I'm getting good aren't I? Hmm, it will end for a bit though. I leave tomorrow for home. I start school on the 31st. Anyway-I have to admit, this is one of the favorite chapters I've written. Enjoy!
Chapter 10
At first Christine seemed to be in shock. Then she grew angry. How dare he!? He already had a mistress! Why was he wasting his time wreaking havoc on her emotions?
"How dare you? You jerk! I told you to leave! How dare you use me to cheat on your mistress!" She hissed. She tried to push him away from her with no avail, he was too strong.
"Christine? Christine! Listen to me! I have something to tell you!" He roared. She paused for a moment, shocked. She had never heard him speak that way to her.
From the crack in the door Meg smiled and turned to leave, she had hoped that things would turn out like that. Now she knew for sure what the masked man felt for Christine.
"Christine, look at me. I want to show-and tell you something okay? But you have to trust me. I promise that I will never hurt you-that is the last thing I could ever want you know..." Erik said in a calmer voice. Christine looked at him, tears in her eyes.
"Alright Erik..alright. I am tired of not knowing anything I need to hear what you have to say." She said faintly. He nodded.
"Now-I would prefer if we could handle this in my home...it would be simpler and much more comfortable for me." He requested hesitantly. Christine nodded and allowed him to lead her out to his car.
XxX
The car ride was short but torture for both of them. Neither one exactly sure what to say to the next. Both were on edge the whole time. Christine watched Paris fly by outside of the window. She had always loved the city, she had never seen anything like it. The first thing she did when she got here was see the Eiffel Tower and the Academy de Musique. The Paris Opera house of course!
And then she faced harsh reality as she was degraded to the worst part of Paris, the slums. Degrading herself as a whore on the streets. Until Erik came. He was truly a hero in her eyes.
Erik on the other hand wasn't thinking about Paris. As much as he loved the city he had grown used to it. And there was something more pressing on his mind.
He was going to unmask himself in front of Christine.
He had no other choice really. She had almost driven him to insanity with the boy. She said that they were only friends. But the boy had made it quite clear that he wanted...more.
He was terrified of course. He would explain that he had no mistress as she thought. He was confused to where she got that idea from. But it would soon be remedied.
He knew that she would probably run from him when she saw his face. Everyone except Nadir had. Even Madame Giry barely had a glimpse of it. And that was back when it wasn't as bad as it was now.
But he had to show her if he was going to leave her he would rather have her leave because of his face then a misunderstanding.
Finally he pulled himself out of his thoughts. They were here.
XxX
Christine got out of the car and Erik offered his elbow. She refused it and looked straight ahead. He sighed and quietly led her into the house.
Christine noticed that all the servants were absent. She was so curious she decided to ask Erik about it.
"Erik-where are your servants?" She asked. He looked at her sharply, overjoyed that she was talking to him.
"They find the best course of action not to appear when I am around. I am sure that they are all in different parts of the house doing their duties trying to avoid me." He chuckled as he took her coat.
She frowned.
"Why is that? Why would they avoid you?" She wondered. His look turned from one of amusement to one of annoyance and something different...pain.
"Some of them...spoke out of place. More than once I may add. Even now I can hear them when they think I can't. I do admit...some of them I may have been overly harsh with." He said bitterly. Christine, for her part was filled with shock. Why did they talk about him? He was one of the kindest, noblest men she had ever met.
He saw the look on her face and decided to clarify.
"They're just voicing what everyone thinks my dear. Repulsion, disgust, horror and most of all loathing." He informed her.
Christine was didn't have to answer by Erik's next words.
"We have many options...could I show you to my bedroom and proceed from there?" He asked hesitantly. He saw the shock and fear flash through her eyes.
"Not to do that! Never would I defile you Christine! Not without your permission! No...I don't have ears and eyes in my bedroom as I do in the rest of the house. I have made sure of that." He reassured her. She visibly relaxed.
"Okay...I-I don't mind." She replied. He nodded in approval.
"Thank you." He said sincerely. The led her up to the second floor.
They walked down the hall that she had not taken before. It looked identical to the other, except for the pattern of it's doors.
Finally, they reached the end of the hall. Christine looked around, confused. They had reached the end yet he had approached no door.
He smiled at her.
"No one but myself and Nadir knows where my room is. With good reason. You see, like I said the servants love to gossip. And a few have-ah reported me to the police for no reason. So the police sent over an officer to join my staff and spy on me. They have no idea that I know of course...I am very discreet but whenever I needed solitude I would come here." He explained. Christine could only nod, still wondering where on earth his room was.
His toe nudged the plate underneath the carpet. Unless you knew exactly where it was you would have never been able to access it. Nadir had given him the idea and helped install it when Erik built the place a few years ago.
The wall swung open and Erik escorted Christine into his room.
It was nice by his standards. Which meant it was amazing by Christine's point of view.
Instead of the black walls that she thought he would have they were a deep, rich maroon. The carpet was a midnight blue that was soft and fuzzy, her bare feet sunk into it. The wall across from them was dominated by a massive window that overlooked the beautiful garden, creating a stunning panoramic view. The drapes that could cover the window were black, to block out any sunlight during the day.
The bed was fairly large with silk sheets. It was still unmade from last night when Erik had evidently been sleeping restlessly or not sleeping at all. The black sheets were twisted and tangled; the maroon comforter was shoved at the end of the bed. Christine felt nauseous thinking about what could've happened last night to make the bed like that.
She adverted her eyes to try and stop the thoughts. On the other side of the room there was a sort of alcove that held the washroom and two other doors to his closets.
She gawked at the room in whole but was still hurt and angry by the state of the bed.
"Is this what you wanted to show me Erik? That?" She asked angrily, jabbing a finger at the bed.
He looked at her, bewildered.
"Wha-" He started to ask but then realized what she thought happened. Realization dawned on his face.
"I did not sleep with anyone last night Christine! I have never slept with anyone! Sit down!" He growled, pointing to the bed.
She looked at him incredulously but sat obediently.
"Now-I do not have a mistress. Or a lady friend or anything else you want to call them. I am a bachelor Christine. Always have been to tell the truth." He admitted. Christine scowled at him.
"Then why tell me you had a lady?" She demanded. He had the grace to look slightly sheepish.
"I might have been counting you at the time..." He murmured. She stared at him.
"Why on earth were you counting me?" She asked.
"You don't want to know." He sighed. She shrugged in indifference.
"You brought me here to tell me this? You could've done this at my place you know." She said.
He hesitated for a moment then plunged ahead.
"Christine, you have become very...special to me. And I need to show you something we go any further in knowing each other. I need to show you what is under my mask." He said slowly.
Christine looked at him, astonished.
"A-are you sure Erik?" She asked shakily. He nodded.
"Absolutely. It's time you learned my 'dirty little secret'." He said, terrified. He closed his eyes and slowly took off the mask.
XxX
Christine looked at his face for a moment, the suddenly she remembered.
She had known him before. Not as a man, as a teenager really. She remembered now.
She had just dealt with the loss of her father and her innocence. She was in her first foster home. She had just stepped in the door, the man and woman of the house were talking to her. She wasn't really paying any attention. Her eyes scanned the room. Suddenly she saw pinpricks of light coming from the darkened stairwell. She realized that they were a pair of eyes. Before she could examine them too closely they disappeared. They later told her that she would be sharing the house with not only them but another young man named Erik. She shrugged it off. She was terrified of men at that time, and too caught up in her own grief for anything else.
She rarely saw him, except at supper and on the way home from school. They attended the same high school. Though Erik rarely showed up for his classes, preferring to vanish to the music room.
He was nothing but kind to her when she did see him. She clearly remembered that time on the stairs and felt ashamed by it. She realized that if he had not caught her that she could have been seriously injured.
The last night he was there, the last night he was in the house before he moved she went to thank him and apologize for her behaviour. His door was still open a crack. Obviously he had not meant for this to happen.
She peaked inside, prepared to knock out of courtesy. But her fist was frozen where it was when she looked inside.
Erik had his mask off.
She stood, horrified. She could barely move, examining the appalling sight that met her eyes.
When she was finally able to move she ran back to her room.
The next day she was noticeably absent from his goodbyes. She had lied to man and woman. She said that she wasn't feeling so great and didn't feel like saying good bye. She had said that she wasn't feeling well and just wanted to sleep. The parents were confused, but thankfully accepted this excuse.
She couldn't see him after seeing his face. She just couldn't. Then he left, and she figured that she would never see him again.
It took weeks to get him out of her mind and years to wipe all traces of him completely. By the time she met him again Erik was nothing to her. Not even a faded memory.
"Erik." She managed to choke out, examining his face again. It had more scars on it this time. And there was something else different about it, made it look more grotesque for some reason. She couldn't put her finger on it though.
"Christine?" He questioned, seeing something in her eyes.
"I remember...the foster home. My first one." She whispered. He was shocked-she remembered!
"Christine...why do you remember now?" He asked softly, forgetting his unmasked face for the moment.
"Erik...I'm sorry! I didn't mean to see!" Christine sobbed. He was confused now.
"What do you mean, you didn't mean to see?" He wondered.
"T-the night before...I saw...I didn't mean to! Didn't know...your door was open....wanted to thank you..." She said incoherently. Suddenly Erik got it. The night before he left she went to go into his room, his door had been open a crack and he didn't have his mask on.
It was fair to say he was furious. But he tried to push it down.
"So that is why you forgot me. I knew there must have been some reason..." He said sadly. She looked at his face again.
"Erik-wh-what happened? Your face...it's different now..m-more scarred and s-something else." Christine observed, trying to stop crying.
He realized what she meant and laughed bitterly.
"Ah yes...that. You see Christine, I had my face as much as anyone else. Even more if it were possible. When I realized exactly how wealthy I was I decided that was the first thing I wanted fixed. So I got skin grafts." He said.
She gaped at him.
"Skin grafts...? Oh Erik! What happened? Di d your body reject them?" She asked. He shook his head
"No. They took the skin from my legs and various other parts of my body and put them on face. The doctors were pleased that two days after the procedure my body was accepting the grafts. They discharged me a few days later. I was ecstatic- I was going to be a normal person! One that no one would scorn or hate. Fate, it seems did not shine on me. The people at the hospital forgot to give me the antibiotics to prevent any infection. My face...it got infected. I'll spare you the details of the horror of what my face looked like at that time. Let us just say it was more black and green then regular color. They had to remove the skin that they had grafted on. After that I couldn't do anything for my face." He said sullenly. Christine gasped.
"Poor Erik..." She whispered, touching the warped side of his face. Her fingers ran lightly over every scar and mutilation. He shuddered, it felt too good. No one had ever touched that side of his face before. He even tried to avoid it himself. It only served reminded him about how inadequate he was compared to the human race.
"Don't Christine...I can't stand you acting like this when I know that you're just going to leave me." He whimpered. Christine shook her head.
"I'm not going to leave Erik...why would you think that?" She asked with a frown.
He looked at her with a deep pain.
"Everyone does Christine. No one stays you know. Only Nadir. And he does it out of obligation. Or so I presume." He said sadly.
Christine shook her head.
"I'm not going to leave Erik. I don't care about what your face looks like. You're a good man and that's all that counts." She said softly. He looked at her with wide eyes.
"Christine...thank you." He whispered. She shrugged.
"I only say what I mean Erik." She replied. He put the mask back on he and he reverted to the regal figure that she was used to.
"Christine...I-I was wondering...would you like to go to supper with me?" He asked, terrified.
Christine lit up.
"I would love to Erik." She said joyfully. He smiled, the first one in a while.
"Thank you Christine. You have no idea how much this means to me...you have become quite special to me." He said. She looked at him.
"You have too you know, become quite special to me." She replied. He stiffened.
"What?" He asked incredulously. She looked down, slightly embarrassed.
"Are you going deaf old man?" She teased gently. Erik just stood there, in a state of shock.
"But Christine...how could you like a monster like me?" He asked. She glared at him.
"Do not ever say you are a monster Erik! You are not! Your face doesn't matter one bit! It's not your fault!" She said. He shook his head.
"How can you say that Christine? My mother-she hated me. My own mother! What am I supposed to believe? And the stares and whispers Christine..." He said brokenly. Suddenly Christine felt a deep, intense anger towards Madeline. How dare she treat her only son like this? Christine would have never done that! It was she who did not deserve to be called human!
"Erik. What your mother did to you was inexcusable. I agree, marching around with a mask on your face isn't the best way to seem 'normal'. But in my opinion normal is overrated. Erik, I have no idea what trials you have had in your life. Nor do I think I could begin to imagine what they were and how they would affect you. But I'm here now Erik...and I will always be here, no matter what you think. As long as you are here for me." She said gently. Erik looked at her with a look of pure gratefulness. She felt her heart melt at this look. What had been done to this man?
"Christine. You have no idea what I am. What if I told you I am a murderer?" He asked sadly, knowing that with her morals that Christine would never forgive him.
Christine paled.
"Erik-what? You-you've killed people?" She asked, shaking. He nodded, a faraway look in his eye.
"Yes-I have Christine. I am not proud of it either. The first time I was 16-that was how I met Nadir you know. Anyway, I had a gang attack me. I killed quite a few of them. That was when they were trying to kill me. Would you like the see a scar I have from that?" Without waiting for an answer he pulled up his shirt. From the base of his ribs to just above his hip ran a jagged, purple line. It looked like someone had crudely cut into him-a bad surgery perhaps.
Christine gasped and traced the scar with a finger.
"My God Erik...why?" She asked. He shrugged, lowering his shirt.
"My mask. They thought I was someone who I wasn't." He stated matter-a-factly. He didn't want to relive that day.
"Is that the only time...?" Christine asked hopefully. But again, he shook his head.
"There had been more than that Christine. Do not deceive yourself. I have...I have killed for various reasons. I regret it of course. But it does not play on my conscious Christine. The men I have killed-I have never killed a woman! The men who I have killed have thoroughly deserved it. They have are deplorable disgraces that I loath to call humans in even the slightest sense of the term. They, like me are truly monsters. Although a few of them put up a good fight most of them are corporate good for nothings that could not fight back." He confided in her, fighting the urge to laugh. Then he sobered. He unbuttoned his shirt and shed it, revealing his body to Christine. Normally she would have felt embarrassed but under the circumstances she really couldn't think to do so.
She couldn't even gasp. The whole of Erik's back was scarred tissue. There were more scars than regular skin. And most of his front had criss-crossing scars. Though not as bad as the back.
Christine stumbled and placed a hand against his chest, wondering how on earth he had survived all these. She felt the reassurance of his heartbeat underneath her fingertips. She sighed in relief.
"How did all these happen Erik?" She asked softly. He looked down at himself.
"Most of the ones on my back are from mother. None of the ones on the front are though. She believed that if she stayed strictly to the back no one would notice and she wouldn't be able to kill me with them. The ones on the front, side, and even the few on my shoulders are from various causes. Actually-there is only one that is here by accident." He pointed to one on his stomach.
"I fell down the stairs at one of my foster homes. Landed on something...I don't remember exactly what it was. I had to get 15 stitches from it." He admitted sheepishly.
She looked up at him sharply.
"I forgive you..." She murmured. He stood there for a moment, then had to sit down.
'What?" He whispered. She looked at him.
"You said that the people you murdered, that they deserved it. I believe you. I don't like it that you've murdered someone. But if there was no choice..." She said sadly. He gladly refrained from telling her about that...man...who had tried to hurt her the other night.
Suddenly he stood up, deep in thought.
"Christine...I need to know what we are at the moment. Lovers? A couple? Friends? Two ships passing each other? Fiancées?' He asked desperately. He knew that he had just given her the power to hurt him immensely-most likely the most hurt he could ever feel. But that was really nothing new with Christine. Not anymore anyway. It might frighten him but he had no other choice really.
Christine should have been shocked, or at least mildly surprised at the question. But she was not, truth be told she was thinking along the same lines.
"What do you want to be Erik?" She asked, deflecting the question. He realized her strategy though. He wasn't completely blind when it came to Christine.
"Christine, I asked you first. Tell me." He demanded, suddenly nervous. Surely this could not be a good sign!
Damn his lack of experience with women!
Christine hesitated for a moment.
"I was hoping we could be the second option." She whispered, looking down. She blushed crimson, suddenly wishing she had been able to tell him that before.
Erik for his part was fairly stunned.
"Forgive me my dear...but I believe I just heard you say you wanted to be a couple." He said calmly, too shocked by the emotional tone of the day for anything else.
Christine muttered something unintelligibly.
"Excuse me my dear-I can't hear you." He informed her. She turned an even brighter scarlet.
"I said that you heard me correctly." She admitted.
Erik couldn't speak.
"B-but I'm deformed!" He stammered.
"Been there." She reminded him.
"I-I'm a m-murderer!" He stuttered.
"I forgive you." She reassured him.
"Why?" He asked her curiously. She looked up and shrugged.
"Really Erik-you have saved me, several times over. You are a good person. No matter what others say I know this. Why should I judge you by society's standards when I can judge you by my own?" She wondered.
"What about the boy?" Erik had to know. Christine snorted.
"Raoul? Are you kidding me? You think I would want another relationship with him?" She asked but then seemed to think about it.
"I do love Raoul, but not in the way you imagine. He's like a brother to me. Even when we were dating I never felt like anything was there when we kissed. There was no spark, flame or anything. That...that has only happened with you." She admitted.
"So you will not run off with him?"
She looked at him indignantly.
"Of course not? What do you take me for?" She demanded. He raised his hands in a gesture of self defence.
"That was not what I was implying my dear...I apologize. You have to keep in mind that I have had too many people leave me in my life." He said desperately. She calmed down at that.
"I'm sorry Erik-I have forgotten how dark your life has been." She apologized.
"And I how young you are." He sighed.
Christine was starting to feel how tense the atmosphere really was and decided to lighten it.
"You said something about dinner?" She prodded. He perked up.
"Oh-yes! Of course!" He said, looking at the clock. "Do you have any particular preference in what you eat?" He asked. She shook her head.
"I'll eat almost anything. You learn real fast to eat whatever when you're poor." She admitted. Erik had to laugh.
"I know that better than you think." He chuckled. She shrugged.
"So Romeo-where to today?" She inquired. He seemed to think about it.
"There is a nice pasta place a few blocks from here, perhaps we could go there?" He requested. She shrugged.
"Whatever you like. After all-you're going to be the one paying." She said, a sly glint in her eye.
"What makes you think that my dear?" Erik joked.
Christine put on a horrified face.
"Why monsieur! Are you implying that you will not be a gentleman this evening?" She asked in mock horror.
He pretended to think about it.
"Why yes mademoiselle-I believe that is exactly what I am saying." He teased.
"Well Erik-that's too bad. In our rush to come here I forgot my purse." She chuckled. Erik sighed in mock resignation.
"Alright mademoiselle. I suppose that I shall have to pay this once." He said. Christine stuck her tongue out at him and laughed.
"You are such a goof!" She giggled. Erik stood there, surprised. He had been called a lot of things in his life, monster, murder, freak. But he had never been called a goof. It sounded...nice.
He wondered if it was too soon to tell her that he loved her. He spied her looking through his closet, trying to see if he had anything besides tuxedos and silk shirts.
Definatly too soon.
Hmm, there we go. Something has been resolved. What? I have no idea. Anyway-just wanted to say-the skin grafts idea was actually based off a real experiance. Well-a mix of two actually. My grandfather had to get skin grafts on his face before he died (cancer) and my aunt's cousin's husband had his fingers cut off by a lawnmower and had to get skin grafts. They forgot to give him the antibiotics. And well...it looked like Erik described it. Rotted the skin apparently. I learned that at the dinner table. Not the best place to hear about that. Didn't feel like eating my steak after that...