Erik almost laughed aloud. He would have if it had not hurt so much to breathe much less laugh.
Had he been under the opera house for so long that he'd forgotten that there were in fact more evil things in the darkness of the night than himself? Those 'others' were the main reason Erik was who he was now; he shouldn't have thought so highly of himself.
He'd left the opera house after a long internment in the cellar after Christine had left, after the Vicomte had left, after the mob had left, after they'd all left, and he'd been left alone. He hadn't eaten in days because he'd not only had no appetite but also because there'd been no food to eat. So, instead of dying just yet, he decided to scrounge for some sort of meal when his stomach felt as though it was beginning to eat itself.
All it had taken was a well-placed stone to his head and three men who had realized much too late that he had nothing to offer them but a fright. They left him on the floor surrounded by filth in a dark alley unable to move.
To die in such a way. Erik knew the blow to his pride would have had more impact had he not lost all his pride when he let the Vicomte take away his Christine. His mind was growing fuzzy and he was certain he had passed out several times already, but there was a warm hand on his head, one that was not trying to hurt him.
He struggled to open his eyes to see who would bestow such a kindness to him. All he could see was a hooded figure. For a second he thought he saw a flash of blonde hair, but when he tried to look again, he realized it was too dark to notice such things.
Erik was hauled onto his feet, the kind stranger swayed slightly. He knew he was dead weight, but his legs weren't listening to him. It was struggle to stay conscious at all and sooner than he expected he lost what slight hold he had on it.
Day 11.
It's a little late, but to make up for it I extended it. You got a lot more story there, right? You can kind of see where that one was going (well, not really, but it is interesting).
Until tomorrow when hopefully, I'll be able to post in the morning.
-LR