Chapter 4
"Monsieur?" she repeated. She again moved closer to him.
"Go away… Please," her angel whispered.
"I cannot, in good conscience, do that, Monsieur. You are hurt and could die without my help. I must get you to a doctor, though I'm not exactly sure how…"
"No doctors, please. Just…get me…downstairs, and I'll…I'll be fine," he said firmly, breathing heavily as he cut her off in mid-sentence.
"Downstairs? Why downstairs, Monsieur?" she asked, dumbfounded.
"That is where…my home is. Please…if you want…to help me…just get me…downstairs," he managed to say, his eyes pleading with her to respect his wishes.
"Okay, Monsieur. Whatever you want," she said as she walked over to him and tried to help him to at least sit up.
She had a tough time trying to lift him up since she knew she must be very gentle, but knowing that this was her angel, she was determined not to let him down. She mustered all her strength and pleaded with him to help if he could. Eventually, she came to the conclusion that he would be of little help, so it was up to her to find another way to get him downstairs to his home.
After a bit of thought, she finally decided to clear a path and drag him down to the basement, but first, she wanted to check out the place he called home since it had been a very long time since she had explored the old church. She announced her intentions to him, but was unsure whether he heard them or not.
She made her way down to the basement and was surprised to find the setting quite cozy. In the main room was a small grand piano with pieces of blank parchment, music, and drawings scattered across the top, and an equally-cluttered large table off to the side against a wall. In another room off to the side of the main room, he had a large, swan-shaped bed, complete with red velvet covers and a black mesh-like curtain that descended from the ceiling.
There were candles all around, enough in number to make it as bright as day if all of them were lit. In fact, many of them were currently lit or had burned themselves out recently.
After a brief tour around his lair, she returned to him, clearing a path as she did so. She found that he seemed to be a little more coherent, so she told him that she was going to try to get him downstairs. She then proceeded to grab him by the vest he wore under his cape as a means with which to drag him to the entrance of the basement.
When she managed to get him as far as the basement entrance, she entreated him again to help her get him downstairs. He dazedly said he'd try, and indeed was able to aid her in getting him up and on his feet. Since his right leg was injured, he had to lean against the wall as he balanced himself by draping his left arm around her shoulder. She put her arm around his waist and helped him gently hop down the stairs to his lair.
As she helped him hop down the stairs, he kept stealing glances at her, wondering what she must be thinking. He was preparing himself for her wrath, knowing full well that he would deserve to be yelled at for deceiving her these past four months.
When they made it to the bottom of the stairs, he lost his balance and nearly fell. He managed to regain his balance long enough for her to pull a nearby plush chair over for him to land on. As he closed his eyes and rested in the overstuffed chair, she was able to get a better look at him.
He was wearing black pants with a white shirt and black scarf, black leather gloves, and a black and gold vest under a heavy black cape. He was very elegantly dressed, suggesting that although he lived in the basement of an abandoned church, he was by no means poor. She looked at the contrasting white mask that covered half his face. She found the other half to be quite handsome, so she wondered what might cause him to feel the need to wear a mask at all.
As he sat there resting, he could feel her staring at him, evaluating him from head to toe. He was aware enough to find himself afraid that her reaction to him and the recent events would cause her to fear him, hate him, or even worse, inspire her to notify others of his presence here, though he had to acknowledge the fact that her first instinct had been to help and not to run in fear.
Looking at her angel and feeling a delayed reaction of betrayal at knowing she had been deceived for so long, Nicole wondered what she should do. She felt betrayed, but at the same time, she thought back on all the time he had spent with her these past four months and all he had done to help her musically. She decided if he was indeed hiding from the world above, she wasn't about to betray his secret. Instead, she vowed to help him recover from his injuries herself, and then she would get to know this man who had given her so much.