Adelyn did not wake until late the next morning. For a moment, she thought she was still dreaming, but all too soon it became clear that this was a harsh reality. In one night, she had practically been ravished, prevented murder, and kidnapped. For a brief moment, Adelyn underwent vertigo. Surely this was not happening to her, Adelyn DuBois! She had never known anything except pampering and kind circumstances. And now, she was in the clutches of a madman… Of a murderer.
A soft tapping came from outside her door. Adelyn sprang from the bed and cautiously approached the door.
"Who's there?" she demanded hotly.
"It is your friend," came a soft, silky voice from the other side of the wall.
"Friend!" she spat. "Some friend! You almost killed my fiancé!"
Erik shrank slightly from the door. "You are very ungrateful to a person who has preserved your sanctity."
"You!" Adelyn soon forgot herself in anger. "You have, without a doubt, the most skewed perception of reality of any man I have ever met! You simply cannot go around killing people as if it were normal! For God's sake, you could have taken a vase and hit the man over the head. But to take a noose and to throw it around his neck! That is utter madness!"
"Madness which saved you!" snarled Erik hotly.
"You're a fool!" she snarled back. Her fear had long since been forgotten her anger. With a self-assured step towards the door, she threw it open with a bang. Upon seeing Erik, she gasped.
He was not as she had remembered, a pale-faced man dressed in black. She realized what she had perceived just as an unusually pale face was, in fact, a white mask which stretched across the entire of his face. His eyes were a strange beaming yellow, and at the moment, they were flashing with anger. But most of all, she saw that mask-that terrible white mask-
"Dear God," she gasped, clutching at her breast with her soft creamy hand.
"Does it frighten you, dear?" he sneered, noticing where she stared. "Have you never been to a masquerade?"
"Don't be silly," she replied shakily, drawing herself up and staring straight into his eyes. "I'm not afraid."
When he did not speak, she said, "I'm starving. Have you nothing to eat?"
He watched her carefully for any display of emotion. But whatever she was feeling, she did not allow her face to betray her. Without a word, he offered her his arm and the two walked to a wooden table, where he sat her with mock formality. Adelyn ate plentifully, though Erik ate nothing. Throughout the meal, neither of them spoke. When she had finished, Adelyn jumped from her seat and smiled uneasily.
"Shall we train, then?" she asked, her hands clutching at the sides of her dress.
"What do you mean?" Erik stared up at her darkly.
"Why else am I here but to train? I can't imagine you have brought me down here just to eat breakfast," she replied sweetly, almost flirtatiously.
"Of course, we shall train," he said coldly. "I have no other use for you."
Erik swept himself from the room without a second glance at the blonde-haired child. Swallowing nervously, Adelyn followed him into a spacious room where a fine piano laid against the wall. Long fingers appeared from underneath Erik's cloak and they began to rapidly press themselves against the ivory keys of the piano. Always appreciative of a fine musician, Adelyn knelt at his side and watched as Erik bent over the keys. When the song had concluded, he seemed to come out of a stupor. He turned to the side and jumped, seemingly startled by seeing Adelyn kneeling by his side.
"You play beautifully," she commented softly. "Who taught you?"
He laughed bitterly and did not reply.
"Will you not answer me?" Adelyn persisted. Never before had she been treated with such rudeness, and her childish mind thought it some sort of mistake. Perhaps the man was slightly hard of hearing, and, to cover the fact that he could not hear properly, had laughed as if she had told a joke.
But Erik was hardly deaf. He bent towards her, his eyes glowing with irritation, and he hissed, "I am my only teacher."
"Well then, I congratulate you! You have taught yourself well," she chirped brightly, pausing to run her fingers along the keys of the piano. "I played a little myself when I was a girl, but I don't really play much anymore. I had always wished to play as well as you just did. Then again, you're obviously quite talented, are you not? After all, I probably could barely play half as finely, and I have had sufficient training, while you-"
"Silence!" Erik's cold, sharp voice rang through the room.
Adelyn stared up at him, shocked that anyone could be so coarse. Erik stared back, almost challenging her, but Adelyn was defiant enough not to break her gaze.
"That idle prattle profanes the music which I am trying to create," he whispered softly, his eyes still glowing.
"Well, I'm ever so sorry, teacher," Adelyn snapped. "If I profane you so much, perhaps I should do better in leaving!"
"Go then!" Erik roared, his hands gripping the keys so hard that the piano screamed dissonance tones. "Go, and bother me no further!"
For one of the first times in her life, Adelyn was terrified. Picking up her skirts, she fled the room, sobbing. As soon as she had left, Erik continued playing as he had before. But it was no use. After only a few measures of music, he stopped playing to hold his head and weep. He knew that he was unnecessarily harsh on the girl-a girl who was probably frightened out of her wits and doing all that she could to act brave.
"Christine…" he moaned, his lips touching the ivory of the piano.
He had done this before. He had taken a sweet, innocent girl from the warmth of those who loved her, only to entrap her in his clammy cellars, hoping that somehow, she would love him. Yet, he found that he did not love Adelyn. Something like loneliness and lust had driven him to drag her beneath the surface of the opera. Had he believed that somehow, if he swept this violated girl away beneath his cape, she would somehow love him and caress away all the sadness of his past? Adelyn had been right. He was a fool.
With that thought, he pushed himself away from the piano and once again approached Adelyn's door. He tentatively tapped several times, and, when receiving no reply, decided to speak, whether or not she was listening.
"I apologize to you, Miss DuBois. My behavior has been inexcusable. I wish you would forgive me."
The only reply was silence.
Sighing, Erik moved away from the door, resigned. He would take her back to her fiancé that afternoon. If she did not emerge before then, he would take her the following morning. Either way, he would return her to her rightful place. He had no right to keep someone else's betrothed in his dwelling beneath the ground. The child obviously wanted nothing than to return. Though she had not pleaded with him as Christine had, he simply knew that it would have to be what her heart desired.
Little did he know that as he moved away from the door, it opened the smallest of cracks, and two wide yellowish-blue eyes peered out from it. They watched his receding figure until he disappeared into the next room. Once he had disappeared, the owner of the eyes giggled and quickly closed the door.
"My, he is like no other creature I have ever encountered before!" said Adelyn, laughing gaily. "He terrifies me! And yet, he is more exciting than any man I have ever met. Goodness, this is all very enthralling!"
And with the delight of an amused child, she flopped upon the bed, reflecting upon all she had seen and heard.
* * *
A soft tapping came from outside her door. Adelyn sprang from the bed and cautiously approached the door.
"Who's there?" she demanded hotly.
"It is your friend," came a soft, silky voice from the other side of the wall.
"Friend!" she spat. "Some friend! You almost killed my fiancé!"
Erik shrank slightly from the door. "You are very ungrateful to a person who has preserved your sanctity."
"You!" Adelyn soon forgot herself in anger. "You have, without a doubt, the most skewed perception of reality of any man I have ever met! You simply cannot go around killing people as if it were normal! For God's sake, you could have taken a vase and hit the man over the head. But to take a noose and to throw it around his neck! That is utter madness!"
"Madness which saved you!" snarled Erik hotly.
"You're a fool!" she snarled back. Her fear had long since been forgotten her anger. With a self-assured step towards the door, she threw it open with a bang. Upon seeing Erik, she gasped.
He was not as she had remembered, a pale-faced man dressed in black. She realized what she had perceived just as an unusually pale face was, in fact, a white mask which stretched across the entire of his face. His eyes were a strange beaming yellow, and at the moment, they were flashing with anger. But most of all, she saw that mask-that terrible white mask-
"Dear God," she gasped, clutching at her breast with her soft creamy hand.
"Does it frighten you, dear?" he sneered, noticing where she stared. "Have you never been to a masquerade?"
"Don't be silly," she replied shakily, drawing herself up and staring straight into his eyes. "I'm not afraid."
When he did not speak, she said, "I'm starving. Have you nothing to eat?"
He watched her carefully for any display of emotion. But whatever she was feeling, she did not allow her face to betray her. Without a word, he offered her his arm and the two walked to a wooden table, where he sat her with mock formality. Adelyn ate plentifully, though Erik ate nothing. Throughout the meal, neither of them spoke. When she had finished, Adelyn jumped from her seat and smiled uneasily.
"Shall we train, then?" she asked, her hands clutching at the sides of her dress.
"What do you mean?" Erik stared up at her darkly.
"Why else am I here but to train? I can't imagine you have brought me down here just to eat breakfast," she replied sweetly, almost flirtatiously.
"Of course, we shall train," he said coldly. "I have no other use for you."
Erik swept himself from the room without a second glance at the blonde-haired child. Swallowing nervously, Adelyn followed him into a spacious room where a fine piano laid against the wall. Long fingers appeared from underneath Erik's cloak and they began to rapidly press themselves against the ivory keys of the piano. Always appreciative of a fine musician, Adelyn knelt at his side and watched as Erik bent over the keys. When the song had concluded, he seemed to come out of a stupor. He turned to the side and jumped, seemingly startled by seeing Adelyn kneeling by his side.
"You play beautifully," she commented softly. "Who taught you?"
He laughed bitterly and did not reply.
"Will you not answer me?" Adelyn persisted. Never before had she been treated with such rudeness, and her childish mind thought it some sort of mistake. Perhaps the man was slightly hard of hearing, and, to cover the fact that he could not hear properly, had laughed as if she had told a joke.
But Erik was hardly deaf. He bent towards her, his eyes glowing with irritation, and he hissed, "I am my only teacher."
"Well then, I congratulate you! You have taught yourself well," she chirped brightly, pausing to run her fingers along the keys of the piano. "I played a little myself when I was a girl, but I don't really play much anymore. I had always wished to play as well as you just did. Then again, you're obviously quite talented, are you not? After all, I probably could barely play half as finely, and I have had sufficient training, while you-"
"Silence!" Erik's cold, sharp voice rang through the room.
Adelyn stared up at him, shocked that anyone could be so coarse. Erik stared back, almost challenging her, but Adelyn was defiant enough not to break her gaze.
"That idle prattle profanes the music which I am trying to create," he whispered softly, his eyes still glowing.
"Well, I'm ever so sorry, teacher," Adelyn snapped. "If I profane you so much, perhaps I should do better in leaving!"
"Go then!" Erik roared, his hands gripping the keys so hard that the piano screamed dissonance tones. "Go, and bother me no further!"
For one of the first times in her life, Adelyn was terrified. Picking up her skirts, she fled the room, sobbing. As soon as she had left, Erik continued playing as he had before. But it was no use. After only a few measures of music, he stopped playing to hold his head and weep. He knew that he was unnecessarily harsh on the girl-a girl who was probably frightened out of her wits and doing all that she could to act brave.
"Christine…" he moaned, his lips touching the ivory of the piano.
He had done this before. He had taken a sweet, innocent girl from the warmth of those who loved her, only to entrap her in his clammy cellars, hoping that somehow, she would love him. Yet, he found that he did not love Adelyn. Something like loneliness and lust had driven him to drag her beneath the surface of the opera. Had he believed that somehow, if he swept this violated girl away beneath his cape, she would somehow love him and caress away all the sadness of his past? Adelyn had been right. He was a fool.
With that thought, he pushed himself away from the piano and once again approached Adelyn's door. He tentatively tapped several times, and, when receiving no reply, decided to speak, whether or not she was listening.
"I apologize to you, Miss DuBois. My behavior has been inexcusable. I wish you would forgive me."
The only reply was silence.
Sighing, Erik moved away from the door, resigned. He would take her back to her fiancé that afternoon. If she did not emerge before then, he would take her the following morning. Either way, he would return her to her rightful place. He had no right to keep someone else's betrothed in his dwelling beneath the ground. The child obviously wanted nothing than to return. Though she had not pleaded with him as Christine had, he simply knew that it would have to be what her heart desired.
Little did he know that as he moved away from the door, it opened the smallest of cracks, and two wide yellowish-blue eyes peered out from it. They watched his receding figure until he disappeared into the next room. Once he had disappeared, the owner of the eyes giggled and quickly closed the door.
"My, he is like no other creature I have ever encountered before!" said Adelyn, laughing gaily. "He terrifies me! And yet, he is more exciting than any man I have ever met. Goodness, this is all very enthralling!"
And with the delight of an amused child, she flopped upon the bed, reflecting upon all she had seen and heard.
* * *
