A/N: I know some of you were not happy that I took care of the repulsive and ill-mannered Monsieur Vasilev. But I assure you, it was for Angelina's best interests. I have given Phoenix an idea and she wants to see if you are willing to try it. I am interested in seeing what quote or part you like best in the current chapter. I thought that we could do this from now on along with you reviews. It would give my dear writer something to thrive for – seeing you favorite parts. So please, with your review, put your favorite quote or part. It would much be appreciated.

And please forgive Phoenix for not updating. FF was disabled for a few days for repairs. She is glad to see how many of you are still with us. This chapter will bring me and my dear Angelina closer together.

Read and review as always. Thank you.

With much love,

Erik

Chapter 39 – The Traveling Caravan

Rene and Angelina had spent the entire day shopping in the middle of Paris. Their arms were full of packages and food. Neither wanted to return to the dormitories. It was a weekend without rehearsals and lessons. They were ecstatic at the chance to finally see Paris in all of its glory.

"Can you believe how much we bought?"

Rene laughed. "Your father should be pleased with the bill."

"Half of it is for my parents. They should be happy with the bargains I found."

Rene cursed to himself as he dropped a package. Before he could retrieve it, Angelina quickly pulled him out of the way as several wagons began riding through the cobble streets.

"Thank you."

"What is that?"

Angelina had never seen the sight before. Wagons traveled, one behind the other. Different colored flags and words were skillfully painted and put onto the side of them. Horses were decorated with beautiful sashes and ribbons.

"It is the carnival."

"The carnival?" Angelina had never bore witness to anything as extravagant as what she saw before her. "In Paris?"

"They come every few years."

"I have never seen anything like it."

"They will be set up by sundown. I can take you, if you wish."

She smiled as she continued to watch. "Maybe…"

As a wagon passed, Angelina thought she heard the weeping of a child. Before she could realize it, the caravan stopped and continued through the town with Parisians watching.

"They will be in town for at least a week."

"It will be interesting to see." Angelina began toward the opera house once again. Rene followed suit. "Maybe we will go some time this week."

"It is a sight, Angelina. You will enjoy it."

"Of that, I have no doubt."

Angelina traveled down the winding staircase. But before she could reach the edge of the lake, she stopped short.

"Damn them all!"

Looking up, she watched Erik throw sheet music everywhere. Knocking over a candle bra, Erik continued on his tirade.

"How dare they come to Paris!"

"Erik?"

"They sent me to this fate!"

"Erik!"

Erik stopped for the briefest of moments to look upon Angelina. "You should not be here."

"What has happened?"

"You would not understand." He quickly turned away from her and began tearing down the pictures he had sketched. "Go."

"I came to tell you something."

"I know of the carnival."

Angelina cringed as another candle bra was sent crashing to the ground. She was afraid to move toward him but felt the pain in every step he took.

"It is not good news?"

"Far from it. Now go!"

Again, she cringed as he yelled at her and sent it echoing throughout the lair. A single tear rolled down her cheek. He was not angry at her but with something else. She would not take it personally but it was a sting to her heart – never the less.

"Tell me what has happened."

"You will not understand."

"You do not know that until you tell me."

"The tale is long and boring. I will not tell you the details."

"The carnival has upset you."

"Beyond anything you can imagine."

Angelina stepped toward him and watched him hunch over as sobs racked his body. Stepping up the stairs, Angelina gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Please, tell me. I wish to help you."

"The pain is already done. The traveling caravan has just reopened a wound that I wished to have kept healed."

"Then let me help you bandage it once again." She knew he would not look at her. "Tell me of the traveling caravan."

"No…" He moved from her gentle touch. Erik knew that telling the story would bring her closer to him then ever. It would bring his past to the surface. "…you cannot know the tale."

"You are afraid to tell me or afraid of the memory?"

"Both."

"I will not run. I will not tell a soul. But, Erik, you cannot keep this bottled inside of you. Someone must know."

"One already knows. That is enough."

"Did they hurt you in some way?"

"A child that feared everything was nothing more then just a child with nothing left to live."

Erik turned toward her. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Angelina's heart broke as she looked upon him. He was disheveled and unkempt. How long had he been like this?

"Please, Erik…tell me."

"I am the devil's child."

"I do not understand."

"I was a sideshow in the carnival. I was nothing more then a way to make money."

Angelina watched as he sat upon the floor. He could hear the people laughing all around him. It echoed in his ears and his mind. His hands grasped his head, trying to keep out the laughter.

Quickly rushing to his side, Angelina put her hands on his. "I am here, Erik."

"I can hear them laughing."

"They are no longer laughing. I promise you that."

"I remember the beating – the bruises that would form on my chest."

Tears were forming in Angelina's eyes. She could not begin to imagine the torment of Erik as a child.

"I had nothing, Angelina. I was nothing."

"You are so much more then that now." She smiled at him – hoping to reassure him that everything was different. "You are a musical genius. You are not some sideshow act. You are a great singer and dancer. You are my teacher."

Erik looked into Angelina's eyes. "I am nothing more then a freak."

Putting both of her hands on his face, Angelina shook her head. "You are beautiful."

He shook his head as tears continued to move down his cheeks. "No, I am not. You cannot begin to imagine what I am."

"I know the man that is sitting in front of me." There had to be something she could say. "They do not matter any more. You matter. Your music matters…I matter."

Erik's eyes went wide as she looked at him. "Angelina…"

"Tell me what I can do to make this pain go away."

"There is nothing you can do."

"There must be something. This memory cannot be ignored."

"I have pushed it aside for years. Once the traveling caravan leaves, it will be nothing more than a memory again."

"You must conquer this. You cannot brush it aside."

He knew in his heart that she was right. But it was not something he wanted her to worry about. It was not something he wanted her to know about.

"It is not your concern."

"It pains me to see you this way, Erik. Please, let me help you."

Her hand moved from his cheek to his hand and grasped it. Erik had never felt better then in the moment he had now. Angelina wanted to help but it was his pride that stopped him from letting her.

"I am sorry, Angelina. But you cannot help me." He rose – leaving her warmth.

"Please, just leave."

"No."

She was being stubborn and it was unbecoming of her. Erik sighed and looked at the organ in front of him. He had become so much more in the years after the carnival.

"Madam Giry saved me."

Angelina looked up at him. The great man that had inspired her seemed more like a child now then the teacher she had come to know and love.

"Tell me the tale, Erik."

"I was trapped in a cage for years. All I had was an old monkey with a pair of cymbals." He turned to her and did not see pity in her eyes as he thought he would see. He saw despair and a longing to help. Bending down to her, Erik sat in front of her. "One night, we stopped in Paris. A group of dancers from the opera house came. I remember looking through my mask at the time…"

Erik shuttered, remembering the burlap sack that served as his shield from the world. All there were was two eye holes that let him see all of the faces that laughed at him.

"…at a young girl who stood by the cage. She had a look on her face unlike any I had ever seen before."

"Madam Giry?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

Erik swallowed hard, knowing what was coming up next. He wanted it to be nothing more then a bad memory. "The man, who was my keeper, beat me until he could remove my mask without protest."

Angelina cringed. A tear ran down her cheek.

"I had enough. After the crowd had left, the keeper began to count his gold coin. I killed him."

Both looked at each other. Angelina understood that he had done it for survival. Being locked in a cage for days even years would drive anyone to do what he did.

"I killed the man, Angelina."

"I do not fault you for it."

Erik was shocked by the statement. The keeper at the carnival was not the last. "I killed a man…"

"…to survive. Erik, you were caged like an animal. You had grown tired."

She held his hand and entwined their fingers. Angelina smiled at him, hoping to lessen the pain and to let him know that she would not run.

"Madam Giry had seen the act. After a mob began to form to find the murderer, she hid me beneath the opera house."

"That must have been awful."

"Although it was dark and lonely, it became my home – my shelter."

"It made you the man you are today." She looked around at the pictures and the sheets of music. "You taught yourself?"

"I taught myself all I could. I became an architect, a musician, and an artist." He slightly smiled. "I became what I always wanted to be."

"A genius."

"I would not call myself that."

"Then I will." She finally knew the tale of Erik. It was a horrible tale and one that she hoped that be forgotten in time. "Let us return to the carnival."

"No."

"Erik, you must get through the pain. If you do not, it will haunt you."

"Let me block it, as I have all these years."

"I cannot let you do that."

He screamed and stood once again. "You are trying my patience, Angelina. I told you that I do not want to revisit the past."

"Then I will leave you to your memories and solitude. If you do not wish me to help you, then I will not."

Angelina stood and began toward the stairs.

"Angelina…wait…"

She stopped, hearing the voice. Childlike…it is as if he has returned to his childhood years.

"You are right. I must face this demon."

Angelina turned to him and looked at Erik standing there. He seemed to stand taller and more proud.

"I cannot let a traveling caravan force me into the darkness that I have hidden in for so long."

"You wish for me to help you?"

"Yes."

Angelina began toward him slowly – her feet guiding her to the man who seemed helpless yet strong at the same time.

"What do you wish me to do?"

"Come with me to the carnival. Help me face my past."

She nodded. "You cannot just go there dressed as you are."

"Of this I know."

Moving toward the organ, Angelina opened a panel and withdrew the black opera mask she had purchased for him. Holding it out, he looked at her confused.

"Find a cape with a hood. This mask will seem more like a shadow under it then the white mask."

Erik looked at the mask and gently took it from her hand. Turning from her, he took off the white one and replaced it by the black. Angelina turned from him, giving him the privacy that he needed.

"I will retrieve my cape."

She watched as Erik went into his bedroom and returned in a few moments. She approached him and raised the hood on it. Nodding her head, Angelina smiled.

"I will be with you the entire time, Erik. I will not leave your side."

He took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Thank you."

There were many more memories he wished to reveal to her. But with the return of the carnival, this was one he must conquer without question. The thoughts of his past had flooded his mind – Christine, Raoul, the death of the carnival master. It came back to him and wanted to haunt him for all time.

But with Angelina, he found strength that he never thought he would have. She would help him go through the storm and back into the light. He smiled as they began toward the boat.

Traveling caravan be damned…

He was returning to his roots. It would be there that he would find the strength to carry on. And hopefully into the future.