Erik is in the next chapter, so you can stop holding your breath.
Love the reviews…
THE DAWN THROUGH THE NIGHT
Part 1
CHAPTER 7
Several months later…
The Opera Populaire had closed its doors for good, one month after Christine arrived; Madam Giry had taken the money that Erik had left her and used it to support Christine and her while they made some decisions.
Raoul had washed his hands of her, and made sure she knew to never contact him. He had to move on and get his life back where it belonged. Christine had been a great "experience", but he could not continue to associate with her.
Christine felt no remorse at not telling Raoul about her pregnancy. She progressed well through the gestational phases and on January 25, 1877, Jean Luc Daae (pronounced, John Luke) arrived in the world.
Brigitte had invested some money in a building and planned to open a school of dance. IT was an idea she had been wrestling with for a couple of years, ever since the Opera Populaire had started going down hill. She had already started the process when Christine came back into her life.
"Christine, you know you and Jean Luc can stay with me as long as you need to…you're like a daughter to me." Madam Giry offered.
Christine was nursing Jean Luc and looked up from her infant son, "I know Brigitte, and I truly appreciate it." Christine said, thankful for the offer. "I hope to be able to get a job when Jean Luc is older; I want to make my own way."
She lovingly caressed her sons face with her eyes. Thankfully, he didn't resemble Raoul at all. He had Christine's features and dark, wavy hair. His brown eyes sparkled with merriment as his mother played with his nose and fingers; it was amazing how much she loved him, even though Raoul held no special place in her heart anymore.
Brigitte's heart wrenched at the sight before her. She had never married, never had children; it was a regret she carried heavily. A part of her was deeply in love with Erik, even though he was ten years her junior. He was eccentric and fascinatingly attractive. Everything about him screamed passion and sensuality.
Brigitte buried her creativity and intelligence into her business and found that she enjoyed working the numbers and making decisions concerning the every day functions of the business.
Six months after Jean Luc was born, the doors of Madam Giry's School of Dance opened for the first time, with six enrolled students.
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
Three Women and a Common Cause
March 18, 1877
Madeline stood up out of the wheelchair, and walked on shaky legs down the sidewalk toward the two women, noticing that the younger of the two held an infant in her arms.
Madam Giry looked over at the woman and smiled, "May I help you?"
Madeline, naturally reserved, did not smile back; but her eyes were soft and unthreatening, "I am looking for Madam Brigitte Giry."
Brigitte had the uncanny feeling that she knew this woman from somewhere, but could not put her finger on it. "I am Brigitte Giry." She stated, "This is Madam Christine Daae, and her son Jean Luc." She offered, as she indicated Christine with a nod.
Madeline finally smiled, a gesture that lit up her features and turned back the clock…she looked ten years younger. Brigitte noticed how striking the woman was, with her black hair and noble features. She was a slender woman, but rather tall. She carried herself with regal elegance and something in her eyes was very familiar.
"Allow me to introduce myself," her eyes reached Brigitte's, and she could have sworn she saw uncertainty in their hazel depths. "I am Madeline Destler…Erik's mother."
Both women stood in complete awe, as Madeline looked from one to the other. Finally, Brigitte indicated for them to enter the building. Madeline followed, dismissing Sarah to the carriage.
"I know that you must be furious with me for the lack of motherly love and compassion that I gave to Erik when he was a baby and young boy." Madeline finally stated, after the other two women had found their seats. "I was not prepared for the extent of the deformity when he was born…" Her eyes hazed over as she went back in time, "…I had a drug addiction problem while I was pregnant, and was too ignorant to realize what was happening to my unborn child."
Brigitte and Christine listened intently as the woman finally explained the mysterious source of Erik's deformities; and why he was bitter and resistant toward affection and touch.
"When I finally snapped out of my pitiful state and realized how blessed I had been, Erik was lost to me." She bore the weight of her guilt as a chain binding her forever in the world she had condemned Erik to. "He's a genius and no one knew what to do with him…his intelligence surpassed that of anyone I could hire to teach him about life and how to use his gifts for the greater good."
Madeline's hands were wringing an imaginary object as she continued, "I never hugged him or kissed him, or showed him any affection at all…I made him what he is," Her tears fell like raindrops to her hands, "I caused his deformity with my stupidity and then I couldn't even love him…until it was too late."
Christine could feel the bile working its way into her throat, how could a woman hate her own child in a way this woman was describing. She looked down at her son, resting calmly in her arms and could not help the overwhelming love that nestled in her breast.
"You never held him and nursed him, like a mother should." Christine focused her cold stare on the woman before her. "You made him believe he was a monster…unworthy of human contact and love…because of something he had no control over."
Madeline felt the palpable fury that was emanating from the young woman, "What are you to him…if I may ask?" Her voice was small and yielding.
"I was his pupil, friend, and the woman he loved…but because of his unyielding temper and the anger he carried for the world, everyone feared him…including me." Christine spat, "He was believed guilty of all the crimes that were committed in the opera house…rape, murder…criminal mischief…anything."
Madeline visibly trembled, "My son would never do those things." She whispered. "His heart was always gentle and kind…I just couldn't see it…until he wasn't there any longer."
"He wasn't guilty…but we didn't find out until it was too late…again." Brigitte stated.
Christine wiped the tears from her eyes with one hand and rocked her son with the other, her voice was low and menacing, "How can you even call yourself a mother…you don't deserve to know the man I know." Brigitte rested her hand on Christine's knee, calming her fury.
Christine stood up and paced the floor. A wave of guilt swept over her, "Of course, we are no better…we betrayed his trust too, thinking him something he was not. He was my friend…and I betrayed him." She turned and looked back at Madeline, her eyes had softened, but her stance was still defensive, "We have been looking for him for a combined total of four years and have not found him; not a clue as to where he is."
Madeline cleared her throat and lifted her chin, the same gesture Erik always did when trying to make a point, "I want to find him also, I want to wrap him my arms and tell him how sorry I am for how I treated him…and give him the kisses he asked for on his fifth birthday."
She wept the hardest she had wept in a long time; Brigitte went over to the broken woman and put an arm around her shoulders. "Everyone deserves a second chance, Madeline…just the fact that he put money away for you for years, shows that he does not completely despise you." Brigitte soothed, "He always knew where you were."
Christine was surprised at this, "He what?"
Brigitte went to her Bible and pulled out the letter that Erik had written to her on the night of his arrest. She handed it to Christine.
"Read this, it is the last bit of communication I had from him." Brigitte admitted, a painful heaviness resting in her heart.
Christine could barely make out the words as her tears fell down her cheeks. He had accepted his fate without question. He had been ready and willing to die for crimes he never committed, simply to be free from the pain of existing.
"He loved you…after everything that you did to him…he still loved you." Christine was amazed.
Christine finally allowed herself to see Madeline for what she was, a woman who had been thrown into a situation she was not prepared for, and she had panicked. He husband was dead and she had a deformed son whose condition reminded her, every time she looked upon it, that it was her fault.
Christine handed Jean Luc over to Brigitte and sat down beside Madeline, "I'm sorry Madeline…if he can love you despite all of that…then I can forgive you." Christine pleaded, and smiled when Madeline looked at her with warm eyes, "We'll continue to look for him…together."
OOOOOOOOOOO
And look they did, for two years. They read papers and hired detectives, asked questions of everyone and followed every possible lead they found…but Erik was nowhere to be found…they began to believe that he had perished…probably by his own hand.
After months of grieving and regret, it took them another year to accept that, live with the pain, and move on…they had formed a bond of friendship, trust, and loss; parting ways was simply not possible.
TBC
