Chapter VI
For the second time this day, the sudden change when emerging
into the atmosphere of the cellar had a profound affect on my senses. Yes, it was the second time that day…But
what had I told Christine? That it was
already morning…That the boy I had killed had made haste and run about Paris
spreading malicious lies to save himself and destroy her world…That I was now
her only refuge in life, her only answer.
She had believed it all and all were lies. It was not yet eleven o'clock, less than eight hours since she
had first arrived and so daintily left that embossed envelope on my
dust-covered piano and I had closed the doors to her…forever. And as far as Paris was concerned, the young
Vicomte and his fiancée were still enjoying a flawless engagement…A pity he had
to go and die…
But the change in temperature was enough to slow the
beating of my heart…And the strident stench of smoke and burnt oil was enough
to clear the clouds from my mind…And the loud screaming was just about enough
to drive me insane…
Someone was yelling in my cellar! Crying out my very name in a tone filled
with wrath and anxiety.
I recognized the voice, distorted as it was by its
volume, before I recognized the figure swathed in the shadows of the lingering
smoke not twenty feet from my very door.
This was not a visitor I could say I was pleased to
see. Though whom else could I have
expected? My old friend, the Daroga,
has always found a way of interfering in my affairs…But this was one ploy he
was too late to stop.
He passed directly before me, taking no note of my
presence and continued to call out into the dark, demanding my audience. I had had enough of shouting meddlers for
one day and no more tricks up my sleeve.
This meeting, I concluded, would have to be ended simply and
efficiently. If he was here now, then
he must know what had transpired earlier, and I highly doubted he had come to
congratulate me.
"Erik!"
Then what was his purpose here? Did he think he would actually accomplish
anything? He was practically fuming as
he turned at the edge of the lake and began to make his way back up near the
wall.
"I know you are here."
So you are a psychic now? The echoes of his voice
were only serving to increase the pounding in my head and I was becoming more
than annoyed.
"Did you think I wouldn't
notice—"
My voice, filled with weary annoyance, broke through
his, cutting short his words. "Don't
you fear for your life, old man?"
He paused, stopping where he stood. He did not look for me…He had learned by now
that when I did not wish to be seen, there was no use in trying.
"I don't know. Should I?"
I could sense the vagueness in my own reply as I
leaned back against the wall, still trying to catch my breath. "Yes...You probably should..."
He looked confused as if he had not expected me to
answer that way. "What's wrong with
you?"
My answer was a stern "Nothing." The tone such a contrast to what he had
heard a second ago that even I realized what I had betrayed of my state. But already I could tell that I was
frustrating him beyond endurance. He
was in no mood to play games.
"I just suppose it takes a lot
out of you to set the lake on fire," he snapped rhetorically.
I did not answer for a moment, considering what he
said. He had seen then…or at least
enough to draw conclusions. He did not
seem to care about letting me know that fact.
My answering words had returned to the casual indifferent tone that just
coincidentally seemed to irritate him.
"No, it was quite simple,
actually."
"As was killing the Vicomte,"
he snapped. An overconfident edge came
to his features, and I realized he was looking directly at me. I know for a fact that he could not see me,
yet somehow he understood exactly where I was.
He amended his statement with the words that caught me more off guard
than any: "Or attempting to, rather."
Unexpected!
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to remain where I
was. He moved back as if he expected me
to appear, but only my voice met him, stipulating with all of its
severity. "He is alive?"
It was as if I could hear his very thoughts…'Yes,
Erik. I know. Your scheme was not as
perfect as you thought it was. In fact,
it failed. You should know that. You cannot control everyone's destinies as
easily as you would wish.' How dare
you! How dare you think so! You must realize that these words you have spoken
in the heat of aggravation have put the Vicomte de Chagny in more danger than
he has ever been. In my hands or any
other. But what was said was said, was
it not? You realize this. Is that why you remain so cool?
"Yes. He is not in a good state, but he is alive."
"Where?" The question was an order for a
response. I demanded again, before he
could answer, "Where is he?"
"Why should I tell you
that?" he cried out in brazenness,
cracking his collected demeanor. "Do
you plan to send him flowers? I know
what you would do if I told you. I am
not a fool."
Clenching my teeth in silence, I used all of my will
to control myself as my hands itched in anger for vengeance. When I did speak, it was with complete
control.
"No matter. I know where he is."
"You didn't even know he was
alive," he retorted quickly, knowing not to be taken in by my mental
manipulation.
"He could not have lived on
his own. You helped him."
I had triggered the right wire, and he exploded. "Of course
I helped him! Do you think I would just let him die!?"
I yelled back, my fury matching his, echoing from all
corners of the cellar. "You are a fool
to meddle in my affairs!"
Faster than he could perceive and I could grasp, I
was upon him, my hands at his throat.
"I should kill you for that!"
Staring down
at him, it was like a mirror. I could
see myself reflected in the expression on his face…My own glowing eyes burned
with rage that was unnatural even for me.
I released him with disgust, withdrawing as quickly as I had set upon
him. For once I did not second guess
the level of cold hatred in my voice as I spoke from where I stood. "And know that if you try to do so again, I
will. It is not an empty threat this
time, Daroga. I will kill you."
I could see that he knew as well as I did that that
this was a promise I meant to keep. But
he merely stared at me without fear…Only a simple and piteous sadness. "Why did you do it, Erik?"
His words and his looks made me sick with repulsion
and loathing.
"I owed him the favor."
"He and Miss Daaé were
engaged, were they not? You had let
them go! I had believed you cared for
her best interest that once…and now you turn and kill her fiancé!"
"It was a brief period of
misunderstanding."
It is useless, my one-time friend-turned enemy. Give up now.
"Is she with you, Erik?"
"That is none of your
business."
"Does she know what happened
to Raoul?"
I could only laugh at the absurdity of the
question. Why even ask? Attempting to make example of my deception, are
you?
"Answer me," he ordered,
firmly.
"She is not concerned with
him."
"Not for her own fiancé? She loves him dearly, Erik. You know that as well as I."
I did not feel like responding to that and turned,
walking to the edge of the lake. Distinctly, I surveyed the damage left by the
fire, focusing minutely on the fine details of the destruction. The black soot left rims around the water's
edge and I noticed the very level of the lake had lowered some few centimeters
here. Interesting…I did not think those
flames that extinguished in less than ten minutes had produced enough heat to
cause such evaporation. There must have
been some other explanation for the phenomenon. As I was absently pondering the possibilities, The Nuisance
approached, remaining a few steps behind me and truncated my musings.
"I do not know what you are
doing, but I cannot imagine it is anything better then what you have done
before. I know she is with you."
I turned and looked back at him. She is with me…Christine. With me now and with me forever. I could feel it again…Conquer my entire
being…Had those moments been such a short time ago? We had held each other in an embrace of trust and security…After
waiting for so long…Suffering so much longing…
He noticed the change in me after having mentioned
her and leapt at the opportunity to gain ground on this checkered
battlefield. "And looking at you now
it's obvious something has happened."
My eyes leveled with his. "Nothing has happened.
She wants to stay with me."
He studied me for a moment, silently, and I let
him. Then began, as if in concession,
"I will go…when Christine Daaé tells me these things herself."
I laughed, but it sounded forced even to my own
ears. My words were sharp. "No, you will go right now. And you will never come back down here."
"No, let me see for myself
that Christine is not being kept here against her will! Then I will never bother you about her
again. I won't even let Raoul charge
back down here. Although I think you might
put an end to him yourself, and I really wish you wouldn't."
I laughed again, but this time the sound came freely
and I had no need to force it. "Oh yes,
he certainly will not be charging back down here again."
He stopped suddenly, as if he thought he had caught
onto something. "If she wants to stay,
then why would you kill Raoul?"
Do you honestly think I would allow advance on your
part, pitiful fool? My answer is more
casual than before. "Why kill him? Why
not? I gave him fair warning."
He contemplated a moment, as if he were playing a
game of chess and must need to strategically choose his next move. It was his poor sportsmanship that his
decided words were so ill-chosen.
"You're afraid..."
Wrong move, Daroga. You lose. My eyes immediately narrowed and I hissed
with threat, "Get out."
"This is wrong," he insisted.
"Before I do something worse
to you than I did to the Vicomte," I continued, unphased.
"Do not do this, Erik."
"Go now. And if you ever come back down here, it will
be your last hour alive."
He cried out in exasperation, discrediting his
efforts to reason with me. "Damn
you! If you love her, why deceive her
so?"
I began to advance on him and he knew well my
intent. It was a tremendous effort to
restrain myself from quenching him of his life at that very moment. I spoke through gritted teeth as I drew
closer to him. One last warning before
you force me to call checkmate. "You do
not know what you are saying, old man.
Get out before I find I cannot dismiss your words."
He forfeited.
Wise choice. His eye leveled
with mine, and spoke flatly: "As you wish."
Waiting for no response from me, he turned and went
back toward the boat. I did not take my
eye from him until he had finished crossing and begun his way up the ascent,
disappearing from my intense line of sight.
Only once I was positive that he was gone did I turn, in fuming anger to
return to my house.
~~~~~~~~~******~~~~~~~~~******~~~~~~~~~
So dark was my anger that I saw nothing as I stalked
into the room. I resisted the powerful
urge to take up a large object and hurl it against the opposite wall.
I barely heard her trembling voice when she spoke.
"…Is
everything alright?"
At Christine's terribly soft
question, I whirled around, glaring, and saw her standing the same place I had
last seen her. For a moment I did not
even realize why she was there. My
actions and anger startled her and she shrunk back at my stare, her eyes
widening in both sudden fear and surprise.
Then it registered in my
mind. Instantly shocked, I realized the
fear in her, and my demeanor immediately softened. I exhaled slowly, desperately attempting to gather my
thoughts. She stepped back, moving
toward her room as I took slow breaths, trying to best compose myself. I only watched as she left, but once she had
closed and latched the bedroom door behind her, I followed.
Christine…Forgive me…I would
never…But this time I did know what had come over me. I put my hand against the hard surface of the door, but only
dropped my head, feeling the hot anger and shame at having frightened her so
carelessly.
My fingers curled into a fist,
and I beat it against my side, turning away from the door and flung myself into
a chair.
I was furious with myself! How could I have let that boy live? Would it have taken so much effort to have assured myself that he
was dead and incapable of revival? But
how could I have known…But that was no excuse!
I had been careless! I had been
cocky! Take no chances! It would not happen again. The situation was not irreparable…In fact,
quite easily remedied. The next time I
killed the Vicomte de Chagny, I would make most certain he was dead. It did not matter how. There were infinite ways of going about the
matter. Some more amusing and effective
than others…
Leaning over, I dropped my head into my hands. Was it curse or fate that the man who had
informed me of my mistake be forever my undoing? It did not matter. His
words would affect my conscience no more and his deeds were powerless against
me. There was nothing he could do…Nor
any person.
But what could a collective of people do? Did not that insolent prick threaten to
return with an army of men to rescue the poor frightened maiden? I had defeated man's armies before; it would
not be so difficult. But how would I
explain the situation to Christine? It
might not be so simple to blind her to the adversity…Now she believed what I
had told her.
She must continue to believe my words.