Nothing special to say. . .
PhantomLover05: Hmm. . . I do seem to have a talent for messing things up, don't I? And Hector in the hands of Erik? That should be interesting!
HiddenOperaAngel: Oh yes! The dreaded Christine! Not to fear, she won't ruin the whole entire story.
Phantoms' Lobo: Yeah! I get an Erik-plushie! Hmm, it's already more hugs than imaginable and has yet to receive more. Thanks for it! I don't think staring at the computer screen will make my story any longer, but it never hurts to try. And don't worry - I love weird typing, too!
AngelicFlutist: Christine is now "that little traitor"? Well, I guess it does fit perfectly! Read on and your questions will be answered!
LittleMollysheart: Hope this chapter is soon enough! Thanks for the review!
Carkeys: It would be appreciated by me also if Erik got more "get well cards", but not to fear - this chapter should cheer you up!
Ethalas Tuath'an: As for why Erik's afraid of attending the masquerade, you got all the points down. For your other question (is Erik is going with Loralee?) you'll just have to read this chapter!
Chapter Twenty Three: Story Time
Loralee froze.
She forgot about Christine. No doubt the Vicomte de Changy would be attending with his newly wed wife. Erik would be in pain at the sight of them and long for Christine once more, only to get hurt again.
Loralee looked back at him, her hand coming up to cover his.
"You should go. Face your fears and over come your obsession."
Erik just glared at her and she shut her mouth, looking away.
"It was just a suggestion. . ." she mumbled, embarrassed.
Silence stretched out between the two until Erik sighed.
"No, you're right. I should go and over come my obsession, if that's what you call it."
Loralee smiled at him.
"That's great!" she said, squeezing his hand tightly.
"I just have one question," Erik said, looking at her. "Has Vincent Badeau asked you to the ball yet?"
"Surprisingly and luckily no," she said, an amused smile on her face. "I'd better find someone before he asks me, though."
"I could take you," Erik said. Loralee looked at him, shocked, and embarrassed. A blush crawled into her cheeks as she smiled at him.
"I'd like that," she said, biting back a giggle. She didn't want Erik to think she wanted to go with him, because that would help give away her secret love of him.
"Good," he said. "I'll need someone there who can help keep me calm."
"What should I call you? I'm sure all the guests would be suspicious if I came with the Phantom of the Opera to the Masquerade."
"Well you can call me Erik. . . uh. . ."
"How about Erik Belmont?"
"It will do. I will be an architect traveling here from Italy."
"Oh, nice job! Much better than a ballet mistress."
"Or a ghost," Erik mumbled, rubbing his neck, a faint smile on his lips.
"I haven't decided what to wear yet. Should we go matching or in different costumes?" Loralee said, the girlish giddiness coming over her when she started talking about clothes.
"What ever you want to go as. I'm not sure what I'm going to be anyway. I'll search for a costume later today."
"Oh no you don't," Loralee said, as he tried to get out of the bed. She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him down onto the bed. While doing so, Loralee lost her balance and toppled over onto him, arms still on his shoulders and face buried in his shoulder.
At first, she was too stunned to move. The smell of him filled her body with the same mystery and romantic feeling the cloak gave her, making her mind spin. She loved the feel of her face on his shoulder and the way her body fit against his.
Her second thought were how terribly funny she must look, legs stuck up at weird angles and hair scattered all over his face. This produced a giggle out of her mouth and into his shoulder.
Erik felt her shaking with laughter and soon he started laughing along with her. Loralee, even being the ballet mistress, could be extremely clumsy at times and end up in weird positions. Right now she lay in a jumble on top of him. At first, his breath was taken away. Not by the impact of her on his chest, but rather the feel of her body lying across his. Her hair tickled his face lightly and he could feel her smile against his shoulder.
Reluctantly, Loralee got back up. She didn't want to leave Erik's warm body or his throaty laughter rumbling through her body. Sitting back at the edge of the bed, she calmed herself and straightened out her dress and hair.
"Do you want anything to eat?" she asked him. Erik just shook his head no. Loralee then thought about how she never saw him eat and how he's almost never asked for food. "Do you even eat?" she asked him.
"Rarely. I don't find it necessary."
"Food is good for you, Erik. You need it to live."
Erik shrugged. "Well, it makes sense because I'm a ghost."
Loralee rolled her eyes, getting up.
"You're a man, and you know it," she said to him, looking him in the eye as she did. He just smiled at her.
"So, since I can't get my costume today, can I play my organ?"
"You need to rest. Something that takes little physical strength is okay like reading or drawing, but organ is most likely to strenuous."
Erik looked disgruntled and just laid back down in the bed.
"There's nothing good to do then."
Loralee just produced an un-lady like snort at his comment.
"Of course there's something you can do, you just don't want to do it. Maybe you should just sleep."
"Sleep is another thing I find unnecessary."
"Do I have to became your nanny and make sure you eat and sleep then?" she asked him in a joking tone. He smiled at her as if saying yes, but only got a smack from pillow on his head from Loralee in reply.
"Fine then. If you're going to be so stubborn, I'll just sit back down and read some more."
Loralee fell down into the chair, picking up Beauty and the Beast.
"What book is that?" Erik asked.
"Beauty and the Beast. My favorite. My father used to always read it to me when I was a little kid and when I lived in Ireland. He'd teach me the lesson every night to not judge a person by their looks, but rather by their souls and spirits. That, according to Madame Giry, was one reason why I was made your messenger because frankly, I don't care what's behind your mask."
"Good luck saying that if you see what's behind the mask. This face has killed people I've loved before or lead them down the path of a cursed life."
"I promise you that if I ever see your true face, I will never run away," Loralee said to him, looking him straight in the eye so he knew she was telling the truth. Erik looked quite shocked and only nodded his head, uncertain of what to do.
"Now, I think I'll read," Loralee said, opening up to the page she left off on. She had read about a paragraph until Erik spoke up again.
"Read to me."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Read the book to me. It will be fun," Erik said, gesturing to the book.
"Okay. . ." Loralee said, a little embarrassed by the request. She started reading from the beginning of the chapter in the most entertaining voice she could muster. It seemed to please Erik who had laid back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, a look of longing in his eyes. She read until Erik slowly drifted off into a sleep he needed greatly.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
"How is he?" Madame Giry asked Loralee the next day when she finally came up from Erik's lair.
"Erik's fine. He broke the fever over night, but I forced him to rest for the past day. The only thing he's feeling right now is disgruntled, and it takes all my strength to keep him in bed."
"I would never be able to convince him to stay in bed. The man's as stubborn as an ox."
"Yes. I swear he's going to rip my head off the second I say he can get up. Reading to him does help him calm down and keeps him entertained."
Madame Giry looked slightly surprised.
"You read to him?"
"Yes. This morning I just finished Beauty and the Beast. It's my favorite novel."
Madame Giry only raised an eyebrow at Loralee, a look of humored understanding on her face as Loralee blushed.
"Well, now that you're here, I'd like to tell you that your admirer, Vincent Badeau, dropped by twice, once yesterday and once this morning, looking for you. He said he'll come back this afternoon and I think you should talk to him."
"Why? It's only going to be do you want to dine or go to the masquerade with me, both which I'd decline."
"Well, you know that the first man who asks you to the Masquerade you have to go with," Madame Giry stated, casting a sideways glance at Loralee who looked extremely happy about something. "You'd better find someone to go with if you don't want to go with Monsieur Badeau."
"Oh, not to fear Madame. I'm already going with someone he fears."
Madame Giry raised an eyebrow.
"And who might that be?" she asked.
"The Phantom of the Opera."
"You're going with Erik?" Madame Giry exclaimed, turning to Loralee. "I'd thought he'd never go to such a ball with Christine in it."
"Yes, well, at first he wouldn't go because of her. I suggested that he go just to conquer his obsession of her and he finally agreed, but only if I were his date. So Beth McLay and Erik Belmont are going together to the masquerade ball."
"Oh, Loralee, that's great!"
They hugged each other and Meg found them in their embrace.
"Mother, Loralee? What put you in such a fine mood?"
"Loralee is going with Erik to the ball," Madame Giry said. "You must not tell a soul. If someone inquires, say that Mademoiselle McLay is attending the ball with Monsieur Erik Belmont."
Meg smiled at Loralee and they looped arms, traveling down the corridor to Madame Giry's room.
"Have you thought of a costume yet?" Meg asked excitedly.
"No, I haven't," Loralee replied, her girlish excitement about the costume also bubbling up.
"Oh! We can go shopping together! I know the best place with all the best costumes and good prices."
"I could go today!" Loralee said, giggling slightly with Meg.
"Can we go, maman?" Meg asked, looking over her shoulder at the smiling Madame Giry.
"I suppose so. Loralee will just have to inform Erik before she leaves. He can get quite inpatient."
"Not to fear, Madame," Loralee said. "I was going to let him stop resting this afternoon, so he should be happy."
"How about you do that now," Madame Giry suggested. Loralee smiled and then glanced at Meg.
"Can Meg come? I'm pretty sure I can keep him calm in front of her."
"Only you could, I suppose," Madame Giry said. She hesitated a bit but then nodded her consent that Meg could come. Meg looked excited and frightened at the same time. Of course, that's what most people would normally look like if they were going to meet the Phantom of the Opera. Meg was calmer than many others would be, though, because she had a friend who knew him going with her and her mother was well acquainted with him.
"Come on Meg, let's go. I can just see him sneaking out of his bed now to play the organ."
Meg's nose scrunched up at the funny picture she had of a ghost getting out of a bed and sitting down at an organ in a cave. Then she laughed, following Loralee who was following Madame Giry to Christine's dressing room.
Meg and Loralee slipped in through the mirror which Madame Giry opened for them. Meg looked around in awe and fear, calming down slightly when Loralee squeezed her hand.
"Ask Erik how to open the mirror to your room on your way back up," Madame Giry said to them both before closing the mirror and exiting the room.
Loralee heard Meg gasp besides her as she looked out into Christine's dressing room through the mirror.
"He can see through almost every wall mirror in this Opera House," Loralee informed her. "The one in my room is also a secret passageway which is how he gets to me."
Loralee lead her friend down the five levels until they got to the lake. Meg looked at the gondola.
"I don't know how to swim. What if the boat tips over? Can you use that thing?"
"I can't use it. Every time I've come down here, Erik usually rows across for me, but don't worry. There's another passage way around the lake that we can crawl through."
She lead Meg over to the hidden door and through the passage way. It was no surprise when Meg let out an audible gasp when they entered Erik's lair. Most candles had gone out and only a few left the room in a golden hue, the organ standing tall and threatening in the center of the room. After lighting a few candles, she told Meg to stay where she was and not touch a thing before hurrying into Erik's room.
"Erik?"
A groan from his bed was the answer.
"Erik, I've come here to dub thee free of the bed."
"Finally!" Erik said, jumping up from the bed and slipping on his socks and shoes. He was about to exit the room, fingers already itching for the organ but Loralee held him back.
"Before you go out, you have to at least make yourself more presentable." Erik looked at her quizzically. "I brought Meg Giry along. Don't worry, she knows about my real identity and my connection to you. And she's sworn to her mother and I that she won't tell a soul."
"I never told you that you could invite random people down to my lair."
"Remember, I said it was also my home?" Loralee smirked at him and handed him his robe he had discarded on the floor before he became sick.
"This will have to do for now. And fix that hair of yours."
Erik tried to look up at his hair as he shrugged on his robe. He combed his fingers through it slightly before storming through the door and out towards the organ.