Sorry it's been so long. You have to understand that... actually I have no valid excuse. I haven't felt the need to write so I haven't been on my cpu in ... like two months. Then today is a Snow Day, so why not sit down and write a bit? This chapter was surprisingly hard, but since it's been so long, I'll give you a recap:
Erik and Electra are very good friends when they enter their first ... Traveling Fair site thingy. People are admitted to see the Devil's Child and Erik has no idea what to expect...
Faces…
Erik remembered faces…
All those ugly, laughing faces, pressed up against the bars, their dirty fingers wrapping themselves around his prison, throwing things at him, money for the tamer of the Devil's Child and trash to spoil the Child, laughing…
Laughing faces…
One girl had brown hair that was tied back in a pretty bun. She had been laughing.
A man was eating a piece of beef. He had been laughing, too.
There had been a woman holding a little boy's hand. She was shielding the boy's eyes with her hands from Erik's face. Both were laughing.
Shrieks of fear and delight at his protuberant face.
All those beautiful people.
Laughing.
They had not been so beautiful in Erik's eyes, and he was almost sure that Electra would have found them as hideous as he had.
But all those faces, those laughing faces. Not once did they abandon him that night as he lay, alone, in his hay strewn cage, a few cold coins Abastado had missed still hidden amongst the rubbish.
Electra did not come that night. Erik did not know why.
Perhaps she's still working, he told himself. Perhaps her master kept her to clean up. Yes, that must be it… But Erik didn't believe himself. All night, the faces jumped around in his head, the loneliness pressing in on him. It wouldn't have bothered him so much – he was used to the laughing – but Electra's face was among those laughing. Her face, her beautiful face, was jeering along with all the others.
he told himself. But Erik didn't believe himself. All night, the faces jumped around in his head, the loneliness pressing in on him. It wouldn't have bothered him so much – he was used to the laughing – but Electra's face was among those laughing. Her face, her beautiful face, was jeering along with all the others.Maybe she did not think he was that beautiful. Maybe she had only been lying to him, all those times when she had hugged him like a mother would, all those times she slept with her back to his cage, her comforting warmth seeping through the bars.
Maybe…
Maybe she was just one of them…
No! Erik thought. No! That's not true! He squinted his eyes and tried to blur out the image of her face, but it only pressed in closer against his brain. The more he pressed his eyes into his head, the harder she laughed, her bright, shining, laughing face imprinted on the inside of his black eyelids.
Erik thought. He squinted his eyes and tried to blur out the image of her face, but it only pressed in closer against his brain. The more he pressed his eyes into his head, the harder she laughed, her bright, shining, laughing face imprinted on the inside of his black eyelids.But the little evil voice in his head – the one who said he was ugly, the one who said he was wretched – was much louder than the voice that defended Electra.
"Are you OK, Erik?"
"Mm."
"Are you sure? You're being awfully quiet…"
"I'm fine."
"OK." There was an awkward pause between Erik and Electra. "Do you want to play a game before the Visitors come?" "The Visitors" had become a name Erik and Electra created for the people who came and gawked. It gave them a less humanistic appeal, and it helped Erik feel less like an animal in a zoo.
"Electra?"
"Yes?"
Erik paused, looking down at his dirty fingernails. "Do you—I mean, well … do you love me?"
Shocked, Electra stared at Erik in amusement. "Do I love you?"
"You don't have to answer if you don't want," remedied Erik hurriedly. "It's just—"
"Erik." Electra cut him off. He looked up shyly from his hands, his distorted face twisted in fear, curiosity, so many emotions Electra could not count. She enveloped him in an enormous hug. "Of course I do."
Erik's arms were hung limply at his side, but after a few seconds, he slowly lifted them and wrapped his thin, skeletal arms around Electra. She was more like a mother to him than anyone else he had ever known.
That evil voice in his head – the one that slandered Electra – that voice had been silenced by the love of a mother.
Late one night, Erik had unlocked his cage and crept over the sleeping form of Electra. He had not forgotten what she had said about Kalidas … the music man. His obsession with song had grown since he had been a part of the traveling fair. He heard some gypsies sing sometimes at dinner. When she was in a bad mood, Electra would join them as well. Erik loved her voice, the soft way it entwined with the air around him, the smooth way it had to flow over his ears, through his head, intoxicating his senses and his mind.
Tonight, he would find Kalidas. He wanted to learn to sing.
The only problem was that there were many caravans in the Traveling Fair and he had no way of knowing which one was Kalidas'.
Erik tried to be as silent as possible when opening each door and looking inside, searching for any signs of hints that pertained to music. He had never been away from his own cart in a long time, and he found everything very interesting. He passed through a caravan with animals all sleeping in cages, just like him, he found what must have been Electra's caravan, full of cards and carpets and jewels and a crystal ball on a round table in the middle of the room. He explored this one longer than the others, but the strong perfumed smell that Electra sometimes carried in a diluted form drove him away.
He found what he was looking for in the next caravan.
A piano.
An enormous musical instrument. It called Erik to it like a moth to a beautiful flame. He climbed up on the seat in front of it, with some difficulty – being barely three and a half feet tall – and let his fingers caress the ivory keys. They didn't move under his soft touch, but rather enticed him. Enchanted him so fully he had completely forgotten what he had been looking for. Completely forgotten the barely sleeping Kalidas in the hammock behind him.
His ignorance and love for this instrument at his fingers clouding his judgement, Erik took a deep breath and started playing notes on the piano, discovering how each one sounded, how each one sounded with the other and imprinting it onto his memory…
PentagonMerlin: I know you wrote that ages ago, but it's still sad and pretty and let me know if there's something I can do for you...
Chibi Hime: Um ... yes... at least he ... has Electra. heh heh .well. You're going to hate me one day, but let's not hope it comes too soon. Thanks for still reading! LOL. Sorry the update was so long and not as good as the other one. oh well... we survive.
ModestySparrow9: Your reviews make me happier than most things. LOL. I love cheese as well, and you're welcome for updating. I like doing it. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something.Hope you're still reading and you enjoy this update as well.And I'm so happy you think this is original. i'm usually scared of posting cuz I think it's been done a hundred billion times.
