Dear Readers,

What would you have done if time travel were real and you met Erik and developed a relationship with him?

Chapter 26: Let Daylight Dry Your Tears

Erik was true to his word and brought me to my dressing room when I had regained my strength. I had requested no more lessons, visits, or gifts, until I was ready. I stepped into the room and he did not follow as he had in the past. My hand caught on my skirt as I lifted my hand to bid him follow me. I still wore his ring upon my hand from when he had placed it there. He entered, setting down my bag and I made to take off his ring but he took my hands in his, preventing me. He brought my hands to his lips and his eyes held such sorrow. "Keep the ring my Angel, know that it is not a promise of marriage, instead if you choose to wear my ring you are asking that I watch over you and keep you safe. I fear this world may be cruel to you my Angel and I will watch over you as best I can from afar. I ask nothing in return. It is but a token to remember your poor Erik, who loves you."

I pulled my hands from his and wrapped my arms around his waist, bringing his slight frame in contact with mine. "Oh Erik, this is not forever. I just want some space to think. I still care for you. Let us be friends for now."

"I will take whatever scraps my Angel will give me, for I am but a poor dog at the heels of his master," and he began to sob. I tried to console him but he escaped my embrace and was gone, the mirror sliding into place.

My tears began then. Break-ups are never good even if you facilitate them. I had never felt so adrift. All my other break ups had felt so finite weather I had initiated them or if I had been on the receiving end of the dump. I wanted Erik but my head kept telling me that I was an idiot to let him treat me as he had. I really did need time to think, to clear my head. My dressing room had a thin layer of dust and the musty smell of non use. I opened the door.

"Your back," said Jean, the errand boy quickly rising from some mending that he was doing in the hall. "When did you get in? I swear I didn't doze off."

"Hi Jean, I got in before your shift and I must have fallen asleep. Could you fetch me a bucket of water and a rag?"

"Of course, Mademoiselle Daee." He returned with the bucket and was only too happy to catch me up on opera gossip and helped me clean my room. The production of Faust had closed while I was with Erik. I had been gone close to two months. I had worried about how I would explain my absence but Erik had already taken care of that in a letter to the managers the night he drugged me. He was through. I gathered from the boy that apparently my aunt had taken a turn for the worse and was at death's door that I had rushed off to care for, begging for a leave of absence since I also needed to let my voice heal. Apparently Carlotta had collaborated the need for my voice to rest. It had been granted since I would only be gone for a short time, missing the summer recital season, which was not in my contract. I thanked Jean for his help.

I unpacked the bag that Erik insisted that I take. I unpacked the toiletries he had given me, my tooth powder and rag, lavender soap, hair brush, and my hair pins. The two dresses I had brought I now hung in the wardrobe, along with my dark blue cloak I had worn on my journey to the surface. I was just closing the wardrobe when a tentative knock came at my door.

"Just a moment." I turned and made my way across the room to open the door. Meg opened her arms and I gladly embraced her, accepting her comfort, while my eyes glistened. "Jean let me know you were back. Did something happen with your Angel?" she asked and I nodded, taking her comfort that had no alternative motive other than to be Christine's supportive friend. She held up my hand. "Is he alright? You wear his ring? Are you married?" Good, kind Meg, she truly was a good friend to Christine, and now me.

"No Meg, I am not married. He is healthy. I tried to give back the ring but he asked that I keep it. We had a fight and I don't feel like I can marry him right now. I asked for time apart to think."

"I am so sorry Christine." Tears welled up in my eyes as my tumultuous thoughts of Erik resurfaced.

"I think I still love him but I am also angry at him. I am not ready to talk about what he did just yet, dear Meg." I felt a sense of relief and loss as I played with his ring on my hand.

"Oh Christine. I can only imagine it must have been awful to make you want to break your engagement. You were so happy when last we spoke about him."

"Thank you, Meg. I will be alright. You are a great comfort. I feel better having just talked to you about him. I don't dare tell anyone else. You will keep my secret Meg?" I said brushing my tears away and standing back.

"Of course Christine, what are good friends for? You had better take that ring off if you want to avoid questions. The opera gossip has it that your Aunt has passed."

"Yes, I know. Erik crafted a letter for the managers on my behalf. It is the only story that keeps me above reproach and explains my long absence, building on my previous lie. Do you think I can wear it on my other hand? I am not ready to take it off. I can say my aunt gave me my uncle's ring."

"Your secret is safe with me Christine. Come with me to lunch. The girls will be excited that you have returned safely to us," she said. So many people were worried about my safety, was this world so unsafe as Erik claimed or were his fears unfounded?

The dining area went silent upon my arrival. I was an oddity. It had been ages since I had taken a meal with the girls opting for meals with Erik instead. I gravitated toward the ballet girls, while I noticed quite a few of the cast, crew and support staff waved or nodded as I passed the tables.

The girls offered me condolences for a nonexistent aunt but I gladly accepted them for the pain I had felt over Erik. I sat down at the table. "How have you been? It seems like such a long time since I have seen you," I said.

"We missed you," said Soreilli.

"Did you use Carlotta's throat spray?" asked Giselle.

"Is it true? Did you?" asked little Jammes.

"Yes, who told you?" I asked.

"Carlotta," said Soreilli, "She kept talking about how the little ballet rat, Christine

Daee had thwarted the Opera Ghost and saved her."

"She said you saved her, spraying your throat instead because you knew her voice was vastly superior to yours," said Giselle.

"My understudy did her job," she would say," said Jammes mimicking her haughty and heavily Italian accented voice.

"How is your throat?" asked Meg.

"It healed with time, though I have not had much cause to sing."

The girls were so kind, welcoming me back into their fold.

They had just cast Il Muto last week and it was scheduled to open the beginning of October, so we had a month of rehearsals. Since I missed auditions I once again was assigned to the ballet. Carlotta had insisted the managers retain me as her understudy though it would be almost another month before I could sing. There was no guarantee as to the quality of the voice I would have. Carlotta and I were not best friends but her attitude toward me had softened or maybe I was no longer perceived as a threat. I learned her blocking and the words to the songs.

Word of my taking the fall for Carlotta may have improved the cast's reception of me. Smiles and greetings now came my way from Carlotta's cult followers. She has built her career for nineteen seasons now. Notwithstanding her voice she was to be admired for her tenacious ability to hold on to her career. I had felt like an outsider with the singers in comparison to comradely I felt with the dancers. It was nice to feel accepted and welcomed in the fold.

Being unable to sing at rehearsal created an unanticipated grief within me. I had never known this world of stage and music so intimately and now I loved it. The make believe and attention to detail that these artists had was inspiring and I found it such an honor to be with them. Erik had given this to me. He had faith in me and helped me to craft a voice that would let me be worthy of singing on this stage. I felt the bereft of his presence while on stage now.

Raoul was at rehearsal. He came up to me as soon as we ended practice.

"Chris…. Mademoiselle Daee, I am so sorry about your aunt." He hugged me. "I am here if you need me dear friend."

"Thank you Monsieur Vicomte." I couldn't help but compare him and Erik. Raoul was kind, uncomplicated, having been loved as a child. He respected me and did not press for more than I was willing to give. I could never envision him ever kidnapping me, let alone drugging me to keep me at his side.

"I just need time to get used to being back," I replied.

"I am here for you Little Lotte, should you need me," he affirmed.

I felt cast adrift yet I know it was of my own making. I had gotten what I wanted, my freedom and now I wasn't sure I wanted it. I paid the errand boy, Jean, and he obtained precious paper for me. I needed to watch my money. I now had to pay for things that previously Erik had seen to for me. I needed a plan. I had allowed myself to be without a plan, letting Erik direct my course since my arrival over a year ago. I needed to prove to myself and to Erik that I could survive on my own while I figured out if I wanted to be with him, away from his all engulfing presence. I had always taken comfort in written plans and lists and so I sat at my vanity with a single candle to organize my thoughts. Money, how much money do I make? Expenses, what do I have to pay for? Thankfully food came with the position, or rather I found out they deducted from our salary for our food. I felt I could sleep in my dressing room. It wasn't illegal was it? Clothes, hmm, how many dresses did one really need. Maybe I would be alright with the three, so I could rotate through for washing. Oh how was I supposed to wash my dresses? How much did it cost to send clothing out, or could it be taken care of at the opera. Oh what of my dance clothes? Those would need frequent laundering. Now I began to long for the creature comforts of my own bathroom instead of the community one at the opera house. Really I was being a diva. Erik had spoiled me I realized. It hadn't seemed like it at the time in contrast to the future I had left. What of the future? Did I want to return? I had long ago given up on finding my way home. Erik. I wrote out my Erik list and wedged it into a crevice of my mirror frame. The first column decorated with hearts listed all the things I loved about him while the second column with a sad face held the parts that drove me crazy. The sad face list was short but weighty. I needed to conserve my candle. I had felt the temperature drop while I had been writing and without a fire or blanket I decided to layer myself. I slept that night in my dress, cloak, the throw and my two extra dresses tossed on top. Strangely I awoke more warm and cozy than when I had drifted off to sleep. I opened my eyes to see but I could not see in the darkness. My fingers brushed my familiar blanket and down comforter from my bed at Erik's house on the lake. I lit a candle and found a single rose lay on my vanity with a note.

My Angel,

I will keep you safe and I will always take care of you if you will let me.

Your Angel of Music.

I smiled in spite of myself. He wasn't supposed to bring me gifts and yet I welcomed his thoughtful intrusion. I was wrong to ask him to stay completely out of my life. I poured water from the pitcher and splashed my face. Then I penned a note back.

Dear Erik,

Thank you for your continued kindness when you must be upset with me. Thank you for respecting my wishes and giving me time to think away from the house on the lake.

Your Friend and Angel

Please leave a review, like, and or follow this story if you have been reading it and would like to receive alerts when the next chapters are released.