A/N: Thanks for your reviews. Please continue to leave them. I hope this chapter keeps you coming back. :)
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Chapter 6:
TEARS AND FEARS
Karis jaw dropped, her head swam and legs trembled, partly from exhaustion, partly from shock – she almost felt as though she might faint. She turned to glance at Monique, she was still frozen, almost trance like, gazing at the stone sculptures partially obscured face; in the pale light Kari saw perfect tears sliding slowly, passively, down Moniques cheeks, who appeared to not know they were there. Monique reached out with hand, and slowly traced her fingers along the mask, exhaling audibly, her face still set in a trance. Kari watched, somewhat frightened, somewhat intrigued. Moniques fingers trailed so slowly over the pristine mask, it was almost as if they wouldn't leave it, but her eyes lifted as she observed the surroundings once more. They were in his – Eriks – settlement, a beautifully crafted, gothic bits-and-pieces design, lots of heavy luxurious fabrics, large opulent candelabras, some gilded, some heavy and black; all ornate. Monique took another set of steps down from the right of the organ pipe, and a strangled sound of surprise and sadness escaped her lips. Kari unhanded the manuscript before her and hurried over to where she had heard Monique. She had headed down towards the very right edge of the so-called island, with it's murky harbour stretched out before them. Kari paused when she spotted Monique, she was stood before several large mirrors, all smashed in several places, shattered glass lay around and under her feet. Large hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Now, she was actively crying, not a passive ebb of tears, but actually sobbing as she trailed her hands down either side of the elaborately pattered frames of the mirror as she wept, not for the destruction, but rather, for the pain behind the destruction. Kari took the steps slowly and came to stand by Monique, she wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and both girls stood entranced by the shattered mirrors – their hearts moved to forbidding levels of despair for a man they had never known.
After some mourning moments spent before the shattered mirrors, they ascend the stairs, moved past the pipe organ and descended the stone steps to the left of the prominence that displayed the organ pipe in all it's glory. A small stone path from these steps lead past more shattered mirrors, some partially and some fully concealed by thick lush red velvet curtains. They moved silently past, this time not stopping to shed tears. They came to a curtain enshrouded… cubicle of some sort. Monique guiltily pulled aside one section of the curtain, it was heavy and smooth in her hand, but smelt musty. It was a dressing room of some description, or was it a wardrobe? It was hard to tell, there were some clothes hung on racks within it, but in the dim torchlight, which was now labouring even more, it was hard to see them well. Monique let the curtain fall closed, and they continued on, threading through more candelabras, some short, some with long stands, that placed them taller then here, some were wide with many openings for candles, with others were narrower and multi-tiered. Monique closed her eyes, imagining the place with all the candles lit, she saw the warm amber flames, slightly flickering with a gentle breeze drifting along the water causing shadows to dance on the walls and ceiling of the stone cavern. She smelt the slow burn of wax, and the residual smell of phosphorous from a previously lit match. It was beautiful, gothic, dark, romantic, sensual… her eyes flickered behind their soft lids and she suddenly opened them. There were no candles lit, only the persistent darkness, and a rapidly fading torchlight that was only helpful for their immediate circumference. If she had let her rational mind do the thinking, she'd have been on the verge of a panic attack, two girls, alone, with nothing but a near-useless torch underneath 20 stories of the lavish Opera de Pallisade. But she was content to subject herself the whim of her imagination and idealistic desires. She envisaged the candle lit cavern once more, trying to find Him in her mind. She imagined his cloak trailing behind him as he climbed the stairs behind her, an intense gaze on his face as he toyed with notes in his head, and then he would pause, a wanton look passing through each eye as he closed in on her from behind. Quiet as a cat, he would find her and embrace her possessively from behind, his hands running slowly over her, one at her waist, the other trailing across her shoulders and down her arms, to finally catch one hand in his own. With grace unmatched he managed to swap their positions, and lead her slowly behind him, occasionally glancing back to ensnare her eyes. His footsteps slowed, then stopped all together when they found themselves in a dark, almost other-worldly room, standing entranced beside the wings of a great bird. The swan bed. His eyes fixated on hers.
Monique gasped, and opened her eyes once more, her chest rising and falling quickly, her eyes darted around furtively. Kari looked across at her bewildered friend, completely confused – this place was doing strange things to her. Monique froze, quite dramatically as she looked to her right, somehow amidst an encompassing daydream she had managed to navigate her way to bedroom… of the swan bed.
Kari sank down greatfully into the softness of the bed, she let out a sigh of relief, she was exhausted. She ran one hand slowly across the top velveteen sheet, her eyes fluttered closed as her hand slowed, enjoying the sensual soft feeling of velveteen between her fingers. Her fingers reached a layer of silk, and the soft feeling was devoured by her weary hands. She observed her hand slowly sliding up the thin layer of white silk, and exposed skin. Her hand paused a moment, at the skin, a deep 'V' of well toned chest, set between a silk shirt frame. Her hand continued slowly, and her eyes raised to meet His absorbing gaze. His eyes burned on hers, and he exhaled slowly, his eyes closing a moment, then opening once more as her hand traversed his skin, paused at his neck, then reached for his face. His lips parted, if nothing else had been invitation enough…
Kari sat
up suddenly, and Monique jumped from fright across the room, knocking
a heavy candelabra to the ground. She rounded to look at Kari, who
was sat up straight on the bed, as if she been jolted with an
electric shock – her chest heaved, and she looked up at Monique
almost guiltily.
"What?" Monique asked, frowning – she had
her own guilts and fears to worry about.
Kari shook her head, "I…
I feel asleep." She muttered, then got up off the bed. This place
was doing strange things to her.
Monique raised one eyebrow at Kari – maybe she had felt it too, the sense that although they couldn't see him (or anyone else for that matter) anyway, that they weren't technically alone down here. Kari reached up with one hand, grasping a tasselled rope that hung just above the bed, for no reason it seemed, until she tugged it. Slowly a black lace curtain descended from the stone ceiling of the bedroom cavern, and surrounded the bed. Monique grinned at the shadow of Kari she could see through the curtain, "That's a neat trick."
Kari tugged the rope once more and the curtain slowly raised once more, Kari grinned cheekily at Monique.
Monique
snorted and shook her head, "I'm gonna see what else there is…"
she turned and descended the stairs once more, walking a narrow stone
path, passing the partially obscured shattered mirrors once more.
She paused and looked at her reflection distorted by the cracks, the
torchlight glinted off the shards, spreading a bit of light, and
slowly lifted the heavy curtain from obscuring the top of it's frame.
She smiled, and her fractionated reflection disjointedly follow, the
frame was engraved with Angels and chubby cherubs, she moved to lift
another curtain and saw Karis bizarre reflection join hers from
behind.
Kari sighed, "Such a shame… they're so beautiful."
She ran her fingers along the perfect engravings on the frame.
"I can't believe everything is still in reasonable condition… I mean.. it's been over one hundred years right?" Monique replied, as she pushed the curtain from the next mirror, this one was engraved with gothic gargoyles and intertwining thorned roses, beautiful, but in a melancholy kind of way.
"Well, this place has been sealed, away from sunlight, away from circulating air. It's sorta like a giant cooled store room."
"Yeah, I guess it's prevents the oxidation." Monique added.
They continued lifting heavy velvet drapes from the tops of mirrors to unveil more and more beautifully ornate carvings in the gilded framework, each one almost more beautiful then the previous one.
Suddenly
Monique paused, not the usual 'ooh' and 'aah' of appreciation
at the craftsmanship. Kari looked over at her, seeing her hesitation
she walked towards her, "What's the –" she stopped short.
The mirror had been completely smashed out, not a single piece of
glass remained in it's frame. And instead of being an sad, empty
shell – it was a doorway.
Monique turned to catch Karis eyes,
but she said nothing, she didn't need to – her eyes, beneath the
shock, said it all.
With a short moments hesitation and a quick
breath she stepped into the frame, then disappeared through it. Kari
took a cursory look over her shoulder, then stepped through the frame
also. They had found another, seemingly hidden room. This room was
narrower and longer then the previous ones, and they encountered a
table loaded with what was revealed to be manuscripts and musical
scores in a flowing cursive script. Kari took the torch from
Monique, and held it in one hand while she ran her fingers across the
music, as if absorbing it by osmosis, she seemed enchanted by the
journey of the notes from bar to bar. Monique pushed on further into
the room, staying along the faint beam of light still projecting from
the torchlight. She paused, finding another dressing/storage area,
curtained off with more heavy velvet drapes, she took a quick look
then let the curtain fall closed shutting it off once more. Then did
a double take, and peeked inside once more. Her eyes widened, and she
bit her lip, taking a glance over her shoulder at Kari – she was
still absorbed in the music, as if she could hear it playing in her
head. Monique felt a pang of guilt as she reached up and pulled the
heavy black material from it's hook, but she couldn't resist, there
wasn't a single bone in her body urging her to. It was heavy, much
heavier then she had expected as she released the draping material
from it's curtained prison of 100 years. She inspected it close up,
moving closer to the beam of light and smiled, with another guilty
glance at Kari, she swung the material round then allowed the cape to
settle across her shoulders, doing up a clip across her neck to hold
it in place. She beamed childishly; who didn't want to play with
a huge black cape? She grabbed the edges of the cape and pulled them
up and out to the sides, Count Dracula like, and let out a low evil
laugh. The torchlight wavered and Kari gasped, then realised that it
was Monique being an idiot in the darkness. "Nice threads." She
muttered dryly.
Monique
emitted another evil laugh, and fluttered the cape around her, "I
love this thing." She declared, fondling the heavy material. "Come
on… lets go further in, I need some light." She called, not
having any thoughts of removing the cape.
Kari put down the score
she had been observing and headed towards Monique, running the torch
light across the walls, the narrow shape of the room helped contain
the torch light better – and it was slightly easier to see here.
They
ventured further still, and decided to place the torch on a small
outcropping of stone, to shine further into the cave so they could
explore independently. They each took one side, and perused through
more candelabras, various objet de arts, and more velvet drapery.
Kari paused frequently inspecting beautiful objects, things she was
certain would be priceless memorabilia of the theatres early
days.
Monique pressed on still, various objects caught her eye,
tugged at her curious side, but she forced herself to continue on.
Kari picked up a small golden statue of an Egyptian Sphinx, it seemed so out of place, but so right all the same, she was about to call Moniques attention to it when she heard a high pitched scream.
Forgetting
her wonder at the objet de art she ran at almost a sprint towards the
sound of the scream. As she closed in on Monique she could hear her
laboured breathing, ragged gasps drawing in and out of her heaving
chest, the heavy cape around her quivered, she seemed to be having a
panic attack. Karis chest constricted in fright as she ran forward
faster, placing a hand on Moniques shoulder in an attempt to calm her
down. But she didn't turn, didn't even acknowledge the hand only
stared straight down, still in the throes of some kind of hysteria.
"Mon…." she trailed off, when her eyes gazed downwards also.
Her heart practically stopped, then decided it was in a race against
time and beat triple time, it felt like it was going to come out of
her chest. "Oh God…" she gasped. Another bed made from some
form of stage scenery, resembling a carriage, or sleigh lay before
them. And on it… a partially masked man. Laying quietly,
serenely. Eyes closed. Unmoving. Dead? Alive? Real? Or
Imagined?
Monique sunk to the floor, but Kari stared on. That
white half-mask, an exact copy of the one they had found on the
sculpture on the piano, covered the right upper part of the mans
face.
"Is he dead?" a choked whisper came up from the floor.
It pulled
Kari from her shock, and she looked closer. Slowly, his chest rise
and fell. Kari felt her head swimming, her body swaying – she
gripped onto the side of the sleigh-come-bed to prevent herself from
fainting.
"No.." she breathed. "He's breathing….
Sleeping?" she pondered.
Moniques head popped up over the side
of the bed and she looked at him curiously. Awe… wonder filled her
face. Laced with fear and above all else. Kari got the feeling that
up until this time Monique had been wandering through the lair as if
it was some Disney amusement – not fully realising it was real.
Until she had seen the body… the person.
"It's… him. It's him. Oh my god … IT'S HIM!" She shrieked, her scream so loud it echoed and reverberated from the walls and descended back on them like an attacking bird of prey.
Kari jumped, but He, didn't stir.
A pained cry came from Monique "… Ohh…. He's so beautiful…" she stared at him.
Kari nodded mutely, all the while wondering what he would think? This man who felt so helplessly ugly he exiled himself from the world and hid his face beneath a mask being called beautiful. Just another of the strange things about them she presumed.
Monique reached out with hand towards him, "Ohh…" she sighed again, peeking over the bed still, she slowly raised to her feet and stared down at him.
Kari
watched, completely absorbed in the situation but she felt paralysed,
like she couldn't move even if she wanted to.
Monique leaned
closer to him, "I knew you were here." She whispered to him, as
if he could hear, then slowly reached down and with her left and
touched his shoulder – the soft feeling of waistcoat, and the silk
scarf around his neck delighted her fingertip, she was so absorbed in
the feel she almost missed it – the sudden flicker of eyelids. His
eyes had snapped open. And he was staring directly at her.
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Thanks for
reading guys!
Umm… I hope you're still with me… and that you
will stay with me – not that this is starting to get somewhere…?
I hope it was a cliffy for ya.
Please, (pretty please with all
sorts of goodness on top) review.
