Anywhere You Go, Let Me Go Too

I was awakened by my head hitting something underneath me. My eyes fluttered open only to realize that I was in a carriage which was moving speedily down a gravel road. I was twisted in a red velvet blanket and laying on a black leather seat, which made it hard to get up. Slightly confused, I untangled myself, sat up and looked around the carriage. There were countless possessions I recognized from Erik's home on the lake, boxed and stashed under the seats and two black suitcases took up the space on the seat across from me. I looked out the window to see that it was growing dark outside. I figured that Erik had to be driving the horses that pulled our carriage.

I wished he would come inside to speak with me, but I knew that my wish would go un-granted. I had fainted when I found out that he wasn't in the best of health. He had always seemed fine…strong, sturdy…indestructible. But, I suppose that he was hiding that with an invisible mask as well. I couldn't help but wonder what ailed him, and how long he had to spend with me still. Everyone I ever love DIES! WHY? WHY! After crying to myself silently over the horrific thought of Erik dying and leaving me all alone in this world, I decided that my sorrow wasn't going to help anything. To keep my thoughts away from Erik, I laid back down and fell asleep.

The soft touch of fingers running along the dried tracks of my tears awoke me. I opened my eyes to find Erik leaning over me. I smiled at him and then looked around us. We were both lying on top of another velvet blanket in a meadow surrounded by dense woods. The stars glistened above our heads like diamonds. He gently pulled the blanket that covered us, up closer to my chin.

"How long have we been traveling?" I whispered gently to him.

"About a day and a half…" He placed a kiss on my forehead. "Are you alright?"

"As long as you are…" I let my words hang in the air between us. His shoulders slumped slightly and he gave me a defeated look.

"Gabrielle…please…do we have to talk about this no-"

I interrupted him immediately, "YES!…Don't act as if it isn't an important issue…Erik, if you die.." I couldn't finish my sentence because I was nearly choking on my tears. He sighed deeply and gathered me up in his arms, pulling me close to him so that I was laying against his chest. The faint sound of his heart beating steadily, like a drum, soothed me to some extent.

"Gabrielle…listen to me…You are not to worry about me dying…I am fine and should be for some time yet…"

"But eventually…"

"Please, stop…I would like for us to forget about this…We have enough time to enjoy our lives together…and isn't that most important issue…at the present time…?"

"Oh, Erik…I love you…don't leave me…"

"I will never leave you, baby…never…you hear me? NEVER! I love you!" I looked up at his face only to see tears glistening in his eyes too. I couldn't help but grin at him and he returned the gesture, our tears conquered by each other's warm smile. He bent over me, and locked his lips with mine. We continued to explore each other's mouths gently for some time and just as he was about to pull away, I placed my hand around the back of his head and led his mouth back to mine. I let him draw back when I felt I could no longer breathe.

He began kissing my jaw line and then moved to my throat and neck. Knots began to form in my stomach and I felt heated completely, inside and out, while his lips caressed my bare skin. He stopped and looked into my eyes, his hot breath beat against my mouth. He smiled at me seductively. I laughed out loud and then pulled his mouth back down onto mine.

Suddenly, his shirt became quite annoying, so I unbuttoned it clumsily. He shrugged it off and I then placed my hands around his powerful, bare shoulders. The strength of his solid body was ever the more obvious as I felt the span of his chest and back. Unexpectedly, my fingers encountered parts of his skin that were not as smooth as the rest.

"What's these marks on your skin, my love?"

"Huh?" He dazedly pulled back to look at me, his eyes dark, warm and loving.

"Are these scars?" He nodded solemnly as we both sat upright. "What are they from?"

"When I was ten, I was imprisoned by a traveling circus and displayed as the 'Devil's Child'…If I didn't obey, I was…punished…"

"Oh…Erik…I cannot imagine why someone would harm you in such a way…" It confused me greatly when I felt his body begin to tremble. "Are you alright?"

"Oh? Yes, I am fine…I just cannot control my anger when I think about the way Christophe…I mean…There was no reason for it…I understand that my face was the reason for what happened to me…but you…you are so flawless…and…him…beating…you….it just…" He let out a rasped breath.

"Erik…it's ok…it's over…we both can forget these things…he is dead…you don't have to worry about him ever controlling either of us again with his unruly fist."

"I know…but these scars will always remain on our bodies…"

"But they can disappear from our hearts…you've shown me that…" I met his eyes with mine and was stunned that I had forgotten to take off his mask. I slipped my fingers beneath the white porcelain of his mask and pulled it off gently, setting it beside us in the grass. He looked deeply into my eyes, as if looking for some form of terror hidden inside of me. I made it obvious that there was none by kissing the distorted flesh and bone on the deformed side of his face. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around my neck leisurely. I placed a tender kiss on his lips and then nestled my head up under his neck.

"You amaze me." He said against my temple and then turned my mouth up to meet his. He left me breathless once again by his kiss.

"Amaze you, do I? Why is that? Am I not like any other woman?" I gasped.

"You are unlike any other person in this world. You are a magnificent woman…strong, sensitive…and so loving…But I cannot understand how you can caress my face so lovingly, when I, myself can sometimes not even bare to look at it…And I have had to look upon it's horror for a lifetime…"

"Erik…what everyone fails to see is the true loving man, hidden behind that 'horror' as you call it. Your face is simply…a mask…a mask that hides the true beauty of your heart and soul. But it isn't the complete curse you think it to be…"

"Oh? And how is that true?"

I gave him a affectionate smile to counteract the outrage that was beginning to form behind his eyes. "BECAUSE, my love…you can be quite certain that I love you for who you are…some women marry the most handsome man they can find, simply because they are a trophy to show off to others…But because of your 'abnormality' you can have no doubt that I love you BECAUSE of who you are as a person…And that also means that I would never leave you for another man…" I hesitated before adding, "as Christine did…" His hardened face, softened and the offended look in his eyes turned to tenderness. "I am yours for as long as you want me…forever, if you wish it…"

"I do…I wish for us to be together forever so very badly…" He ran the back of his fingers along my cheek gently before wrapping his arm around me and pulling me close, so my back was against his chest. I leaned my head back and he tilted his so that our faces were against each others'. We both took to watching the sky above us.

The stars sparkled brightly. Little sparks flush against the endless black sky. It seemed as if each star was dancing to a silent song. A song that was sung by both Erik and I. He sighed as did I, both of us out of the absolute contentment we felt in each other's arms. As I thought about how happy he made me, a shooting star raced across the open night sky. I giggled softly.

"Make a wish, Erik…"

"What?" he looked at me confusedly.

"Don't you know that when you see a shooting star, you're supposed to make a wish…"

"Is that so?"

"Yes…when I was a child, my mother and I would sit on our front porch and promise to stay awake until we saw a shooting star and I made a wish…I remember wishing for a perfect marriage and someone to love when I was older…she would always laugh at me and tell me I had to wait some years for that wish to come true…" Remembering my mother caused me to be consumed by the sadness that accompanied my memories of her. Erik's hand on my shoulder jerked me back to reality.

"So make a wish, love…"

"Alright…I wish…that I could make all your wishes come true." His lips curved sensually into that smirk I had seen from him many times.

"What kind of wish is that…besides a sweet one…the wish is supposed to be for yourself…"

"Alright, alright…I wish we could spend forever, together…"

I sighed, completely defeated by his attempts to win me over. "You know you have that already…"

"Alright…I got it…I know what I want to wish for…"

He grinned at me and pulled his arm out of my grasp. "Alright...I'll take the bait...What do you want to wish for, Erik?" I mocked him slightly with sarcasm in my words.

He reached into the pocket of his cloak that laid on the grass beside our blanket. His hand emerged in a fist and he put his hand out in front of me. I stared at him in astonishment as he opened his hand. In the palm, lying face up, was the most magnificent diamond ring I had ever seen.

"I wish that you would be mine forever…So that our love can be eternal even though we are not…Gabrielle…will you marry me?"