The song Loralee sings in this chapter is "My Immortal" by Evanescence. I know it's a strange song for back in the nineteenth century, but without the instruments I thought it would be a fairly good singing song. I also noticed that one part of this chapter is kind of like a scene from Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, but I only noticed it till now. It's like the scene when Pippin finds Merry after the battle of the Pelennor Fields. Just thought I'd point that out ahead of time!
PhantomLover05: Tell me again when you get Hector!
Carkeys: Erik enjoys his get well card greatly!
HiddenOperaAngel: Horse lessons? I always wanted to horse back ride but I never have. I've been to one of my friends horse lessons and helped take care of her horse, but that's about it. Anyway, here's your answer to what is Loralee going to say (I've been getting a lot of those!).
Ethalas Tuath'an: "Oh, yes, trust Mme. Giry to be perfectly blunt." I love it! Hmm, yes, it is kinda strange how Hector is afraid of Madame Giry. But in this story it just works out.
Anna Kate Butler: It's okay! I'll give you a hug!
Lily: Thanks for the encouragement and here's the next chapter for you!
Phantoms' Lobo: Yes, we are going on a Vincent intermission for the time being. And I have a question for you - can I have an Erik-plushie? Please?
AngelicFlutist: I never knew that line would effect anyone - you just made me feel extra special by saying that! There will be a Ball Masque in this story so you should look forward to that!
RandomPerson: Yeah! Thanks!
Fea Witch: Thank you for the review - and don't worry, Christine and Raoul will be involved later in the story.
Queen of Reviews: Wow! That's a very enthusiastic review! Thanks so much!
Chapter Twenty Two: Fevers and Paintings
"I what?" Loralee asked, shocked and slightly appalled at Madame Giry's thoughts. Madame Giry just smiled at her and put a comforting hand on Loralee's arm.
"I knew since the moment I saw you that you'd be a special person in Erik's live. When I found you with his cloak I knew that it was a friendship soon to blossom between the both of you. I tried to make you forget him, afraid something would happen again to Erik like his obsession of Christine. When ever I see you after you're with him, though, you look happier than ever. I also heard from Erik not too long ago that you called his lair your home."
Loralee blushed. Suddenly realization hit her. She had been trying to block away all thoughts of love towards Erik because she thought of him just as a friend. Now looking, she saw Madame Giry was right and that she did have a hidden love Erik.
No man managed to make her as happy as him and his intelligence and beauty of the mind captured her heart with awe. Perhaps it wasn't just the candlelight making her think romantically but perhaps she really was in love with him.
Loralee blushed in the tunnel, lowering her head, and Madame Giry just smiled.
"I. . . I guess you're right Madame. I've just been blind to my own thoughts."
"I wouldn't be surprised," Madame Giry said. "You've had a horrible love life in your past which most likely has left you looking at thoughts of romance with little trust."
How right she is, Loralee thought. She was also horrified to think of such thoughts of loving Erik, mostly because her past experiences of love with Hector.
"And if I may be correct," Madame Giry continued, getting Loralee's attention, "Erik has also had such experiences which leave him afraid of the truth."
There was a twinkle in Madame Giry's eyes that Loralee failed to notice.
"Come, we must hurry to help him."
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Madame Giry lead the newly embarrassed Loralee down the hallway. She had left one major detail out of her beliefs to Loralee. Along with seeing that Loralee loved and cared for Erik, Madame Giry knew ever since Erik left the cloak with Loralee and cared for her back when Loralee was new to the Opera Populaire, that Erik would fall in love with her. She hated to see Erik gain such depression from losing Loralee as he did with Christine, so Madame Giry had urged Loralee to forget everything. After months of careful watch over Loralee, she noted how she would work well with Erik, so she dared to make Loralee ballet mistress.
After even a few days, Madame Giry had seen Erik brighten up and become happier than usual with Loralee as his messenger. Madame Giry's favorite encounter with Erik was when he romped into her room as if he were a little kid and told Madame Giry excitedly that he finally had a friend - Loralee. It brought Madame Giry such happiness and pain to see Erik act as if he were ten years old. A genius such as him deserved to have true friends when he was young but instead he was beaten and hated by all. Loralee's friendship to him was like a beggar boy getting a million dollars.
It didn't take much thought or observation to see that the two had feelings for each other, but both Erik and Loralee were blinded by their past experiences, not seeing their own true emotions. She was glad she made Loralee realize that she loved Erik, and unbeknownst to Loralee, she had the same talk with Erik only last night. It would still take some time to persuade Erik that he didn't love Christine any more and that she was gone forever, never to come into the arms of her angel of music again.
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Loralee followed Madame Giry all the way down the now familiar tunnels to Erik's home. Their home.
It was strangely quiet, as if all music had died. The silence brought chills zipping up Loralee's spine. Setting down Erik's supplies on a table, she followed Madame Giry over to a separate room she hadn't seen before.
Erik was sleep on a different bed than Christine's. It was less elaborate but had the same lush blankets and pillows as hers. The four posters held no curtains and left it looking barren and plain. There was a chest on one side of the room and different items littering his floor and desks.
Her attention was drawn back to him when she heard a groan issue from his mouth.
Rushing over, Loralee sat down on the bed besides him. She looked down on his tired face, wiping away some sweat that was rolling down his forehead.
His eyes fluttered open at her touch and he looked up into Loralee's worried and caring eyes.
"Loralee. . ." he choked out but Loralee silenced him with a finger on his lips.
"Don't speak. You need your rest. The fever will go away quicker that way."
Madame Giry cleared her throat and Loralee looked up at her.
"I'm sorry, Loralee, but I have to be going. Meg will be expecting me soon. I'll leave him to your company."
They said their good byes and soon Loralee's attention was back to Erik. She found some towels and soaked them in cold water, laying them on his forehead. Then she found some medicine and made him drink it which he did reluctantly.
"Are you going to leave me?" Erik asked Loralee. She knew Erik would think that anybody who'd be kind to him would soon leave him in a state of grief, or never help him through a fever, but she just smiled at him.
"No, I'm going to stay and take care of you. Go to sleep."
She leaned down and kissed his unmasked cheek before pulling the covers up to his chin. He stared at her, amazed she would kiss him even on the cheek willingly, before closing his eyes.
Just then, a song seemed to take over her heart and before she could stop herself, she was singing a song she learned in her childhood at Ireland.
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
You used to captivate me
By your resonating mind
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
By the time Loralee finished the song, Erik's breathing was soft and steady, his face peaceful and body still in sleep. She replaced the cloth with a new and colder one before bringing a chair over to Erik's bedside. She sat in it, and then brought over a book from a bookshelf he had in his room.
The book was Beauty and the Beast, a classic tale she loved when she was little. Her father used to read it to her, teaching her the lesson that it doesn't matter about the person's appearance, but rather their soul and spirit counts.
As she remembered him speaking those words to her in the dim candle light of night, Loralee looked over, gazing freely upon Erik.
The mask was said to hide horrors too disgusting and revolting to even think about which Erik was born with. It would be so easy right now just to slip her fingers underneath the mask and pull it off while he's asleep. Loralee could see what everyone is screaming and shivering about and test herself with her father's advise.
But no. She respected Erik and wanted him to trust her so she held her hand, and instead got herself interested with the book. It wasn't the same as when she was younger with her father reading it to her, but in a way better and more unique because she was actually living it out in a way. Erik claimed himself a monster behind his mask and Loralee only just found out she loved him when he was sick which made her feel like she was Belle in the story.
Loralee was on chapter three when she replaced cloth on Erik's head again. She continued reading but soon the words swirled in front of eyes, her sight getting blurry with sleep. Loralee tried to stay awake so she could care for Erik, but soon sleep gripped her tightly and she fell into a deep slumber.
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The next morning, luckily Saturday morning, Loralee woke up to a groan.
Her eyes fluttered open to see the top of a cave and feel a large cramp in the back of her neck. She sat forward, rubbing her neck and noticed the book had fallen while she slept in the chair. She picked it up and was about to put it on the bedside table when she saw Erik sitting up in the bed, looking at her.
She yelped with surprise, dropping the book again, but not picking it up this time.
"You're awake, and. . . and how did sit up?"
Erik shrugged and then stayed still as Loralee put a hand on his forehead.
"Well, that's done. It was surprisingly short. Only a night long!"
Erik leaned his head back against the pillows Loralee propped up behind his head.
"My head still feels like a boulder," he grumbled, rubbing it slowly.
"Do you want something to kill the pain?"
"Yes, that would be nice. Let's see. . . There's a green bottle on the table by all my artwork. That would do the trick."
Loralee went off to find it.
His artwork was easy enough to find. Almost two tables were littered with papers and sculptures, paints and charcoals. Most of them were outlines of the up coming or older Operas, but some of them were Christine, peering up at Loralee with loving eyes. She sighed when she saw them, knowing Erik still loved Christine even though there was no way she was going to love him in return. It hurt Loralee to think of it.
She went over to get the green bottle that she had just spotted, when something quite familiar smiled up at her out of the corner of her eyes. Looking over, Loralee saw a familiar likeness smiling up at her, the water colors he used to paint it with lying besides the painting.
They were her water colors and her face!
Loralee looked at the picture closely. It was almost exactly as her face is when she looked at it in a mirror, and it had almost no flaws. How could he have gotten such a good painting done without out her posing for him?
Genius indeed, Loralee thought as she ripped her eyes away from the picture and instead to the bottle. Getting it, she went back into Erik's room, casting one last glance to her picture before going in.
Just then she noticed how disheveled Erik looked. His hair was mussed up from sleeping and locks of it hung in front of his eyes. His usually crisp white shirt was wrinkled and partially undone, showing off his lean muscled chest and sparse dark hairs. He still had his white mask on, though, and was even starting to hum a tune.
"So even though you have a pounding pain in your head, just had a fever, and must be parched, you still hum?"
"I can't give up my music," he said simply, shrugging gracefully.
"Is this the bottle?" Loralee asked, holding it up when she was next to him.
"Yes. A swig should do."
She then gave it to him and he took a little swig. Taking it back, Loralee put it on his bedside table and sat down next to him on the bed.
"Erik?"
"Yes, Loralee?"
"Did you know that they're holding a Masquerade next Saturday?"
Erik stiffened, his eyes growing rather cold.
"Yes, Madame Giry told me," he forced out.
"Aren't you excited?" Loralee asked. Erik looked at her.
"I would be if Christine wouldn't be attending."