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Chapter 28
That night, we relaxed by the fire Erik had built in the fireplace. After a filling supper of filet mignon, bread, and a variety of fruits, we were too full to do anything else, although Erik did insist on changing the bandages on my back.
"No," I insisted. "I'm afraid that if I lay on my stomach right now, I'll pop." He merely laughed, saying no more about it.
In front of the fire, we recalled the days of our childhood, laughing at the little tussles we used to get ourselves into.
"Do you remember that one time when we dropped that rat on Carlotta's head?" I said, trying to control my laughter. "She was feeling rats in her hair for weeks!"
Erik laughed along with me when I couldn't hold it in anymore. "Yes, I daresay that was one of the best things we ever did to her. She hit her highest note yet!"
I was almost rolling on the floor, I was laughing so hard. It's weird what laughter does to you. It lifts your mood, no matter what situation you're in. After going through the torture at Raoul's estate, I was surprised that I could still laugh and experience joy. At least he couldn't take that part of me away.
"But I think the best prank you ever pulled was when you sang for Christine during Don Juan." He said.
My brows furrowed. "That wasn't a prank, Erik."
"It may not have been, but you sure did pull one over on me. I knew something was strange when I heard her – I mean you – sing. It was as if Christine's voice had matured overnight, as I had heard her at rehearsal the previous day. During rehearsal, she sounded so timid, so innocent, so…"
"Young?" I finished.
He nodded. "Precisely. Then I heard her 'sing' during Don Juan, and it sounded so different. I would have never figured that you were singing for her. I seriously thought that she was singing it to me not as Aminta to Don Juan, but as Christine to Erik. I know it sounds crazy-"
"It doesn't sound crazy at all. Trust me, I know how it is wishing someone would see you in a different light. I know how it feels to want someone to sing to you in that way and actually mean it. That's one reason I did it: I wanted to sing to you like that. Even though you thought it was Christine, I still wanted you to hear me. I needed you to hear me at least once before I left."
"Why did you want to leave, anyways?" he asked me, paying full attention to me, all humor gone from his expression.
I shrugged. "I knew that Christine would stay with you after the performance, and I didn't want to get in the way of that. Besides, I couldn't bear to see you two together if I had stayed, so I decided that it was best for me to leave."
"Where would you have went, Sabrina?"
"I was going to stay in a hotel for that night, then go off someplace far away from Paris. I was actually thinking of going to England. I've heard that they have fantastic theatres there."
He leaned towards me. "Why so far away?"
I sighed. "Because I knew that if I stayed in Paris, I would be too close to you. I wanted to forget all about you, erase you from my memory. But deep down, I already knew that I couldn't forget you. You would always be haunting my mind, making me want to come back and try to get you to love me. I guess, in a way, I was like you: wanting you to love me when you loved someone else."
He took my hands in his. "Sabrina, I'm so sorry. I was so blinded by the beauty that Christine had brought to my music that I couldn't see the only beauty I needed was you."
I blushed. "You're too kind, monsieur."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "I only tell the truth."
-
The next day, Erik informed me that he was going out.
"Are you sure about this?" I asked him. "The last time you went out without me didn't turn out so well."
He laughed. "This time, I brought reinforcements. Someone will be staying here with you."
"Who?"
He was about to answer when a knock came from the door. "That must be them." He said as he went to let our visitor in.
He opened the door to reveal Madame Giry. She ran to me and embraced me in a tight hug. "Oh, Sabrina, Erik told me what happened. Are you alright?"
I gasped. She can squeeze the life out of someone with her hugs. "I'm fine, Madame Giry. But please let me go. My back isn't fully healed yet."
She let me go as if I had turned to fire. "I apologize; I do not know what came over me."
Erik stepped out of the door. "I see that you two are quite alright here. I shall be back in two hours."
"Be safe!" we called simultaneously.
"So," Madame Giry said, turning back to me. "What all happened?"
I retailed the whole story to her, even the hallucinations. Her face conveyed horror and anger throughout my tale. When I finished, tears were streaming down her face. "I am so glad that Erik got you out of there. But the Vicomte…"
"I know," I said, nodding in understanding. "I didn't think he would be capable of such an act either. But his father was the same way and, as they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
"That still doesn't give him an excuse. Why, if he were right in front of me at this moment, I could not guarantee that we would go out of this building on his own two feet."
"Madame, I never thought you would have such a violent streak in you!" I exclaimed.
"Well, when it comes to ones I see as my own children, the mother bear in me comes out."
I was giggling when Erik came back through the door. Had it been two hours already?
"Ah, so I see you two have been enjoying each other's company." He said, sounding amused.
I rolled my eyes jokingly. "Well, of course."
Madame Giry laughed at our bickering. "Children, children. I guess this is my cue to leave. It has been wonderful catching up with you, my dear. And remember, if he ever comes after you again, let me know. I'll take care of him." She said with a wink.
I laughed again. "Alright, Madame Giry. Goodbye."
She waved at us as she glided out the door. I then turned on Erik. "Did everything go alright today?"
He smiled mischievously. "Why yes, everything did. And I take it your visit with Madame Giry went well as well?" he asked.
"I told her everything that happened to me when I was Raoul's prisoner. Once I was done, she let me see a side of her I wouldn't want to be on the receiving side of. Needless to say, we're like her cubs."
He smiled widely. "I have no doubt of that. She has basically raised us, so of course we would be akin to her own children."
"Yes, but she sounded so violent towards Raoul. I never thought she would even think like that, let alone talk like that."
"Well, we all react differently. I, personally, think I rubbed off on her a little bit concerning violence." He said, ruffling my hair a bit.
After batting his arm away from my head, I said, "Or maybe she rubbed off on you in terms of protectiveness."
