"And you
Always beside me
To hold me and to hide me…" – All I Ask of You
Chapter 31: Fidelity Written in Blood
I ran…
I ran through the curtain and beyond, losing myself in darkness and forsaking myself once again. The blackness choked me, seeping into my eyes, nose, and mouth, overtaking and dulling my senses until all that remained was touch. I stumbled about, holding the wall and guiding myself through the corridor. I stopped and looked back, only faintly seeing the dim light that heralded the entrance to what once was my haven. I heard the portcullis groan as it was raised and my heart began to pound.
Why wasn't Erik following me? He promised he would come. I waited still, watching the sliver of light, waiting for it to be blocked out and a voice say, "Come Nasrin; all is well." However, when the portcullis groaned open, I realized.
He wasn't going to follow me. He was going to kill the mob; even at the expense of his own life, so that the child and myself could be safe from harm forever. I began to feel sick and my fingers curled on the stone, scraping along its rough surface. No… I was not going to let that happen. The child would need a mother and a father; and if Erik were to fall, I would never marry again. I couldn't bring myself to replace him, and for that reason I began to walk back.
Suddenly, the curtain was flung up, and more light seared through the darkness. However, I knew I was safe, enclosed inside a darkness not even the light could hope to penetrate. Two men were silhouetted in the light and I knew immediately that something was wrong. One looked back towards the direction of the lair and laughed.
"Hey! I found a passageway! I'll bet this is how he gets around here unnoticed! Isn't that right, Phantom?"
Oh no… They had him helpless in their possession… Or worse…
I narrowed my eyes and stayed still in the passageway, watching the two men as they strode confidently into darkness, with nothing to light the way. Pretty soon, they would be as blind as I. Pressing myself against the wall, I stood still, not even daring to breathe.
I saw them, clinging to the wall and walking directly at me, their guns at ease at their sides. Soon, they were beside me. I could feel their body heat; I could smell their filth. My upper lip curled back and I waited. Just as they stopped for a moment I threw myself at the closest one, smashing his head into the wall and killing him instantly. I crouched down by his body as his companion opened fire; he shot where my head would be if I had been standing. Then, all went silent.
"Phillipe? Henri?" shouted a man from the lair. "Did you find something?"
"It was a... a ghost, sir!" one of them, I knew not which, cried. He kneeled down and I darted around him, planning my next course of action.
"A ghost? Don't be preposterous, man! The Opera Ghost is in our possession! There is no other!"
"But sir! Phillipe is dead! His skull is crushed to pieces!" I could hear the gun in his hand rattle with his fear. Sneaking my arm beside Henri, I found Phillipe's gun. Smiling, I drew it to me and stayed still. Just as Henri began to turn around, I snatched his gun from him and fired point blank. The sickening thud of a body hitting the floor resounded in my ears and I began to walk towards the lair.
"NO!" I heard Erik cry.
"Man, what's going on back there?" the man asked again. I remained silent and waited until I could see my hands before I put Phillipe's gun in my afghan. "Men! What happened?"
Holding Henri's gun, I pushed back the curtain and walked into the lair.
There were five men holding Erik still as he thrashed madly, a black piece of cloth blindfolding him. He looked as though he had been beaten slightly, and his head hung forward as he struggled to ignore the bloody gashes on his face. I fought to remain quiet as I examined the other three men who pointed their muskets at me.
I raised my hand and dropped my gun. They kept their guns pointed at me without fail, but their eyes told me that they were less inclined to shoot.
Looking at Erik, I found that a man had a gun pressed to his temple, and he was slowly moving towards the trigger, readying to pull it. In a flash, I drew the gun from my afghan and shot at him, praying my aim was good enough.
He fell to the ground, the bullet crippling his trigger arm. With a cry, blood spurted from his elbow and he released Erik. Just as Erik's thrashing became worse, more men latched on to him, holding him helpless.
I had one man pointing his gun at me, and I knew he was ready to fire. I growled and lunged at him. He fired; but the shot only clicked. Something had gone wrong with the gun, and I grappled it from his hands. He threw me off him and I crashed to the ground, wincing as my elbow scraped against the cold stone.
He leaped to his feet and ran at me. "I have you!" As I got to my feet he raised his fist and brought it down hard on my head. Colors blurred before my eyes and I felt myself losing touch with my senses. I felt numb, but, as I fell to the ground, the man struck me once more: in my abdomen…
xXxXx
Erik's POV:
I raised the portcullis…
Nine armed men strode into my lair, their guns aimed at my head and chest. They surrounded me in a moment, and I narrowed my eyes as their bayonets jabbed into my back and chest. The man to my right was shaking, the weak animal in the pack; he would soon become my prey.
"You are him, aren't you? The Phantom of the Opera. You're the one who killed the Comte de Lamarier!" The one to my direct front was obviously leader of this pack of barbaric beasts. I sneered.
"You have caught him. Yes, I am he," I said proudly. "But be careful. If I hold no remorse for killing a Comte, there will not be a spot on my conscience if you fall prey to me." I smiled maniacally, and even the leader shrank back slightly, gauging the situation with a monkey's intellect.
"Search his home, men. We will bring anything we find valuable to the streets. Whatever we find, we keep." He grinned haughtily.
"Now, I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said calmly. "Crossing me is not something anyone has escaped from unscathed. You are no different then the rest of those bumbling idiots."
"If we are so stupid, then why are we in here?" one spat.
I turned to them. "Because I allowed you to enter. I did it for one reason, you know."
"And what's that, ghost? Don't think that if you tell us, you'll want to be going free. I want to know what color blood a ghost spills." He prodded me with the bayonet, trying to coax blood from the punctured skin. I remained stoic.
"I allowed you to enter, because once I knew you would run to me like the ignorant fools you are, I would destroy you." I ducked down, and, as soon as they stabbed forward, I leaped on the man to the direct right of me, grabbed his bayonet, and stabbed it into his gut, twisting the metal as it dug deeper into his innards.
Immediately, I realized that my lapse in quickness had led to a most untimely capture. They quickly wrenched my arms apart and spread them wide, leaving my chest cavity open for a clear shot. There was no possible hope that it would miss. In a frantic attempt at life, I lashed my foot up, sending water all over the man, including his gun. If I had gotten the gunpowder wet, he could not fire.
"Hey! I found a passageway! I'll bet that's how he gets around here unnoticed. Isn't that right, Phantom?" a man hissed at me and he drew open the curtain to reveal the passageway I had ordered Nasrin to flee in. My eyes widened and my heart thundered. I prayed with all of my heart that Nasrin was out of reach by now; I hoped for all its impossibility that she was somewhere safe at the moment, waiting for me.
Although, I admitted to myself bitterly, it doesn't look like I'll be able to join her as quickly as I had surmised.
The men walked into the passageway, and immediately, all was silent. All I could hear was my own ragged breath. Then, out of the silence, I heard a groan and a thud. One of the men had fallen… from the sound of it to their death. I was struck with a horrifying revelation. Nasrin must have heard the scuffle; she would have come back to ensure my safety. I began to thrash madly, fighting against the human bonds, which kept me from protecting her. Didn't she know that they were armed?
"Phillipe! Henri! Did you find something?" the leader called, anxious that silence still lingered.
"It was a... a ghost, sir!" one of them replied in fear.
"A ghost? Don't be preposterous, man! The Opera Ghost is in our possession! There is no other!" Yet in this reassurance, I saw the leader losing much of his façade of courage.
"But sir! Phillipe is dead! His skull is crushed to pieces!" came the frantic reply. Suddenly, there were sounds of a scuffle, and then a gunshot. All fell still.
"NO!" I cried. If he had shot Nasrin… they might as well take me.
"Man, what's going on back there?" There was only silence and I didn't even bother thrashing as they covered my eyes with a black cloth. "Men, what happened?" the leader cried again, getting more apprehensive as the silence grew.
Suddenly, I heard guns cock and I knew she had come back. I didn't dare breathe as my mind's eye imagined Nasrin walking over to me, angering me far worse than anything she had ever done before. She was putting not only her life in useless danger, but what she held within her. A gun pressed against my temple and I gritted my teeth. Was everything I treasured going to be robbed of me at this moment?
A gunshot resounded through the air and I swore it was me who had fallen. But, after that instant, I heard the man who held the gun to me scream and retreat. A splatter of hot liquid hit my face and I knew someone had shot him. I jerked my head from side to side, trying to pick up the sounds of a scuffle to my right. A feminine cry of pain caused a knot to form in my stomach and I heard a body crash to the ground.
"That got her. She won't wake up for a while, if ever again," her assumed assaulter remarked to the rest of the men.
I thrashed madly in my captor's arms, roaring in rage as their grip tightened and I could scarce breathe in their grasp.
"NO! Get up! Get up!" I cried at her, pleading against fate for another chance to protect and help her regain health.
"You want to see her? Then SEE!" A man tore off the blindfold and I looked down at Nasrin's crumpled form. She was awake, for she blinked, but her eyes were dull and she began to breathe heavily, gritting her teeth to keep from crying out. She was too proud to let them know that they had injured her.
Then, her eyes found mine and they pleaded for me to help her. They also were dark with sorrow; she couldn't free me and she knew it. Tears squeezed from between her eyelids before she fell limp on the stone, her eyelashes clumped with the moisture that ran down her face.
"NO!" I repeated, my feet trying to find a grip on the stone so that I could run to her.
"You're coming with us," one of them hissed at me, his rancid breath engulfing my face. I narrowed my eyes, the promise of death repeating over and over in my head.
"Leave her," the leader spat, looking with raised eyebrows down at Nasrin. "She's a beautiful girl." Turning to me, he finished, "How were you able to seduce her? Perhaps there is a trick about seduction that you could teach me before you go for your execution."
I growled, my exhausted limbs forsaking thrashing altogether. "No," I replied simply, though my tone was edged with malice.
"Very well, your choice." He pulled a sack over my head with only a hole in which to breathe. My eyes darted in the darkness, seeking desperately for light. But, I was at their mercy, and nothing I did would help me now. Plotting my revenge and the murder of my captives, I allowed them to lead me out of my home.
xXxXx
Nasrin's POV:
It was hours later before I opened my eyes. The air around me was deathly still, and not even the candles flickered like they usual do. Time seemed to stand still. Was it waiting for something?
Suddenly, a pain seared through my torso and I cried out, curling into a tight ball to ease the agony and stop my head from throbbing. My lungs froze and I couldn't breathe as the pulse of my heartbeat ripped a rhythm of torment through my body. Tears sprang forth and I began to shake, clutching my stomach.
Colored dots danced before my eyes and I stood on my feet, staggering around on wobbly legs as another wave of pain caused my legs to fail beneath me and send me careening into the lake. Fighting for the surface with numbing limbs, I took greedy gulps of air before screaming as the agony increased with each second. The tears felt cold on my burning face and I realized with a life-shattering clarity what was happening to me.
"NO! Don't do this, please! Allah! No, oh by your holy name don't do this to me!" My cries went unanswered as I writhed in the lair alone, without any comfort around me. Only darkness… I reached out across the lake, thinking I saw Erik's beautiful silhouette in the shadows in the darker recesses of the labyrinth. The image of him faded into nothing, leaving me without anything to hold onto as my world came crashing down on me once again; I gripped the stone and shook as my strength formed a swell of speech in my throat.
"Erik!" I called, my cry tearing from my throat as another spasm of pain robbed me of all words and left me only with screams of anguish, which would undoubtedly echo in this place years after. The pain reached a climax and I felt as though my organs would burst from my body, as they twisted around in my insides and contracted again and again. My head snapped up and I screamed as my last hope of happiness ripped through my being. Every inch of me convulsed as the climax dragged onward for what seemed like an eternity of agony unsurpassed by modern torture devices. I thought I was dying very slowly… in essence, I was.
Suddenly, there was a warm gush of release and I fell back against the stone, defeated and sweating out the dulling pain. The colored specks had clouded my vision and left me lying numb and helplessly alone with only my blood-soaked skirt and legs reminding me of the horrid truth: You have lost your firstborn…
"No," I mumbled out loud, my tears serving as my own drinking water while my limbs couldn't move. I remember succumbing to my exhaustion just afterwards and falling into a slumber teeming with demons and monsters. I wept the whole time…
xxxx
I forced myself into awakening and sat up, looking around at the foreign site of the lair before my eyes. The love, the passion experienced here was nothing more than memory and a new chapter had been written in its place. Pain… like nothing any living being should endure had taken up the quill and wrote in this lair's book of life.
I staggered to my feet, groaning as they crumpled beneath me, still having not recovered completely from the agony that still held my limbs to the ground like lead. My tears had dried and evaporated on my face, leaving my cheeks to stick with a dry residue. I shakily washed my face in the lake, feeling my heart almost burst with relief as the cold water soothed the raging heat that burned within me.
"Erik…" I mumbled as I stood up, my legs retaining some solidity. He was taken from me to a prison, an execution certain for the next day. I had to get him back; I would free him… I would kill anyone who got in my way. I just lost what would have become my first child; I would not lose him too.
Running on a strength I knew I didn't have, I staggered across the lake, following the path to the world above. I crawled on my hands and knees up countless flights of stairs, not even processing the journey I made. When I reached the cold, autumn, Paris night, the silver moon glared desolately down at me, mocking my solitude. I wanted to shatter it into thousands if irreparable pieces. Instead, I focused on my task at hand and stumbled down the road towards the prison, Phillipe's gun tucked beneath my robes and a promise of death in my eyes.
xXxXx
Erik's POV:
Darkness…
Damp, overhanging, choking darkness filled every sense, leaving me sitting completely still in my cell, contemplating my escape. I was to be executed at dawn, which only left precious few hours before the sun's rays leaped forth in fingers of pink and gold. I gritted my teeth, hexing everything around me in the worst way I knew how. I ran my hands along the cold iron bars, looking for a rusted piece to disengage and begin my tedious work of escape.
I had to get to her… I wanted to hold her again and repeat my pledge of fidelity to her.
I wanted to love her…
I looked out my small slip of a window, making sure dawn was nowhere near. I needed a plan, and quickly. I sat down and thought, playing over tomorrow's events as if they had already happened and I was reminiscing them. I knew it wouldn't be just one man retrieving me later; there would be at least two others to keep me from escaping. I wouldn't be able to fit out the window; my only hope was to open the lock with a tool. I drew from my pocket a small, knotted end of rope. Grimacing, I shoved it in the lock and worked it around, desperate to hear the lock groan and give way.
I worked at it for hours, a laborious sweat burning as it trickled into my eyes. My temple throbbed and I heard thunder crash as clouds moved over, choking the night.
Suddenly, I heard a gunshot, loud and ringing true; a body fell to the ground, triggering various cries, followed by several more shots. More bodies fell. I backed into darkness, wondering what new evil had shown itself to me. As I looked in the direction of the door, I saw a figure standing on shaking legs, a pistol aimed right and true at the last guard standing, the last impediment separating it from me. I watched as, in a flash of lightning, they fired. I was unsure if I should be happy that the guard fell, collapsing next to his comrades, all devoid of life.
The creature stumbled over to me on unsteady legs, the pistol dropping from its hands in careless anticipation. It reached my cell, gripping the iron bars tightly, the knuckles blanching white.
"Erik?" I heard my name lifted on angel's wings and I knew immediately who had come.
"Nasrin," I cooed quietly, running forward to the bars, reaching my arms out to touch her. My hands closed over hers and searing heat forced me to retreat. "You're burning up. You are not well. Just open the door, and I'll carry you the rest of the way out."
She grabbed the keys from a guard's belt and ripped my rope out of the lock, looking at it with a twisted expression. I found myself burning with embarrassment. She turned the key and swung open the door, wincing as the rusty hinges groaned in protest. As soon as the barricade was gone, I ran to her and caught her feverish body in my arms. She was shaking and panting; I knew something was very wrong, and I immediately scooped her in my arms and ran out of the prison, leaping over the corpses of the cursed ones who held me captive. We burst onto the streets, Nasrin lying completely flaccid in my arms, only her breathing speaking of her life. Rain began to fall, exploding from the swelled clouds and further freezing our bodies. I ran into an alleyway half a mile from the prison and set her down under the protection of canopy belonging to a nearby store. She opened her eyes and looked at me, then immediately turned her gaze. I knew not whether she was weeping, or if the rain was splattered across her cheeks.
I moved to touch her face, but she turned away and hung her head, curling herself into a tight ball and shaking with what I assumed were tears.
"Nasrin, it's all right. I'm glad you didn't listen to me. If you didn't, I'd still be captive to those wretched men." I held her reassuringly, rocking her in the safety of my arms.
She pushed away, almost violently and shook her head. "No! No, don't say that again! What I did was terribly wrong! It was ill fated! I'm sorry, Erik! So sorry…" She trailed off in a fit of tears, her face contorted with terrible sorrow.
"What is it exactly that you are sorry for?" I asked her quietly, hoping to coax out an answer so that I could reassure her once more.
"No… If I tell you what I've done, you will never hold me again. You'll leave me! I will disgust and be in disfavor for you forever! Please don't make me tell!" She was an utter wreck, and her sagging limbs spoke to me of her fatigue. Did she go through a massive struggle to get to me?
I grabbed her left hand, almost angrily and put it to her face. "Look at the ring, Nasrin. I gave it to you and you accepted it; until the day I can no longer speak, and my soul has fled, I will remain with you. Do you understand? That is what that ring represents. Now tell me what it is that you say you have done."
She looked up in my direction, but not at me. "Take off my afghan and look at my skirt." Her voice was emotionless, stoic, as if she had no more sorrow to express and had been left with nothing but indifference.
I opened her afghan slowly, now racking my brain for what it is that could have her this distraught. As soon as I separated the garment fully, she threw her head back and emitted a wounded howl, lost in the roaring wind. I blinked slowly, the reality so wounding that I felt a part of me lose the will to live.
Her turquoise skirt was stained dark red, and it was apparent the blood had gushed from her, for it was splattered everywhere. I touched the stain with my fingers. It was still warm to my touch. I bowed my head, mourning the loss of one I had waited for my entire life.
I cried…
I wept just as hard as she did. For what seemed like hours we wept in the alleyway, sheltered from the heaven's tears but not our own. But I held her. I held her in my arms until I felt that her body had ceased to exist and she had become absorbed into me.
Countless repetitions of the phrase 'I failed you…' were whispered in my ear by the most broken creature next to myself. I forgave her, for I was still here to hold her, but even so…
As the rain slowed down, I assured her that it wasn't her fault; that I didn't blame her at all for what happened to the precious beginnings of a life born of our love. I told her over and over that there wasn't anything she could do, that she shouldn't blame herself. But, the darkest part of me blamed her; and that betrayal of my love was one of the reasons I wept.
xXxXx
Nasrin's POV:
He held me until the skies themselves stopped weeping and I alone remained with tears. I knew I had failed him again; I would always find a new way to prevent his happiness. I knew it as soon as he began to cry when he saw the truth. I was trained to make my husband happy and fulfilled, but I was never educated in how to keep him from tears.
I knew he blamed me… it was obvious in the way he held me. But at the same time, he forgave me; and that alone kept me from losing touch with reality and succumbing to depression's tyrannical hold once again.
He stood me up on shaky legs, looking me firmly in the eye. "We must flee now. No going back to the Opera; no retrieving our belongings. We are to start completely anew, with only the remainder of my money to support us. Come, the sun is rising."
And he was right, the yellow fingers of dawn were rising, strangling and banishing darkness from the land and welcoming another reign of sunlight. I hesitantly rested my head on his chest as he stood behind me, smiling slightly as his grip on me tightened. The same man who had dragged me into the night and taught me to thrive on darkness was now the one bringing me to the light to wash away my sins.
Perhaps we could never go back to the Opera, but I would miss nothing about it save for the lair and the bright memories it held, even in unending darkness. Both of us looked at each other in a moment, knowing we must run far away, where no one would find us. But that was all right with me; his forgiveness had been my redemption and I would follow him wherever he lead.
We moved forward and stepped into the light…
A/N: THIS WAS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! THERE ARE STILL 2 MORE! OK, now that we have that settled. Thanks for all the reviews, guys! Your support makes this a story I would happily continue!
Videociraptor: Go Vi! WOOT! LOL, yes, you were the only person to catch that… but that just shows that you RULE! (dances) Thanks for your review and here is your update!
xAngelxOfxMusicx: Sorry! I know, I know! Well, this was the soonest I could update; I hope it's good enough! LOL. Thanks for your review and here is your update!
GerrysISUCHick04: (blink) Don't tripe me! AIEE! (runs) See, I updated! (nervous laughter) Thanks for your review and here is your update!
Ethalas Tuath'an: LOL, yeah, I kinda threw some people for a loop with that. Well, he hit her because he knew she was gonna be stupid and try to stand by him… He had to make her leave. Poor Erik was frantic; he didn't want her to get herself in useless danger and hurt or kill the child. Thanks for your review and here is your update!
tink8812: Sorry, I didn't get that e-mail. I have an apple too. What program are you using to post your chapters? If you use Microsoft Word, you get all the bold and italic stuff; that's what I'm using. In accordance with the chapter, I never thought of Madame Giry being a godmother, but now that you mention it, I can totally see that too. Thanks for your review and here is your update!
Norma Jean the Dancing Machine: XD! He is one character you will never stop hating. But that's awesome because I won't either. LOL. Thanks for your review and here is your update!
AngelOfTheNight: XD! Sorry, I know it's intense! After this there isn't anything else like that, so I hope no more gray hairs sprout… though this chappy was pretty intense I think. Thanks for your review and here is your update!
LadyOfLegends: Glad you had fun with Erik, LOL. I knew you would. And yes, he hit her (in panic, might I add, not just "a face! Let me strike upon it!") Thanks for your review and here is your update!
DragonheartRAB: I know, I'm sorry! Thanks for your review and here is your update!
Mrs. Gerard Butler: Sorry! Thanks for your review and here is your update!
yagirl-123: XD! Wow, you rushed somewhere to read this? That just made my day! LOL. And yes, Delano… XD! 'Twas some random name I picked out from French boy names. I would have HATED him being something as generic as Pierre… or… dare I say… Jean. Ew… never! LOL. Thanks for your review and here is your update!
Victorian Dream: LOL! Yes, soap operas beware! Shade the Sunslayer pwns you! I know, pregnant women are so vulnerable… but this chapter pretty much centers around that... Thanks for your review and here is your update!
naomipoe: XD! Well, his intentions were good at least. Thanks for your review and here is your update!
The Psychotic One: XD! Oh my goodness your review had me laughing. Suzaku seems to be your voice of reason; Yoko Kurama is mine… although that seems kinda dangerous… seeing as though he is such a lecher kitsune. Oh well… whatever works, right? No need to hurt your computer! I updated, see! Thanks for your review and here is your update!
HoveringThroughTime: XD! Thank you very much! I'm so glad you like my story! And your name is yay too; I like it. Thanks for your review and here is your update!
darklady5289: Thank you very much! (bows) Don't worry! Everything will turn out (somewhat) alright! (nervous laughter) Thanks for your review and here is your update!
Ali: I know! I know! I am an evil authoress! Thanks for your review and here is your update!
Dragon-mage16: I'm sorry! I couldn't help it! That's how I broke up the chapters when I first started writing this. There was nothing I could have done. Forgive me. The one eyed, one horned, flying, purple people-eater… where have I heard that before? Is it a song? . I feel like I should know. But the prospect of Christine being eaten by it is quite amusing either way. Thanks for your review and here is your update!
hikoku: I fail? NOT yay! Erik! Un-fail me!
Erik: (hugs hikoku tightly)
Shade: YAY! I hope that helps! Thanks so much for your compliment! Thanks for your review and here is your update!