"Maman?" Erik asked.
Catherine Destler turned around and stared at her five-year-old child, a relieved look fluttered across her face.
"Yes!" She spat.
"Why do I have to wear this mask?" He asked timidly. "It's very itchy."
He brought his hand up and tried to remove it. His scarred face had begun to itch.
"Don't!" she snapped at him.
Erik froze, but his expression didn't change. "Why Maman? Why do you hate my face so much?"
"Others will fear you, you despicable child!" She hissed.
"Maman?"
"I told you. Do not ever remove your mask or you will die. Your life depends on that mask on your face. Your face is cursed!" She stated bitterly.
She didn't look at him, simply stared out of the window watching the raindrops fall from the grey clouds lurking in the sky.
"Will I really die if I take this mask off Maman?" He asked fearfully.
"Yes, you will, and you will go to hell and so will I. Now do you want that to happen?" She nearly shrieked.
"No!" Erik cried. "No Mama, I don't want you to go to hell!"
Erik ran forward and wrapped his arms round his mother.
Instead of embracing him, like a mother would normally do if their son hugged them, she grabbed his shoulders and pushed him away from her with all her might, sending him crashing to the floor, landing on his back.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" She screamed, and backed herself against the wall.
Erik looked at his mother, tears welling up in his eyes. He reached up and rubbed his head where it had collided with the floor.
"Go, to you room, and don't come out again." She said angrily.
Erik got up on his tiny little legs and ran as fast as he could to his room. He flung the mask off and sat in the middle of the floor, weeping.
Thoughts whirled round his mind. Even at 5 years old he was more advanced in most areas of development than others of his age. Why did his mother hate him so much for the way he looked? Would he really be killed and his mother sent to hell if he took the mask off?
He could hear his mother whispering to herself as if she was talking to someone. It wasn't unusual. Erik would even hear her in the middle of the night weeping. "Why am I cursed? I never committed any sins, yet I have given birth to the spawn of the devil. No-one must ever see him. What am I to do? Why did you leave me Pierrick?"
Pierrick was the only man who his mother had ever loved, and he loved her back equally. When she had told him that she was pregnant, he left her, not wanting the responsibility of being a father as they were both very young. Pierrick did not wish to bring shame on his family if the world found out that he was a father but was not married.
Catherine kept her pregnancy a secret, fearing terrible consequences would happen as she was giving birth to a bastard. She wanted to keep the baby, despite Pierrick having left her. She knew that his baby would keep the memory of him alive and desperately wanted to hold onto that. She was hoping for a perfect child that she could live with, bring up and end up having a happy life.
When Erik was born, her opinion of him completely changed because of his hideous deformity, on the right side of his face. On the other hand he had his fathers blue eyes and her dark thick hair, which were really the only things Catherine liked about her son. Love was a too strong a word.
Erik's name had come from Pierrick. It was a name similar to his and was one of the things that would remind her of him. She had never really gotten over the fact that he had left her. She gave him her surname of Destler as she was not married to Erik's father. She didn't feel it was right to use his surname, and was also still angry with him choosing his family's opinions over his love for her.
Over the years she never talked about his father. She only described his appearance, but she had pictures of him in her room. She never allowed Erik to look at them. He had only caught a glimpse of one once, and from what he could make out, he had his father's eyes and some features of his face, and he also had Pierrick's build; Slim built but with very broad shoulders and a wide back.
Erik was never allowed to set foot outside of the house. His mother had always made up excuses saying that he would become seriously ill or something along those lines. But the real reason was because she was ashamed of her son, of his scarred face.Now there was this mask making his face itch like mad. It was getting worse. He decided to take it off and rub his face gently to try and soothe it.
He stopped as his door creaked open.
"What is the mask doing off your face?" Catherine demanded.
"My scar, it was itchy. I just tried to make it stop but I had to take the mask off so I could help it mama." Erik explained.
"And didn't I warn you that if you took that mask off then you would die?"
"Yes, but mama, no one can see me."
"But I can!" she wailed at him.
"So what mama?"
Catherine's lips thinned and her face was contorted with rage at being spoken back to in any sort of way.
She stepped towards him, tensely.
"Stand up!" She said fiercely.
Erik did not hesitate and stood up.
Without warning, Catherine's hand struck him hard across the face.
"Don't you…"
She struck him again.
"Ever answer me back…"
And again.
"Again!" She screamed.
Erik said nothing, just stood there with his mouth open, feeling his cheek sting madly. He was more shocked than hurt because she had not struck him like that before. She may have smacked him on the hand, and that didn't really hurt, but across the face as hard as she did, it was beginning to hurt very badly. His cheek burned and was red raw where her hand had come into sudden contact with it.
"Put the mask on now!" She said a little more calmly than she had done before.
Erik didn't hesitate and fixed the mask back on his face.
"You will go to bed without supper. I don't want another sound from you. Do you understand me?"
Erik didn't look at her; he kept his eyes fixed to the floor.
"ERIK DESTLER!" She shouted causing him to jump.
"Yes, mama." He said weakly.
With that she walked briskly out of the door and slammed it shut, locking it from the other side.
Erik sighed and took his mask off before climbing into bed. He blew out the candle at his bedside and fell asleep almost instantly.
-
"She bought you that mask when you were 5?" Christine said, astonished.
"Yes, and I've worn it ever since. That was only the beginning of my life, when I really realised that I was never going to be accepted by anyone, not even my own mother." He ended bitterly.
"That's awful. Did she treat you like that most of the time?" She asked sadly.
"All of the time." He replied.
"Daroga mentioned about the way you two first met. Has that got anything to do with what you're going to tell me?" Christine inquired.
"That's later on but, as I said, the real nightmare began after my eighth birthday, but I think that I have told you enough for now."
Christine placed her hand on Erik's arm. "Please, Erik, go on."
"Are you sure you wish to hear this Christine? If I tell you it might be too much."
Christine's hand slid down his arm to meet his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. She smiled at him and leant forward slightly.
Erik swallowed hard. Over the years he had tried very hard to rid himself of the past that haunted him in his dreams. At times he used to wake up during the night having had nightmares about it. Now he was about to tell the girl he loved the very thing he had sworn to himself would never be brought up again.
"It was when I was eight years old; it was just a normal day like any other…" He began.
-
Erik, now 8 years old was sitting in the living room of the small cottage that he and Catherine lived in. He was sitting on the sofa reading, waiting for the sound of his mother's return. She had gone to do the shopping for the week and, as Erik was never allowed outside, he would just sit quietly with his head buried in a book. He had taught himself to read and write, as his mother was of no help, and it was one of his favourite things to do to pass the time.
Erik glanced at the clock nearby. It read half past two.
She should be back soon. He thought to himself.
A few minutes later, he heard the key slide into the lock and turn; she was back, but the strange thing was that there were more footsteps than just hers. Erik stood up and listened to the faint voices; from what he could tell they belonged to his mother and another, a man. The footsteps were too heavy to just be two people. Erik dropped to the floor pressing his ear to the carpet listening to the footsteps in the hallway, and he counted two other people. What was going on?
He stood up again and shut his eyes to listen; he found that his hearing always sharpened if he shut his eyes. He heard them speak again and this time he caught all the words that were said:
"How much will you pay me for him?" Said his mother's voice.
"Once we see what we are getting. We will pay you what ever we see fit Mademoiselle."
Erik was shocked at what he had just heard; his mother was selling him to the man that the gruff voice belonged too.
"Well where is he?" The man asked impatiently.
"Through that door, in the living room, he usually reads in there." Catherine replied.
Footsteps thudded towards the door and it swung open. As Erik had counted there were three men at the door. All of them looked very scruffy and very scary looking.
"There is no one here!" The man shouted.
"He – he must be in one of the other rooms." She said, sounding worried.
"Roscoe, Desoto, go and search in the other rooms. I'll have a look in here." He ordered.
The two men left, leaving the one who was standing in the middle there. When Erik had heard the footsteps he had quickly hidden behind the sofa. His heart was pounding in his chest.
He heard the man's footsteps coming closer.
"There's no where to hide boy. We just wanna look at ya." He teased menacingly.
Erik saw part of his foot near the back of the sofa.
The man sprung round to the back of the sofa where Erik had been. "GOTCHA!" He yelled. But there was no one there.
The man growled and cursed under his breath. Erik again had quickly moved to the other side of the sofa, opposite where the man was standing. He could feel himself panting. He was terrified.
"Come on you brat. I know you're in here somewhere."
He walked away from the sofa to check the curtains. Erik quickly shifted round to the front part of the sofa. He heard the man pull back the curtains, but as he couldn't find him, he again cursed under his breath.
"Roscoe, Desoto? Have you found the boy yet?" He yelled.
"No boss, no sign." Came a distant reply from one of them.
"Are you sure he didn't leave the house Mademoiselle?"
"He has never set foot out of this house. He is obviously hiding." She stated.
'That's what you think?' Erik thought.
Little did his mother know that, late at night, he used to slip out of the house unnoticed and wander the streets until dawn. He had only experienced the world outside by the shadows of moonlight. He preferred it that way. No one could see him, and to him it was like all of the city's streets were his playground. There was no one around who could stop him from having some amusement and entertainment.
Erik looked at the door that was opposite him. It was open. He would have to make a run for it. This would be his bid for freedom. Who knew what awaited him if they caught him and took him away.
It was now or never!
Erik got up and sprinted towards the door.
"OI, STOP!" The man shouted behind him.
Erik ran round the corner and down the hallway, and tried to open the front door. It was locked.
He was terrified. This was his only way of escaping.
"MAMA!" He screamed.
He felt two hands grab both of his arms and squeeze them tightly.
"GET OFF ME!" He yelled.
"Stay still you little runt." One of the henchmen growled.
"Well done Roscoe, now to remove that mask." The boss said smirking.
He saw his mother standing behind him. "I warn you. His face is quite horrendous. But hopefully it is what you are looking for." She said in a cheerful way.
Erik squirmed in Roscoe's grasp, but the more he did the tighter the henchman's grip became.
Tears were streaming down Erik's face, "Mama?" He pleaded.
The other henchman, who he guessed was Desoto, slowly reached to take the mask off. His hand passed near Erik's mouth, 'You are not removing my mask!' he thought, so clamped his jaw over Desoto's hand and bit it as hard as he could.
"YOWL!" Desoto yelped. "That little devil bit me."
"The boss stepped forward. "Oh so we have a vicious little one here. I like that." He said mockingly.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry about that. Here let me bandage that up for you." Catherine said, hurrying into the kitchen.
"Well now we get to see what disgusting face is behind that mask." The boss teased.
He reached for the mask and pulled it off slowly.
All three of the men started howling with laughter at Erik's deformed face.
"Ha! This is brilliant. We need someone like him. He can be the new attraction to the circus, The Devil's Child." He said, amazed at his own idea.
"The money, please monsieur, then take him. He is all yours." Catherine said timidly and then handed the bandages to Desoto.
"Here you are." He replied, giving her a sack full of money. "Pleasure doing business with you mademoiselle. Come on lads. Let's go."
"MAMA!" Erik screamed as Roscoe started to drag him towards the door.
"I'm sorry Erik." She mouthed.
"MAMA!" He tried again.
"Shut up. Quick, get him in the cage then let's go."
"MAMA PLEASE DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!" He choked between sobs.
Erik then felt something heavy crash over his head and everything went black.
-
"And when I woke up I found myself behind bars, in a cage." Erik ended.
He looked to Christine, her eyes had filled with tears, and her lip was quivering.
"Oh, Erik." She wept.
Her hand cupped his left cheek and she stroked it gently with her thumb.
"I'm so sorry. I really am truly." She sobbed.
She let her tears fall freely down her face.
"It's alright. I escaped from that life but it has shaped me into the person I am now." He said sadly.
Christine said nothing, but leant forward and rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms round his waist firmly as if she never wanted to let him go.
Erik was surprised by this, and he wasn't sure quite how to respond.
Should I hug her back? Hold her for a while?
He was hesitant at first, but slowly slid his hands round to her back then moved up to her shoulders and pulled her ever so slightly closer to him, never wanting this moment to end.
They embraced each other for a while, neither saying anything. They both obviously enjoyed the physical contact, but Erik for the first time had been hugged with proper emotion, and it felt amazing to him.
After what seemed like a lifetime they let go of each other. Christine's tears had dried and disappeared and had been replaced by a smile. Erik smiled back at her, noticing how beautiful she was. To him she was perfect, and he could never feel that way about anyone else.
"I will not go into any detail about my life there. I would, but it pains me to do so. I hope you forgive me."
"I understand. You don't have to tell me anything you do not wish to." She replied with a smile.
"Would you care to stay here for the night?" He asked.
"Yes, I would very much." She smiled hoping he would ask.
"Very well, would you like some coffee?"
"Yes please."
Erik stood up and started to head off toward the kitchen.
"Erik." Christine called after him. "May I ask you something?"
He turned round. "You may."
She paused slightly pondering over whether she should ask him.
"How did you escape?"
