I am poor. I own nothing.
Chapter Ten
I woke to the familiar musty scent of my jail cell. Whimpering I sat up and then stood. Erik lay on the bunk above mine, his feet dangling off the edge of the bunk at his knees. It was strange to see him in a bright orange jumpsuit and without shoes, a mask, or a wig. I looked down at my own jumpsuit, good old eight thousand, two hundred and twenty-six. I walked over to the bars, my bare foot scraping the floor and my metal one clanging against the damp, cold stone. I placed my hands on the bars and called out to my old guard. "Sir?" He looked over at me. "Sir, could you please allow me to speak with my complex manager?" Knowing I would never stop pestering him, he went off down the hall. I turned back to the cell and climbed the ladder to Erik's bunk. I shook him awake and he sat up, nearly banging his head on the low ceiling. He looked around and rubbed his eyes before noticing he no longer had a mask. He covered his face but I pulled his hands away. "Welcome to jail, number eighty-six thousand, five hundred twenty-six. Stop it. Doing that will only make this worse."
"How could this get any worse?" He motioned to the cell.
"They could cut off your hands." He looked over at me with wide eyes.
"They are allowed to do that?" He laid back and looked over at me from his strange position.
"They can do anything they want." He sat up and banged his head this time. I jumped down and sat down on my bunk. "Perhaps we should swap bunks?" Erik jumped down and sat next to me.
"Yes, we should."
"Hey, you, what do you want?" My complex manager yelled from the hall. I stood and made my way to the bars, Erik behind me. "And who is he? He is not in our database."
"Sir, this is Erik Destler, sir. If you trust me, please do not ask what happened to us, sir, it would only cause more confusion, sir. Anyways, to my point, sir. It is obvious that when you raided my complex that there was a great number of objects found, sir. One of these objects resided on my bed, sir. It was a black leather case, sir. I ask you, very politely so, sir, to please bring me it and it's content, sir." He opened his mouth to protest. "Please, sir, we will ask nothing more of you than this, sir."
"Will you allow me to see what is in the case?"
"Of course, sir."
"Alright, I suppose since you asked nicely I will bring you this case. As for him..." He walked back down the hall and I turned to Erik triumphantly. We sat on my bunk and I watched Erik tap out melodies on his thigh.
"I just happened to think of a strange question." Erik looked over at me. "We are of two different genders. Why would they put two different genders in the same cell?"
"I see your point. To tell you the truth, they know I cannot reproduce and as for you, it is basically the same principle as your time. Now, travel back about and eon and people would practically murder to touch you because you are the Phantom. At that point, for some people, the Phantom was life. Nowadays, no one knows who the Phantom is, or even what music is because that all died out. My family was the only family to keep it going. I bet you, if you go out there and ask any random person if they know what music is, they will look at you as if you are speaking another language. Destlers are meant for music, is what I believe." Erik seemed bewildered but said nothing.
"So you mean to say, there is no music?"
"Pretty much."
"I feel like I am going to be sick." I tried not to laugh but it was just too hard. Unfortunately, this became true and he vomited, at least into the toilet. He continued being sick for a while after that. My complex manager came back down the hall with the violin case in his hands. He approached the bars and looked through them and the convulsing Erik.
"What is wrong with him?"
"It is better not to ask, sir. It is a long story, sir." He unlocked the cell and handed me the violin case. He pulled up a chair from the wall and sat down on the other side of the cell.
"So what is that and why do you want it so badly?" I sat down on the floor and opened the case. The manager just looked more confused.
"This is a musical instrument called a violin." If he could look any more confused, he did. I opened a canister of rosin and let the scent drift over to Erik who was at my side immediately though deathly pale. "Go ahead, Erik." I watched the complex manager as Erik delicately lifted the bow and rosined it then took the violin beneath his chin. The manager looked so confused and I nearly laughed. As the first few notes were played, the manager nearly covered his ears. The tune he played was very unfamiliar. Erik circled around me as he played and began to sing.
"You have come here, in pursuit of your deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish which till now has been silent, silent. I have brought you that our passions may fuse and merge. In your mind you've already succumbed to me, dropped all defenses, completely succumbed to me. Now you are here with me, no second thoughts. You've decided, decided. Past the point of no return, no backward glances. The games we've played till now are at an end. Past all thought of 'if' or 'when'. No use resisting, abandon thought and let the dream descend. What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks its door? What sweet seduction lies before us? Past the point of no return, the final threshold? What warm, unspoken secrets will we learn beyond the point of no return?" The complex manager looked completely and utterly entranced. He began to drift down the hallway halfway through Erik's verse and when he returned, several guards and complex managers followed him. I felt a sudden welling and I somehow knew the lyrics to his music.
"You have brought me to that moment where words run dry. To that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence. I have come here hardly knowing the reason why. In my mind I've already imagined our bodies entwining, defenseless and silent and now I am here with you, no second thoughts, I've decided, decided. Past the point of no return, no going back now. Our passion play has now at last begun. Past all thought of right or wrong. One final question: How long should we two wait before we're one? When will the blood begin to race? The sleeping bud bursts into bloom? When will the flames at last consume us?" We began to circle each other now until we stood back to back and sang the final verse.
"Past the point of no return, the final threshold. The bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn. We've passed the point of no return." When I spun back around to Erik's side he finished the notes and let his arms hang at his sides, violin and bow in hand. We both bowed and as I looked up, the managers and guards began to clap, slowly at first, then with more vigor until this turned to chants for more.
"No, I am afraid we cannot play more for you. Perhaps on the morrow?" They agreed and left. I looked over at Erik who had a smile and more colour to his face. "Your violin was out of tune, you know?"
"Of course I know. By the way, I bought this violin for you."
"You were stalking me?"
"No..."