Hey everyone thanks for the reviews…here's the next chapter.
The following morning, I awoke to the sound of someone groaning. I couldn't complain about my previous night's rest….it was the best night's rest I had ever gotten. His bed was ever so warm, and through the night I slipped in and out of a deep sleep to the smell of French cologne that was indented within the blankets. I had expected to awake and see Erik lying on the floor, but when I stood up he wasn't there. Before walking out into the main room of the tent, I dressed in my work clothes, and brushed my hair. When I walked out into the main room, I noticed Erik sitting at his desk. He had his face placed down in his hand, as he wrote with his other. It didn't take long to realize that the groaning was coming from him.
"Is everything alright?" I asked.
He quickly turned with a startle, and I realized that I must have frightened him.
"Oh…please forgive me mademoiselle." he stated. "I'm simply not used to having company."
"Are you alright?" I asked. "You seem as though you're in pain."
"Seems as though my headache has returned. Are you going to work?"
I nodded, and Erik stood to his feet.
"Well then, I shall retire to my bedchamber. I tried to work on some music, but seems as though my headache is making it simply impossible."
I placed on my cloak, and turned to face him once more.
"Do you want me to bring you back anything?" I asked.
"No." he replied. "I just want to rest."
I wanted to stay and comfort him, but I knew I had to leave. After walking over to the caravan, I went in and sat down at Esmeralda's table. She placed a doughnut and a glass of milk down in front of me, and I began to eat it.
"So, how is life with the boss?" she asked.
"Alright, I guess."
"Tell me." she replied. "has he become more than just your boss?"
Oh how I wished I could tell Esmeralda that he tried to make a move on me…but if I did, I knew I'd be lying.
"No, he's just my boss."
Esmeralda then handed me the basket full of breakfast, and smiled.
"Well at least he's keeping it professional. I guess I had him pictured a bit wrong with him asking you to stay with him."
"He's protecting me.."
"I used to believe otherwise, but now I know that's what he's doing."
I didn't say another word, as I exited the caravan. I delivered breakfast as usual, and was having an easy morning, that was until I approached Lonnie's tent. I had to be quick, and quiet…or else he would know I was here. I quietly approached the doorway of his tent, and lied the plate of food down…and then I ran! I didn't get far though, because Lonnie came running out after me.
"Lauralye!" he called. "Wait up!"
I stopped running, what was the use anyway. He would just follow me back to the caravan.
"You've been ignoring me." he replied in a jealous tone.
"No I have not."
"You've been lying my food down inside the doorway of my tent. Now, if that isn't trying to avoid contact with someone, I don't know what is."
"Is there anything you actually need from me?" I questioned sarcastically. "Because if not, I must return to the caravan."
"I asked you days ago about me taking you out on the town."
I sighed…
"Lonnie, I can't."
His face went completely blank…
"And why on earth not? Come on Lauralye…please go out with me..tonight! Yes tonight! Meet me here at dusk, and come to the opera house with me."
"The opera house?" I questioned.
"Yes, they are playing Faust tonight…I'd really like it if someone joined me."
I had never been to the opera house before, and I couldn't say that I didn't want to go. As much as I disliked Lonnie, I couldn't pass up the offer to see an actual show. But then again….there was Erik. He had me promise him that I would never leave the fairgrounds. I thought about what to do for the longest of seconds, before I finally agreed.
"Ok, I'll meet you here tonight at dusk. But I'm only doing this because I want to go to the opera house, not because I want to hang with you."
"Oh dear Lauralye, you shall come to see that you love me."
Yuck…was all that ran through my mind, as I began to walk back towards the caravan. Oh how badly I wanted to go to the opera house, but the thought of betraying Erik made me cringe. I had to do something to keep him from knowing that I would be gone. After delivering lunch, I had some time to spare before I had to return to deliver dinner. I wanted to check on Erik, and so I returned to his tent. I had expected to see him sitting at his desk, but he wasn't. I then walked into the bedchamber, to see him lying in bed fast asleep. His headache must have been very terrible, especially to see him lying in bed this late in the afternoon. I knew it wouldn't last, and within the hour he would be up and looking for me…Then it hit me! I quietly approached his medicine cabinet and opened it up. I would find his sleeping pills, and slip one into a drink…he would be asleep again in no time, and I would be able to sneak out unnoticed. I began to rummage through all the clear capsules of medicine…he had more than I thought. Oh what were they called…Oh yes they were called…Panado! Yes that's it.. The only problem with trying to find the Panado pills was that they were no longer in a box as I remembered them being in. After several moments of trying to find them, I simply gave up and thought of what they looked like. Well. I remembered them being white…only problem was that Erik had 2 capsules with white pills. Ugh! Why did this have to be so hard. I held both capsules in each hand, and played the game of eeny meeny miny mo. I decided to go with the capsule in my left hand, and opened it up to take two of the pills out. After closing his cabinet back up, I poured him a glass of water and threw in the pills and watched them dissolve into the liquid.
By this time, Erik had awaken and saw me standing over near his wardrobe closet.
"What are you doing?" he asked in a groggy tone.
"I'd thought you'd be thirsty." I said, handing him the glass of water.
Erik didn't say a word as he drank down every last drop of the water. He then placed the empty glass on his nightstand, and lied back down.
"How's your head?" I asked.
"Feels as though a I've been beaten with a club." he replied.
I gently took a seat at the edge of his bed, and smiled.
"Why do you get them?" I asked.
"Get what?"
"Chronic headaches?"
"That's something I'd rather not discuss."
What happened next, not only frightened me, but it also angered him. If I would have known what was going to happen, I wouldn't have opened my big fat mouth.
"Could I help you?" I asked.
"How could you possibly help me?" he questioned.
I then scooted closer to him, and reached out my hand to touch his black hair.
"Where does it hurt?" I asked.
"This.." he began. "Is doing nothing for my nerves."
I didn't back down though, and asked him again.
"Where does it hurt?"
Erik's pale hand then gently came up and touched my wrist. His soft touch was like an electric jolt to my heart… Then with the slightest of movements, he placed my hand on the left side of his skull, just above his ear.
"Right there?" I asked.
"Yes, terribly." he said.
After his hand let go of mine, I began to gently massage the area with my fingers. He didn't seem to mind at first, and he even sighed at the feeling. It was then that I made a wrong move, I trailed my fingers down to his ear. Oh I only wanted to touch him, feel the warmth of his skin, but instead I let my hand wander around his hairline. As I continued trailing my fingers around the hair that curved his ear, I felt my fingers slide beneath his hair…What? My fingers had gone underneath his hair…It was then that I knew he was wearing a wig…Why? Why would he wear such a thing. Did I remove my fingers though? Of course not. No, instead of removing them and acting like it never happened, I continued to trail my fingers up the side of his skull from inside the wig. Erik was too mesmerized by my massage, that he didn't even seem to notice that my fingers were underneath his wig…that was until I gasped at what I felt. As my fingers trailed up above his ear, the smoothness of his skin went away, and what I felt horrified me. The flesh was thin, dry, and blistered in most spots. It was only when I reached the spot of his pain, did I scream. The flesh ended, and I felt my fingers slide into a part of his skin that was cut off, leaving the feeling of long veins, and an exposed area of his…his skull! When I screamed, Erik's eyes shot open and he realized what I was doing. I quickly removed my hand, and backed up against the wardrobe closet. He gawked at me ever so angry at what I had done.
"Has your curiosity gotten the best of you! You little lying Vixen!"
His anger frightened me, and he jumped out of bed to hover over my curled up body.
"How dare you! After all I've done for you…how…how could you do this to me?"
I began to cry, as he picked me up and threw me out of his bedchamber.
"Go to work, and leave me!"
I stood there in the main room, looking at the bedchamber drapes for the longest of time. Oh why? Why did I do that? It was only when he began to sob that I knew I had broken his trust. He was finally beginning to trust me, and then I had to go off and do something like that! Why was he crying? Was it because I had screamed at him? If that was the case, then I wasn't the only one who had done that in his life time. He looked so handsome on the outside, but deep under the garments of clothing he was the complete opposite. My fingers had gotten what they wanted.. I wanted to feel his skin, and now I had gotten my first touch…and it wasn't what I thought it would be. He had something terribly wrong with his body, and I could only wonder what it was? I hadn't seen what was under the wig, no I only felt, and it frightened me ever so.. I only hoped that when the sleeping pills kicked in, he would forget about the whole scenario.
That evening after delivering dinner, I stood there in the fairground, waiting for Lonnie. He approached me ever so happy to see me.
"Shall we be off?" he questioned, extending his arm for me.
I didn't accept it, and walked along side of him, and we descended into the city. I kept my cloak pulled over my head, incase anyone was to notice me. When we approached the opera house, I was so excited to be standing so close to it. I thought we were going to go inside the front door, when Lonnie pulled me into an alley.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I have my own entrance."
"We're not going through the front door?" I asked.
"No, you have to pay that way."
Oh dear god! What have I done? I put Erik to sleep so he wouldn't notice me, thinking that I was going through the front doors of the opera house. Instead I was going through the back door, and stealing. The door we entered through led us up into the rafters, ones that hung right over the stage.
"We could get in trouble for this." I replied.
Lonnie only threw me down onto a sand bag, before sitting himself beside me.
"Oh stop your whining. I come here at least once a week, and I never get caught."
I always dreamed that my first time in an opera house would be magical. You know, being escorted in, sitting in an exclusive box, being treated like royalty. Not sneaking up into the rafters to watch the show from down beneath you. As the show started, Lonnie reached over for my hand. I snatched it away, and continued to listen to the music.
"Come on Lauralye. I brought you up here to ask you something." he replied.
"What?" I asked.
"Come to Florence with me…leave that trashy freak show behind."
"I quite like it there." I said. "And I won't leave. Not with you anyway."
"I love you."
"You don't even know me, Lonnie."
He smiled.
"What's there to want to know? You're beautiful and that's all I need."
Just then, a passing guard caught sight of us. He immediately blew his whistle, causing Lonnie to jump to his feet.
"Oh no, we need to get out of here." he replied.
Once again the guard blew his whistle, and Lonnie was off, leaving me alone.
"What about me!" I screamed.
I had expected Lonnie to help me escape, but he only left me to fend for myself…love indeed, I though. I ran through the opera house, as more guards were on my trail. I didn't know the ways of the opera house, as Lonnie did. He was probably back at the fair grounds by now, the little weasel. I came to a dark hallway, with a curtain drawn over one of the rooms. The guards were getting closer, and I needed a place to hide, so I snuck in through the curtain. When I turned around, I noticed that the stage was down below me, and that I was standing in a private box…not just any box of course, box five. I then heard someone jump to their feet, only to look to my right and see Erik standing there.
"What in the bloody hell are you doing here?" he asked angrily.
This was perfect…first I had gotten spotted, left alone, and now Erik knew I had snuck out! Why didn't those pills work? He should have been fast asleep by now! Erik tried to snatch me, but I ran out of the box, and down the halls. Everyone seemed to be on my trail now…I escaped sight of the guards in just enough time to run out the front door. It was snowing, making the stone steps of the opera house looking like one big sheet of ice. When I heard the whistle being blown again, I made haste, and down the steps I went…not on my feet though. As soon as I took the first step, my feet gave way to the ice, and I fell on my back, sliding down, each step crushing my spinal cord. When I hit the last step, not only did I hear a crack, but I felt the back of my head hit the cobble road. When I opened my eyes, I was left looking at the snowy night sky…paralyzed. I couldn't feel anything, nor could I move my body. I was certain I was going to die, that was until I felt a pair of strong arms lift me up off of the street, and carry me off into the night. I was sure it was an officer, that was until I smelled the familiar scent of French cologne. Oh it was Erik! I was in so much pain, yet I couldn't think of anything more than wanting to continue smelling him. I buried my face into his shoulder, and continued to breath in that wonderful scent…until I passed out.
When I awoke, I still smelled the cologne. I was no longer in his arms, but I smelled him all around me. I was placed on my stomach, and I could feel the softness of sheets touching ever inch of my aching body. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that my head was placed on one of many pillows. I was in his bed! I groaned at the thought of moving, and then suddenly Erik was at my side. He looked paler than usual, and he looked as if he had been awake all night.
"So you finally decided to join us." he replied.
I tried to move, but his hand came down and pressed me back to the mattress.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Moving could be fatal to your recovery."
He then pulled away the blankets, and I felt the coolness of the room hit my back. Why? How could this be? I then glanced over at my arms to notice that they were bare…I was wearing no clothes! He peeled the blankets down to my lower back, and left them there with my back exposed.
"Why am I naked!" I screamed. "Where are my clothes!"
I was furious and so embarrassed that this man was looking down at my naked body. He had probably undressed me as well! He bent himself down to my face, and placed a finger up to his lips to shush me.
"First of all mademoiselle, lower your voice. Now I didn't undress you so don't worry about it. Esmeralda did the pleasure. I would have done it, but found it highly inappropriate. You're going to be lying on your stomach for some time, so get used to it. You hurt your spinal cord tremendously last night, along with causing yourself to have a slight concussion."
He then walked away for a few moments, before returning. I felt him sit himself at the edge of the bed, and wondered what he was doing.
"Now I'm going to rub some salve onto your back. Could you promise not to scream while I do it?"
I wanted to nod, but knew it wouldn't be good to move.
"Ok."
Seconds later, I felt warm liquid being poured onto my upper back. It was already soothing my pain, and it wasn't even rubbed in yet. When his soft cold hands rested onto my bare back, I cringed at the coolness from them.
"Yes." he replied. "My hands are a little cold, I do apologize."
His apology was sure accepted, especially after they began rubbing the salve into my skin. His soft hands ran over my shoulders, and back down past my shoulder blades, all the way to my lower back…I was instantly hypnotized. Oh how I never wanted him to stop…how I wanted him to go on and on…I came back into reality as soon as he shot up from his seat, and ran out of the bedchamber. I thought I had done something wrong, until I heard the sound of heaving. For a long moment all I heard was him throwing up, and gasping for air. I wondered what was wrong with him, until I began to think about what I had done last night.
"Oh dear God!" I thought to myself. "No wonder the pills didn't work! They were the wrong ones!"
If the pills I had slipped him weren't for sleeping, then what on earth were they for? When Erik sat down at the edge of my bed once more, I sighed at the feeling of his hand touching my back.
"Are you ok?" I asked.
"I've been throwing up ever since I brought you home last night. I don't understand what's wrong with me. What else I can't understand is why you were at the opera house last night! You went against everything I asked you not to do."
"I'm sorry Erik.."
"Don't apologize! I've had enough with hearing that out of you! How can I ever trust you again?"
"Erik, I've always wanted to go to the opera house and when Lonnie.."
"Lonnie?" he interrupted. "You went with Lonnie?"
"Don't think that I'm interested in him, Erik. I only agreed to go because I wanted to go to the opera house. I thought he was taking me to a private box, when in reality he took me to the rafters. We were spotted and he ran off, leaving me to fend for myself."
Erik removed his hand from my back, in a cold manner, and began to cover me back up.
"It's funny how one could learn so much from someone if they only talked about certain subjects. As to the fact that perhaps you could have just asked me."
"Asked you what?" I questioned.
"If I enjoyed operas."
"Well, obviously I know you do because why else would you have been there last night." I replied.
"Not only do I enjoy operas, but I own my own box. If you would have just told me that you wanted to go, I would have enjoyed the company."
Wow…did I feel so stupid. I could have saved myself the agony of being in Lonnie's presence, and I could have sat in a box, with Erik. I had to confess…otherwise I would live a life of guilt, knowing that I had been the cause of his illness.
"Erik, could I tell you something without you getting angry at me?" I questioned.
"Depends on what it is."
"I did something terrible last night."
"Go on.."
"I needed to get out of here without you knowing. I came back last night before leaving with Lonnie, and went into your medicine cabinet…I only wanted to slip you a sleeping pill, but I think I slipped you something else instead."
Erik's face went blank, as he ran over to his cabinet. He then tore out a few capsules, and brought them over to the bed.
"Which one?" he asked, showing me the two capsules of white pills. "Which of these did you slip me?"
I pointed to the capsule I took the pills out of, and watched as he backed away from me.
"How could you do this to me?" he questioned angrily. "Do you realize what you've slipped me?"
"No, I thought it was only sleeping pills." I replied in a frightened tone.
"Pills? As in plural? How many? How many of these did you slip me?"
"only two." I said.
"Only two? You slipped me Anti-Venom."
"What's that?" I asked.
"Pills that you take when you get bitten by a snake."
"Why the hell do you have them?" I questioned.
Oh god this couldn't be happening. Why did he have those pills? There aren't any snakes in Pairs.
"I had them from when I lived in Persia."
It was then that he threw the capsule of pills back into his cabinet, and walked towards the drapes of the bedchamber.
"I have to do something." he replied. "I…I'll be back later."
I tried to yell out how sorry I was, but he didn't listen. I only wondered if he would ever trust me again…how could I expect him to? I had literally poisoned him….
Ok more to come soon. Wow I really like this story…hope you all do too. Something different than other stories…let me know guys! Thanks!