A/N: This chapter is longer, hope you all enjoy! And, as always, review, review, REVIEW! Seriously, you should see me blush when I read all the awesome things you guys are saying about this story!
A forest. An entire forest surrounded me! The soft candlelight from the main room gave me a vague glimpse at the room, most of it still covered in dark. Hundreds upon hundreds of metallic trees lay before me, reflecting into eternity. Before I had time to react, speak, or even think, Erik shoved me into the jungle, the door swiftly clicking shut behind me.
Then came the light.
The blinding red light poured into the forest, filling it up with a suffocating heat. I desperately tried to find the door in which I entered, but it was gone. It was useless searching for one of Erik's trick doors. I laughed aloud berating myself for believing that I could successfully outsmart Him.
Instead, I resorted to the only defense I knew. I screamed with all the volume my meek voice could project. I sobbed His name, begging for forgiveness. Spewing forth useless apologies and empty promises. I cursed His name, attacking Him with slanderous words. Shrieking at His injustices, the cruelties in which He inflicted upon me. I cried, I wept, the very fascia I had spent all these years building up was now torn down, crumbling before me. This was not the charming courtesan who coolly shied away all her emotions. No! This was a frightened little girl, lost in a darkness she could not escape.
Finally, I stopped. I came to the conclusion that spending all my energy and strength begging for Erik to, once again, rescue me, was an asinine waste of my precious time.
It became increasingly hard to breathe under the weight of my corset and I finally gave in, collapsing to the floor in a puddle of sweat exhaustion. My back hit something hard as I sat, something supportive. I turned around to find myself staring back at me. My hair damp with perspiration, my cheeks flushed into an unnatural shade of scarlet, I brought my hand up to inspect this curious surface. It was yet another mirror! In fact, I realized that the room was entirely crammed with them, shaping the area into a pentagonal prison. There was not a forest hidden ,in addition to the lake, buried under the opera house. Instead the mirrors reflected but one tree, one single, giant tree, positioned directly in the middle of the room. My eyes, wincing in the harsh light from above, stared fixedly at it. Mentally waging a war to keep myself from screaming, from literally clawing my way out of this room. Out of this twisted metal forest, this unbearably oppressive heat.
He had wished to drive me mad!
I could have been sitting there for hours, for days! Time seemed to pass agonizingly slow, each and every second bringing with it more heat, more thirst.
I would have begun to cry, in utter despair for the dreadful predicament I found myself in, but my body had no moisture left. It had expelled forth every last drop of water it contained. My body stung with the dry sweat, the salty taste hung thick on my tongue, now dry as sandpaper.
I was no longer thirsty. The excruciating thirst that seemed to have consumed me for so long, slowly began fading away, and with it so did my mind. The last thing I remember about that unspeakable forest was a rush of cold air sweeping over my shrunken body and then…darkness.
My eyes were a leaden weight, and though I could not bring myself to open them, I had
regained consciousness. Slowly, feeling began to re-enter my body, a strange tingling sensation slowly creeping through my veins.
My mind awoke too, and was now drowning in memories of chilling images. Red was the only color I saw, blinding, red light pulsed behind my closed eyelids. It was almost calming in a sense, I found tranquility in the simplicity of it. Healing rays of warmth forcing my lethargic body to rouse. Feeling energized, and with great force, I finally compelled my eyes to open. Like coming off of a drug-induced high, images were fuzzy. Colors blended, distorted shapes shifted before me. I propped my hands behind my back and struggled to sit-up, but found that my efforts were in vain. A strong weight forced me back down, my head falling onto something rather hard and unfamiliar.
It was then that I saw the mask. That horrible white mask hovered mere inches from my own face, behind it the monster of my nightmares. I groaned and tried to move away from it, but He exercised His greater weight, and I collapsed back onto the bed.
A bed? Where was I?
It was then that I noticed my new surroundings. I was obviously still in His lair, the frigidness of the air and the darkened room did not suggest otherwise. But, what did surprise me was the condition of the room I was in.
It was small, no larger than my state room had been. Two small nightstands stood on either side of the bed I occupied, lavishly adorned with plush fabrics. I immediately noticed the similarity of the azure silken pillows that surrounded me to the ones that I had rested my head upon last night in Mademoiselle Daáe's former dressing room. A small vanity sat in the corner, but oddly enough, no mirror sat atop the table. A musty smell tickled my nose, a combination of dust and the ancient floral arrangements that were scattered along the floor.
The dust caught in my throat and I choked on it. The lack of water caused me to heave rather violently. I felt Erik's hands grab my shoulders and gently pulled me up. He supported me by resting His hand on the small of my back, the other one producing a glass which seemed to appear from nowhere in particular.
After my coughing had subsided, He pressed the cup gently to my anxious mouth, "Here, drink this."
The cold liquid teased my lips, but I shut my them defiantly. He tried to kill me! God knows what vile poisons lie in that!
Sensing my suspicion, He merely shook His head and lowered the glass. "Alessandra, I'm afraid that you are going to have to learn to trust me."
Trust Him? Surely He was not serious…
Anger bubbled in my stomach, annoyance rising up through my chest. "Trust you? How can I ever trust you again? You tried to kill me, Erik! I nearly died because of your impertinent temper!"
"Come now, must you resort to such dramatics? I certainly could have killed you," that infamous smirk forming once again, receding into the corners of His jaw, "Yes, that could have been arranged."
His voice trailed off, His eyes glinting in the dim candlelight. I sat beneath Him, my aching body shaking with fatigue. I stared up at this anomaly, this peculiar man had a funny way of defending Himself.
"As it were, I was merely trying to teach you a lesson," He admitted at last, "You, Mademoiselle DeCapriana, are rather defiant of my orders. You did receive that last note I sent you, did you not?"
I nodded my head, like a child being reprimanded for disobeying his parents. Shamefully, I pointed a shaky finger to my coat that Erik had sprawled across the bottom of the bed. "I still have it."
He let out a sigh and grabbed the heavy wool and retrieved the note. The wax skull glared at me through its death eyes, mocking me for my stupidity.
"Yes, I see you have had the chance to read it." Fingering the envelope with His hands, which were, to my surprise, bare without gloves, He removed the letter. As if deciding whether to open it, He set it aside on the velvet blankets, turning His attention to me.
Forcibly, He thrust the cup at me. My eyes met His with apprehension, but the awful dryness of my throat overwhelmed me and I reached out to His hands, our skin brushing together as I took the cup from Him. He pulled away, and stood up, straightening His impeccable cravat. Of course the cravat did not need straightening, He was simply toying with it to keep His hands busy, to set His mind elsewhere.
The contrast of the cold liquid to my burning throat was a welcome sensation. Though it did have a rather bitter taste, when I finally downed the last of it, I set the cup aside on the vanity. I collapsed back into the luxurious fabrics, my body thoroughly exhausted.
There was so much I wanted to ask Erik, so much we needed to discuss. As if He could read my thoughts He instructed, "Sleep, Alessandra. We will talk later."
I protested, my face set in determination, I lifted my head from the pillows. He quickly brought His hand to my forehead, ever so slightly forcing it back to the cushions.
"Erik," I whimpered with all the stubbornness of a spoiled child, "Erik, why?"
His hand glided down to my cheek, caressing it with such tenderness, I was taken aback. I looked at Him quizzically, unsure and a little bit frightened by this sudden change of demeanor.
I resisted the urge, the now natural instinct, to become lost in that touch. To free my mind of all else and just feel. I felt my eyes sliding close, and I snapped them back open, my mouth ready to spew forth worthless babble.
"Shh, Alessandra. Sleep…sleep."
The bed sank with His weight, His lengthy figure casting a shadow upon mine. He removed His hand from my face, steadying Himself as He turned His back to me. With His legs hanging over the edge of the bed, His arms resting on the tops of His thighs He sat. And He actually expected me to sleep?
Nervously, I reached out to His back, my fingertips lightly touching His fashionable waistcoat. I could feel Him flinch under my touch, and He shifted His weight a little, informing me that this was not a welcome sensation. I withdrew, slightly disappointed, though I did not know what for, and turned over to my other side.
A curious thing happened, for some enchanting tune began to drift through the room. I recognized it immediately. It was the same song that was hummed to me the first night I lay at the mirror in the dressing room. The song that drifted me off to slumber, filling my head with pleasant dreams. The same song that Erik rescued me with.
I marveled at how this man before me could be so cruel, and yet so kind.
The lullaby did not fail, for within a matter of moments, I was asleep. My mind filled with visions of black leather and white masks.