Oh my freakin god I am so sorry it has taken so long! Please don't punjab me! I'm not even going to bother with an excuse, b'cuz there's too many.. Anyway, I just got the hang of the private reply thingy so I'll get back to you awesome reviewers ASAP. I love you all!
Story time...
Previously: He reclined in his chair and smirked to himself, feeling a great sense of power at the ability to control her life and, feeling rather pleased with himself, allowed a small laugh before getting up to make himself a scotch.
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A/n: here's a bit on Alyssa's past, hopefully it's not too out of the blue. I tried to tie it in with something and am still in the editing process so bear with me please! I was told she needed some background from my reviewers, so yeah…
10: Of happiness and horror-
Alyssa's mother, Helena had always been a dancer, ever since she could remember. She was a sweet woman, kind and gentle though naive almost to the point of stupidity.
She would float around in a dream-like state most of the time, and if she was faced with anything troubling, she would just smile her faraway smile and pretend everything was perfect as she believed it was.
Felix, Alyssa's father, a great burly man who worked in the coal mines, was always her protector when she was a child. He would hoist his young Alyssa onto his strong shoulders and dance about, with her distant mother watching with a smile and tapping the beat.
The three together were a strong, happy family, and it seemed as if it would stay that way forever. But as she grew up, things began to change.
Hard times struck after the collapse and closure of the mines that her father worked in and, having no formal education, he found it impossible to obtain another.
The family was short on money and as dept began to shroud them, Felix took to the bottle, attempting to drown his sorrows in gallons of whisky a night.
He would blunder home like a maniac and wreak havoc, before passing out on the living room floor, praying that he didn't have to wake up the next day.
As this was a nightly ritual, the little money they had was being wasted on the selfish bastard, but no one had the courage to stand up to him. Helena, understanding that something had to be done, took the issue into her own hands and became a prostitute, ghosting around the city streets at night with the same remote look of intense calm in her eyes, though inside was turmoil.
Everything happened so fast for Alyssa, and all she could do was watch as her parents were slowly destroyed. She was on the verge of breaking point and began to consider moving away, to get as far away as possible from the terrors she faced.
Then came the night that made her decision easy. Her father had come home one night, drunken to oblivion, and tried to do what no father should ever do to his daughter. Her own father! One who she thought loved her platonically and unconditionally, but he had broken all the trust she had.
Alyssa had escaped her near rape but only just, thanks to the heavy hilt of her small silver sword that he had given her as a birthday present years before.
She fled blindly, dashing through the unfeeling city in the heavy rain, and came upon a large run-down dance school and boarding house, where she stayed for four years before coming to the 'Academy'.
Alyssa woke with a violent start, drenched in cold sweat with the memories of her childhood still fresh in her mind. Noticing the large, heavy arm draped lazily over her bare midsection, she leaped from the bed in a frightened flurry, praying that her father hadn't succeeded in his attempts.
She stood several meters from the bed, shivering and whimpering incomprehensively, and when the figure of her nightmare rose from the bed in alarm at her actions, she screamed, "Don't come near me! How dare you! I hate you!"
The figure stepped into the light and though her eyes were laced with tears, she realized it wasn't who she first thought but Erik, rushing towards her as her knees began to give way.
She crashed back to reality as he held her tightly in his arms, rocking her back and forth, whispering words of comfort in her ear. Once her breathing had settled and her nightmare was a distant blur, she raised her eyes to meet the concerned ones of her Erik, before wrapping her arms around his again in a warm embrace, receiving one back. "What's wrong, mon ange?" He whispered to her.
She straightened up and knelt before him, smiling weakly. "Just a dream, that's all." She pushed the memories to the farthest recesses of her mind before she looked at him again and laughed suddenly; realizing they were both very naked, and with him looking like someone had just died.
She stood, still giggling and slipped back into bed, snuggling down like nothing had happened, all the while Erik watching in bewilderment at her erratic emotions.
He sighed and shook his head, not even bothering to try and understand the workings of the female mind, and joined her between the silken sheets as if the past few minutes had been a concoction of his imagination.
As he spooned her, Erik thought over the past month and a half that they had been together, though no words could explain how wonderful it had been.
They had made love every day, more than once on several occasions which was a plus, but most of all he was finally beginning to feel free of Chantelle's chains.
The love part of the relationship still irked him though, but he was still managing to snuff out any feelings that began to grow. He was a brilliant actor, none could deny that, and these skills had been dragged out of him and put to use recently, though he still felt a little guilty.
He was never one to play with a young girl's heart, but when it came down to it, it seemed safer than to put himself out there in the open again to get trodden on.
After what seemed like eternity in silent thought, Erik turned over and checked the time on the small bedside clock they had invested in, (since Alyssa had been down there, she had become increasingly late to many appointments) and groaned as he realized it was time for her to leave again for morning classes.
Turning to her, he woke her gently and informed her of the time, only to receive a small sigh and a groan as she rose, instead of the usual bouncing, hurried exit, as if she would self destruct if she didn't rush up there to meet her friends and begin the lessons that she loved so much.
This worried him, as she had been acting strangely for some time now. "Angel, are you alright?" He questioned, watching as she dressed slowly into her uniform and winced as she laced her corset.
"Yes, yes I'm fine." She answered, grimacing slightly. He knew her answer had been false, but decided to leave it until she returned in the evening.
"Erik," she asked suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts, "How long have we been seeing each other?"
He thought for a while before answering, "Well I've watched you since you arrived here, that would make about five months." He knew that wasn't the answer she was after, but he was in an annoying mood.
"You know that's not what I mean." She stated irritably, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at him.
"Fine, fine. Six weeks at most but who's counting?" She furrowed her brow for a moment before she looked back to him and smiled.
"Nobody." She answered as she bent to kiss him, still lying in bed. As she straightened up to leave, she winced slightly, but concealed it quickly before Erik noticed and fluttered towards the cellar door and was gone, leaving him to his troubled thoughts.
Alyssa had been feeling terrible all day. When Erik asked her if she was alright before she left that morning, all she had wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep the day away.
Now, after three sessions of ballet rehearsals in which she had to use all the willpower she possessed not to throw up, she sat in the dining hall between her chatting friends faced with a plate piled with a chunk of indistinguishable meat swimming in peas and carrots with the most painful stomach cramps she had ever experienced.
As another wave of pain washed over her, she groaned quietly and clutched at her stomach, catching the eye of Amelie. "Lyss, you ok? You haven't eaten a thing."
Alyssa looked back to her plate and was overcome by a sudden need to vomit. She stood quickly and ran to the bathrooms, before leaning over the nearest basin and emptying her stomach into it.
Her friends had followed after her hurried exit and walked in on her doubled over the basin, still heaving violently. After the bout had passed, she leaned against the wall breathing hard and met the concerned gazes of her friends.
"See? I'm fine!" she stated with mock cheer, before going weak at the knees and sliding down the wall into a sitting position.
"No Lyss, you aren't. What's going on?" Alyssa raised her eyes to meet Amelie's in confusion, with her friend watching her like she knew something that Alyssa didn't.
"Are the rumors true?" Alyssa struggled to her feet and stared hard at Amelie, who took a timid step back.
"What are you talking about?" she questioned. Amelie looked away ashamedly and Sarah stepped forward to whisper in Alyssa's ear.
"Melody said you were sleeping with the Ghost…" she trailed off and looked into Alyssa's bewildered face. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but what came next made her feel sick again.
"You might be…you know..." she paused and glanced quickly in the direction on Alyssa's stomach, a small blush creeping into her plump cheeks.
"W-with child.." Sarah spluttered, before Alyssa promptly fainted.
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Alyssa opened her eyes slowly to be met by Madame Giry's hard face glaring at her from a two inch distance. "She's back with us." Giry confirmed emotionlessly, only to be swarmed with girls trying to get a better look at the 'Ghost lover'.
After a few minutes of pushing and shoving, she had cleared the room and shut the heavy door firmly in an attempt to keep the young girl put to learn exactly what was going on, beforemoving back to Alyssa's bedside to start the interrogation, which was long overdue.
Alyssa quickly sat up and made to leave but seeing the madam's actions, sighed loudly in defeat and flopped back down on the pillows again, waiting for the questioning to start.
" How long have you felt unwell?" the older woman began, her tone of voice somewhat monotonos yet still highlighted by the distinctive heavy French accent. Alyssa thought for a while, her brow furrowed a little, silently counting the days to achieve an answer.
"Three days? Yes, I think...Three or four." she stated, recieving a small nod from Mme. Giry.
"Do you find it's usually stomache pains accompanied by nausea and dizziness?" this time it was Alyssa who nodded, and without realising, gingerly touched her abdomen, which Mme. Giry took note of in growing suspicion.
She suddenly decided that this issue had to be gotten to the bottom of, and quickly. "Do you menstruate?"
The bold question took Alyssa off guard and made her blush, touching on a topic which was, to her, quite personal. Without meeting the madam's gaze, she shyly nodded and understood where she was taking this interrogation, the realisation making her want to be sick on the spot.
"When are you due?" Again Alyssa blushed and opened her mouth to answer, but shut it again and shrugged her shoulders stiffly. Mme. Giry was beginning to lose patience and decided on what would be the last question.
" How long ago did you first sleep with him?" Alyssa shot a shocked expression at the older woman sitting on the bedside, and decided she'd had enough.
She hurredlystood on shaky legs and made her way slowly to the door, with Giry making no attempt to stop her.Once she had reached the door and opened it, she heard Giry state matter-of-factly, "You cant run from it. Once you stop denying, the easier it will be for you...for both of you."
Alyssa stopped for a second, gathered her thoughts before glaring at the tired looking Madam angrily. "You just assume everything, dont you! Keep out of my life, Erik's too."
She slipped out the door and shut it firmly, making Giry wince before she rose slowly and rubbed her aching back, cursing herself for becoming involved. It was not something she wanted, nor had an obligation to.
Alyssa was just another ballet whore, and Erik was just another desperate man, both the likes of which she had seen many a time before. Giry shook her head and sighed, as if attempting to shake the past few minutes from her mind and muttered, "Damn juveniles." Before going to the sideboard and pouring herself a whiskey.
As Alyssa made her way down to the grotto, she concentrated on acting as normal as possible, trying in vain to ignore the stabbing pains assaulting her abdomen.
She entered through the cellar door and was immediately met by Erik, who so happened to be on his way out to find her as she was quite late. He noted her pale complexion and ushered her to sit down and explain, but she simply told him that she had been feeling a little unwell for the past week and to think nothing of it, before excusing herself and heading straight to bed.
Doing as she said and thinking nothing of it, Erik seated himself at the concert grand and played the first thing that his fingers would, immersing himself in the sound that he created.
All too soon the piece was over and he sat in silence, pondering the issue of Alyssa, which he noticed he'd been doing a lot lately. She hadn't been her normal promiscuous self lately, which was starting to get bothersome, and the way she had acted that morning was quite strange.
He made the decision to find out exactly what was going on and rose from the organ, and made his way quietly to their bedroom. He found her awake, writhing beneath the tangled silken sheets with small beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
She stopped moving when she heard him enter the room but it fooled no one. "Alyssa, what's going on? Do you need a doctor?" She shook her head in the negative and rolled over again, trying to find a comfortable position without success, the stabbing pains becoming more frequent and agonizing.
"Angel-" he started before she cut him off.
"I said I'm fine, really. Please stop worrying, you're worse than Giry!" He raised his eyebrows at the last remark, and she instantly regretted saying it.
Now he would go and ask her about it and find out – what? There was nothing to tell. She had thrown up and fainted, so what's new?
Erik sighed in defeat and undressed, before climbing into bed with her and falling quickly into the dark void of sleep. Unknown to him, was that Alyssa slept very little, kept awake through the dead hours of the night by the continuous onslaught of pain.
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Morning finally came for Alyssa who had been watching the clock for the past six hours, listening to Erik's soft snoring and trying to remain conscious through the excruciating bouts that wracked her body.
Deciding that she could wait no longer, she rose quietly, being careful not to wake Erik and began dressing herself, stopping suddenly when she noticed blood on her nightdress.
After further inspection she realized it must be her monthly course, and linked all the previous symptoms she had had over the past week to be because of that. Feeling relieved that it wasn't what she had first thought, pregnancy, she made up a linen pad and finished dressing herself, before slipping out as quietly as her drained, aching body would allow.
It was during the end of her first routine when it happened. Everyone in the group had noticed her stilted steps, her pained movements and suddenly without warning, she stopped in mid-chasé and doubled over, crying out once before her world went black.
Giry stopped the class immediately and barked orders at Amelie and Sarah to watch over the unconscious Alyssa, before disappearing into the shadows in search of Erik. This had gone on long enough.
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Em, did you see my peas and carrots? I put them in! YAY go me! Ahem, yeah tell me what needs fixing ASAP so I can edit it and move on. Hope you like it!
Again, sorry for the wait!
As always, I love reviews, so do the right thing and spare two seconds of your rime telling me your thoughts.
Peace - Eric