Authors note: Wow. My first fanfic ever. It's amazing! I hope you like. I'm rather happy about how this turned out so far…
I do not own the Phantom of the Opera. ::holds up picture of Gaston Leroux:: This guy does! I do, however, own Kimberly, Paige, Aaron, Pricilla, David, and Mr. and Mrs. Kite. Thanks.
I wasn't so sure about the rating, so I rated it R just in case. I guess it'd become R later on, anyway…
Rated R for sexual content, mention of rape, and abuse.
Okay, so you don't become confused: This takes place in present time. It's not a retelling, though.
Sorry, but my little 'spacers' didn't work...so I'll tell you when it changes
Sorry, but there's not much Phantom in this first chapter, but there will be a lot in the next ones. Warning: I'm going for more of a sinister, seductive Erik, rather then a lot of the fluffy Eriks I've been seeing. I'm not dissing 'light Erik's', their fun to read and I love 'em to death, but sometimes you just need a more serious one, with all the calories and taste (Erm…I mean…with all the temper and darkness).
Anyway….please review!
CHAPTER ONE: Wandering Child
She was running through fields of roses.
They didn't grow like normal roses, from out of a bush. They grew out of the ground.
The grass was lush and green, and she was laughing out of sheer joy. She didn't know why she was so happy, she simply was.
She tripped and fell, but she didn't mind. The ground was soft, and she rolled across the ground a few feet. The sky was clear and blue, with only a few beautiful white clouds. The weather was warm, and the day perfect. She sighed happily. Every day must have been like this! She couldn't remember ever being sad at all.
She stood back up and began running again, her golden blonde hair streaming in the wind. She ran barefoot, for there were no thorns on the ground at all, and the red roses had none, too. She bent down and picked a few roses, then held them under her delicate nose and smelled them. She smiled. They smelled so sweet! She stood and began running again. It was amazing; no matter how much she ran, she didn't get tired!
She laughed happily, until a dark cloud covered the sun. She paused suddenly, frowning and looking up. She was suddenly terrified! She dropped the roses and began running faster then before, as if something evil were chasing her. Now her legs were aching, and her lungs were burning! She couldn't breathe!
She fell to the ground suddenly and the ground was now hard. Rocks dug into her knees and thorns pierced her skin. She winced and cried out in pain.
A shadow loomed over her. She looked up. Somehow, without her noticing, it had become dark. Two glowing orbs-eyes?!-glared down at her. She gulped.
…It was a demon…
It opened its mouth to speak and-
change
Kimberly Leigh Kite woke up and groaned, putting a pillow over her face to stop the sun from shining into her eyes through the window. But what was the point? Her alarm clock was going off anyway. She reached over and turned it off, then pulled the pillow off her face and sighed.
That dream. She'd been having the same dream three days out of every week, for two months now. She never got any further then when the demon was about to speak. But was it really a demon? After all, it looked human enough. It was tall, and had glowing golden eyes.
She reached under her mattress and pulled out her Phantom of the Opera book. She opened it as she yawned, but soon had to shut it and stuff it back under the mattress as she heard someone coming up the stairs. She jumped out of bed and locked the door to her room (which was the attic).
There was a banging on the door.
"Kimberly!" her Uncle Aaron shouted. She sighed. Her Aunt and Uncle were visiting again. And that meant her cousin David was visiting, as well.
"Yes, Mister A. Kite?" she asked.
"My brother and his wife want you downstairs, now! The dishes need to be done." He informed her.
"Yes, sir." She said. She heard him go back downstairs. She sighed and sat down in her chair, in front of the old vanity dresser, looking at herself in the mirror.
It wasn't as if she had a terrible life. She had a good friend whom she shared almost everything with, and it wasn't like she was abused every day or fatally, or ever even had a serious injury. Her parents never threatened to kill her or abandon her. If it weren't for her Aunt and Uncle and Cousin visiting all the time…
She sighed again. It wasn't that David was a bad guy or anything…okay, so it was that her Cousin was a bad guy. David was about her age, with black hair and dark brown eyes. He was a good six inches taller then her. He was cruel and unfeeling, and perverted.
She gulped as she remembered the last time they visited, and shuddered. It wasn't something she wanted to remember.
She stood up and walked to the dresser. She opened it and took out a black peasant shirt and a pair of blue jeans. She got dressed, and sat back down at the vanity. She pulled her hair back into a high ponytail, added just enough eye shadow to bring out her blue-green eyes, added a touch of lipstick and gloss, a bit of blush, then unlocked the door and stepped out. She grabbed her white sweater on the banister and ran down stairs.
"Kim! Hurry up!" her Father said.
"Yes, Mister Kite." She responded. She ran to the sink and glanced at the clock. Shoot! She'd be late for school again! She should hurry. She grabbed one of the breakfast plates and started scrubbing.
David waltzed up next to her and put his arm around her waist.
"Hey, Kimmy." He said. Kimberly sighed and stepped to her left, away from him.
David was getting upset. If she kept stepping away, he'd have to find other ways of having fun with her.
Kim's parents and her Uncle and her Aunt watched, smirks on their faces. They knew what had happened. Didn't matter to them.
Kim finished the dishes in ten minutes (there were only the breakfast dishes to do), and she grabbed her backpack from the dining room table and ran out, without a word.
change
Kimberly leaned against the locker, eyes closed. She had stayed up until three AM scrubbing the formal dining room floor, and had gotten up at 6:30 to get ready.
She was almost asleep…in fact, she could already see the green grass and roses growing up into her vision, when suddenly someone jerked her arm.
"Kimmy!" a girl with red hair and green eyes shouted into her ear.
Kimberly jumped and looked over at her friend tiredly.
"What is it, Paige?"
"What were you doing?" she asked, frowning.
"Well, I /was/ trying to sleep." Kimberly groaned.
"We have class in three minutes, silly." Paige scolded, her crystal earring shaking even when Paige had stopped shaking her head.
Kimberly nodded. "Right" she said, and started for class. Paige grabbed her arm. She looked into Kimberly's eyes.
"Kim," she said, worried. "Something's wrong. I can sense it. Did they do something to you?" Paige was the only person in the world who knew what Kimberly's home life was like.
"No…" Kim lied. Or was it a lie? After all, Paige was referring to Kimberly's parents, not David or Aaron or Pricilla Kite.
"Okay." Paige said, obviously not convinced.
So they headed into class.
Kimberly was trying to finish her homework while sitting on the attic stairs. David had locked her room and kept the key, so the only way into her room now was to climb the tree or kiss him.
So she sat on the stairs while she heard her parents arguing. Aaron and Pricilla were out eating dinner.
Of course, it was the usual fight. She was used to it.
Kimmy sighed and headed downstairs for a soda. Dangerous, considering her parents were in the kitchen/dining room fighting, but that didn't matter. She was thirsty.
"You!" her mother shouted at her as Kim opened the refrigerator door. "This is all your fault!"
"It's not my fault that-" Kimberly started quietly.
"It IS your fault, you ungrateful brat!" she snapped.
"Mrs. Kite…" Kim groaned.
"Don't you take that tone with my wife!" her father shouted. Kimberly sighed. She'd gone through this-how many times? Fifteen? This week?
"It is NOT my fault that I'm not a boy!" she shouted and took a defensive stance. "I didn't get to choose what I came out as!"
She was backhanded. She fell back a few steps, looked from her father, who still had his hand up, and then ran up the stairs again after shutting the refrigerator door behind her. She stormed into David's room, tears burning in her eyes. She hesitated, and felt a wave of nausea. Then she kissed full on the lips, for a long time. When she pulled away she felt bile in her throat, but swallowed hard. David smirked, reached into his pocket and handed her the key. Kimberly took it and ran out without a word, and ran to her door. She felt hot tears spill over as she unlocked her door. She stormed in, slammed the door shut and locked it. She closed her window and locked it, threw the key onto the vanity, and collapsed, crying into her pillow. She grabbed her Phantom of the Opera book and held it close to her heart, and sobbed. She wished Erik were real! Even if he never loved her, at least there would be the comfort of knowing he existed.
Her cheeks turned a slight red as she remembered the night that David had raped her. She had curled into the corner of her bed after he had left, shaking and humming Point of No Return to herself (Paige had the CD and Kim had memorized it), imagining, well….it was her way of trying to heal. Imagining that David hadn't been the last one to touch her body was comforting. So she had imagined Erik had made love to her.
Kimberly pulled the blanket over her head as she continued to cry, never noticing…well, anything around her. The sun had set. And she fell asleep again, dreaming of green fields, clear skies, and roses.
end
I hope you enjoyed this. Please let me know if you did! Reviewing isn't too hard, remember. And if you want to be critical, go ahead, I'd enjoy that. Just, please, don't flame me. It would not be appreciated.