Hi,
I love Erik, he is one of my favorite characters, and I just had to write him. I am working on other stories, but this story is insisting on being written. It is an author universe story, so expect out of character behaviors. I have some chapters already written, so I hope to update on Thursday's or Friday's. Reviews and suggestions are always appreciated. Unfortunately, The Phantom of the Opera story, or characters do not belong to me, and I am writing only for fun, and not for profit.
Vonny25
Little Erik
Caged
It was nighttime when a caravan of gypsies entered Paris, they brought with them shows, happiness, and entertainment for all. Contrasting with the happy atmosphere, at the back of the caravan there was a boy among the animals that knew only suffering, and sadness.
Little Erik sat chained inside his cage, with a sack over his head, and his smart, but tortured eyes were looking at the stars. Erik loved the night as it was the only time when no one bothered him. He enjoyed humming to himself the classical music he remembered from his early childhood, and his own music. The music he created had elements of the gypsy rhythms that he heard around the camp, and the music he remembered from home, but it was original and clearly his own.
The caravan finally came to a stop, and Erik laid on the dirty hay that had not been changed since the day many years ago when he was first thrown in that cage. The hay held his feces, and urine, as Erik was not given any other place to relieve himself. His cage was never cleaned, as the cages of the animals were. He was also never permitted out of his cage. He had no blankets to cover himself, so he slept rolled in a ball to try to keep warm, as the only thing he was wearing was a filthy loincloth.
Sleep offered little respite to Erik, as he suffered from nightmares almost every night, tonight was no exception. In his dream he was back home, and still a toddler. Little Erik was playing with his twin brother, and laughing. His twin brother had no fear of him, or his face. His twin had never had a problem giving him hugs, and even kisses.
But as everything in life, dreams don't last forever. The dream slowly transformed in to a nightmare. Erik was now seven, and ridding in a carriage with his stepmother; oh! how he hated that woman. Little Erik was sitting with his twin brother. Erik wondered what had got in to his stepmother that she was taking him out with his beloved brother, as if he was a normal child, and no the monster she claimed him to be. But he was not about to complain, because he wanted to watch the shows that the gypsies brought to town.
They got out at the gypsy camp, and walked around looking at all the performances. Erik had a mask on his face to hide his affliction. Later that night his stepmother took his hand, and told him, "Come with me Erik, I know how much you like music, and there is a musical performance in that tent." They walked away from his brother, and the nanny. He entered the tent expecting to hear music, but there was no music there.
The tent was dark, Erik was afraid, and tried to run out, but his stepmother had an iron grip on his shoulders. A man came out of the shadows, and said, "I see the kid is spirited." His stepmother responded, "Do not be confused messier, this creature is not a child." The man laughed cruelly, and approached them, when he was right in front of Erik he grabbed him by the hair, and ripped his mask off. The man took a step back, and little Erik saw fear in his eyes, before he laughed cruelly once more.
His stepmother said, "So do you want it". Little Erik saw the man hand a sack full of coins to his stepmother, and then say "Thanks madam, I will put this devil to good use, and you never have to worry about seeing it again." Erik woke up with his hearth pounding, and disoriented only to find himself in a living nightmare.
After calming himself down by rocking back and forth, he started singing with his ethereal voice:
There is a castle on a cloud,
I like to go there in my sleep,
Aren't any whips down on my back,
Not in my castle on a cloud.
There is a room that's full of toys,
There are a hundred girls and boys,
Nobody laughs or yells at me,
Not in my castle on a cloud.
There is a lady all in white,
Holds me and sings a lullaby,
She's nice to see and she's soft to touch,
She says "Erik, I love you very much."
I know a place where no one's lost,
I know a place where no one cries,
Crying at all is not allowed.
Not in my castle on a cloud.
(Les Miserables - Castle On A Cloud Lyrics. With minor modifications.)
Not long after Erik finished singing, the sunrise came, and with it another day of misery for poor Erik.