Chapter Twenty-one: The Sad Tale of Erik
"Twenty years ago there was a man named Isaac Kynaston… Yes Chris, the Isaac Kynaston, as in the famous musician your father worked with… Yes, that man is my father. He's the one who inspired my love for music. May I continue without interruptions now? Thank you, Chris."
"As I was saying, he was a musical man, being able to play piano and sing with great skill. He traveled the world, performing in places like Italy and Russia as a world-class musician. He was born in America, but his parents had been immigrants from France who had come to this country years ago, in hopes that their children would have a better life. So every year he would go back to Paris, to honor his heritage, and put on a weeklong concert series. Well, when he was twenty-seven, he was in this beloved city to perform a final show, and after it was over, his tour director ran up to him and told him that Eva Gates—yes darling, Eva Gates the opera singer—wanted to meet him at that very moment. Of course, Isaac said that she could. He was a distant admirer of her talent too, and had seen her a few times in concert. He was excited to meet Eva."
"She was sent backstage into his dressing room to meet him, and he waited to meet the older woman anxiously. But to his surprise, she was quite young. In fact, she was three years younger than him. The stage lights seemed to age her when she was performing, but when she was close to him, it was clear that she was a young and lively woman. Both of them ended up walking around Paris together, him in his suit and she in her green evening dress, and talking until dawn. They told each other of their childhoods in America, studying aboard, and the challenges of their fame. By the end of the night they were holding hands, and as the sun rose above the Eiffel Tower, Isaac told his blonde beauty that she was the woman he was going to marry. She laughed at him at first, but at least said yes to dinner the next day. Four years later, they were married."
"It wasn't long until Eva realized she was pregnant with their first child. Both of them were overjoyed. They had recently bought a renovated Victorian mansion on the outskirts of New York, and they knew that would be a wonderful place to raise a child. All the time, Eva was singing to the child in her swollen stomach, or Isaac was composing a new song on his piano for him or her. At last, on a cold winter day, Eva gave birth to a healthy, baby boy. And that child was named Erik Chopin Kynaston."
"Erik's childhood was very happy. As a young boy he would sit on Isaac's knee, and listen as his father played him a song. At the age of three Erik began to mimic his father's playing when he wasn't around, and would sneak into his room to fiddle with the family violin kept hidden in the closet. At times he would listen to his mother sing, and in his room, tried to copy what she did to sound so beautiful. He had no idea he was gifted until his father caught him playing a Mozart piece on the violin at age four, and told him that his making music was a wonderful thing, and that God had blessed him. At the same time, Erik also confessed that he could play the piano, and began playing Disney themes he had taught himself by ear for Isaac. Out of curiosity, Eva gave Erik the chance to sing with her, which he did. It was at that time in his young life that teachers from around the world began coming to this young boy to help him hone his gift. So for the next three years, the Kynaston household was filled with music, education, joy, and love."
"But suddenly Chris, it all went wrong. It all went so, horribly wrong. It was a cool spring night, a few months after Erik's seventh birthday. His parents had just tucked him into bed, and they were upstairs sleeping also. For a few hours Erik slept peacefully, and then all of a sudden, he woke up feeling like he was choking. He opened his eyes for a brief moment, but the stinging of smoke forced them to shut. Yet, in that quick glance of his room, he saw flames dancing in the halls and next to his bed. He realized that his house was on fire."
"He quickly shot out of bed, and squinting his eyes, tried to find a way to his parents bedroom. He walked up the stairs to another hall, where they were supposed to be sleeping, and he quickly opened the door to their room. What he saw… no child should ever have to see such a thing, Chris."
"He saw the smoldering, burnt bodies of his parents lying on the floor. Both of them were faced down, and looked like they had tried to crawl out of the house. Erik walked over to the bodies, unsure of what they were at first, but suddenly one looked up at him. If it was his mother or father, he couldn't tell, but it suddenly grabbed his ankle as though trying to keep him there. The young boy let out a horrifying scream, and pulled his leg away from the body. After that he turned around, and decided he would have to get out of the house alone."
"As he was running back down the stairs, he heard a terrible creaking noise from the ceiling, and looked up. In the next few moments, his life again was dramatically changed. Before he could move away burning pieces of wood and plaster toppled onto his face, and soon all he knew was searing pain. He somehow managed to brush away the flames from his body, but the horrid burning remained. That's all he knew of, burning…"
"Hours later, he woke up in a forest, surrounded by trees. He couldn't remember walking there, or how he made it out of the fire, but he was there and that was all that mattered. It was sunrise, and the forest was lit with streaks of light. At first little Erik thought the fire was all a dream, but he felt the throbbing pain of his face, and he was brought back to reality again. It all came back to him: the fire, choking on the smoke, the bodies."
"And then he realized he had to get away from those bodies! The burnt corpses that had reached out to him, and tried to make him stay in the flames. With his seven-year-old logic, Erik figured out he could never go back to his house, and no one could ever find him. If they did, the bodies would be able to find him too."
"So, he started walking. He didn't know where he was going to go, or how he was going to get there, but he had to get away from where he was. When he came to a town, he stole a hoodie and a pair of jeans from someone's clothesline, and searched in the garbage cans for food. He used to travel during the day, but that stopped when he saw his face in a bathroom mirror… and a man saw it too. Both of them screamed, and ran out of the bathroom in different directions. That was how he learned to keep his face covered, and to move in darkness. So when it was light out, he would sleep, but at night he would walk again. The days traveling turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Erik, being a smart child, luckily knew the ways of currency and the basics of the world. He knew to be careful crossing the street, that money could buy food for the right price, and he knew how to count that money and how much a coin or dollar was worth. When he found money, he would go to the nearest gas station and buy a hot dog or piece of pizza, while keeping his face covered."
"And then one day, his traveling came to an end. He was walking one night in a new city, a city that had an ocean nearby. He had never been to the ocean, so of course Erik was attracted to the possibility of seeing something new. He began his trek out to the city, called Belleview, and by reading the signs was able to figure out where to go. By the time he was in town, it was almost midnight, and he could see that people were out. He noticed a building called Beat of the Sea had people moving in and out of it, and he quickly ran to escape them."
"He kept running and didn't stop, until he crashed into an older black boy dressed in sagging jeans and a black shirt. He had to have been about fourteen, and he had a group of older friends with him, all in chains and side-ways baseball hats. Gang attire would be the correct way to describe it. The boy was angry that Erik had run into him, and he said things to him he had never heard before. He tried to explain to the boy why he had run, but before he could get everything out, the boy kicked him in the stomach."
"The gang drug poor Erik out behind a large brick building (that he learned later was the Gardens Theater) and they began to beat him. They didn't stop until they tore the hoodie he wore off his face. In shock they saw the scars that were barely healing, and they ran away from the gruesome sight. Erik tried to get up, but his head felt heavy and dizzy, so he slipped into darkness, and didn't know of anything for a long time."
"He woke up later inside a room he had never seen before. He was lying in a big bed with brown covers on it, and the room was painted orange with white stripes. Next to him, sitting on the bed, was an older woman with brown hair. Seeing he was awake, she reached over to pat his shoulder, and to tell him it would be all right. He panicked at first, thinking that the bodies would find him, but a bout of sleepiness washed over him, and he closed his eyes once more."
"The days of being in that room seemed like a blur to Erik. The young woman, who he learned was named Mrs. Gardens, took care of him. Her husband, Mr. Gardens, would also bring him food and keep him company from time to time. The kind couple nursed him back to health, and he was soon able to play piano and read again."
"Over time both people would try to ask him his name, but he would only say he was Erik, and that he didn't remember his last name. He knew he was lying, but he couldn't risk the bodies finding him again. He was happy where he was, in his orange room with new clothes and a keyboard that his caretakers gave him. They seemed to be impressed with his piano playing, and by his intelligence. After a while, they gave up on learning his identity, and by making up a new name, they managed to get him into an online school program. Erik advanced quickly in his courses, and in his spare time, he learned how to write piano music."
"Soon, the couple moved the young boy into a soundproof room in the basement, where no one would disturb him. By this time Erik was eight, and he had also discovered theater. He began reading things online about theater, and soon decided that he wanted to write musicals and plays. That his how he became a playwright and composer. Using different names, pen names Mrs. Gardens called them, he would write things and send them in to be published. Mrs. Gardens would take care of getting the shows printed, and collecting the money for him. And Erik, never wanting to go without having anything again, saved his money carefully, until Mr. Gardens helped him put his checks and cash in a bank account. For years, everything was wonderful."
"But then, things changed again. At age eleven, Erik began having nightmares and dreams about the fire, things that would scare him so much that he would go into a fury for hours. He became deeply depressed, and started to hurt himself. At last, after too many horrible events happened, it was decided Erik would live in the Gardens Theater, where the old bomb shelters used to be. Erik himself helped convert the spare rooms into living quarters, and soon he had a home he could call his own. He loved his freedom, and designing the rooms and facilities took his mind off of the nightmares. Mr. Gardens offered to pay for what needed to be done, but Erik using the royalties from his shows, did it himself. Soon he had a music room, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, and library. Gradually things went back to normal, and Erik began living in solitude."
"Of course, as he grew older, he came to the realization that the bodies that he saw were his parents, and by doing research, was able to find out that no one discovered his house was burning until the next morning, since they lived in a remote area. Eva and Isaac were buried in a New York cemetery, and as for the son, he was presumed dead and no body was ever found. Supposedly, he had burnt to ashes. The pain in having no family was terrible, but he could not reveal who he really was. He refused to be the boy who lived, while his parents had suffered. And, who would look upon his scarred face, and realize that this man was the once the golden boy of Isaac and Eva Kynaston?"
"He went on to do many things. He wrote more shows, designed sets, and became the Theater Ghost of Gardens Theater. He even helped run the theater itself, giving Mrs. Gardens advice on shows when she asked for it. He thought he had everything he needed, and for seven years, was at peace with his life."
"That was until Erik heard a beautiful woman sing. Out of all the voices he had heard on the stage of Gardens Theater, and he had heard many, none of them were as wonderful as hers. She could do no wrong in her voice, and her looks and pure heart seemed to match it. And now, you may ask, who was this woman? Who could this marvelous person be, who forced this phantom to come out of hiding? Well, this woman was Christy Davis, the sweet heart and costume mistress of the theater."
"And here we are now Chris. My name is Erik Chopin Kynaston, and you are the only person in the world who knows who I really am."