A/N: I know someone was wondering if this was going to be an EC fic. To tell you the truth, there really can be no true category. It's EC. It's EOC. It's just all over the board. The end will have everyone wondering what happened. And I'm hoping that's the reaction that I'll get. It definitely is different.
As for the Sultana, she's called a different name in Susan Kay's the Phantom but her essence is still here. She's evil – the very definition of the word. I hope you guys will begin to see who the He and the She is. Those parts are going to be very important later on. Hopefully this chapter will shed some light on what's going on. As always, enjoy the chapter. Read and review, I love to hear it all.
The sun is setting. Let the story begin…
Chapter 3 – Introductions of a Delicate Nature
"Wait!" He nearly screamed it.
His shirt had been ripped from his body. The flesh she sought was exposed for her to do with as she wished.
"What is it?"
"What do you wish for me to do?"
"I told you, your pleas are useless now. I will do with you as I wish whether you grant it or not."
He could see her eyes even in the darkness. They seemed like flames in the dark – flickering just like the flame of a candle.
The concrete wall behind him was no longer cold. The chains that bound him to the wall were beginning to slice through his flesh.
And she has not even begun her torture yet…
"I remember the night you bowed to me the first time. Do you remember?"
He slowly nodded his head. It was a night he longed to forget.
"My husband knew I needed something to keep me satisfied. He had all of his little slave girls and I had no one. I was growing restless."
He could feel her move in the darkness. She moved like a cat in the dark, it was her home. It consumed her down to her soul.
"Who knew that a masked man could please me so?"
He held his head high, remembering everything happened to him before he had ever met her. "It was not pleasure you wanted. It was my suffering you longed for."
Persia – 1854
"It was not pleasure you wanted. It was my suffering you longed for."
Erik watched as the young slave girl bowed before the Sultan. The words she spoke would not go unpunished. She was outspoken and did not fear the rule of the Sultan or the Sultana. The Sultan tolerated her because of what he expected of her. The Sultana despised her because of her beauty.
He watched from the shadows. The Sultana would punish him if he was ever seen inside the palace walls. He was kept outside, in the 'Garden of Eden' as she called it. It was there that his fate was decided. There was no Adam and Eve. There was only the Sultana.
"You insolent little…" The Sultana's voice seemed to crack like thunder. Erik cringed as he listened.
"My dear wife, I will handle the outspoken child." Rising, the Sultan stepped in front of the young slave girl. "I will handle her the only way I know how."
The slave girl shook – her dark skin and features blanching from the fear that she felt. She hung her head and her auburn hair hid the tears that would eventually fall.
"Come." The Sultan held out a hand. She did not grasp it. "Now, before I decide on a harsher punishment."
No…
Taking his hand, the slave girl stood. Her eyes did not meet his but saw the anger in the Sultana's.
The Sultan led her out. Erik knew he would hear the screams of the young slave girl sometime in the night. She was the one, out of all the girls, that was 'used' the most. The Sultan held a special spot in his bed chamber for her. Erik cringed at the thought of the young girl being used in that manner.
Erik knew that the Sultana felt his presence. It was only a matter of time…
"Come to me…"
Paris - 1865
"Come to me…"
Christine obeyed as always. Her angel was always right. There had never been a time when he had been off-key or hit a wrong note. She was a dancer and he knew the steps she needed to perform.
She pirouetted toward him. Christine could only see his silhouette in the darkness. In the two years Christine had known him, she still had not seen his face. A brief introduction to him had been through his voice alone. But she longed to see him…
"Christine."
"Please, Angel, I am growing tired…"
She closed her eyes just as his hand grasped hers. Erik watched Christine's startled expression as he touched her hand. "You may retire for the night."
"Thank you, my Angel of Music."
He watched her run toward the dormitories. She had filled him as though she was from a dream he never awoke. Erik smiled.
"A brief introduction…"
"A brief introduction…my poor sniveling fool. It is only a matter of time."
He grimaced, not knowing what was coming. She could have done any number of things to him. The things he feared, she knew. The things he despised, she knew. All she had to do was utilize them and he would beg for mercy.
"I know what you desire. I know what you fear. Tell me, what do you think would please me more? Watching you suffer from pain? Or watching you suffer from pleasure?"
Please, God…show me some mercy…
His eyes shut tight as her hands worked their way slowly down his torso. He shivered beneath her touch.
"Good…"
Her hand hovered just above his waist. His breathing became heavier. She smiled like a Cheshire cat. "In due time."
She withdrew her hand and he sighed with relief. He would prefer pain over pleasure. But he knew she would not grant him that wish.
"Rest. The sun is beginning to rise. Tonight, I will give you a glimpse into what I want from you."
He felt her move from the room. The lone candle burned until it extinguished itself. Rays from the morning light had begun to filter through the tiny window above his head.
Looking down at his body, he sharply drew in his breath. His flesh had been burned, slashed, and touched. He knew this was only the beginning. It was an introduction. An introduction to what was to come.
The sun rises…
