Chapter Seven: (couldn't think of a title for this one….)
"I don't likeit at all," Christine mumbled as she sipped at her tea. "He's been brooding for two days now. Since he saw that old woman upstairs. I don't know what to do, Meg. Nadir came yesterday and tried to bring him out of it, but all he would do was play harder and louder. He's working on Don Juan Triumphant again…"
"I thought he'd finished."
"He did, but the scores burned in the fire. He had to start over."
Meg sighed. "His way of shutting absolutely everyone out, I suppose."
"But, Meg!" Christine protested, "I'm his wife! Why would he shut me out?"
Her younger friend smiled warily. "We both know he loves you, Christine, but remember that he's had a hard life… So many years of torment… Has he still not told you about his nightmares?"
"He has, somewhat. All but why he would kill Javert. I know that the man must have done something horrible to him. He shakes every time I mention him. It's terrible, Meg, to see him suffer so. He hasn't even tried to sleep. He's so pale… I'm worried."
"Erik can take care of himself, Christine," her friend consoled. "He has for fifty years, right?"
The diva sighed. No, he hadn't taken just perfect care of himself for fifty years… All those times he'd used morphine and opium… How was that caring for his body? She still feared he might have another seizure like he had that first time she'd ripped his mask from his face. What would she do if it happened again? True, he hadn't used morphine in a good while now – he claimed it was she that had done it for him – but the effects could linger for years…
"Christine?"
The young woman in question looked up. "I'm sorry… Yes, I suppose you're right, Meg, though I do worry… You do not know him as I do."
The blond girl giggled at this. "And he is yours to know!"
Christine blushed a deep shade of read. "Meg Giry!"
The two old friends laughed together until the elder finally took her leave, returning down to the cellars of the opera house.
"Erik?"
Erik spun around, startled out of his near trance state that he'd fallen into with his fingers hovering over the organ keys and the pages of Don Juan Triumphant spread out before him. His eyes locked on Madame Giry and he stood with enough force to send the stool flying back. "Is it not enough that you send Madeleine on her way down here and give my name to the managers?" he spat, venom in his voice. "Now you too must impose on my privacy! My word! What shall a man do to have a bit of time to work?"
Madame Giry did not shrink away as most might, but stood firmly. "I sent Madeleine down because you would not answer her rings on that excuse fora bell you have. Heaven knows you push that poor woman to the brink, Erik, with all she's tried to fix with you."
"What business is it of yours?" he growled, stooping to retrieve the stool.
"She is your mother!"
"No, she is the woman that gave birth to me," the Phantom responded as he sat himself back down, his anger freezing to an icy coldness. "A mother cares for her son, in which she never did."
"And she wishes to remedy that. No! Erik, don't you dare. I will have my say, so help me! Heaven knows you've been treated horribly through the years. I know. I've seen it, Erik. Please do not think I've turned against you suddenly. May I?" she asked, indicating toward a chair. When he nodded she pulled it closer and sat in it, her posture straight. "You shall never know a mother's pain, Erik. You have never been one- " he raised an eyebrow at this and she waved off his sly remark– "and that is all on that. You say I gave your name to the managers? What does it matter? The Opera Ghost kept it from them to keep to himself he was only a man. Well, Erik, they knew you were a man. They saw it well enough during that performance over a year ago when Christine…" She tapered off as she noted the shudder passing through his slim frame.
"Get to your point," Erik hissed at last, eyes seeming to glow in the ill lit room.
"Christine is worried about you. Meg had to drag her out to speak with her about it, but anyone can tell."
At this, his shoulders fell and his head drooped. "Yes, I know."
"And you don't even care about that?"
"What am I to do? I cannot stop these dreams. I…"
Madame Giry stood once more, moving closer and covering one of his thin, bony hands with one of her own aging ones. "Remember she loves you, Erik. Remember she lives for you. Love her. Live for her. Not that I need to tell you that, but just remember that it is returned to you from her. When you run yourself ill, she will run herself ill." That said, she turned and left the room.
Erik watched her go, feeling as if the weight of all that had happened – which had been ignored through working himself into exhaustion – had suddenly come crashing down. It was Christine's panicked voice that broke through his new bout of anguish. He looked up to see her standing in the doorway, fear radiating from her.
"Erik! Are you all right? Are you ill?"
"No, my dear," he answered, his voice sounding raspy in his own ears. He cleared his throat and reached a beckoning hand toward her. She ran to him and grasped it immediately, feeling him pull her closer into himself. "I'm sorry my love… I've been horrible towards you."
She hugged his neck, burring her face in his shoulder. "It doesn't matter. I was worried that you were ill again when I saw you sitting like that. You've been so… It doesn't matter now. As long as you're all right."
He smiled, kissing the top of her head. "I'm fine, my love."
She beamed at him a moment and they leaned in for a kiss. The kiss, though, was cut off by the sound of someone ringing the bell from the other side of the lake. Frantically, as if their very life depended on it. Erik stood abruptly. "Stay."
"No!" Christine cried. "Don't make me!"
He glanced back at her and melted at her pleading eyes. "Hurry."
As the gondola pulled up to the opposite shore, Erik spotted Darius, Nadir's servant, kneeling on the ground. His head was down, dark hair covering his eyes. He looked up when he saw them, stood, and started off in Persian. Erik motioned for him to slow down and he did.
Christine watched the interaction, confused as she could be. When Darius finally stopped his apparent explanation she looked to her husband. "What is it?"
"They've taken Nadir."
India Pyro: It said earlier than she was on break for her wedding. :)
LostSchizophrenic: Nadir, obviously, will make his appearance in the next chapter. Yay! Poor Nadir…
Cmdr. Gabe E.: Well… he DID murder him… but it was self defense! I take it you've read Kay's book?
Angel of Song: Me too! Javert was so evil! Why couldn't Kay have given him a different name? It made me think of Javert from Le Mis.
FreakenIdiot06: Go read the book! Hehe… I'd highly recommend it, it's amazing. If you don't understand anything, let me know and I'll try to clarify. That's what I've been doing for Lynx Ryder, who also hasn't read it.
