Alex eddy: Thank you for your extra long review, really appreciate that! Also, yes. I unfortunately DO take French… But not for LONG! FOURTH YEAR AND SPANISH HERE I COME! Hope you start writing soon and thanks for reviewing!
The Mouse in the Opera House: Thank you once again for reviewing. And don't worry about asking questions I don't mind. It is my lot in life to torture people like you who ask questions, and tell them that they will have to wait because the story will reveal all! Laughs evilly
GEORGIA LADY: Thanks for your review. If you have ever seen Gerry in Dracula 2000 you should imagine him like that. Droooollll
Marie Phantom: All will be revealed! Twinkles fingers
Kajsa: Why thank you!
Diane Kuhs: Thanks all will be revealed! And don't worry I have evil mind too!
Faeriefeline125: Ta Ta! And I will!
And thank you to anybody else who reviewed and I have missed because of my disorganised personality… Extra Erik hugs for all!
Thank you everyone for reviewing I really appreciate it and never hesitate to do so…
Disclaimer: I do not own Phantom of the Opera (or Erik) sniffle but Monica, Robert, Hansel and Monsieur Liddel are all from my own toiled mind
FallingAs Christine disappeared into the distance, Erik pulled the stallion to a stop and looked almost longingly after her. Seeing her again was like a knife in his stomach being twisted with every heart beat. He didn't want her to be here. After all the time that he had spent putting his life back together without her, the last thing that he needed was for her to return and enter back into his life again.
He sighed and shook his head, and leant forward to pat Don Juan on the neck. The horse neighed back in recognition and Erik inwardly chuckled at the irony of the horse's name. No matter where he went he couldn't escape his old life.
Really, deep down, he had known that from the beginning. He knew that no one could really escape their past even though their past has already happened. The world isn't that big and things will always come back to haunt you. As much as he wanted to leave his old life behind, his past had caught up with him, and it was rather sooner than he had expected. Even though if it had come 30 years down the line he still would have thought that it would be too soon. Better to get it over and done with now, he thought.
The horse pulled on the reins, bringing him back into the present again. He looked around and wondered how long he had been sitting there for. It didn't really matter. He was dreading the time when Christine returned. He was wondering how long it would take for her to ask about his face. Not long he was sure. The way that Christine had stared at his face last night was enough to tell that her curiosity was already well on in its progress. He didn't want to spend any time with her, he still deeply loved her and it killed him, because he didn't want to, but no one can decide whom he or she falls in love with… Not even the Phantom… No, Erik shook his head. He wasn't the Phantom any more, was just Erik. Designing and composing Erik.
At that thought, his mood immediately perked up, as the fact that he was designing the rebuilt version of the Opera Populaire, which was being rebuilt even grander than it had stood before. He had missed the Opera, and even though he would not go as far as to live in it this time, he was still intending to spend as much time there as physically possible. Another thought which gave him great joy was the fact that the man who had bought the ruins of the Opera House, and the Man who had decided that it should be rebuilt, had heard some of his music before. Monsieur Marx had requested that he composed an Opera or at least a piece for the opening gala of the Opera Populaire, when the time came. Erik had accepted with great joy, although also, with slight trepidation. He was not sure of how things would work out, and things were getting to good for his life, too good to be true, as they say.
For the last while since he accepted Monsieur Marx's invitation he had been anxiously awaiting the day that his new world and happy life, that was far too good for him in his mind, would come crashing down around him… It had just come.
Somehow he knew that he would unfortunately come across Christine again. And the confusion inside him regularly boiled over and it would seriously annoy him that he didn't know whether he wanted her back or not, and Erik, HATED being indecisive. He had always berated Christine for her indecisiveness when picking a song for some reason or other. And there it was again! Those infuriating connections to Christine! Always there- Just like Christine. He greatly wished that she would get out of his mind.
He was once again broken from his reverie by a shout from the Hansel. He looked up quickly slightly dazed.
"Monsieur, are you finished with Don or do you wish to continue?" Hansel asked.
Erik was confused and replied, "No, he's not been exercised fully yet, we still have the cross- country to do. Why?" he asked, the confusion could not be hidden form his voice, and it was genuine.
"Well, monsieur. You have been sitting there for ten minutes staring at his mane," Hansel said with a shrug.
"Oh, well no. My imagination got the better of me, Hansel. And I can bed him down for the day myself, you can finish your duties and go," Erik said motioning towards the gates of the stable yard.
"Thank you, Monsieur!" Hansel said enthusiastically, and it looked like the skin around his mouth was about to rip in two he smiled so broadly…
Erik watched the young boy run off, with slight amusement. It must be so simple, childhood. He wondered what it was like having a proper one. Where you weren't cringing every half-hour waiting for a blow to fall, or a curtain to open. He had never had a childhood, and as he thought back to his past, his mood darkened. If Hansel had arrived now he would not have let him go early. He sat up straighter and stretched his back with a grimace, the memories flooding back with all too perfect recollections. Sometimes the pain returned with them, sometimes without, he just dreaded the times when he was reminded of his childhood. And yet, sometimes he revelled in his memories; they almost give him comfort in some sort of macabre way. Sometimes he would sit alone in a dark corner of his room with the fire casting a faint red glow over the room and set his thoughts on his past. Somehow, although he felt depressed, it gave him comfort, and he wished he knew why…
He shook his head once more and gently squeezed Don Juan into action again. But even as he walked around the arena, his thoughts floated back to Christine out there somewhere, on Amarantine…
As Christine serenely rode across the wide fields her thoughts floated to someone once again whom she did not want to think about. As soon as she felt the slightest telltale sign that he was entering her mind she would immediately think of Raoul. Her darling- even if boring- husband, who she told herself she loved dearly and would never think of betraying by thinking of another man, of a choice that she had made before. It was the past, and she had made her choice she told herself. For the past while that she had been living with Raoul, she had steeled herself against thoughts of Erik and what she had done to him, and deep down told herself that she really did hate him.
There was that indisputable fact that he had tried to kill Raoul and had gone mad, killing all that was good without a thought. He had killed Joseph Bouquet and nearly killed Carlotta, although the last had been for Christine's well being but that wasn't the point, it wasn't right! (A/N: And by the way don't think that I'm ratting on Erik, I will explain all later!)
Damn! There she was thinking about him again, but at least this time it hadn't been favourably, she told herself. She decided to ease her tired mind by looking around her at the beautiful location of Monica and Robert's House. It truly was beautiful, the fields stretched out as far as the eye could see, the sun shone today and lit up all areas and gave the places that were covered by the reaching branches of trees a speckled look that was delightful to Christine's troubled mind. Whenever she had a problem she always turned to the comfort of the world around her.
She looked up at the blue sky and let her ears be filled with the joyous song of the songbirds above, entwining their way together in a dance of true love and acceptance.
Across the wide fields there was the odd tree dotted across the green grass that gave great shade. In the distance she could see the snow-covered tops of mountains and wondered what each one was called and how tall and steep they really were up close. She had to admit that Erik's choice of horse had really been splendid. Amarantine walked calmly and slowly below her with great ease and smoothness of pace, and Christine was quite comfortable even though she was not riding side- saddle, something that was greatly refreshing in her mind.
And she suddenly brightened up; she had mentioned- or thought of- Erik in passing and had only remembered now! How proud of herself she was! She let out a laugh that seemed to made of pure joy and spurred her horse on into a fast paced gallop that made her feel like she was floating through the air at tremendous pace. She let go of the reins, trusting the quiet mare with her life, and putting her arms out to the sides, letting the wind flow through her fingers like water. She laughed and filled her lungs with the fresh air of the outdoors, never had she felt so happy in her life…
Never had Erik felt so sad in all his life… He didn't know why but he had a feeling of sadness and foreboding in his mind. The foreboding feeling was stronger though, and sent a wave of freezing cold through him. He shivered and he knew that something was wrong. He shook his head and tried to banish it from his mind but no matter, he could still feel that horrible cold sliding up and down his back.
Even before his days at the Opera Populaire he had had great intuition, he always knew when something was wrong. The greatest downside of this power of perception being… he didn't know what was wrong. He sighed and dropped the reins, and rubbed his now perfect face with his hands and sighed. He normally couldn't tell what was wrong… but this time he could. He had a feeling that it was something to do with Christine. But he cleared it from his mind thinking that it was just because he had met her after such a long time…
Christine was on a high she felt so happy, all trivial matters of the world did not matter any more. The only thing that mattered was that she was here now, in such a beautiful place and she had no responsibilities or things to think about… because none of them mattered.
But you have to picture the next moment in slow motion. Christine laughed and the mare took another thundering stride… Christine closed her eyes in blind happiness… the mare took another thundering stride… Christine laughed… the mare took another thundering stride… a rabbit darted in front of the mare… the mare spooked… Christine fell… the mare ran… Christine fell… Christine… just fell… It seemed to Christine like she was falling through space and time… She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out… Christine fell…
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Christine stopped…
She slowly opened her eyes. She must have fallen and hit her head on something, but she could tell that she hadn't been asleep for too long by the position of the sun. Then again she wasn't where she had fallen. She was under a tree, in that cool shade that she remembered seeing before on the Mare.
She blinked a few times at the intrusion of tiny beams of light that penetrated through the gaps between the leaves of the tree. Things were still a little blurry, so she blinked a few times more and then the pain in her head came, making her wish she had died.
She heard a distant and far off voice. Slowly she sat up and looked around her, the confusion taking its toll on her already pounding head. She looked out, away from the shadow of the tree and into the sunlight. She saw a man standing beside two horses.
She still hadn't a clue what was going on around her as her brain was till working in slow motion like the paragraph above.
Eventually when the power of recognition came back to her and she realised that the man was Erik and the horses were Amarantine and Don Juan. She listened closer, seeing the Erik had not realised that she had woken.
"Women, eh?" he said to Don Juan, inclining his head towards Amaranthine and Christine together. The horse neighed its approval and a deep chuckle escaped him. She had never heard him laugh in any form and was surprised to hear the rich sound pass his lips. But at the same time she was furious at him. If not for the scathing comment but for everything in general.
"Excuse me, Monsieur," Christine said, and then instantly regretted it as the pounding in her head increased and she flinched at the sound of the brass band in her head.
Erik spun quickly at the sound of her voice. He looked at her and she shivered under his unwavering gaze, and she jumped at the sight of his face. But the strange thing was –and she felt that she would never get accustomed to it- was the reason that she flinched was because the right side of his profile was perfect. She inwardly shouted at herself for her lack of feeling. It seemed that no matter what he done she would always flinch. AND TOO RIGHT! After all the massacring he had had done, the steeliest man in Ireland would have flinched!
"It would be best to rest yourself, Madame. You had a rather rough fall," he said turning back to the horses again.
She inwardly fumed until she couldn't hold it any longer and it wasn't long.
"Excuse me! What are you doing here? What in Gods name possessed you to come how did you know? Why did you come back into my life?" she almost screamed. The fact that Erik hardly moved and stayed completely calm infuriated her even more and made her shout more loudly.
"Why did I come back into your life? Excuse me, Madame, but I do believe that I was here first and therefore, you came into my life…" he said turning again and feeding the two horses a half of an apple each.
"Oh for GODS SAKE! I give up," she sighed again and wrapped her arms around her knees protectively.
Erik finished with the horses that now had their tack off and were grazing happily, loosely tethered to a stray rock that stood up very straight.
Erik walked towards Christine. He didn't particularly want to because the awkward feeling that he knew he would feel would come. He sat down close to her but no too close. The awkward feeling came as he had expected. There was an awkward silence as well and Erik could feel the torrent of emotions pouring off Christine, but he did not show his awkwardness on the outside and kept his steely exterior up.
He turned to her and with genuine concern said; "Are you alright?" She lifter her head from her knees and looked at him with a steady gaze. She was about to reply in a civil way but her brain overrode the reaction that she had developed form being in the presence of the aristocracy and came out with; "What would you care anyway," Christine really didn't feel herself. Even that reply was uncharacteristic of her.
Erik had noticed this abnormality as well. "I would care a great deal actually," he said looking back at her. His reply was just as venomous but he could not completely push out the tones of worry and truth. It really annoyed him.
Christine sighed and shook her head. She wasn't sure what to say and she felt dizzy and she wasn't herself at all. She would never have said those things to Erik. She didn't even know his name yet. Was Erik his real name or did he just make that up off the top of his head?
"What are we waiting here for anyway? Do you not think that we should go back?" Christine said, trying her best not to let her gaze fall on him.
"Not yet. Take it easy. You had a bad fall and I want to make sure that you aren't going to have another one anytime soon."
Christine sighed and saw that there was a small stream running near to the tree that they were sitting under. She stood, and held on to the tree trunk for support. She didn't want to fall over again and feel even weaker in Erik's presence. She wasn't sure exactly what he thought of her now, and she tried to tell herself that she didn't care, but she did and she knew that she did.
She was beginning to realise that maybe it isn't him that she hates. But she hates the fact that she loves him after all this. The fact that she loves him more than Raoul. And she knew that it was only a matter of time before she admitted it to herself…
And sat down by the edge of the stream not caring that her dress was getting muddy. It was already disgusting and she was past caring. The only thing that filled her thoughts now was the man that was sitting behind her. Who had saved her…? If no one had found her she could have been there for days. It was a big estate, and it would take a few hours for anyone to notice her prolonged absence.
She lifted a small handful of the cool water and threw it over her face washing away the muck that had taken over her once perfect make-up. She sighed and shivered and then dried her face on the cleanest part of the sleeve of her dress she could find. It wasn't very clean…
She stood once more and turned to face the tree again. Erik had risen and was tending to the horses again. He seemed to have bonded very well with both of them. She supposed that while he had been deformed, working with animals would have been a release. Animals didn't ask questions, they didn't care how smart you were, they didn't care how wealthy you are, and they just made sure that you were kind and would feed them all the time. She expected that Erik would abnormally good with animals and she had been right.
While watching the man, the question that had been lingering at the back of her mind came back to the front. 'How had he gotten rid of the deformity'. There was no trace of it there anymore, and Christine didn't believe in witchcraft, so that was out of the question. It truly puzzled her, but she certainly wouldn't ask him on the terms that the pair was on now.
She walked away from the stream and back towards the tree again. Erik didn't show any sign that he had noticed her return so she sat back down again and watched him fiddle about with the horse's tack and getting clumps of muck out of their well-brushed manes.
"How long before we can go back?" Christine hadn't meant all the things that she had said earlier. She was surprised to see him, not to mention that fact that she had just fallen off a horse too. She hoped that he hadn't taken her words to heart.
She really was sorry about what she had done to him before. She had never intended to hurt him although she knew that it would be something that would have to happen along the way. She had never wanted to hurt him…
"Give it five minutes. Until you feel like yourself again." Erik didn't turn around when answering her.
For the next while she just sat and watched Erik and how well the horses responded to him. She was going over the events of the Opera Populaire in her mind. The events that she promised herself she would never think of again. The events that she had told herself were the past because she was happy now and didn't need to remember the past…
The weather hadn't changed since and the sun was still beating down on the green meadows of France. As she looked out at the blistering heat of the summer she was thankful for the cool shade of the tree. There was a slight breeze blowing the grass though and it kept the temperature down slightly, but only slightly. While sitting in the shade it ruffled Christine's hair in a very complimentary way. Erik noticed all these things from quick glimpses that he stole of her when she wasn't looking.
He told himself that he should be over her. She had been icy with him so he had been icy in return. He was planning to play the next few days by ear and see her attitude towards him. He hoped that she didn't think she could just waltz back into his life and take him y storm. He hoped that she didn't think that he would fall madly back in love with her and let it show to the whole world, and answer to her every beck and call. The first part was true but he didn't intend to show it. And even if he did love her, he would never give her another chance. She had betrayed him, more than once, and once was enough for anyone. She frightened him in the way that she had this effect on him and that she could hurt him so much with just a single glance. The way that she could captivate his mind with her musical laugh. The way that she could make him feel like he was loved one moment and hated and alone the next. He hated anyone having that sort of power over him, but there was only one person that did. One too many…
"Are you ready to go, Christine?" he said, turning towards her for the first time in five minutes. She hadn't been looking at him. She had been looking off into the fields far away. The look on her face when she snapped back into reality almost made his heart stop.
He inwardly slapped himself for his weakness and foolishness. He took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind of all power that Christine held over him.
"Um, yes. I think I will be fine, thank you," she replied, rising from her makeshift seat of the root of the tree. A soon as she spoke, she came rushing back into his mind with such ferocity that' it nearly knocked him off his feet. He slapped himself hard again, inwardly. It was tearing him up inside. He refused to allow her to do this to him.
Both had set their minds to fooling each other that they didn't love them. What strange things go through the minds of humans?
2#
Okay well that's it for now. I know it's short but I don't want to put too much into one chapter sooooo. Tell me what you think…
I would like to give a HUGE thank you to ALL my reviewers you are amazing and help me write immensely. Please tell me if you would prefer review replies in chapters or by the new e-mail reply that Fan Fiction has set up!
Thanks,
Kelly Tolkien!