stopped and looked down to the little songbird. She had a tiny smile on her red lips. "...Thank you."
"For what?" I tilted my head questioningly. What was she thanking me for? I was merely proving a point, nothing more.
"Just… thank you." We continued in silence, the devil and the diva arm in arm. I briefly brushed my fingers over the back of her left hand with adoration. "Where are we going, Erik?" She is so darling, so wonderfully childish, my Christine. Her curiosity made me love her all the more.
"I told you, my darling, it is a surprise. You shall see, trust me." Yes, yes, a surprise indeed, for hidden in my gloved hand was the ring which I had given Christine months ago, the ring which I had offered in protection and friendship and the ring which would hold a much greater meaning on this night I'd only ever imagined in my dreams.
Now all that remained was for me to figure out how I'd pop the question.
/Dun dun dun! And so the drama ensues... will he do it? Will he ask her? To be continued, my lovely readers.../