Chapter 38

(Erik's POV)

"Sir, there's a woman here. She says she knows you," Gangle informs me.

"A woman? What's her name? What is her business this time of night? It's nearly one in the morning."

"She didn't give a name, sir. She just said that it's urgent, and it had to do with your granddaughter."

I scrunched my eyebrows suddenly concerned. "Fine. Send her to me."

I went to my room and put on my good robe and house shoes. I glanced in the mirror and quickly combed back my hair before placing a kiss on my painting of Christine.

Just then, a knock comes once again to my door. I shuffled towards it and barely cracked it open so the heavy rain wouldn't leak inside to the carpet. The woman had her head covered with a hood, but I recognized her hair. A bundle of blankets was nestled in her arms which immediately made me usher her inside.

"Thank you, sir," she said with a great sigh. She reached up and removed her hood to reveal a pair of beautiful blue eyes filled with tears. It took me a moment to recognize her. It was not until she stared at the floor that I knew who she was.

"You were Elaina's sister," I suddenly mumbled.

"Yes, sir," she said barely above a whisper. "I hated to disturb you, but it's an emergency."

I noticed her shaking. I wasn't sure if it was from fear or from cold, but I decided I couldn't let her shiver like that. She looked miserable. "That's quite alright. Can I get you a blanket, Rachel?"

"No, no, I can't ask you for such a thing. I just had to get her to you before my parents found her."

"Her? What do you mean 'her'?"

She timidly stepped close to me and placed my sleeping granddaughter in my arms. "Rachel, what in the world happened?" I asked frantically as I quickly began to pull the wet blankets from my sweet Chrissy's little body.

"I don't know!" Rachel cried. She shook her head and buried her face in her hands. "I just found her bundled up in a basket on our porch with this note." She pulled a wet envelope out of her cloak and quickly set it on the table next to me before quickly jumping away.

"What does it say?" I asked as I quickly laid my sleeping granddaughter in a make-shift bed.

"I don't know. I didn't read it. I-I was so terrified that my parents would wake up and find her. Trust me, sir. If they had found her, you would have never seen that beautiful baby ever again."

I looked at her shivering form and then back to the note. I shook my curiosity off and stepped towards her, but for every step I took, she took a step back and continued to hide her face with her hair.

"It's alright, Rachel. I muttered gently as she backed into my desk. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you. Come here. You'll get sick if you don't get rid of that wet cloak."

"My father says to stay away from men. He says that all they will do is take advantage of me," she whispered as tears spilled over her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm just so terrified, sir. I've never been anywhere without my parents."

"Rachel, I would never do anything to hurt you. Please, call me Erik. Would that make you feel better? My name is Erik."

She looked up at me with her big blue eyes again and nodded. "I trust you for some reason, Erik, and that scares me."

A little piece of my heart broke as I heard her voice crack. My hands gently took her cloak from her shoulders. She watched me with intense eyes as I hung it by the fire. Looking back at her, her dress was even dripping with rain. I sighed as I looked over her thin, shivering form.

"Wait here. I'm going to go get you something dry to put on."

She nodded timidly, and I turned to go to my room. I grabbed an old robe of mine and an oversized shirt that I thought she could wear as a nightgown. I went back and placed them in her hands. She took them timidly and went to change. I hung her wet things with her cloak as she sat on my sofa with my robe wrapped tightly around her. She blushed and stared at the floor with her hands clutching tightly to the top of the robe.

"Why are you always doing that?" I asked as I draped her corset over a stool by the fire.

"Doing what?"

"Looking at the floor? You stare at the floor a lot. You shouldn't. You have beautiful eyes. People might like to see them a little more."

She looked up with her pretty chocolate silken curls draped around her shoulder. "You think I have beautiful eyes?"

"Yes, they're lovely. I haven't seen eyes like that since..."

"Since?"

"Since Gustave's mother," I muttered sadly.

"Oh... I'm sorry, Erik," she whispered as she quickly stared back at the tile.

I gently smiled and placed my fingers under her chin, forcing her to look up. "It's not your fault. Besides, I never said that it was a bad thing."

Her rose colored lips curved into a smile. "That's lovely of you to say. I haven't received a compliment since I was a little girl."

"That's awful. A little girl you say? You must be pretty young though if you've never been anywhere without your parents."

"I am. I'm only twenty."

"Twenty? You do realize most girls your age are getting married don't you? Some of them are in college."

She nodded. "I know, but Father says I'm not ready." She relaxed a bit and pulled her long curls so that they would flow down her back.

"Did your father also give you that?" I asked, my fingers gently brushing the big purple bruise on her cheek bond that she had just revealed.

She looked up at me, fresh tears forming in her eyes. "He hit me for singing while I was in the bath. It reminded him too much of Elaina. He loved her more. Now that she's gone, he hates anything that reminds him of her. He punched me in the stomach just because I asked to go to the circus when it came. She used to love the circus."

"It looks swollen," I said as I wiped away one of her tears. "Let me get you some ice."

She nodded and winced as as my thumb brushed across it. "Thank you. You know, you really don't have to be so kind to me. I don't deserve it."

"But you haven't done anything to not deserve it," I retorted as I gently placed the cold rag on her cheek.

She took it and sighed with relief. Her big eyes watched the fire until they suddenly grew heavy.

"I should go home," she said tiredly as she set the rag in my hands.

"No, you can't," I said so urgently, it even surprised me.

"I really should. It'll be four in the morning by the time I get home. That's the time my father gets up to go to work. I might as well face him while he's tired."

"Please Rachel, stay. It's still raining, and your clothes aren't dry. You'll get sick. Plus it's late. Rachel, I may not have any intent to hurt you, but other men this time of night might. Besides, I can't let you go home to your father. He might hit you, and if he did, I would never forgive myself for not making you stay."

She stared at me for a moment but eventually nodded. "Alright, I'll stay, but it's only for tonight."

"Of course. Come. You can take the bedroom across the hall. I'll fix you some more ice to rest your cheek on."

"Bless you, Erik," she said sweetly before going to the room that used to be Gustave's.

I brought her back some ice. I lifted her tired head and rested it on top of the cool cloth. She appeared to be asleep, so I turned out the gas lamps and pulled the covers over her tiny shoulders. Just before I left the room, I heard her voice. "Goodnight, Erik," she mumbled. "I can't thank you enough."

I gently smiled and returned to her bedside. Without my mind telling my body to do so, I kissed her cheek like a father might do so his daughter. Her lips turned up in a smile again as I shut the door. I even smiled to myself for a moment until I spotted the note on the counter. Gustave's handwriting was clearly scribbled on the outside. I bit my lip angrily and grunted. I didn't know what exactly was going through his head at the time, but it was going to find out.

"Now to go deal with my son," I growled angrily as I tugged on my coat, shoving the note in my pocket.