Disclaimer: All characters with the exception of Erik belong to me.
Erik is loosely based on the Joel Schumacher movie, Gaston Leroux's original work and Susan Kay's Phantom.
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Part One
Chapter One
A small village between Paris and Rouen. 1772.
His breaths sobbed out as he ran sightlessly as fast as his thin little legs could carry him. He could still hear her pounding feet and screaming insults behind him, but could not overcome his terror enough to glance behind to check how close she was. Blinded by hot tears and lungs burned agonisingly but terror drove him on as he knew that if she caught him, his present pain would be only a mere fraction of what she could inflict upon him.
"Revenir ici! Frai du diable!"
Madame's shriek of fury was closer than he had thought and suddenly the tiny child felt a stabbing pain pierce his head and he felt his world dimming as he started to fall. A grim resignation filled the little boy as his deadened mind accepted that he would not escape another brutal beating and his eyes closed in stoic defeat, awaiting the first of the storm of punches, kicks, slaps and pinches that would mark his diminutive body further. He noted wearily that he was too dizzy from the blow to his head to be able to regain his balance and flee, so he allowed himself to fall without making any attempt to brace his body against the hard earth and loose cobblestones. Perhaps the fall would render him unconscious and he would be spared a few moments of pain…
His eyes jerked open when he felt strong wiry arms sweeping him up, a split second before his head would have slammed on the ground. Automatically, he blinked upward, trying to see his rescuer but was blinded by the bright afternoon light and tears.
"Merci beaucoup, Monsieur Fournier!" cried Madame as she hurried importantly near them. "I apologise that you were disturbed by this little demon. I will take him now and punish him well for troubling you!"
The 'little demon' bowed his head tiredly, knowing that his beating would be doubly brutal now as his aunt had latched onto another excuse to 'purify his soul'.
"You will do no such thing!"
Both the aunt and nephew stared in shock at Mon. Fournier's furious directive and the elder recovered her wits swiftly enough to stammer her disbelief.
"Monsieur! You don't understand! He is a demon!" as she reached over and cruelly pulled his hair back to reveal the crude leather demi-mask. She snatched the mask away before anyone could react and the boy tensed and waited silently for the inevitable exclamations of horror and disgust. The thin little body coiled up in readiness of the imminent arrival of a hard tumble after the monsieur digested the sight before him.
"Look! He has been marked by the devil!"
The child heard the quick indrawn breath of the gentleman who was still cradling him as the Monsieur's eyes widened at the grotesque features which had given the village freedom to torment him with impunity.