I had spent the night at Genevieve's house. I slept on the white bed, covered with the canopy, while the women slept in their rooms. Yes, I slept. I was incredibly tired for some odd reason. It had only been a month since I had slept... why was I tired?
Either way, I slept very well that night. I had no dreams that haunted my mind all night. In fact, the image of Genevieve's confession to me replayed in my mind. The feeling of her fingers gently caressing my head, running through my thin blonde/red hair. I had closed my eyes to enjoy the feeling. Her warm lips kissed my scalp... a feeling that I had never felt before. Love. Eternal, true love.
There was a slight tapping on the door which I could not see. The canopy had been drawn once again.
"Erik?" a soft voice echoed in my ears. It almost made me smile... but I was tired.
"Yes," I smiled now, "Genevieve?"
"May I come in?"
I checked my hair and straightened it. I brushed off my shoulder, even though there was nothing to brush off. This was always a habit of mine... at had been since I finally received some pride when I left the circus. When I finally learned to stitch. To make clothes.
"Yes" I finally said after I finished my check.
I saw a black shadow emerge from beyond the curtain. It got closer and closer, the slight tapping of shoes rang, and then the curtain unfolded.
She wore half of her hair down in front of her scarred half. But the rest... was pulled up in a ponytail. This was... unusual. No one had ever worn their hair like that... then again... no one else had scars.
Her body was dressed with odd clothes. I could... see her ankles. And not just her ankles. Her... shin. Half of her thigh. Then her legs were dressed with khaki shorts with pockets. She wore these odd shoes.... black and white. They had laces... not common with women. But she was not a common woman. She wore a light blue T-shirt and over it, and dark blue trailblazer. She hung a black, medium-sized book bag over her shoulder.
She must've noticed my staring. She rolled her eyes... eye. "I know... not what you are used to. But... I am going bird watching today. It is hard to do anything that I do other than read in a dress."
I still stared at her. She was very... curvy. One of the easiest ways to describe her... was curvy. Her legs and her abdomen... a gentle curve.
"I was wondering... if you wanted to come with me."
"Hm?" I was lost in her. Her everything.
"Bird watching. I could teach you a thing or two. Birds are fascinating too..." her long legs moved over to the bed where I lay and she sat at my feet.
"Well... I would love to. I don't know a single thing about birds... and judging by, you... I am guessing you do" I smiled wider, and Genevieve mimicked me.
I moved my back up against the headboard. I didn't have my mask on... or my wig. She was seeing me... and smiling at it.
She moved closer to me and our smiles depleted. I moved a naked hand over to her face. I softly brushed the normal side of her face. She stared back into my eyes. That piercing blue that captured me every time. My fingers swiftly and slowly moved the hair in front of her face, behind her ear.
The beautiful scars. The beautiful face that could only be exposed with the scars. She smiled at me.
"There she is..." I smiled back. It was true...
Her long-fingered hand touched the disfigured part of my face softly. "I like the mask off, Erik."
"I like the hair out of the way."
I don't know why I found this... attractive. Wasn't beauty supposed to be imperfection less? Not her... no. I... love her. Her face. Her soul. Her mind. She was mine. She would be forever mine. Only mine. No other man to interrupt our eternal love. My face could not destroy this relationship... for her face was distorted too. No beauty and and no beast. Two beasts. Two beasts that could love... with no holding back.
Then she leaned in and kissed me. Well... I knew she was going to do this. I closed my eyes and got my mouth in kissing position. I tilted my head and bumped noses with her. In an attempt to meet her lips, I tilted my head the other way. Apparently she thought the same, and she tilted her head to let our noses bump again. We both opened our eyes and smiled. She put her hands on each side of my face.
"Stay."
When her soft lips joined mine... I could barely feel it. Then her hands loosened their firm hold. She pecked my lips again, but deeper. Her hands now trailed to the back of my neck. This time I deepened the kiss. It was longer... and I wanted it to never end. My hand was placed on the small of her back. She leaned into me further which deepened the kiss more.
I felt my head get hot... but I pushed it away. If I was going to faint... I would do it later. Pht... if I was going to faint... God help me never faint again.
We pulled apart. We would have never split, but since we are mammals, we needed to breathe. We opened our eyes slowly and stared into them. She smiled at each other with twitchy lips. I could still feel her lips on mine... sweet... loving... mine.
"Genevieve" I whispered to her.
"Yes?" she whispered back.
"Please," I stopped smiling for a moment, "please, tell me something. One thing. Please tell me that there is no one else but me. No one else that you could... ever... in your wildest dreams... ever fall in love with. Only me. Tell me the truth. Please. I need to know now..."
Flashbacks. So... many... painful flashbacks. Christine. Raoul. Her voice. His stupid, girly hair. I just wanted to take a handful of the glue that kept my fake hair tamed, and rub it all over his head. His precious hair would be forever messy... ha.
She tilted her head again. Her hand that was placed on her bent leg, now felt my rapid heartbeat on my chest. "Erik De Graff," she also stopped smiling, "I solemnly swear that you are the only man in my life. The only man that I would ever want in my life. The short time that I have seen you... we... clicked. I almost heard a 'ding' when I first saw that mask. When I saw deep into your psyche... your mind... I knew I loved you. Did you know that I have never... ever... shared my knowledge with anyone else. Sure... proverbs and stuff... but I have never shown anyone Venus before. You are the first student of the University of Genevieve."
I smiled. "You're lucky. You seemed to have scored a stupid one. He knows nothing. You could tell that idiot anything and he would believe it."
"God, I would kick him out if he wasn't so... enchantingly beautiful" her sarcastic tone surprised me. She did not deem to me as a sarcastic person.
"Beautiful? I have heard a lot of expressions about me... but never beautiful."
"Hm. Well... considering that you talk in third person, I am not surprised."
"Third person...?"
"I will explain it to you later... for now... let's not go bird watching."
I raised my eyebrow. "What? Well, what do you propose to do? I obviously don't have any plans."
She smiled. "I know some people who may have some connections to some things..."
"What are you getting at?"
"Diana."
"What?"
"Diana is your first love. The first genuine love that you have ever felt for anything. Object, woman, friend. She was family. All you really want is family... someone else. That could be me, Diana, Gabby, or anyone else in which you could spend the rest of your life with. Not an eternal love... but merely a family or friendly love. Everyone yearns for this. Lusts for this. I do... every day. And especially with our situation... it makes us feel just that much more hopeless. Like nobody could ever see who we really are. So... when Diana entered your life... if affected you in ways you don't know. You have never felt it. You know now... that it is family love, Erik. That is nothing that will merely pass over over time. It will remain. Sure... Chr- what was her name...?"
"Christine. Christine Daae."
"Ah. Your lust for Christine will wear off..."
"It already has. Honestly... I really do not have affection for Christine."
"Ah... but where there is recension, there is affection... who would you have recension towards?"
"Probably Raoul... the man that stole her away... anyway, so who were these people you speak of?" I really didn't want to bring this up. This subject... was annoying. It pestered me. It was not not hurtful, or painful, but annoying. It had no pain, but more roll-eyes-at-that emotion.
"Well... his name is... you're going to laugh," she laughed herself, "Da Haunt."
"Da Haunt? Well then... tell him to learn some grammar. What does he do?"
She smiled. "He... makes... fake paperwork. He can get you a passport, and everything else. The only problem... he lives in the south side of Paris."
"Ugh... I hate the south side. I guess with his name... he belongs there..."
"Yes... and... since you need a passport to get to America to get Diana..." she nudged me.
"No. No. You are the one that said to do this legally. I will not get all of this fake government stuff. Ever. No."
"Oh, Erik... it is very unlikely that we will be caught. Billions of people do it."
"So?"
"You won't get it legally... that is too hard, yes?"
"I do want to get Diana back..."
"Yes. Legal work is so hard... believe me, I worked in that force."
"But... that is... exactly what it is called. ILLEGAL! It is wrong... and illegal."
"Yes... and... guess what, ILLEGAL!"
"Why do you want to help me anyway? You told me that you didn't want me to go. How would I obtain her? I would have to steal her. And you said-"
"Look. I know what I said. But I figured... as a trade-off..."
"You want to bribe me?"
"Just listen. I figured that... if I didn't tell the cops... that I could go with you."
"To where?"
"To go get Diana. I have always wanted to go to Colorado... very mountainous area. Very pretty. And... I want to see how your psyche changes when she is around."
"This... this is an experiment to you?"
She moved close to me again. Her hand rested on my chest and her eyebrows curved in. Sometimes I wish that I had two eyebrows. I only had one, for my distorted face also distorted hair growth. If I wanted to grow a beard, I would only have it on one half of my face.
"No... no... I love her too, Erik. She loved to read. She loved to just come to the library, and talk to me. She always asked my opinions... which nobody else really ever cared about. She always wanted to know what was behind my hair. She always walked right up to the front desk and asked me to 'psych-i-fie' her. She would call it that, and I found it catchy. She was the only one that I ever showed the top floor to... no one else. She was the only little child that came to the library for purposes other than school projects."
"I see... but you cannot go."
"Well... why not?"
"Because... this is a private trip... if I even lower myself enough to do these things illegally."
"But... you love me..."
"I am not saying that I don't... I just want to do this alone."
"I see... I will just tell the police that you obtained government papers illegally..."
"WHAT?" I folded my legs in a criss-cross fashion, "you are going to tell the police for something that you convinced, no forced," I stood up, letting Genevieve brace herself with her arms in the bed, "me to do? What would you say? Completely blame it on me? Pht... sure. What love." Now I was sarcastic.
"No... no..." she began to stand up to match my stance, staring at her.
"Oh! Then what have you to say?"
"Not blame you... but... turn you in. Not say anything. The police don't care if you admit to it. They don;t ask questions..."
"And what if I don't admit to it."
"Then you go to court. Then after seeing your... past excursions..." she was now touching the cloth on my heart again, "you will be arrested for seven billion counts of murder, and several accounts of forged government paperwork."
"I can feel the draw between our hearts so much right now," and I felt a tear slide down my distorted face, "I love you too."
I don't know why I cried or speed-walked out of the room. More... betrayal. I either had to take her with me, or be arrested to life in prison. I leaned my forehead against the pale purple wall of the hallway. I hadn't even taken a moment to look at the room in which I slept. She wasn't leaving me for another man, but she was still willing to give away our love. And to make it worse, to the police. And with a bribe. I could not win... now I know how Christine must've felt.
"E-Erik?" I heard a voice. Was that Genevieve? Did she come after me? "Beautiful! What's the matter, Hun?"
Ah, Gabby. She put her white-gloved hand on my shoulder. My arm helped balance myself on the wall. It was holding my weight above my head as I leaned into it.
"Go away Gabby," I turned my distorted face away from her, "I really do not want to talk right now."
I was soon encased in her arms from behind. Her head leaned on my arched back. Her arms crossed across my chest. I can't imagine how stupid she looked right now. Idiotic infidel.
"Don't cry. Blue skies. Chirping birds..." her voice was soft again.
Birds. Bird watching. Ah... what was going to happen to that plan? I guessed that she would not want to go with me anymore. God, why do I suck at reactions? Why can I never say or do anything right?
Or... why can I not be the old Phantom? The Opera Ghost that kills to show his displeasure. The evil haunt that is mean and cruel and heartless. Why am all of a sudden a soft, squishy, heart-full man? I needed to wear the pants, not the skirt. Unless it was a kilt. Then I would wear it... eh, never mind. Pants it is.
"Now... tell me what happened..." she snuggled her chin under my jaw.
"Erik is merely shocked. Shocked at how an intelligent, some-what pretty woman can be so evil." We both turned our heads to see Genevieve. She was smiling with a certain glint in her eye. Intelligence. Intelligence glint.
"That is so right... but not evil. Merely... anti."
"Anti? What is that supposed to mean?"
"Anti everything. You don't want me. You don't want THIS!" My fingertips pointed to my face which faced her fully.
"You, sir," she stepped close to me,Gabby backing off tediously, "have no idea how much I want that."
She kissed me again. I heard a 'ooooohhhhh' from Gabby, but ignored it. I didn't feel like kissing her. She didn't want me.
Aw, who am I kidding? I wanted her to kiss me. And she wanted me to kiss her back.
When we broke apart, we stared again.
"I'm so sorry, Erik," her smile turned to a sympathetic look, "I-I didn't know that it would make you... cry."
"It just... snapped my sensitive nerve, you know? With my... past experience with love... I-" I choked on my tears that I held in my throat, "I am so scared. You have no idea how hard I am trying to keep you. All I want is someone to love..."
She leaned into my chest. Her hair smelled good. Floral. Her arms wrapped around my back.
"I know. I know you do. Because I do too, Erik. So much. So much it burns. But now, Erik... now you are soothing that burn. And when you stormed out of that room... it burned harder."
"So we are both scared of each other," I smiled as she departed from my body, "agreed?"
She smiled too. "Agreed."
"When did all of this go down?" Gabby's eyes were wide and her arms spread out.
We rolled our eyes. Her arm wrapped around my shoulder, and my hand gently gripped her arm. Our hips bumped. She was a woman, so naturally, hers were wider. Then we opened the door to my sleeping quarters and stepped inside. We were still attached, and we ignored Gabby's questions behind us.
After a moment of waiting for Gabby to stop banging on the locked door, we sat down on a white love seat. It also had gold lining... like the bed.
She leaned on my shoulder. I felt her soft, long fingers swirl on the back of my neck. Little circles... one after another. I couldn't help but let a soft, breathy moan escape my throat. She giggled.
"You know... there is a main nerve on your spine, right... here," she pressed softly on a spot on my neck, "that sends messages to the brain... in which signs pleasure. Which sends more messages to the nerves around my fingertips... and those send a message to your skin... which makes the hair the back of your neck stand up."
And I chuckled. She was so smart.
Her fingers ran up and down my back. My eyes closed. How did she do that? She could... defeat me. She could make me like wet clay. Easy to mold, then all you have to do is let it sit for a few days, and it is stuck in place. She froze me. I was sitting for a few days now.
"You know what Genevieve?" I opened my eyes and grabbed her wrist that was on the cushion close to my body.
"What?"
"There is a decision," I pointed to my temple with the hand that wasn't grabbing her wrist, "that sends messages to my lips which sends the message to you to say that I wish for you to come with me to go get Diana."
And her head abruptly lifted from my shoulder. She stared into my blue/green eyes. Her eyes welled with tears and smiled. It was a shaky smile... but it was confident in the same way.
"Really?" she moved the hand on the back of my neck to the distorted side of my face.
"I want you there. I want you there to help me. And, since you won't send me off to prison, you can help me break the law."
She laughed softly, "We both know that breaking the law is nearly always the easiest way to get places and get things done. And for the record... I really wouldn't have turned you in. You know I wouldn't have. I am not that mean... I love you too much."
Now I felt like a fool. I guess I let the fear of her desertion get the best of me. I... know that she wouldn't. But I was over-reacting. I always do when I am scared out of my mind.
"Yay... I root for team 'Legally Obtain'!" I laughed as she leaned in to kiss me and our smiles depleted.
This kiss was unusually... deep. Maybe it was the certain pose... or something else. Or we didn;t peck at first. Or blush. Only kiss.
Only bliss.