A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. I know that it has been some time since I have updated. It might be awhile again while I gain my footing back on the story. Please let me know if you wish for me to continue. Read and review. Thanks!
Chapter 10 – Show Me What Lies Beneath
Paris - 1870
'The Sleeping Angel will rise…'
Erik could feel her – sense her every move. The candlelight danced over his worn sheet music. He could not find the right notes before but now with her here, he had found inspiration.
"Who was that shape in the shadows…?"
Christine descended the stairs to reach the man who had haunted her dreams. Her Angel of Music was seated at his organ – his throne. The organ was majestic and beautiful just as were the notes he was playing.
His shoulders were broad. He was much larger than Christine had ever imagined. Curiosity overtook her. She wanted to know. Christine Daae would not be denied.
"Whose is the face in the mask…?"
Her hand gently caressed his bare cheek. She watched his eyes close in ecstasy. Her fingers gently grasped the edge of the mask.
'I must know!'
With one graceful move, Christine had removed his mask – his life.
Erik quickly stood, sending the organ bench and Christine crashing to the ground. His eyes held fury behind them.
"Damn you! You little prying Pandora! You little demon – is this what you wanted to see?"
Christine cowered in fear on the floor. She wanted to be lost amongst the sheet music and drawings. Christine didn't want to see the anger in his eyes. All she wanted was to look upon her Angel of Music and understand why he hid from her.
"Curse you! You little lying Delilah! You little viper – now you cannot ever be free!"
He longed to be away from her – away from the world he had avoided for years. Erik sent a candle bra crashing to the ground. He didn't need to see the fear in Christine's eyes. Her sobs were all the signs he needed.
"Damn you…curse you…" Erik took a deep breath. He didn't want to frighten his angel. "…stranger than you dreamt it…can you even dare to look or bear to think of me…"
Christine watched him as he walked along the shore of the vast lake that he had brought her on. His long black robe billowed around him. The anger was still apparent in every step he took but Christine noticed it was slowly dwindling.
"…this loathsome gargoyle, who burns in hell but secretly yearns for heaven…secretly…secretly…Christine"
He peered inside of the private room he had made for 'Christine'. The white wedding gown still looked beautiful and he could just imagine it on her. Erik turned and noticed Christine had been crying as he had continued his tirade. His hand covered the deformity that plagued his face.
"Fear can turn to love – you'll learn to see, to find the man behind this monster, this…" Erik sat beside her – almost begging her to forgive him. All he wanted was for her to understand. "…repulsive carcass, who seems a beast, but secretly dreams of beauty, secretly…secretly…oh, Christine."
She watched him sit there – ashamed and alone. All he wanted was his mask – a piece of leather that separated him from being normal and being shunned. Tears continued to stream down Christine's cheeks as she held out the white mask.
Erik took it, making sure he was gentle. Turning from her, he gave himself back his life. Standing, Erik knew that Christine had to return. She would come back in time. Soon she would be his. But for now…Christine needed to return.
"Come, we must return…"
"Come, we must return…return to the time where you worshiped me."
He cringed and nearly whimpered at her touch. It was if her hand was a flame, burning his skin with every caress.
"I never worshiped you."
"Oh, you did. You just don't remember."
"I think I would remember if I…" Her finger touched his lips and silenced him.
"I touched you in places you could never imagine."
It wasn't possible. Was it? He could hardly remember a few hours ago let alone years. It had been so long…so very long.
"Has my touch grown that cold? Has your desire to awaken every part of me left you? Where is the man that I wanted in my bed every night?"
He groaned as he felt the steel chains loosen and set him free. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the light. The moon was casting its glow through the small window that his prison provided him. It was freedom he desired. But he feared that was not the reason why he was set free of his binds.
"I want to feel every part of you. I want my hands to caress every inch of your skin."
He tensed as he felt her fingers grow close to his mask. His body was too weak to respond as she ripped it from his face.
He screamed as she laughed. Rushing to the corner of the room, he cowered in fear – the darkness inviting him in.
"I have seen it before – many times. Why hide from me?"
"Why did you do it! How could you…?"
"If I am to torture a man, it must be a man and not a mask. If you will not touch me, I will touch you. I will torture you without your mask."
He sobbed, the moonlight betraying him – mocking him. It gave away his location. His sense of safety was gone. His mask had been the last part of him that she had not taken. Now he was truly hers.
"Please…Christine…" His voice pleaded to some unseen force.
She stopped. The name resounded in her ears as if it would consume her without thought or warning. He cowered in the corner, whispering her name over and over. She now knew his weakness.
She began toward him…slowly…seductively…
Persia – 1854
She began toward him…slowly…seductively…
God, help me…
Erik watched as Asiya stood inches from him. He could smell lilacs and other fragrant flowers all over her. He sighed as he looked into her eyes.
"I owe you my life, Erik."
"And what do we have here?"
Erik's eyes widened at the sound of the Sultana's voice. Peering around Asiya, he saw the Sultana sauntering into the Garden.
"Two lovers in the middle of my Garden of Eden. How appropriate."
He stepped in front of Asiya, protecting her from the punishment the Sultana would inflict. Erik knew it was only a matter of time. But he had hoped Asiya would have returned to her room before the Sultana had found him.
"You were to warm my bed, masked man."
"He doesn't answer to you!"
The Sultana's eyes glowed amber as Asiya spat out her comment. Erik's hand reached Asiya's and squeezed.
"She didn't mean that, Sultana." He slowly walked away from his goddess and near the woman who held their lives in her hands. "I was merely…"
"I don't want your boring speeches. You sang me to sleep and used that to set the slave girl free."
Erik watched as the Sultana moved between him and Asiya. Her amber orbs continued to take in the hunched form of the young woman wrapped only in a sheet. The Sultana seemed to sparkle in the moonlight as the sheer garment she wore barely covered everything that needed to be.
"Welcome to my Garden of Eden, slave girl. What is it that the Christians believe, Erik?"
He couldn't speak. His heart was in his throat while his mind was reeling from what was happening. The Garden that had once been his sanctuary was now becoming a death trap.
"That the Christians' God sent down a Man and a Woman – Adam and Eve. They were the beings that began it all. But it was a snake…" The Sultana made sure that it sounded as though she were hissing. Asiya cowered in fear. "…that gave them the apple that would send Mankind to its fate."
Turning, Erik watched as the Sultana's eyes seemed to call to him. He began to kneel in front of her but the touch on his chest stopped him cold.
"Imagine me as that snake…" She smiled – a devilish grin on her face. "…the one that will bring Mankind to its knees."
Asiya's eyes seemed to plead to Erik. Tears had begun to stream down her cheeks. Erik could do nothing but stand there. He was paralyzed in fear.
"I am God." Her hand began to caress his face. "Isn't it convenient that I have both Adam and Eve in my presence?" Her laugh sent shivers down Erik's spine. "Let me show you the apple that will destroy the both of you."
With one swift move, the mask was ripped from Erik's face. He screamed as his hands covered the one thing he did not want Asiya to see. She was beauty and he was the beast. The Sultana's laugh filled his ears as his hands fumbled to hide his deformity.
The Sultana walked along side of him – leaning close enough so only he could hear. "Your punishment will be great, masked man. Tomorrow night, you will please me and it will not be with song. As for the girl…I will leave the punishment up to the Sultan. If you ever disobey me again…it will be more than a mask ripped from your body."
She strode away, taking his life with her.
Asiya began forward but Erik began to back away into the darkness.
"Erik, please…don't run."
"You can't see me…you can't see me like this!"
He ran into the darkness that beckoned to him. The light that he found in Asiya would be gone by dawn. She would be repulsed by his deformity. The Sultana had already punished him.
She has sent me to Hell.
Erik crept through the darkness of the palace corridors. He would not allow himself to be seen.
Life and death go hand-in-hand…
