Chapter Three – The Persisting of the Desired Dream
Night had come. Fearing that Erik could not wait another second more to see me, and that David would note his presence, I said that it was better to get some sleep. When we said goodbye, I almost ran to my room. I waited there a few minutes, and almost magically, I began to sing:
"Longing now to see you here again,
Yearning now to glance at you.
I feel you here, but I'm alone.
Please come to solve my doubts..."
"Meg, my Meg,
Don't think that you're alone.
I'm on my way,
Only be patient and wait..." Erik sang, his voice distant.
A few minutes later, I noticed that the wardrobe cabinet started to move. I stood up and there he was, now in different clothes. He seemed to have been taken from an old opera performance. His clothes were perfect. Even though he was wearing a black mask that covered more than the one he used before, he looked very handsome.
He took my hand. We traveled the same way to his lair. The passageway, the stairs, the lake...
I wanted to blame him because of my confusion. I was tired of all this mystery and puzzlement, but I felt that I couldn't. I felt so relaxed with him.
When we were already there, I felt that it was the moment for questions. I could not wait more so I said very seriously, "Please sit down. I have to talk with you."
He laughed and said, "I like your attitude, but I should have asked you that first, since you are in my home. Please sit here." He showed me to a seat. "I also need to talk with you."
"Let me talk first, please," I said.
"Ok, start."
"This situation is weird. I don't understand clearly who you are, why you are here... many things. I have to confess that with you I feel very good, but I am still confused."
"Who am I? Am I only a man, or something else? You tell me, my Angel."
"You are nothing but a mystery to me."
"Who did I tell you I am? Do you remember?"
"Yes, you said your name was Erik, the Phantom of the Opera..."
"Yes, you're right, and that I have come from the past. Why am I here? It was once Madame Giry's house, and now it is mine. It is true, it is yours, but it is still mine."
"Yours? Why do you say it is yours, if you have just said that it was Giry's house?"
"Do you remember the letter I left for you? I said to Madame Giry that I thanked her for all of the help, including the home she gave me after the tragedy of the night of the 'Don Juan Triumphant' performance, after which I left my 'Opera Ghost' nickname, and which left my house burned to the ground. All the original inhabitants of this house are gone, except you and me."
"What are you trying to make me believe?"
"For me, you are Meg. Not Ellen, nor Elli, or whatever the other people call you, my Little Lune."
"Why? Why have you chosen me?"
"Because I saw in you the angel I once saw in Meg. I choose you because I know that you have a pure heart. I can't tolerate another deception. I don't want to die without knowing a companion other than loneliness."
"But why? Why choose me after all these years? Why have you only known loneliness?"
"Are you completely sure that you want to know?"
"I've come here to put an end to my puzzling."
He removed the black mask swiftly and threw it off, immediately covering his face. He began crying dreadfully, and I felt my heart break. I moved slowly towards him and got his hands apart from his face.
I saw a beautiful angel's face burned in half by the fire of hell. I shouted inside my head not because of his face, but because of the cruelty of the world, the harshness of a civilization that, no matter how pure the heart, will pursue you until you are torn into a demon only because what meets the eye is not "normal".
"Oh, Erik!" I lifted a hand to touch his face. "Does it hurt? What can I do for you? Oh, what dull doom has carried you to this point!"
The only thing he could do was cry. The plunging tears of that forlorn soul broke my heart into a million pieces. Those tears of a terrible destiny made me feel responsible to change it. I tried to be strong, but I instantly succumbed to moaning.
"My angel! Let me be your light!" I cried, hugging him.
In him, I felt more grief than a human could bear, a shattered soul. But I also felt, yet very feebly, a divine and kindhearted being waiting to be rescued. We cried together because we knew that angels on earth suffer more than human beings. We, the Angels of Night, each one of us with a mission: to make the other's world a pleasant place from that moment on.
When we both came to our senses, we got apart from each other, and he said, "I have been a fool all this time. I can't even compare you with Meg now. You are unique—though I have not been mistaken in choosing you. Meg feared me, but I find no fright in you."
"But why should I panic? For me, you are an angel. An angel, Erik. They make mistakes, but they are still pure."
"You see me like that because you don't know me. You don't know my past."
"The past... Let it pass! It is true, I don't know you, but I feel in you an enormous need of love. I feel that you were the victim of all the human beings that once knew about you. Oh, human beings, vile and vindictive! Why? Why do we have to build hell for others? Who are we to judge anyone?"
"Oh, Ellen, why are you so gentle with me? Why are you so blind?"
"Blind of what? Why can't you accept the preoccupation of a girl that tires to do what her heart says? Why are you so adapted to hatred?" And suddenly, I began to sing:
"Wake up in loneliness,
Yet with some happiness.
Born in a moment
Rousing, being a better person.
A faithful soul, alone.
Wait for the only one
Who can cure your scraps
And turn you into a joyful self.
So with care and love in the soul,
With someone who guides you,
You will now fly
Away from the cage.
Get rid of loneliness
Out of dark emptiness
Angel of darkness
Away from your feared hate.
Now life will be
All that you desired!"
After me, he sang:
"Never made for love,
But made for hatred,
Finding you
Is like achieving heaven.
You have lit my night
With a very different light.
I've been torn away
From the shade of the pain.
You gave to my life a different shine.
You and me, the Angels of the Night.
"Erik, I love you..."
And then, the miracle began. Suddenly he hugged me, and kissed me in a way I'd never been kissed. Passion, love, thankfulness... too many feelings passed through our heads. All we could think was in us, the two angels united, at last...