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Gustave's POV

The next morning I awoke and the first thing I did was check on my father…He looked ill and very bad. I dabbed his sweaty head with a towel, and covered him up so he could rest. I then picked up my letters, and left quietly…..I had to pray. I knew if there was anyone that could help, it was my mother…..I guessed her to be an angel looking down upon us from above…..And if she was watching, then my father's life depended on her. I lit her candle, and knelt down…..

"Mother, if you're watching down on us, please help father. He's so sick, and needs you more than ever. Please give him the strength to get through this…Without him, I'm lost. He's all I have left…."

I couldn't help but shed a few tears over this…..My mother was dead, and my father was dying. Where was I going to go if he died? Where was I going to live? Who was I going to have to look out for me?

"Gustave?"

I turned around at the sound of the familiar voice to see Reneasia standing behind me.

"Why are you crying?" she asked.

"I'm not crying….." I growled.

"Your father is going to be fine…"

"And how do you know?" I sobbed. "You don't know how I feel. Do you think I have family other than him? I'm alone, and without him, I'm an orphan….."

"Gustave, he'll be fine…."

"Just leave me alone…"

I was being mean, but I didn't care. All I wanted was my father to be alright…..and at the moment he was the total opposite.

"Gustave, perhaps reading another letter will sooth your mind."

I grabbed the letters, and hid them from her.

"Just leave me alone…"

"Come on, Gustave, read a few more….please… It will take your mind off your father."

"I highly doubt that, but if you say they will, then I shall read….."

Reneasia knelt down beside me as I opened the third letter, and began to read….

March 15th 1871

Erik,

Oh, my love….This morning, I had the most wonderful thing happen to me. Our child kicked….can you believe it? For the first time since I found out I was pregnant, I have proof that this child is alive within me. It kicked! It made me so happy. I rubbed the little developing foot inside me, and smiled…. I don't see much of Raoul these days. It doesn't make me sad either. Most times he's out of town for days on business, and I often think about you…..If you were here, I could sneak you in, and make sweet passionate love to you…And afterwards, I could run away, run away and marry you. I have begun thinking about names to name our child, but the only name that comes to mind is yours….. How I would love to name my child after you, Erik, but then it would blow everything I had done so far to protect it.

What do you think is a suitable name for our child? I would love to pick a name of your choosing…..Nothing would make me happier than to name a child something your beautiful mind has chosen. If you're out there, Erik….please, please write me…. I want you more than anything, and would go to the ends of the earth to get you back. I want to hold you in my arms, and kiss your beautiful deformed lips…Once again, I find myself sobbing over this letter, and can no longer write….Oh, Erik, give me the strength to live on without you…

Christine…"

The letter was short, but after I finished it, I did feel a little better.

"Your mother writes so beautifully…" replied Reneasia watching me place the letter back into the envelope.

"I know…..and I miss her."

"Gustave, could you read another one?"

"These are my father's….I shouldn't even have read what I did."

The girl begged me to read another, and since they were clearing my mind, I decided that it wouldn't be such a bad idea….Only, when I pulled out this letter, there were many pages attached to it…..I could only wonder why this one was so long?

"April 1st 1870

Erik,

I was laying in my bed just last night, and the most amazing thing happened to me…You returned! I'll never forget the terrible weather that night, and how my child would not stop kicking and squirming within me…..I lay there trying to calm down our child, as the pouring rain pounded against my roof…..And then, as the lightning flashed, I saw this dark figure standing on my bedroom balcony hunched over as if something were wrong. I was afraid, but something inside told me not to be. I swung my feet over the side of the four poster bed, and approached the balcony window, rubbing the small bump I had in my stomach…. When I made it to the window, lightning flashed once again, and the dark figure became you….I gasped, and believed it to be a dream, but it wasn't…..You were here, but you didn't seem happy. I quickly opened the door, and pulled you in from the pouring rain….. Only, when I turned on the lights, something didn't seem right…Your hand was clutching at your side, as if something were terribly wrong.

Your face looked as if you were in agony, and only when I removed your soaking wet hand away from your side did I noticed how badly you were bleeding…..We didn't even say two words to each other as I stripped you down to get you out of those wet clothes….Your body once again came exposed to me, but the body I had once felt within the dark was so badly beaten….You had brand new bruises on your chest, scratches that were covering healing scars, the same scars I had felt the night I made love to you, and in your side was a blade…..It filled my eyes with tears to see you in such a way. I only thanked god that Raoul was away for an entire week on business, and wouldn't be back any time soon…..You refrained yourself from me trying to lay you down in my bed, but I wouldn't have any of it…..I locked my door so that the maids wouldn't come barging in, as I tended to your wounds. You were so sick….your wrist was sprained, and that wound in your side looked lethal….I'll never forget the look upon your face as I stitched your wounds…I finally had my Erik back, and I was the happiest I had ever been. You told me that you had come back to Paris to check on me, when your were mugged. You said that they beat you, and stole your money…..

After fixing you up, you wanted to leave, but I wouldn't let you….You were too weak, and so I stayed by your side as you slept through the agony of your injuries. It was my secret…It was my secret to keep. If Raoul was here he would have surely called the police or even killed you….but he wasn't…. I had one week, one week before Raoul would come home, one week to get you well, and one week to leave. You walking through my door that night, was saving me….I wouldn't have to be here anymore, and you would be able to see your child being born. The following morning when you woke, I had so much to say but all you wanted to do was rest….I was your nurse, I fed you, cleaned you, and cared for your wounds. I thought about the right time to tell you about my pregnancy, but that time never occurred….. I kept you hidden from the world, my world as you healed from such a beating. It took days to do so, and in those days you hardly said a word….You were ill, and I understood your need for rest. I sat there by the window most of the time, reading a book, and laughing in my head over the fact that you were laying in my bed…..in Raoul's spot! Nothing made me happier! If only Raoul knew that the Phantom of the Opera was laying in his bed….Oh, he'd be angry….. Taking care of you had been the some of the happier days of my life, but then the happiest days came… I remember waking up from a night in the chair, and saw you standing in front of my vanity mirror, replacing your bandages, and dressing…..I knew you were getting ready to leave, but I didn't want you to. When you saw that I was awake, you gave me one last look, before heading to the same way you entered only a few days ago….I couldn't let you…I begged you not to leave just yet. And then you turned to me, and closed the door…..You asked me what I wanted from you, and so I told you the one thing I my heart desired….

"Spend the day with me…."

You cried….I remember this…You dropped to your knees in front of me like you had when you begged me to marry you…You picked up my skirts, and kissed the hem of it. You acted as if you didn't deserve me….

"Erik would give Christine anything she asked of him…" were the words that poured out of your sobbing mouth. And you did, you spent the day with me…. And even though we couldn't go out for a walk in the garden or go into town, that day was still the best day of my life…..We sat there on my bed, playing chess, and talking about things of the past…. You told me that you went to New York and you were displaying yourself in a freak show. This broke my heart….Especially when you told me that people throw things at you and call you horrid names….. If only they knew, if only they knew what kind of genius you were, what kind of lover you were….No. People only saw you for what you looked like…. I sat there listening to your story, and I hated it….It made me cry, and you stopped in between to wipe away my tears. You told me how you lived in the basement of Madame Giry's row home, and how you slept on an old mattress that made your back ache, and how the draft always made you sick. You explained to me that you caught pneumonia twice in the last three months, and that the last time almost killed you….My life had been nothing compared to the one you had been living, and I wanted to take it all away… I wanted to take every ounce of pain away from you…..

You were crying so much, that I knew telling you about my child would only upset you even more…..And so I decided to wait. When I could no longer take hearing the story, I leaned in and kissed you….God, how I kissed you. I had been waiting months to do it again, and now I was getting my chance. You backed away, and told me how I shouldn't be doing this, and how terrible it was…..But I didn't care…I wanted you, and I burned for you…..I didn't want to tell you about these letters, or about how much I missed you…No, that was only taking up time, time that I didn't have. I wanted nothing more than to experience what we had before. I silenced you, and soon, our bodies were burning for one another's…I had undressed you, just as you had undressed me….I was waiting for what we had shared before, but things didn't turn out that way. I had thought we made it to the point of no return when our clothes hit the floor, but that wasn't the case. You kissed me, and placed your hand over my bare stomach, only meaning to pull me closer to you, but you felt my child kick…..God, it was such a beautiful thing, Erik…. You felt our child kick, and instead of being happy, you sat up in anger…. You backed away from me like a person infected with the plague.

"What is that?" you questioned me as if you didn't know what a baby was….. But I couldn't leave things like this. I sat up, and smiled as I brought your hand back over my stomach…..

"My child, Erik, don't you feel it…."

Once more my child kicked, and I could see your eyes burning with anger….. You then pulled away, and began gathering your clothes…..

"Erik!" I was pleading for you, but you cut in..

"No! you expect me to make love to you, you say you love me, and yet you're carrying his child!"

"I…I want to name him after his father…" I pleaded, trying to give you hints that the child was yours, but your heart was already broken.

"If you knew any better, you wouldn't! That man has a horrible name! You should name the child after your own father!"

You were angry, and after dressing, you went towards the balcony….

"Please don't go….take me with you…" I wanted to go with you, Erik….I wanted to be with you forever more, but I lost you again. I lost you…. You jumped down from the balcony, and I was about to go too, but Raoul walked into our bedroom, and wondered what in the world I was doing….He was back from his trip, and you were gone…

In darkness you came again, and in darkness you left…If I weren't carrying a child, I would have jumped down from that balcony, and came running after you…. But I had gotten what I wanted out of you… A name, a name for my baby…. You told me to name it after my father, and so if this child is a boy, at least I have the thing I've wanted…..a name, and what a wonderful name it would be…

"Gustave…." A name chosen by you….

Christine…"

By the time I finished the letter, I felt worse than I had before reading it. I shoved the letter back into its rightful place, and got up.

"Where are you going?" asked Reneasia.

"What do you care?" I growled….

I ran away, and found myself up in the rafters above the stage, and watched as the ballerinas practiced. I sat there in amazement watching them for a while, before deciding to go back and check on my father. I took the same path back as I had going, and once I was back at his bedside, I placed the letters out of his sight…..

"Erik….." I placed my hand in his, and lightly squeezed, and to my surprise, he opened his eyes just enough to see me.

"Gus….tave…." His voice was filled with pain, and I knew he had a horrible fever by the heat I was met with on his flesh…

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Terr…ible…Where are…we?"

"Someplace safe…."

Just then, Mirela came barging in, from behind a drape, and stood before me.

"He has to go, Gustave…." her tone was angry and strict.

"Go where?" I asked.

"Anywhere but here. I cannot risk having him here. He's the number one wanted man in Paris, and who ever helps him will go down to the gallows…You need to get him out of here."

"But he's sick! He can hardly move…."

"Either you get him out of here, or I'll get rid of him for you…."

I gave the woman a dirty look, before helping my father up. He ached in complete agony as he stood up and I held onto him the best I could…..

"I helped him, and now you have to go…"

My father ached with every step he took, and before leaving, I turned around and shook my head at her.

"You helped nothing…You only caused my father more pain. No one can ever see him for the kind man that he is….only for the hideousness of his face….."

And with that, I walked out…. I helped my father back to our lair, and took forever to do because of his condition. Once we were there, I laid him down in his bed, and covered him up, removing his mask to help him breathe easier.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" I asked.

"Some….water…"

I dodged to the kitchen, and went for the sink to get him what he wanted, and came back in a matter of seconds. He looked so ill, and I worried for him because of the draft that was lurking inside the lair. I handed him the water, and he drank away like a parched animal…Afterwards, I tucked him in, and noticed how badly he was shivering.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

His eyes glanced down at me, and he nodded. My poor father looked exhausted, and I only wanted to make him feel better…..but what was I to do? What in the world could I do for him? I didn't have another home to take him to, and I didn't have any money to buy him medicine…..

"Gus…tave…."

"Yes?"

He lifted a weary hand up from his side, and pointed to the wardrobe closet.

"Get…me…another blanket….."

"Are you cold?"

"Very…."

I raced over the wooden chest that was on the other side of the room, and pulled out a black crocheted blanket from one of the shelves. Afterwards, I spread it out over my father's bed, and tucked him in.

"Y…Your mother….made this for…me…"

He twisted the stringy blanket within his fingers, and sighed….

"You…you're such a good…boy….my son….."

And just like that his eyes closed, exhausted from the walk that he had endured…..I wanted to cry, but I knew better than to do so around him….And so I decided to let him rest, and went on to my new project….cleaning up the lair….


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