Disclaimer: Erik has promised to have our second honey moon in Ireland. So yep, that means he's still my husband, and…..sadly… he still owns everything! I suppose I should beg a little more…maybe one day I'll own everything and the disclaimers will be about me!!! HAHAHHHAHAHAHHA on a sadder note, I heard my favorite show Birds of Prey is getting cancelled so I'm pretty PO'd about it. Btw, has anyone noticed how much "#1 crush " by Garbage sounds like a Erik and Christine song? Read and Review and tell me if you liked it or not, because that's pretty much the only way I'll know if this story is any good?
Christine put her white shawl around her shoulders and donned a warm dress that she always brought with her. Sometimes the Opera House could be a little drafty, and if needs be, she would change there in one of the dressing rooms and feel a lot better. She hated the color of it, a drab brown, but it was the best she could come up with at the time, seeing as how she hadn't been able to buy any new things. She reached her old dressing room in disgust, noticing it had been boarded up, and locked. She kicked it in anger and then decided on her new path, the entrance through the Rue Scribe.
Erik sat wearily in front of the organ, unsure of what to play. Music now held no comfort, it hurt worse knowing that she lived above his world and didn't care of his existence at all. Nadir had told him that there were no replies to his letters, and gradually Erik found less and less of a reason to go up there and watch her. It was because Christine didn't want him there.
"Erik, here is your tea." Nadir said quietly, bringing the lemon honey mixture to him. Erik shrugged, trying to forget a tiny petite woman that brought him his tea once when he had been ill. He drank the concoction, for it truly was awful, but she came to him with such a smile in her eyes that he couldn't dare say what he thought. Wretched child, he cursed, taking the tea, and damn Nadir.
His friend had followed him as if Erik was on the verge of committing a crime the likes that Paris had never seen. By God, even if he wanted to see Christine he couldn't. Nadir had done one thing for him, and it was deliver his letters to her, even though he never received as much as a reply from her.
Maybe he shouldn't have tried even being on terms of companionship. Besides Nadir, he had never had a friend before, and partly because he didn't wish to let anyone in. His child hood was proof enough to him that he could never let anyone inside his psyche. But how could Christine use him like this? How could she kiss him, to save a life? And how could she promise to be his friend, when she only cared that he saved her life?
Erik felt like an ugly puppet that Christine had become dissatisfied with. Broken for the final time. He returned to his tea and tried to gather his thoughts, but it was impossible. Nadir stared at him as if he waited for Erik to say something.
"What is it, Nadir? You act as if you poisoned the tea and are quite impatient for the moment I wither and die. Well my friend, if you had poisoned the tea it will not work, unfortunately for the both of us. I have been poisoned before-it failed. "
Nadir shook his head, rubbing his hands and looking in the either direction. Erik's eyes had a way of peering into the soul. "Do not say such things. I would never harm you, after what you did for Reza."
"No, the poison is invisible, Christine's poison that she made with her very decisions, quickly brewed with not much thought into the ingredients. Your son was a good and innocent soul. I only lit his way to heaven, if it exists. I've always been the grim reaper, at best. I cannot…live like this, knowing she does not give a damn what I do or think, that for the last few years of my life I have waited so patiently for her affection. Her abandonment is most cruel. "
Nadir turned away from the sight, hearing the sound of Erik taking off his mask. He would want to be alone now, as he usually did. Nadir was filled with the thought of Reza, his son who was stricken with a muscular disease that left him blind, his only child from his beautiful and loving late wife. He never married again, being unconventional next to the men who would have remarried and not given love as much as a glance.
Why had he agreed to this in the first place? They loved each other-or could love each other if anyone would give them the chance. Why keep them from such a possibility any longer? Nadir left the room and wandered, trying to give Erik the time he needed to compose himself. His rages and, his sorrow he dealt with alone, and it was easier on one's neck if you left him alone to have them.
Christine was tired from poling the boat along, but finally she had reached her destination. She crept near the portcullis, watching Erik with pensive eyes. He was upset, his hands clutching at something ungraspable. She began to run to him, and then stumbled on the carpets, as she felt the beginnings of a blush on her face as her eyes met Erik's feet. She really was too clumsy...and now quite possibly had invoked his anger.
Watching him kneel towards her as he glared at her with eyes of anger and annoyance, Christine shrunk away from him, as if frightened. "I have…a letter for you.." She said softly, thrusting it out of her pockets as if it were her saving grace.
He glanced at her and smirked. "Why would you write a monster anyway? No, take back your letter Christine, for you have waited far to long, and I do not want it."
"You don't?" Christine reeled in shock. What had Nadir and Mme. Giry done to him?
Erik continued on his tirade. "When you have the world above you, why should you want to correspond? A monster surely would wait months for a reply from his letters, and here it is and Erik doesn't find your letter worthy enough. Ignore me as you did before! Go back to your world, you selfish little girl with your nonchalant cares!" He shoved at her, picking her up by her shoulders and dragging her back near the lake.
"Erik!!! NO! Stop!!! Listen to me!!!" She shrieked as his fingers dug into her skin, even through the layers of clothing she had put on to protect herself from the dampness of the cellars. "What Letters! You didn't write me at all! You didn't care! And now I see even more now that you never did!" Christine said even softer.
"Then you are a fool, Mlle. If you chose to ignore it, that is truly your problem, now isn't it?" He faced her, his breath rapid and his eyes frantic. "Nadir would have told me if you had wrote to me. Night after night he listened to me tell him how much I thought there might be a chance for you and I, and afterwards he would have to be the bearer of all bad news. How foolish I was too dream, how foolish I was to hope, that you might come to in time care about me. Well Christine, I have faced my reality, and it is time you faced yours. You are a liar, a betraying guttersnipe who only is fascinated with someone long enough to make her pacified."
Christine laughed bitterly, and put her arms around herself. "I suppose you are right as always Erik. I am the beautiful part of you, as you once said. If what you say is true, then it is. But I never received a letter of yours, sir. Madame Giry did nothing but refuse any information, and if there ever was a letter that you had wrote to me, I most certainly never saw it. If you think that I ignored you, then let me remind you that I also worked and barely had the energy to write a letter. I tried giving this letter to Mme.Giry, and she wouldn't do it for me. Believe what you will." Christine shrugged, not even taking notice of Erik. His words hurt more than Meg's ever could, and her voice couldn't help but reflect that tone.
Erik was heavily disturbed by her stance and her words. Nadir surely wouldn't lie-Nadir never had as long as Erik had knew him. And why hadn't the girl shrieked at his face, knowing that he was unmasked in front of her? Something had quietly changed within her, and he hadn't been a witness to it in the previous time apart.
Nadir saw the confrontation with growing alarm, and became disgusted at what he had done, a part in Mme. Giry's plot to keep the supposed peace. Bought peace with more pain than he had ever imagined. As much as he had truly resented Christine in the beginning, he couldn't anymore-she had finally turned into someone who stood up for herself. He was ashamed, bitterly ashamed. He had tainted what seemed to be something good and pure for Erik, betrayed his friend once again and showed him the pain of what daylight could bring.
Christine picked up a stone and threw it as far as she could, waiting to hear it land in the water. "I have told a few lies in my life, that is true. As you have, if you would be so kind to remember. You lied to me, told me you were an angel of music. I am forgiving and not resentful. Anger leads to regret and resentment, Erik. And I don't regret what you taught me, or…that I kissed you. I did it because I was drawn to you, and wanted to. I wanted very much to be your friend. However, you have such a intimidating personality I was so afraid of what to say! I never had word from you and I began to fear you were angry with me. How was I to know?" She managed to sit on the ground and tuck in her skirts. Eerily calm, she sighed and waited for a response.
"Nadir wouldn't lie, Christine. You kissed me to save Raoul's life, however drawn to me that you were. I will not deny that I enjoyed it. " He stood behind her, afraid to as much touch the energy that swirled around her. Indeed, she was a dangerous beauty-if not more so now.
"I kissed you, because I wanted to. Not because I was made to by the circumstances. Whether your friend Nadir is a liar or not, Madame Giry didn't want me to come down here, or even let me write letters to you. She was afraid that by me doing so you would do something dangerous. I just wanted to see that you had your letter. Now, you have it. Whether you believe me or not is totally up to you. "
Nadir appeared at the entrance of the home, trying to gather up courage. It was so very difficult to say what needed to be said, especially if Erik would think of killing him over it. "I believe you, Mademoiselle. "
Christine jumped at the sight of the man, the Persian she had only seen once in her lifetime, when he had led Raoul to her lair. His thick robes, the foreign appearance was nothing short of something out of the Arabian fairy tales that Erik used to tell her. "You do?"
"I do , child."
Erik was puzzled, seeing Christine begin to speak. He put a hand over Christine's mouth, shushing her immediately. What did Nadir mean, by believing her treachery? "Nadir, I can over look lies just once, because we are friends. But how can you believe that she is telling the truth?"
Nadir shook his head, sorrow showing in every line of his tan and weathered face. His gray mustache twitched as he tried to find the right words, his smoky voice shaky and skittish . "She is telling no falsehoods. I helped burn every one of your letters. Madame Giry thought that the past was best left in peace for the both of you. So she put Christine to work and didn't follow a bit of your instructions. I was to watch over you, and she vice versa for Christine. There was no new wardrobe, no trips outside of the Opera House unless Christine was to go straight home. I was to watch over you, make sure you never had the chance to see Christine. Madame thought she was doing a good thing, and asked me to go along with it. She didn't want any death caused by your love for Christine. I can see now that I participated in a grave mistake."
Christine tore away Erik's hand, in a fit of anger and went up to Nadir, her body shaking with anger. "What you did was cruel. How could you do that if you were his friend! How could you allow this to happen! Of course it was a mistake! Now he'll never believe a word I say, and it's your fault!"
"Mademoiselle, I know it is my fault and I am grievously sorry."
Christine sighed and turned away, her mind somewhere else. "I suppose that trust doesn't matter anymore, does it. Certainly not between friends. That must hurt you to know that you have no real friendship, Monsieur.."
Christine gasped as she turned around, hearing muffled sounds behind her. Nadir was dangling from some feet in the air, his hands grasping at an invisible line around his neck. "Stop!!!", She screamed as she backed away from the scene, her hands covering her face as she took step after step in the other direction. She felt her feet grace edgy rock. "He is your friend Erik, you must have mercy! If you kill him…Mme. Giry will be right. They'll kill you Erik! "
Erik let go of the noose and let Nadir fall to the ground watching the older man rub his neck as his chest heaved gathering air. "The only thing I saw mercy and beauty in is you, Christine. If you wish his life, then you have it."
Nadir came crawling to Christine, kissing the tips of her gown. "Bless you, child. You saved me from death."
Christine extended her pale hand and helped him to stand, noticing Erik's quiet stature. She was disturbed by it.
"Her mercy has granted you pardon, may you never be as foolish as to betray her again." Erik spoke, picking up Nadir roughly and shoving him in the black boat that would take him away from him. Erik crossed his arms across his chest and then turned to face Christine.
She watched Nadir paddle furiously with the oar, as if flames were threatening to engulf the boat. She muttered a prayer that he would not find Mme. Giry. What they would do to Erik made Christine's stomach turn and knot itself. They would kill him.
Erik never left the water's side, watching pass into just a sliver of light. Silently she wondered what conscience did he have left if he would kill his friend? But Nadir would have killed him just the same, if he had felt it necessary. Her heart broke thinking that Erik really had no one that had ever trusted him.
Erik was caught up in a sea of regret. Was there no fate in the world that would allow them to simply be? He hadn't even noticed Christine kneeling into the water, her eyes upon her reflection. A silver tear fell from her right eye and dropped into the lake. "You were right Christine. And I didn't have the sense to believe you."
"Why should you?" She said softly, take a short breath in so that the sobs wouldn't come. "It was only a matter of time, before hearing became believing. No one trusts me enough in the world, except for dear Meg. Mme. Giry takes me as a incompetent child who cannot come to her own decisions and must be treated as one who is slow. I'm not mad, I'm not an idiot, and I'm certainly not a fool, not anymore. I'm sorry that in all the world, you picked me to love. No one can trust me it seems, maybe with good reason. You can trust me now. Tell me to leave, and I'll will fight you, but I'll go. I'll disappear so that no one will ever have to be burdened with me."
"You are not ever a burden." He crouched near her and took off his cloak and put it around her shoulders, barely touching the sleeves of her dress. It was the only thing he could do, for his touch would surely repulse her. Her whole body shuddered with the feeling of warmth, but he saw it as disgust and he moved away.
The cloak warmed her completely, almost too quickly and she wiped her eyes harshly, trying to remind herself that he was only doing this so she wouldn't harm herself once more. "Meg and I had talked about why had tried to end my life once. And Mme. Giry over heard. I heard her up late that night, mumbling to herself how she had to watch a baby that couldn't take care of itself. She thought she'd come home and find me naked in her bathtub, blood every where from where I'd slit my wrists. I've had moments of happiness in my life, and I'd never do that again because I promised you I never would. Even you had held me so high above the earth before, that I had something to live on. I'm not a complaining person. I've hardly made such trouble, and I didn't mean to be such an awful mess that Mme. Giry thought she was taking care of a baby. I'm certainly not one. No matter whom I might have chosen to have married, I still would have been someone's wife and lover. And that would have meant everything to me." She rose and wrapped the cloak around her, the material so soft it felt like a dove's wings.
He opened the door to his home as if she hadn't said a word at all, and she entered the room dumbfounded. What if Nadir came for them with a mob? What if they killed Erik and then locked her away in some asylum? "They might be coming for us, Erik. "
"Let them." He sat on the organ bench and crossed his arms, his head hanging as if beaten and ashamed. "They'll take you away and you'll be in the world in which you belong where a future with a husband and children await you. I was too enthralled by my rage and blood lust that I ruined any chance of you ever being mine again but Erik does not matter. Leave Christine. Before they come and kill me. Let the monster spare you the travesty of his death. Like all animals, he would like to die alone." He took of his gloves and tossed them to the side of the room in the grotto like home, the fire flickering softly as it crackled.
Christine whimpered, until she found a pair of lovely blue eyes boring into hers. Ayesha, who had always hated her was here, running up the sides of the davenport until she found Christine's face. Cautiously, she rubbed her furry head against Christine's cheek, and then inserted herself into a willing lap. Sighing, she petted Ayesha out of pure surprise and astonishment. No sooner had the cat been there, she was gone and into Erik's lap where he tossed her out repeatedly.
Ayesha growled and yipped at him, batting at his coat until she knocked something out of his pockets. She put it in her mouth and triumphantly walked onto the davenport and began playing with it. Christine was disturbed by the cat's behavior. The feline had never taken to Christine, and Christine's arms had shown a few of the battle scars. How odd for her to take to her now, when it seemed that Erik was going to make her leave and that her whole world of comfort would be ending?
"I'm staying, Erik. And you won't die. You wouldn't dare as long as I promised to stay. Don't force me to go! You are not a monster, and you won't die." She repeated, even though she felt it had no effect. "I will threaten them with every fiber of my soul. They can't take me away from my home. And you shouldn't let them either."
Authors Note: What's up with fan fiction.net? Why are they becoming so restrictive? Is it to save space for their nonfiction when they're called FAN FICTION.NET? I don't get that. Anyway, read and review if you want.
Christine put her white shawl around her shoulders and donned a warm dress that she always brought with her. Sometimes the Opera House could be a little drafty, and if needs be, she would change there in one of the dressing rooms and feel a lot better. She hated the color of it, a drab brown, but it was the best she could come up with at the time, seeing as how she hadn't been able to buy any new things. She reached her old dressing room in disgust, noticing it had been boarded up, and locked. She kicked it in anger and then decided on her new path, the entrance through the Rue Scribe.
Erik sat wearily in front of the organ, unsure of what to play. Music now held no comfort, it hurt worse knowing that she lived above his world and didn't care of his existence at all. Nadir had told him that there were no replies to his letters, and gradually Erik found less and less of a reason to go up there and watch her. It was because Christine didn't want him there.
"Erik, here is your tea." Nadir said quietly, bringing the lemon honey mixture to him. Erik shrugged, trying to forget a tiny petite woman that brought him his tea once when he had been ill. He drank the concoction, for it truly was awful, but she came to him with such a smile in her eyes that he couldn't dare say what he thought. Wretched child, he cursed, taking the tea, and damn Nadir.
His friend had followed him as if Erik was on the verge of committing a crime the likes that Paris had never seen. By God, even if he wanted to see Christine he couldn't. Nadir had done one thing for him, and it was deliver his letters to her, even though he never received as much as a reply from her.
Maybe he shouldn't have tried even being on terms of companionship. Besides Nadir, he had never had a friend before, and partly because he didn't wish to let anyone in. His child hood was proof enough to him that he could never let anyone inside his psyche. But how could Christine use him like this? How could she kiss him, to save a life? And how could she promise to be his friend, when she only cared that he saved her life?
Erik felt like an ugly puppet that Christine had become dissatisfied with. Broken for the final time. He returned to his tea and tried to gather his thoughts, but it was impossible. Nadir stared at him as if he waited for Erik to say something.
"What is it, Nadir? You act as if you poisoned the tea and are quite impatient for the moment I wither and die. Well my friend, if you had poisoned the tea it will not work, unfortunately for the both of us. I have been poisoned before-it failed. "
Nadir shook his head, rubbing his hands and looking in the either direction. Erik's eyes had a way of peering into the soul. "Do not say such things. I would never harm you, after what you did for Reza."
"No, the poison is invisible, Christine's poison that she made with her very decisions, quickly brewed with not much thought into the ingredients. Your son was a good and innocent soul. I only lit his way to heaven, if it exists. I've always been the grim reaper, at best. I cannot…live like this, knowing she does not give a damn what I do or think, that for the last few years of my life I have waited so patiently for her affection. Her abandonment is most cruel. "
Nadir turned away from the sight, hearing the sound of Erik taking off his mask. He would want to be alone now, as he usually did. Nadir was filled with the thought of Reza, his son who was stricken with a muscular disease that left him blind, his only child from his beautiful and loving late wife. He never married again, being unconventional next to the men who would have remarried and not given love as much as a glance.
Why had he agreed to this in the first place? They loved each other-or could love each other if anyone would give them the chance. Why keep them from such a possibility any longer? Nadir left the room and wandered, trying to give Erik the time he needed to compose himself. His rages and, his sorrow he dealt with alone, and it was easier on one's neck if you left him alone to have them.
Christine was tired from poling the boat along, but finally she had reached her destination. She crept near the portcullis, watching Erik with pensive eyes. He was upset, his hands clutching at something ungraspable. She began to run to him, and then stumbled on the carpets, as she felt the beginnings of a blush on her face as her eyes met Erik's feet. She really was too clumsy...and now quite possibly had invoked his anger.
Watching him kneel towards her as he glared at her with eyes of anger and annoyance, Christine shrunk away from him, as if frightened. "I have…a letter for you.." She said softly, thrusting it out of her pockets as if it were her saving grace.
He glanced at her and smirked. "Why would you write a monster anyway? No, take back your letter Christine, for you have waited far to long, and I do not want it."
"You don't?" Christine reeled in shock. What had Nadir and Mme. Giry done to him?
Erik continued on his tirade. "When you have the world above you, why should you want to correspond? A monster surely would wait months for a reply from his letters, and here it is and Erik doesn't find your letter worthy enough. Ignore me as you did before! Go back to your world, you selfish little girl with your nonchalant cares!" He shoved at her, picking her up by her shoulders and dragging her back near the lake.
"Erik!!! NO! Stop!!! Listen to me!!!" She shrieked as his fingers dug into her skin, even through the layers of clothing she had put on to protect herself from the dampness of the cellars. "What Letters! You didn't write me at all! You didn't care! And now I see even more now that you never did!" Christine said even softer.
"Then you are a fool, Mlle. If you chose to ignore it, that is truly your problem, now isn't it?" He faced her, his breath rapid and his eyes frantic. "Nadir would have told me if you had wrote to me. Night after night he listened to me tell him how much I thought there might be a chance for you and I, and afterwards he would have to be the bearer of all bad news. How foolish I was too dream, how foolish I was to hope, that you might come to in time care about me. Well Christine, I have faced my reality, and it is time you faced yours. You are a liar, a betraying guttersnipe who only is fascinated with someone long enough to make her pacified."
Christine laughed bitterly, and put her arms around herself. "I suppose you are right as always Erik. I am the beautiful part of you, as you once said. If what you say is true, then it is. But I never received a letter of yours, sir. Madame Giry did nothing but refuse any information, and if there ever was a letter that you had wrote to me, I most certainly never saw it. If you think that I ignored you, then let me remind you that I also worked and barely had the energy to write a letter. I tried giving this letter to Mme.Giry, and she wouldn't do it for me. Believe what you will." Christine shrugged, not even taking notice of Erik. His words hurt more than Meg's ever could, and her voice couldn't help but reflect that tone.
Erik was heavily disturbed by her stance and her words. Nadir surely wouldn't lie-Nadir never had as long as Erik had knew him. And why hadn't the girl shrieked at his face, knowing that he was unmasked in front of her? Something had quietly changed within her, and he hadn't been a witness to it in the previous time apart.
Nadir saw the confrontation with growing alarm, and became disgusted at what he had done, a part in Mme. Giry's plot to keep the supposed peace. Bought peace with more pain than he had ever imagined. As much as he had truly resented Christine in the beginning, he couldn't anymore-she had finally turned into someone who stood up for herself. He was ashamed, bitterly ashamed. He had tainted what seemed to be something good and pure for Erik, betrayed his friend once again and showed him the pain of what daylight could bring.
Christine picked up a stone and threw it as far as she could, waiting to hear it land in the water. "I have told a few lies in my life, that is true. As you have, if you would be so kind to remember. You lied to me, told me you were an angel of music. I am forgiving and not resentful. Anger leads to regret and resentment, Erik. And I don't regret what you taught me, or…that I kissed you. I did it because I was drawn to you, and wanted to. I wanted very much to be your friend. However, you have such a intimidating personality I was so afraid of what to say! I never had word from you and I began to fear you were angry with me. How was I to know?" She managed to sit on the ground and tuck in her skirts. Eerily calm, she sighed and waited for a response.
"Nadir wouldn't lie, Christine. You kissed me to save Raoul's life, however drawn to me that you were. I will not deny that I enjoyed it. " He stood behind her, afraid to as much touch the energy that swirled around her. Indeed, she was a dangerous beauty-if not more so now.
"I kissed you, because I wanted to. Not because I was made to by the circumstances. Whether your friend Nadir is a liar or not, Madame Giry didn't want me to come down here, or even let me write letters to you. She was afraid that by me doing so you would do something dangerous. I just wanted to see that you had your letter. Now, you have it. Whether you believe me or not is totally up to you. "
Nadir appeared at the entrance of the home, trying to gather up courage. It was so very difficult to say what needed to be said, especially if Erik would think of killing him over it. "I believe you, Mademoiselle. "
Christine jumped at the sight of the man, the Persian she had only seen once in her lifetime, when he had led Raoul to her lair. His thick robes, the foreign appearance was nothing short of something out of the Arabian fairy tales that Erik used to tell her. "You do?"
"I do , child."
Erik was puzzled, seeing Christine begin to speak. He put a hand over Christine's mouth, shushing her immediately. What did Nadir mean, by believing her treachery? "Nadir, I can over look lies just once, because we are friends. But how can you believe that she is telling the truth?"
Nadir shook his head, sorrow showing in every line of his tan and weathered face. His gray mustache twitched as he tried to find the right words, his smoky voice shaky and skittish . "She is telling no falsehoods. I helped burn every one of your letters. Madame Giry thought that the past was best left in peace for the both of you. So she put Christine to work and didn't follow a bit of your instructions. I was to watch over you, and she vice versa for Christine. There was no new wardrobe, no trips outside of the Opera House unless Christine was to go straight home. I was to watch over you, make sure you never had the chance to see Christine. Madame thought she was doing a good thing, and asked me to go along with it. She didn't want any death caused by your love for Christine. I can see now that I participated in a grave mistake."
Christine tore away Erik's hand, in a fit of anger and went up to Nadir, her body shaking with anger. "What you did was cruel. How could you do that if you were his friend! How could you allow this to happen! Of course it was a mistake! Now he'll never believe a word I say, and it's your fault!"
"Mademoiselle, I know it is my fault and I am grievously sorry."
Christine sighed and turned away, her mind somewhere else. "I suppose that trust doesn't matter anymore, does it. Certainly not between friends. That must hurt you to know that you have no real friendship, Monsieur.."
Christine gasped as she turned around, hearing muffled sounds behind her. Nadir was dangling from some feet in the air, his hands grasping at an invisible line around his neck. "Stop!!!", She screamed as she backed away from the scene, her hands covering her face as she took step after step in the other direction. She felt her feet grace edgy rock. "He is your friend Erik, you must have mercy! If you kill him…Mme. Giry will be right. They'll kill you Erik! "
Erik let go of the noose and let Nadir fall to the ground watching the older man rub his neck as his chest heaved gathering air. "The only thing I saw mercy and beauty in is you, Christine. If you wish his life, then you have it."
Nadir came crawling to Christine, kissing the tips of her gown. "Bless you, child. You saved me from death."
Christine extended her pale hand and helped him to stand, noticing Erik's quiet stature. She was disturbed by it.
"Her mercy has granted you pardon, may you never be as foolish as to betray her again." Erik spoke, picking up Nadir roughly and shoving him in the black boat that would take him away from him. Erik crossed his arms across his chest and then turned to face Christine.
She watched Nadir paddle furiously with the oar, as if flames were threatening to engulf the boat. She muttered a prayer that he would not find Mme. Giry. What they would do to Erik made Christine's stomach turn and knot itself. They would kill him.
Erik never left the water's side, watching pass into just a sliver of light. Silently she wondered what conscience did he have left if he would kill his friend? But Nadir would have killed him just the same, if he had felt it necessary. Her heart broke thinking that Erik really had no one that had ever trusted him.
Erik was caught up in a sea of regret. Was there no fate in the world that would allow them to simply be? He hadn't even noticed Christine kneeling into the water, her eyes upon her reflection. A silver tear fell from her right eye and dropped into the lake. "You were right Christine. And I didn't have the sense to believe you."
"Why should you?" She said softly, take a short breath in so that the sobs wouldn't come. "It was only a matter of time, before hearing became believing. No one trusts me enough in the world, except for dear Meg. Mme. Giry takes me as a incompetent child who cannot come to her own decisions and must be treated as one who is slow. I'm not mad, I'm not an idiot, and I'm certainly not a fool, not anymore. I'm sorry that in all the world, you picked me to love. No one can trust me it seems, maybe with good reason. You can trust me now. Tell me to leave, and I'll will fight you, but I'll go. I'll disappear so that no one will ever have to be burdened with me."
"You are not ever a burden." He crouched near her and took off his cloak and put it around her shoulders, barely touching the sleeves of her dress. It was the only thing he could do, for his touch would surely repulse her. Her whole body shuddered with the feeling of warmth, but he saw it as disgust and he moved away.
The cloak warmed her completely, almost too quickly and she wiped her eyes harshly, trying to remind herself that he was only doing this so she wouldn't harm herself once more. "Meg and I had talked about why had tried to end my life once. And Mme. Giry over heard. I heard her up late that night, mumbling to herself how she had to watch a baby that couldn't take care of itself. She thought she'd come home and find me naked in her bathtub, blood every where from where I'd slit my wrists. I've had moments of happiness in my life, and I'd never do that again because I promised you I never would. Even you had held me so high above the earth before, that I had something to live on. I'm not a complaining person. I've hardly made such trouble, and I didn't mean to be such an awful mess that Mme. Giry thought she was taking care of a baby. I'm certainly not one. No matter whom I might have chosen to have married, I still would have been someone's wife and lover. And that would have meant everything to me." She rose and wrapped the cloak around her, the material so soft it felt like a dove's wings.
He opened the door to his home as if she hadn't said a word at all, and she entered the room dumbfounded. What if Nadir came for them with a mob? What if they killed Erik and then locked her away in some asylum? "They might be coming for us, Erik. "
"Let them." He sat on the organ bench and crossed his arms, his head hanging as if beaten and ashamed. "They'll take you away and you'll be in the world in which you belong where a future with a husband and children await you. I was too enthralled by my rage and blood lust that I ruined any chance of you ever being mine again but Erik does not matter. Leave Christine. Before they come and kill me. Let the monster spare you the travesty of his death. Like all animals, he would like to die alone." He took of his gloves and tossed them to the side of the room in the grotto like home, the fire flickering softly as it crackled.
Christine whimpered, until she found a pair of lovely blue eyes boring into hers. Ayesha, who had always hated her was here, running up the sides of the davenport until she found Christine's face. Cautiously, she rubbed her furry head against Christine's cheek, and then inserted herself into a willing lap. Sighing, she petted Ayesha out of pure surprise and astonishment. No sooner had the cat been there, she was gone and into Erik's lap where he tossed her out repeatedly.
Ayesha growled and yipped at him, batting at his coat until she knocked something out of his pockets. She put it in her mouth and triumphantly walked onto the davenport and began playing with it. Christine was disturbed by the cat's behavior. The feline had never taken to Christine, and Christine's arms had shown a few of the battle scars. How odd for her to take to her now, when it seemed that Erik was going to make her leave and that her whole world of comfort would be ending?
"I'm staying, Erik. And you won't die. You wouldn't dare as long as I promised to stay. Don't force me to go! You are not a monster, and you won't die." She repeated, even though she felt it had no effect. "I will threaten them with every fiber of my soul. They can't take me away from my home. And you shouldn't let them either."
Authors Note: What's up with fan fiction.net? Why are they becoming so restrictive? Is it to save space for their nonfiction when they're called FAN FICTION.NET? I don't get that. Anyway, read and review if you want.