Paradise Lost
Chapter 28 - editing completed
AN: This is where the sh# hits the fan, guys and gals. Let me know how I'm doing, ok? I mean, I did skip a review session to finish writing this...(I know I'm a terrible student...)
Thank you Cymbidium for all of your hard work!
Disclaimer: I am but a poor student...nuff said.
Ch 28
Nadir dialed his home number as he walked to the park. As it rang, angry words filled his head, but were quickly stifled as his wife picked up. It was not towards Antoinette that he felt this animosity.
"Nadir? Are you calling because you'll be home late again?" Mrs. Giry sighed. If her roast went cold one more time...
"I'm sorry, Antoinette." He smoothed over his wife's annoyance. "I was just handed a lead on a very important case. I wouldn't ruin your dinner plans otherwise."
"Just be sure to kiss Madeleine good night." She gave up. Her husband sounded very intent on seeing this case through to the end, whatever it was.
"I will." Nadir smiled a little at the thought of his little girl, then hung up on his wife. Now he stood beside a park bench, watching the streetlights as they began to flicker on. Then, out of one of the shadows, he saw a figure approaching in a black coat.
"Good evening, Erik."
"Daroga."
Nadir sat down on the bench, but Erik remained standing. "No more games."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Daroga," Erik feigned. "I thought we'd put this nasty business behind us already."
"Explain this, then." Nadir stood and pulled out the newspaper, flinging it at Erik. He was angry now and had given up any desire to restrain that emotion.
Erik picked up the fallen paper carefully, looking at the photograph. It was Christine, still dressed as Aminta, in his arms. The caption 'Masquerade Displays Up and Coming Talent' didn't fill him with any sense of pride or accomplishment. "If you're angry because I broke our deal..."
"That's one reason, yes," Nadir replied, agitated. "You swore to me, Erik. You swore, in exchange for your freedom, that you would live a quiet life."
"I remember," Erik said quietly, "and I've abided by those rules, Daroga. I wore a mask..."
"That didn't keep me from identifying you! If someone's curious about your identity at the university, all they'd have to do is speak to the music department now." Nadir shook his head. "No, Erik- it's over. You'll have to withdraw from the school now."
"I know." Erik had planned it all along. He'd known after that night that he wouldn't return. But it had been worth it for her. To have her sing his song before the multitude, to have her gaze into his eyes with love, and to feel the soft touch of her lips on his...
"Good. Now, explain Christine."
Christine knelt by the piano bench, her head lying to one side on the smooth black top. She looked inquisitively at the white mask she'd worn the previous night. After returning from the Masquerade, in the aftermath of their actions, Erik had never put it back in his room.
His room, the only one I've never been in...She lifted a finger and traced the contour of the porcelain. Why did he own such a beautiful mask? Though kept in excellent condition, it felt old. She wondered when he'd gotten it, if it perhaps unlocked a very precious memory for him. Erik, she wondered, do you have a reason to keep yourself locked away? She knew she should be patient with him, allow time to open up the forbidden doors...and yet, time is always too fast or too slow when one is in love...
Mr. Firmin smiled widely, gripping the receiver in his excitement. "Yes, it was an excellent article...yes, the students were an excellent reflection of the music department." He chuckled to himself. It had been one of his better ideas to use the exams as a basis for choosing the participants. They'd all done so well. One in particular had really impressed them all. "Do you have everything you need for your column, Mr...?"
"Not quite," answered the young man's voice. "The editor was very curious about your take on the students who performed."
"Really?" Mr. Firmin stroked his moustache. The editor of a major newspaper wanted his thoughts! Those words made him giddy. Finally, prestige awaited him. "Well, as I said, they were quite wonderful."
"But...if you had to pick the best of the night's events, wouldn't it be that operatic performance?"
"By far," Firmin agreed. "It will have been my crowning achievement, teaching that protege of mine."
"Ah, so you taught him?"
"Everything he knows," Mr. Firmin answered haughtily. "The boy's always been so quiet. It finally took my encouragement for him to perform."
"I see," said the voice on the other end. "And, for the article...what might his name be?"
Erik had told the detective everything. What else could he do but stand there and tell him about that one perilous night where he was forced to make a decision? He left out things, naturally, things pertaining only to himself and Christine that should not be told to anyone else. That much he owed to her.
"She's been living with me for over a year now," Erik finished. What else was there to say?
Nadir, naturally, was furious.
"The girl, Erik!" the Daroga cried, hands at his hair. "God damn me for helping you, but I thought you'd been forced to kill her! And here you have her as a prisoner?" He was breathing hard, looking at Erik as if he'd strangle him any minute even as he tried to compose himself. Erik remained as he was, trying to keep the cool demeanor that Nadir had always hated about him.
The detective stood and walked over to him, placing a hand on Erik's shoulder. "Let her go, Erik. She doesn't deserve to be caged up like this. She's a human being, not a pet."
"I can't let her go," Erik murmured softly. No, I can't do this now...
"You have to, Erik." He was losing his patience with the boy. "She doesn't belong with you, you must!"
"But I can't!" he whispered fiercely, shrugging the detective's hold off. "She's not a pet, Daroga," He calmed down, speaking with a tiredness he suddenly felt. "She's my Eve."
"What?" Nadir looked at him a moment, baffled, but Erik would say no more. He turned away, unable to keep his cool facade. Reality dawned upon the detective, and he reacted. He brought his hands to Erik's shoulders and forced him to look him in the eye. "Erik, the girl is not your Eve." Erik's eyes wandered down, but Nadir shook him with a force he'd never felt before.
"Damn you, listen!" he shouted. Erik finally looked up. "You've locked her away, just as you were locked away."
"No..."
"Yes, yes you have," insisted Nadir. "You've locked her away in a dark place and kept her from everyone. Erik, you know what happens to people who are caged in like that."
"No, not to her. It won't..."
"It will. She's sick, and the longer she remains with you the more twisted she'll become. Like you." His voice was grainy, unrestrained emotion. "My god, Erik, the relationship you think she has with you – it's the Stockholm syndrome if I've ever heard of a case!" He saw Erik flinch again. "If you know any goodness, Erik, let me take her away."
"No," he nearly growled. Nadir took a step away, allowing Erik to feel a little control.
"Why are you so unwilling?" Nadir asked softly. "Is it because you know that once the fog's been lifted from her mind, that she won't willingly return? That once your hold..."
"If you value your life, you will stop this." Erik threatened, looking at him with narrowed eyes like an animal that knows it's been cornered.
Nadir smiled sadly. "You would kill me, just to hurt her further." Nadir shook his head. "If you care anything for her, you must let her go. If not, she will die."
Nadir turned away, unable to bear the painful expression on Erik's face. Even on their first meeting, he'd never seen that look on the boy's face.
"I'm picking her up tomorrow morning, at your building. I know Antoinette still has a copy of your key, I'll let myself in. If you try to hide her, I will consider our bond severed and come after you. I will do it, Erik."
He walked away just as Erik fell to his knees, his hands grasping the asphalt, his head lifted to the sky, ready to cry but no sound escaping.
Christine decided to entertain herself with a little housework as she waited for Erik to return. With the broom Erik kept in the pantry she began to sweep the kitchen floor, humming a tune. Eventually, she forgot what she'd been doing altogether and simply sang out joyfully.
'Think of me,
Think of me fondly,
When we've said goodbye...'
Erik paused, and rested his back to the wall. With a hand he covered his face as he heard Christine singing in the kitchen. Their time was ending. Nadir would make good on his word, and as much as he wanted to believe Christine, he understood what Nadir had told him. Being in isolation did things to the mind – hadn't he realized that in the years after his own liberation? She doesn't mean it, he thought to himself, she doesn't understand what she's said to me...
'Flowers fade,
The fruits of summer fade-
They have their seasons, so do we..
But, please promise me
That sometimes
You will think of me...'
There will never be a day, he moaned, when I will not. Curse God, the universe, anything that had willingly created him! At this moment, Erik longed for anything but existence.
"Erik?" He looked up to see her watching him. "I thought I'd heard the door open..."
At the sight of her, his conversation with the Daroga weighing heavily on his mind, the realization of what was to happen in the morning came crashing down upon him, and he suddenly felt his legs give out. He sank once again to his knees at the sight of her. He would not look at her like this again...
"Erik!" She ran over and knelt beside him, hands at his shoulders. "Are you all right?"
Erik didn't respond, instead he looked at her fair hands, trying to memorize how they felt against his clothes. With effort, he shrugged her off and stood, but she was right at his side.
"I told you, Erik, you need rest," she scolded quietly. "You've gone without sleep for so long, it's bound to make you feel weak." She lifted one of his arms and rested it on her shoulder. "Lean on me, and we'll lie you down in your room."
He walked slowly with her, stopping at one point to hold out the key to the room with a trembling hand. "Will you...come in with me?" He asked as she opened the door, earning him a surprised nod.
His room was beautiful. The rich colors – burgundy, black, cherrywood – all seemed to be exactly blended together in it. The stately desk at one corner seemed too large for the room, and yet fit very well with the armoire that sat next to it. The large cherrywood canopy bed, with its dark red sheets, seemed like the kind of bed one would find in a palace. It astounded her, but she had other worries on her mind.
She sat Erik down and bent to remove his shoes. She then sat on the edge of the bed, hands once again at his shoulders. "Lie down," she said quietly. He, in turn, simply watched her as she helped him lie down. Once he lay there, Christine looked down to his tired face. Her hand raked through his dark hair slowly, a smile on her face. "Honestly, Erik, don't scare me like that."
She ran her fingers through his hair again, only to have her hand caught by one of his. his other arm around her waist. He tugged only slightly, and she fell on him.
Her face beet red, she looked at Erik. He, instead of feigning innocence, smirked. He brought her hand up to his lips, and felt the warm skin under his lips. Just a little time...just a little longer...
"Erik?" He heard her nervous voice, and watched her eyes dart over his face.
"Stay with me tonight," he murmured. "Don't leave."
AN: Yay, chapter done! Please review and let me know what you think! It really is rewarding for me to read the reviews!
By the way, I actually did pretty well on my first exam...now for the following ones... :(
