Chapter Twelve: Night dreamer
Erik
He grimaced as Elodie yanked on his hand, her body pulling ahead of him. It was as if she thought her miniscule muscles could possibly persuade his own if he protested.
"Come on." She said with a glance back over her shoulder.
She had insisted that they go out the last three nights, having only let him remain in his room once since they entered the city. "Why must I go with you every which way?" He asked with a gruff tone.
"Erik," She pleaded. "it's rather lonely to be in this city at night by one's self."
"What could you possibly find interesting about this place at night?" He asked, skeptically.
"Oh it hardly matters." She admitted as she yanked on his arm again. "If you were willing to go out in the day this would not be a problem." She added. He frowned behind her. She was an insighful woman, he would give her that.
"Do you even know where we're going?" His questioned persisted.
"I personally don't know but you do." She replied slyly as she stopped and dropped his hand. Her thin arms folded across her delicate chest and she cocked her head sideways to stare him down. He narrowed his eyes in worry. "I want you to show me where you lived." She said, her thin lips fluttering with speech.
"Why?" He choked. "I will do absolutely no such thing." His heart began to race as he thought of the Opera House in correlation to where they now stood. He could practically see it in his mind. He did not want to bring her there.
"If you show me where you lived I'll show you where I lived." She offered, a hand held palm up in the air.
"No."
"Of course. I would not be that interesting." She said, her eyes drooping a bit as her face lost a glimmer of its light.
"Elodie," he sighed. "You are quite interesting. I just don't see how any of this is necessary."
"I just want to see." She repeated. "I won't prod or poke you. I promise." Her large eyes did not waver from his face.
He let out a sigh of reluctance. "You must show me your home first." He said slowly.
A smile broke across her face and she quickly wrapped her arm through his and began to lead him away from where they had stood. He went willingly. Anything to prolong the inevitable.
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Elodie
She stood still beside Erik staring up at the boarding school that had been her home for two years. With evening had come a darkness in certain parts of the building. Scattered windows held light. She looked up at the window that had belonged to her. It was dark save for the flicker of a candle placed close to the window.
"A boarding school?" Erik's voice cut through her unexpectedly.
"Yes." She managed.
"Your parents' wish?"
"Yes." She nodded her head. "My mother in particular." She studied the brick facade, the double doors that led into an extravagant hall. "As a last resort. She wanted me to become a proper young lady and behave less like a man. She said I was too carefree, too lusty for life."
"Did this suit her?" He did not pry. She would have answered regardless of his tone.
"In the beginning. The headmistress, who met us when we arrived, was quite terrifying. She looked strict. She had her graying hair slicked back in a tight bun. It pulled on the skin of her forehead. She told my mother that she would have nothing to worry about. When I went home for a visit I would be the most obedient, proper woman she had ever seen.
I was quite scared of Mistress Gwendolyn. My mother left me here, handing her the first month's rent that my father had given her. You see he had come scouting before this. With me in tow, as a matter of fact. The final say had been that of my mother and she left me here. The moment after she had gone away Mistress Gwendolyn turned to me and smiled. 'Don't worry, Elodie,' she said 'your mother wants to squash the life right out of you. She wants to make you a shell of a woman. That will not be the new way.'"
"You were happy here." He judged.
"In the beginning, yes." She said with a sigh as her finger traced the bone protruding on her opposite wrist.
"How long were you a resident?"
"Two years." She stared longingly at her former window. She wondered who was slumbering inside of the bed now, with the rich purple drapes hanging over the frame. She noticed that Erik did not pry. His lips were in a straight line. She did not comprehend why. "At the end of my first year Mistress Gwendolyn was fired." She told him. "Complaints had risen that she was too leinant. Far too lax. She did not teach what we needed to learn. Most came from parents, my mother in the forefront. The woman that replaced her was an awful shrew." She bluntly.
Her eyes flickered to a large statue perched away from the upper balcony. Strange things had begun to happen to her at that point in her life. She could never do enough to please any of them. She had started to reduce her food intake as a way of punishment, determined to destroy herself if she could not advance in favors. She had been in the habbit of doing it momentarily for years. At that point it had stolen her mind. Erik cleared his throat gently.
She jerked herself away from the past. "Things quickly deteriorated. I was told I was becoming too thin." She laughed at this, remembering that she had been thinner than she was now. "When my parents were called upon to come to the school as quickly as possible they found me strapped to a bed in the school infirmary. I was taken home immediately once things became clear."
She did not share that a few of the girls had found her perched on the farthest edge of the statue extending off the balcony. Nor did she share that there were whispers that she was seriously ill. At the time they thought it could be a terrible disease.
"How so were they clear?" His eyes pierced her, held her to the spot.
She did not answer, instead glancing down at the ground at his feet.
She heard him open his mouth to speak and she rushed headlong into distraction. "Why do you not sing anymore?" She asked. His face became a blank slate, his eyes clear of emotion and thought. "I have heard you voice." She admitted somewhat sheepishly now. "It is a trained voice."
"Come." He said gruffily as he gripped her elbow. "Perhaps it is time I show you my home."
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A/N: I would really appreciate more reviews on this story as it gets views and alerts but has barely any reviews. I know you're reading it! Please. Just let me know how you like it, if I can do anything better, anything.
