Hello everyone! Just so you know, this story was an idea that was floating around in my head while I was brainstorming for another POTO fic. Because of this you might not understand some of the details, so I am putting a description of the situation down below.
Basically, a girl goes to the 1800's through a hole in time and ends up in the cellars of the Opera House. Erik finds her, brings her back to the lair, and befriends her. She also discovers a secret tunnel system from when the opera house was used as a storage area for military supplies and as a prison and modifies it. One day in a random turn of events she manages to accidentally knock off his mask. This is where the story starts.
Disclaimer: I take full credit for what me and my mind come up with – things such as characters, bits of exploding scenery, etc. – the rest I give due credit to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gaston Leroux, and Susan Kay.
Cat and MouseI stared in shock (shock, not horror) at my friend's marred face. The first thought that crossed my mind was oh my god. I had read about his face, the pain it had caused him during his lifetime, but nothing could have prepared me for this. It looked like someone had poured acid over its entirety. The flesh was bubbled and contorted.
In some places it was so thin that I could see the delicate tracery of veins across the surface and in others the whiteness of bone. His eyes were sunk into his head creating deep shadows that, in certain light, made it look like the sockets were completely empty. There was an unnatural looking line at which his hair met his forehead. I assumed it was a wig. I had never caught that detail before because the edge of his mask was always covering it.
His lips (or half of them) were contorted, the muscles controlling them pulled at odd angles. The only place that had escaped destruction was the other half of his lips and a portion of his cheek and jaw on the left side of his face. Collectively, it created a ghastly effect that almost made me flinch.
Almost, but then a little voice in the back of my head (the logical part, I guessed) said, he's still Erik. What has really changed? That was what made me reach out to stroke his face. To prove to him that I wasn't afraid and that it was okay. But before I could touch his skin one slender hand reached up and clamped my wrist in a death grip.
Startled, I looked into his eyes only to see not the companionable affection that I had gotten used to but icy hatred. I tried to take a step back, but the hand remained where it was forcing me to stay still.
"Please stay my dear. Stay and look upon the monster that you have so callously revealed."
His voice was pure venom; low, dangerous, and mocking. I only got out "Erik," before he attacked. He sprang up from his seat, taking me with him.
"I daresay you got what you wanted."
He stopped to look at me.
"I saw you staring at my mask. I tried to ignore, I tried to trust you, but look what came from that."
He started to half drag, half carry my now stunned body across the room. I never looked at his mask. In fact, I deliberately went out of my way to ignore it knowing how uncomfortable it would make him. Thoughts raced across my head: why was he doing this? Why was he making up something that I never did? What's he going to do to me? I remembered what I read about Christine Daae and paled.
He didn't kill her because he was deeply in love with her. He had no such feelings for me and he probably would kill me without hesitation if he got angry enough. By the time we reached his bedroom door I was collected enough to voice a desperate plea,
"Erik, please, I didn't mean to. It was an accident. And besides, it doesn't matter to me."
At this, he snorted and shoved me through the doorway and then farther into the room. Loosing my balance I tumbled to the floor. I lay there too afraid to look up as I was berated by his voice once again.
"You women are so inquisitive. Always, always you have to ruin the good in my life. The small amount of good that this damned creator lets into my life."
He dramatically pointed to the ceiling, letting out a string of curses in French, most of which I could not follow. I winced and started to slowly back up, trying to get some distance between us while he was ignoring me. I was doing pretty well until I backed right into a small table with a vase on it. Oh shit, I thought, as the vase fell to the floor with a loud crash, sending roses and water tumbling on top of me.
Obviously, Erik had noticed, and he now was nowhere in sight, which was making me extremely nervous. Frantically I looked around while trying to get to my feet. I was about to make a dash for the door when two black clad arms reached from behind and trapped me within their embrace. I was pulled flush against his body. I could feel his ragged breathing and the hands that were around my waist were trembling.
We stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity and then, in an eerily calm voice Erik spoke,
"Samantha, you should not have done that. You've hurt Erik's feelings and because of that he doesn't like you anymore."
Chills raced up and down my spine and I broke out in a cold sweat. This was not Erik. This was a killer, insane, ruthless, calculating, and deadly. I stayed as still as I could, waiting for what was going to happen next.
"Erik faces quite a dilemma."
He sighed, his chest heaving erratically.
"He wants you to go away, and yet…and yet,"
I could feel his face lowering towards me. I tensed as I felt him slide his forehead against my neck and then rest it there. A warm wetness pooled in the crook of my neck and then started to drip down my collarbone. He's crying, I thought. Hesitantly, I reached up my hand and touched the trail of tears winding its way down my neck and chest.
Maybe…maybe he's back to normal. I felt a flicker of hope. If he was battling with himself not to get rid of me then maybe he was attached enough to me that he would spare me. Or at the least enough to bring him back to his normal self. I traced the tears up my neck until I felt hair.
I hesitated and then my fingers found their way up to marred flesh and started stroking it. As soon as I did that I felt him tense and then I heard a low growl emanate from behind the back of my head. Before I could react I was swept off my feet. I shrieked and started to struggle against his grip. It was useless, though, for it felt like my body was encased within two steel bands. Within seconds I was unceremoniously dumped into what I recognized as his coffin.
I drew my legs up to myself and kept my eyes on Erik. He circled the coffin like a shark does its prey, his eyes flashing and fiery once again.
"Do you think that you can trick Erik into believing that you would touch him of your own free will?"
He smiled icily as he tilted his head to the side, looking for all the world as if he just figured out a great secret.
"You think that by tricking Erik you will be set free, yes?"
He fingered the edge of the coffin with a devious light in his eyes.
"Well I think not, for Erik has found a way to solve his problems for a time."
He looked at me as if he desperately wanted me to ask the question. Knowing I was damning myself yet finding no other solution to get me out of the situation I asked,
"How Erik?"
He grinned,
"By keeping you in one place wile Erik figures out a way to dispose of you."
He pointed down, toward where I was sitting and I instantly realized what he was going to do. I scrambled to the other side of the coffin and jumped out, hitting the floor painfully. I lunged for the door and almost made it but I tripped over the edge of a Persian rug and went sprawling. As I got up, my feet were kicked out from under me and I was dragged back to the coffin. Shoving me down, Erik bent and picked up the lid, making it look as if it weighed only as much as cardboard and not the sixty or so pounds it probably was. I tried to get up again, but he quickly slammed the lid down, making me bang my head painfully.
Darkness surrounded me and I could barely make out the sound of Erik shuffling around in the room. There was silence for a time and then all of a sudden there was a tumultuous crash to the right of me. That must be the drapery I thought; another crash- and the desk-numerous small explosions-and anything else that he can get his hands on. By the sounds of it, he was wreaking havoc on the whole lair. I stayed where I was, trying hard to keep my breathing normal.
Erik slept in the coffin but he did not have the lid on when he did so and I had a sneaking suspicion that there were no air vents. If he left me in there long enough I would probably die of suffocation.
That is if I didn't get out myself.
I carefully tried to push on the lid. It was heavy, and even when I threw caution to the wind and put my full weight on it, it didn't budge. I laid back on the velvet and silk blankets and began to think upon my predicament.
My best option would be to wait until he was distracted and then make a run for it. It could work if I went into the labyrinth and got to my secret tunnels, but that still left the matter of the lid. I could wait for a while and then try again to move the lid. It was too heavy to lift, but I might be able to side it open. An agonized sob brought me back from my musings.
I tilted my head to the left and heard, faintly, the sound of crying. Every once in a while I could hear him pull in a ragged breath or start hiccupping. Even though he threatened me, hurt me, and locked me in a coffin my heart still went out to him. I knew the impact of what I had just done to him. It didn't matter whether it was an accident or not, it shook him to his very core. I had probably ruined whatever relationship we might have had and destroyed his trust in me and in humanity completely.
Knowing him, his mind had and still was at this moment jumping to conclusions and blocking everything out it did not want to hear. In other words I was screwed if I didn't find a way to get myself out of there and let him cool off. If I left I didn't know if I would ever be able to bring myself back. I didn't know if he would even let me come back or just kill me on sight. Oh well, I huffed; I'll deal with these things later if I ever get the chance to.
I silently waited, listening to what was happening outside the coffin. Hours passed and I was starting to get hot. The small space I was in was slowly loosing air and it was getting harder to breathe. I had not heard Erik for a long time and hoped he went out, was stewing somewhere else in the lair, or had gone to sleep. I had to try and move the lid now while I could still function properly.
With both hands pressed firmly and evenly on the stone of the lid I put all my weight into pushing sideways and up. Slowly, it started to move. Centimeter by centimeter I pushed until I could make out a tiny sliver of light on the left edge. Hope surging in my chest, I pushed harder, widening the hole enough that I could stick my hand out side and get a better grip. I tugged and pushed and pulled until finally there was a space that was just wide enough for me to crawl out of.
After wriggling my shoulders, hips, then the rest of my body out of the coffin I dropped onto the floor. Quickly I scanned the room. No Erik, but that didn't mean he wasn't somewhere nearby. The room was completely destroyed and judging by what I heard, the rest of the house was probably completely in shambles too. I tiptoed to the door and looked out.
He wasn't in the hall so I carefully opened the door and started to cautiously sneak towards the opening that would lead me through the kitchen to the sitting room and then to the door to the lake. As I moved through the kitchen I stopped for a second to pick out a knife from the holder on the countertop. It was the biggest one, wicked sharp and hopefully deadly. I didn't want to hurt Erik, but at this point to stay alive I would do almost anything. I stopped just before the threshold and peeked into the sitting room.
It was completely empty. A sense of foreboding came over me. This was too easy. Erik was around here somewhere-I just knew it. Not making a sound I crossed the room and grabbed the door handle. Turning it I slipped out and shut the door behind me. Now I ran swiftly across the terrace, down the steps, and onto the shore of the lake. I raced past an outcropping of rock and stopped abruptly.
There was Erik, crouching at the water's edge and staring out into the mist that enshrouded the lake. As if he felt me watching he turned his head and our eyes met. I gasped. Gone was any semblance of a man behind those glowing ice blue eyes. Hatred, rage, fury, and emptiness is what pierced my soul.
Slowly he unfurled himself, looming like a huge shadow before me. I tried to turn, tried to run back to the safety of the house and the security of doors between us, but he caught up with me before I reached the steps. I slashed out with my knife, grazing his collarbone and soliciting a gasp from him. I slashed again, but now prepared, he caught my wrist and twisted it painfully to the side, forcing me to drop my knife. I cried out and tried to kick him between his legs but he parried, flipping me onto the ground at the edge of the water. He dropped to the ground too and then closed his fingers around my neck.
"You damned woman. You are like Pandora, opening the box because of her curiosity."
I vigorously shook my head and started clawing at his hands.
"You say it was an accident but why should I believe you? Everybody lies, and that has to be a lie because how would it be an accident to reveal this."
He leaned toward me so I could get a full view of his face. Desperately, and on animal instinct, I started clawing at it. I got a few good scratches in before he recoiled; dropping his hands from my neck completely and backing away whimpering and cradling his head in his hands. Obviously the skin on his face must be sensitive, I thought. Taking the opportunity I lunged forward, picking up my knife and sprinting towards the opening to the tunnels.
I just reached it when I heard an inhuman shriek behind me. It chilled me to the bone and reached something deep inside of me. I could feel my legs starting to pump at Olympian speed and all the pain in my neck fade away. Suddenly, the map of the tunnels was crystal clear in my mind and I was drawing up shortcuts to the nearest hidden door that I could access. I was almost there when I heard him.
He had been stalking these tunnels for years and knew passageways that I had never even dreamed of. I just hoped I would make it in time. I skidded to a halt in front of a section of tunnel. Frantically searching for the lever I spread my hands across the wall. After a few seconds I finally found it and pressed down, triggering the wall to silently slide out.
As I got inside I could hear his harsh breathing in the next corridor. Quickly I shut the door and then leaned on the wall behind me. He would never be able to find me. I just made this door and he had no idea that it was here. I heard Erik walk past, stopping for a second a little beyond where I was standing and then moving on.
I sighed in relief and then sank to the floor. I sat there for only a second before I heard him coming back. Startled, I scrambled up, feeling a slight twinge in my right hand, but ignoring it. I listened as he circled right in front of the door and then came to a halt. A second after that something hit the wall, the echo from the impact resounding down the tunnel I was in.
The echo!
God, he knew! I started to run again, blindly, stumbling against the walls and floor. My hand began to throb mercilessly. Distantly, I wondered what was wrong with it. I reached a chamber with passageways shooting off in all directions.
Where am I? I thought. There was light coming from a grate above me. I looked back from where I came. There were dusty footprints leading straight back into the darkness. He has a trail straight to me, wherever I go.
I half turned, but then something caught my attention. There was also a trail of something else beside those footprints and on one side of the wall. Blood. Realization dawning, I looked down at my hand. The knife I had been carrying was wedged deep into my hand. Blood was flowing from the wound at a steady pace.
I knew I had to get it out. My shirt would do as a bandage. Numbly, I reached for the handle and swiftly pulled it out, throwing it to the ground. Blood started dripping at an alarming rate. I pulled off my shirt and wrapped it tightly around my hand.
By this time I knew it was over. I could hear him from far off coming down the tunnels. His heavy footfalls echoing. That's funny, I thought, he's usually so silent. He was getting closer.
I leaned back against the cold stone wall and waited. It was so quiet where I was. I stayed there for another minute when something caught my attention. From one of the tunnels came a strange buzzing noise. My brows creased in confusion. That sounds like the portal.
Suddenly, I jumped up from the wall and raced toward the sound. It has to be it. I searched and searched and couldn't find it before, but I didn't go this far in. I made a running turn and dashed through a stone archway. I looked back. He was behind me and also running.
Madness glimmered in his eyes and his twisted mouth was smiling ferociously. I could see it now, the shimmering wall of blackness. I dived, and as a dark coldness enveloped me I could hear him scream,
"Noooooooo"
That single word followed me through. I collapsed onto the smooth floor of the cave, sobbing, because I heard in that cry rage, sorrow, and regret.
Somehow I felt that the Erik I knew was in there somewhere and that maybe someday I would go back and try to be his angel.