Music for Chapter: Casper's Lullaby by James Horner
Chapter 3: Where am I?
Flashes of silk and bright lights were blurred in a hideous fashion before
his
eyes. Her deep blue eyes staring up at him in great admiration and love,
then in less then a second's timing fading into Erik's heart with deep agony
and wrenching
pain.
"Why?" her voice rang out clearly throughout his head.
".. Christine?" he instantly recognized his angel's voice, and could now see himself clearly standing in the middle of a dark expanse.
"No! Answer me!" her pain drenched sobs began, echoing all around him.
Suddenly as her sobs had come, they silenced abruptly and he was left alone
to stand in the complete dark. Only a single light from an unknown source
shined above him, highlighting every single detail of his figure from the
shined shoes, dark slacks, simple dress shirt and cape. But most of all,
his hideous features were not hidden in this darkness. The light revealed
every detail of his rotting left cheek, every crevice of deformed flesh that
clung desperately to his skeletal face. His drooping eye blood shot and
dried from exposure to the atmosphere, stared desperately out into the
darkness searching for her.
"Christine! What! Where have you gone?" he began to run, run into the
darkness. However far he ran the light rested entirely on himself and never
left him for a second. The harder he ran the louder his voice ran
throughout the environment.
"Please don't go! Don't cry! I will give you
anything!".
His voice ran haggard as his cries became more coarse with use.
His legs carried him in every direction, in what seemed for miles, and yet
he never found a single other object other than the darkness surrounding
him. Finally his legs gave out from underneath him and he fell pitifully to
his face. Sobbing into the ground he began to pound his fists, "I would
have given you anything.. anything. I will give you anything! Please, just
come back." The silence completely enveloped him, the light still burned
down upon his figure, ever judging and never moving for a second. His sobs
rang out as he continued. "Why couldn't you just love me.. please.."
Suddenly there was a brilliant light in the distance that slowly began to
envelope the darkness. The edges of the brilliant contrast almost seemed to
consume every inch of it's counterpart as it moved rapidly towards him. For
some reason it frightened him, this drastic change. Within him a terror
began to rise, and his body automatically pulled itself from the sobs and he
rose to run in the opposite direction of the oncoming force of light.
The light was on his heels, quickly approaching, and it's
ever-growing consumption brought a noise. A high pitched shrill that ran
throughout his ears and wracked his brain with a massive amount of pain.
Suddenly a stab of pain ripped down the left side of his cheek, tearing
through his already distorted flesh and knocking him to the ground as the
light burned straight through his figure.
Screaming, he sat straight up in the bed he had been laid carefully in. His
eyes opened painfully to the realization that the light was real. It burned
deeply into his eyes as they attempted to adjust to it. It seared through his brain
like a hot poker. He lifted his arms as an attempt to cover his eyes, and block the light out,
his
pitiful screams still filling the cabin. A strong pair of hands however
gripped him tightly and held him to the mattress, forcing his shaking body
to the bed.
"Erik!" a sharp tone rang throughout the cabin and stopped Erik's struggles.
"Lay still, you are going to hurt yourself.. again." the voice argued
softly as Erik began to relax under the grip which was considerably stronger
than his own. He recognized the words, they were not spoken in French but
Latin with an eastern accent. The individual had gripped his wrists firmly
and placed both arms down at his sides. Erik's eyes began to adjust to the
light as his eyes fell on the deeper brown one's staring down at him.
"So it wasn't a dream" Erik replied in Latin, "Nadir?"
"Yes, it's me." satisfied that Erik was calmed from his dream, the Persian sat back cautiously and looked over his friend with a worried look in his eye. "It's been a while" he smiled lightly down on his friend's face.
"My God, I could have sworn you were ..."
"Dead?" the Persian smirked and sat back more relaxed. "Yes, well after I helped you escape I was indeed condemned to be executed."
Sighing deeply in relief for both his friend and the fortune of being in his company and not anyone else, he relaxed on the bed. "Where are we?" the memories of the past few months began to intercede on the moment and Erik's face began to twist in pain.
Nadir smiled and set his feet upon the bed stand, his eyes never leaving Erik's bandaged face,. "We are upon the Asclepius ".
"Asclepius?" Erik replied with a bit of surprise.
"That is correct, the merchant ship."
A twist of anger flashed across Erik's exposed face as he realized that this was indeed true. The soft movement of the ship back and forth upon the waves were now rocking his own body lightly in the bed.
As he sat there the memories came back in ful; the opera, Christine, having collapsed on the roof and wanting to simply die, letting go of this world. But now he was here with a friend he had believed dead years ago that was alive and breathing. He too, was alive and breathing, but why! Erik had simply wanted to die!
"What am I doing here!" Erik yelled, sitting up roughly. The pain shot up his hands and Erik fell back with a sharp gasp. Erik's eyes opened wide at the sensation, and he then took the moment to observe his own body.
His hands were bound with crisp white linen bandages, his knees were bound as well. A wet cloth had been placed on his forehead and slid to his bare chest. Erik's thoughts reared about as he reached to his face, realizing his mask was gone. "Where is my mask!" his hands desperately feeling the deformed side of his face. Erik's fingers trailed over a large bandage that had been fashioned to shape the entire left side of his face, including the eyehole. He then carefully felt each edge of the large bandage and realized it also extended back across his ear. Erik's voice was shaking, and filled with rage. He pulled back like a frightened animal, settling on the other end of the bed, across the disheveled sheets.
Nadir had not moved from his position on the side of his bed, though his eyes shown with a kindness and curiosity in a passive light. "You are here because I brought you here. Your mask on the other hand, is not here. You actually fell upon it when you collapsed on the roof of that building. That is why you have a bandaged face now and that is why you have only now, awakened."
Erik's senses now came in a full rush of pain. His hands ached horribly,
but lacked the stinging sensation that had been present when he ground the flesh
into the granite. His knees were stiff from lack of
movement. His face stabbed with agony every time he moved any muscles. Moaning in pain, Erik turned
and curled into a fetal position on his side, his back to Nadir. Gulping in
a breath of deep air, he laid there concentrating on simply breathing. A
cold damp cloth was placed on Erik's forehead. The bed sunk under the
weight of Nadir as he leaned over him. Erik however snapped the cloth out
of his hand and threw it across the cabin.
"You shouldn't have helped me. You should have allowed me to die. It was what I wanted." he whispered haggardly with sharp edge of emotional pain to his voice.
"What you want and what you need have been indeed completely turned around from what I have heard.." Nadir replied softly as he produced another cloth from the basin beside the bed and continued to dab Erik's forehead.
Erik on the other hand snapped back and sat up violently, searing hatred dripping from his eyes as he stared Nadir down. "How do you know anything of what I've been through? How can you say these things! You have been gone for years! I have no idea how you are even here and yet you dare say these things about my life! " Erik hissed.
Nadir stood and casually crossed his arms across his chest. "I will be more then happy to explain everything to you if you would refrain from jumping up and screaming after every other word out of my mouth." he stated in a very calm tone with a humble approach as he stared up at Erik. "Especially after the last fortnight. Your condition was terrible! You could, at least, lay down long enough for me to make some tea. Some form of food to fill that angry belly of yours."
Erik snarled at him, but didn't move. His shoulders arched and his contorted mouth twisted into a growl. For the expanse of two minutes they simply stared each other down, Nadir's brown eyes shining in kindness with a hint of impatience, and Erik's in pure animosity.
"I wanted to die, don't you understand that?" Erik finally spat out.
"I know." Nadir simply stated.
"Why did you not leave me? Why not give me PEACE!" Erik then lunged at Nadir and attempted to wrap his bandaged hands about his throat. However, his knees gave way under his weight from months of atrophy. Erik's attempt to swiftly get to his feet failed miserably as he became entangeled into the sheets and fell flat on his face. His outreached fingers blindly reaching for Nadir's throat had managed to grasp the very front of his shirt. The extent of damage that Erik inflicted was comparable to a kitten lunging at an elephant. Nadir swiftly reached down and gripped his wrists firmly.
"Sometimes what we want is not entirely what we need.." Nadir whispered as he gently released Erik's wrists and promptly walked out of the cabin. The soft sound of a key turning in a lock was all that Erik was left with.
The silence of the cabin was shattered by the sobs of a heart broken man.