Erik's POV
I wasn't sure why I had allowed my mother to beat me. The last time she raised her hand to me, I promised that it would be the final time. But why again? Perhaps it was because I cared too much about Christine to fight back. To see her taken away from me would do nothing but break my heart. My mother whipped me with her belt until my flesh bled. Christine was frightened by my mother and ran into her bedroom until it was over. After she saw my face I didn't think that she was ever going to look at me the same way again.
"…You will not draw unwanted attention to this family, Erik… You should know your place by now."
With that, my mother threw down her belt and tossed me into my bedroom. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. Instead, I held in the tears that wanted to emerge and pressed my masked face into my pillow.
"Dearest Erik?"
Christine sounded frightened and I knew why. How could she not be afraid? She had seen my face. I sniffled and continued to ignore her.
"Erik? Are you awake?"
When I didn't answer her, I heard her steps getting closer and closer to my bed. And then, I felt something moist being dabbed against my sore neck. I kept my eyes closed and pretended that I was asleep, for I didn't want to face her…Not now, not tonight.
"Goodnight, Erik," she cooed. "I…I hope you sleep well."
When the girl was gone, I got up and approached my window. I took a seat on the windowsill and looked out at the night sky. I didn't want to be here any longer…I was almost a man, one that wanted nothing more than to be free. When the burning finally wore off from my beating, I managed to change into my night clothes. It wasn't fun trying to remove my clothing without the fabric brushing my wounds, but it needed to be done. Afterwards, I lit a candle and slowly came down the stairs using my crutch. I was thirsty and a little hungry… I was thankful that my mother was already in her room for the evening, otherwise, I probably would have killed her.
I placed a kettle of water over the stove and took a seat at the kitchen table.
"Dearest Erik?"
When I heard Christine's voice, I spun around to see her standing in the doorway clutching her doll close to her chest. She too, was dressed in her night attire and her chocolate curls were bouncing over her shoulders.
"You can't even bear to look at me now," I began. "Before today, you would look me right in the eyes. Look at you, you're staring down at your feet now. I know you think I'm hideous, Christine. I can see it in your eyes."
"I don't want to be afraid of you, Erik…We're best friends…"
"No, we used to be best friends, Christine. I know deep down that you won't ever look at me the same way again."
"Why did you let your mother hurt you, Erik? You told me that you were never going to let anyone hurt you again."
"If I would have fought back, she might have sent you away. Do you know what that would have done to you? You would have hated me for it. I know you hate me now…"
"I don't!" she cried. "I don't hate you…How could you say such a thing?"
"You blacked out…You blacked out, Christine. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you do not fear me…"
Christine tried to look up, but she couldn't… I knew she was trying, but it was no use, for she now had tears in her eyes.
"You're afraid of me and nothing will ever be the same again."
The kettle began to whistle and I got up to take it off the burner. Though, as soon as I did so, I felt two small arms wrap themselves tightly around my torso.
"Please don't hate me, Erik… You are my best friend and I always want it to be that way. Why do you think I lied? I lied for you, dearest Erik! I lied for you! I lied because you are my best friend. There isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you. So please…please don't hate me because I was afraid. As long as you wear the mask nothing will ever change between us."
How could I say no to her? How could I deny myself a friend?
"Christine…Oh, Christine."
"I will do anything, Erik…Just please say that we can still be friends."
"Anything?"
"Yes," she cried. "Anything, Erik…"
"Never talk to that Raoul boy again. He is no good….Do you understand me?"
"If you say so, Erik…"
"There is one more thing, Christine… I need you to promise me one more thing."
"Anything…"
"I want you to stop treating my mother as if she is your own. She is my mother and she is an evil being. She will do nothing but hurt me…I don't want her to hurt you either. When I am old enough, I will be leaving here and I want you to come with me. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Erik…"
I broke away from Christine's embrace in order to make my tea, knowing that I had once again gained her trust. I never wanted her to speak to that boy again and I knew that she would never break her promise to me.
"Dearest Erik, you look like you're in a lot of pain."
"Nothing that I won't recover from. All I want to do now is enjoy my tea and crawl into bed. I'm so exhausted."
"And so am I…"
I smiled, for Christine would be the only friend I would ever want or need…
The summer finally arrived and like the girl promised, she never spoke to that boy again. No, she basically ignored everyone that wanted to play with her. She spent the summer days following me around like a lost puppy, always begging me to play. My mother didn't appreciate her ignoring the neighborhood children, but there wasn't a thing that could be done about it.
"That one looks like a monkey…"
It was too hot to do anything but lie around, that being the reason why Christine and I found ourselves lying in the shade and staring up at the sky. This was a game she enjoyed playing…She would look up at the clouds and then tell me what they looked like.
"And that one looks like a gypsy caravan…" she giggled.
I knew she was only being innocent, but I couldn't help but find it offensive.
"Oh…I'm sorry, dearest Erik. I didn't mean to say that…"
"I know. I know that you're just being innocent…Please don't apologize. You can't help what I've gone through in life."
"Well, how about we play a different game then?"
"What kind of game? I couldn't possibly run, for my leg is still healing. Besides, it's too hot to run anyway."
"Well, it's not that kind of game, Erik. I was thinking about playing a question game."
"A question game?"
"Yes…I'll ask you a question and you answer it. So, I'll start… If you could be anything today, what would you be?"
"What do you mean?"
"You could be anything, Erik. Just pick something…No answer is silly. You could tell me that you wanted to be a rainbow and I wouldn't laugh."
"A rainbow? Why would anyone want to be a rainbow?"
Christine shrugged. "I don't know…They really are pretty though. But I thought that maybe you could be every color at once. I think that would be really fun."
"Well…" I thought long and hard about what I was going to say to Christine. What did I want to be? If I could be anything in the world, I would want to be handsome, but I knew that it wouldn't satisfy Christine. No, she wanted me to be silly, therefore, I would be silly for her.
"Well, if I could be anything, I would want to be handsome…But, since we're talking silly talk here, I guess I would want to be a spider."
"Ewww…A spider? Why would you want to be a spider? Oh, wait…Cause you would have lots of legs and eyes right?"
"What? No, of course not, Christine. You see, spiders are known as one of the most hideous and vile creatures around, but in reality, they are good. They eat other bugs that would kill crops on farms, but most of all, they have the right to mate."
"Mate?"
"It means that they have the right to love another spider, just like humans have the right to love other humans."
"Do you really believe what your mother told you?" Christine asked. "About how she said that no one would ever love you?"
"It truly hurts, Christine. Oh, you don't know how badly I wish I could change into something else. But no, I'm forced to live the rest of my days in this hideous body. She is right though… What woman would ever want to look me in the eyes and tell me that she loves me? No one, that's who… I mean, you can't even look me in the eyes. My own friend…"
"I'm sorry, Erik, really I am. I never meant to hurt you. You know…There is something that I could do…Something that I could promise you."
"Promise me?"
"Yes… My papa said that gypsies arrange their marriages. I never knew what that meant, but my papa told me that an arranged marriage is when the papa takes his daughter to another papa who has a son and they are forced to marry each other. I found it strange at first because I didn't understand how they could marry if they didn't love each other, you know? But my papa said that they learn to love one another over time…"
"Christine, no….If you have any ideas about what I think you have ideas about, then the answer is no. I will not force you to marry me. It would be pity… I don't need pity, Christine. I would never be able to live with myself if I had to wake each morning and see you miserable. You are a beautiful girl that will make some man happy one day…That man won't be me."
"But we're friends, Erik… Friends help each other out."
"You would marry me because you're my friend? Just because you're my friend?"
Christine nodded.
"You're just a child, Christine. You don't know what you're saying…I don't even know what I'm saying half the time. The answer is no…Enough about this nonsense."
I got to my feet and dusted my trousers off.
"I believe it's time that we made it back to the house. If we're late, my mother will be out searching for us and that will only lead to a beating."
"But…But you didn't even ask me what I wanted to be. You told me that you wanted to be a spider, but you never asked me what I wanted to be."
"Well, all right, Christine. What is it that you want to be, if you could be anything?"
"I…I want to be someone's wife. I want to make someone happy, just like my mama made my papa happy. He used to tell me how happy mama used to make him. I want to make some man happy, just like my mama used to make my papa happy."
"And I know that you will make someone happy someday, Christine. You make me happy every day. I know that you will make the man that you marry extremely happy and he will be lucky to have you. And if he ever does you wrong, he will have to answer to me."
"Well, maybe that man will be answering to himself because that man will be you."
I knew Christine was wrong, for when she became a woman, those thoughts would simply disappear from her innocent mind. No woman would ever want me, not even my Christine…
Christine, you silly child... Anyway, I updated early because of all the reviews. Keep them up! Thanks again, everyone...