Chapter 18: Deep Secrets.
Meg and Erik sat for a long while in silence on the steps to his house. The greens and the whites and all the other colours filled the space that they looked out on. It was amazing to see that the brick of the walls had taken on a mossy green colour. The ceiling had as well but was littered with pipes and bits of creeping vines that had made their way up the wall. Roses in pots around the space had begun to open as well, since the last time Meg had visited. Birds sang and flew from the trees that were well kept and flourishing. Tangae paced a bit before coming and resting at their feet. She nudged Meg's ballet slippers, which she had dropped, with he large black nose and Meg reached out to collect them.
"Perhaps we should get to work," Erik said as he watched Meg lay her hands gently on the Tigers head.
Tangae's eyes closed as Meg scratched behind her ears. Her long stripped tale twitched on the green, mossy earth. She was a beautiful animal, once you got past the fear of seeing a tiger in front of you. Meg enjoyed the feel of the animals fur and had almost ignored Erik's comment. She wasn't quite ready to leave the peacefulness of the open space. She was just to curious about everything that she was seeing. Most of the animals that ran free in the Phantom's green space were clearly not indigenous to Paris. The colours of the birds and the movements of the smaller creatures were enough to mesmerise her. She had never seen anything like them before.
"How on earth have you come to have such wonderful creatures?" she asked as a bright red parrot landed on Erik's outstretched arm.
"Like I said I haven't always lived in this opera house," he smiled.
"But you would have had to travel the world and how on earth did you get them back here?"she asked.
"Many of them came here as small animals. I was used to hiding as I travelled, its not as hard as one may thing. If people aren't looking to see the negative then most of the time it can completely pass them by," he said as the bird flew away again, "if people didn't know I was there, had never seen my face before, then they didn't normally pay much attention if I was present, nor did they see my animals or the packages in which they were stored."
"But how could you come to have a tiger?" Meg asked as she motioned to the grandeur of the cat at her feet, "surely people would notice a large cat."
"Tangae has been with me a very long time," Erik sighed, "but now it is time for us to work."
"Oh please tell me how you came to have her," Meg begged as Tangae looked at him as well, but Erik had already risen from his seat and had opened the door, "please."
"It's a terrible story," he said as they were both inside, "we were both very young then."
"I can tell it pains you," Meg said as she watched the man's disposition change, "what happened?"
"I had been travelling for much of my youth. It wasn't hard back then to fit in with different kinds of people, simpler people, and I learned many useful and frighting things," he said as she stopped and turned to face her, "people can be heartless in the worst ways. Innocence is nothing to mess with and it is even more terrible to see the cruelty to the things that cannot fight for themselves. Tigers in the wild are fears, because of their predatory nature. It is their way of life and humans are the ones that take for granted the habitats and the wonderful lands where only the animals live. I had to learn this the hard way." he said as he led her into a small parler. The fire was bright and alive at the hearth and the furnishings were very inviting, "come, please sit," he said as he motioned to a chair. He sat across from her, "perhaps it is the right time to tell you these things, you'll understand why I must stay here and the importance of this safe place."
"Please go on," Meg said as she relaxed into the comfortable chair.
"I had spent quite a bit of time in India, strange traditions and even darker histories, stranger even than my own, had pulled me to the place, and yet I couldn't escape the western idealists. They were everywhere, always looking for different worlds to conquer. I was young then and didn't understand what I do now, but they were looking for ways to make themselves seem mightier than they are. The sad thing is they are still looking now a days," he said, the fire lighting the side of his face that had less scaring.
He was a wise man, his face showed that he had been through a lot and that his thoughts and feelings were so complex and haunting that is was almost frightening to want to learn more. But there was a gentleness, a sorrow, in his eyes. It was a want to talk to people, to tell his own story and the things he knew, the sad things that haunted him. Even with his disfigurement Meg could make out the handsome features that his face should have had. His eyes were bright and engaging. His cheek bone high and strong. His manner was filled with wisdom and a great tone for the story.
"It sounds like it would have been an exciting time," Meg said finally.
"It was, for a while," he answered, "but looks can always be deceiving."
"As all things are," Meg smiled.
"Yes, so true," he chuckled, "at the time, I was very much interested in wealth and making a name for myself. I believed if I could not be known for my face then I would be known by deeds. I had been befriend for my talents, by a man travelling through India with a guide of local men. They had enlisted me to go hunting with them. Little did I know the English man was very much a coward. They hunted big game, as they called it, I wasn't sure what they had met. It wasn't until we were deep into the jungle that I understood what was happening. The men of the land had adapted to the traditions of the English. They all carried guns, which I found odd. I'd never touched anything like it and preferred the traditional techniques that I had learned and that had been a part of my rise in popularity."
"Traditional techniques?" Meg asked becoming confused, the only traditions of the hunt that she had know were what she had heard and guns were the only way she knew of.
"Yes, arrows and ropes, things made of the earth," he answered, "nothing so mechanical as the machines developed simply for killing. I had always through of it as a matter of protection not killing."
"I see," Meg said as her heart dropped, she could tell that the story was going to be darker than she had once anticipated.
Erik watched her for a moment, noticing her uneasiness but soon decided it would be beneficial to continue, "we had spent days in the jungle," he said, "the English were very troubled and tied of the bugs by this time. They had not seen any of the creatures they had hoped for and hadn't anticipated the dreadful conditions that the jungle provided, however, they persisted. The next morning we packed up camp again and set out once more into thicker jungle than we had seen. It was at this time that I was moved to lead our group with the local men as I was one of the more youthful on the expedition. It was a difficult time but we moved on. It wasn't until late in the day they we decided to stop once again and set up camp. We came to a place where the grass had grown high but the trees were sparse and it was decided that near the edge of the clearing would be a place to camp for the night. Little did we know, in crossing the grass that what we would come on," he said.
"Oh goodness," Meg gasped, "when did you know?"
"Two of us found out the hard way," he said with a sigh, "myself and a young man of a local tribe led the group through the grass. We didn't see the movement of orange through the setting sun and the grass until it was to late. My companion was dealt the greatest blow from the beast. The other men back off and left us to deal with the animal on our own."
"Oh my," Meg whispered.
"I can't remember much of the battle," Erik said as he turned and looked at the bright orange flashes of the fire, "my companion lay, near death, at my feet and I all had to defend myself was a rope and my knowledge of how to use it."
"Is that how you came to look like this?" Meg gasped.
"No," Erik said, "I felt no pain when gaining these scared, I was born with them."
Meg looked sadly on the man, who's face showed so much promise and handsome features, "were you hurt in the confrontation?" she asked finally.
"It was trying, and there were injuries but I was nothing that wouldn't past," he said, "my challenge was really the speed of my thoughts. The animal ran on instinct and precision. It did only what it knew how to do, and that was to be the hunter and not the hunted. I had to rely on my knowledge, all the while the men with guns stood and watched. I was fighting for my life. I did not know that the beast was facing the same fate. I did manage to subdue the beast. My lasso worked with me and I was able to tie the beast into submission. Once the battle had ended I stood triumphantly with my prey. The beast still moved against the binds of rope but it was powerless to do anything more. The Englishman was the last to join me in the clearing but when he did his pride and his excitement ran higher than anyone. He towered over the trembling beast, his eyes burning, his gun in his hand and he shot it."
Meg gasped, "it was powerless, how could he?"
Erik shook his head, "I was just as astonished then as I am today. The men of the land cursed him for his deed. They spoke of curses and trials and angry gods. I didn't hear most of it. The great beast lay, in my ropes, at my feet dead by a bullet. I had no intention on killing it, and maybe I was to naive at the time but I didn't think anyone was going to be killing anything, let alone in that way. I couldn't stop myself from feeling anger and hatred for every man in the group, including myself. I fled then, to the edge of the jungle where the clearing ended. It was like a wall before me, the jungle was so think and there, near to the grass was a hollow rock and a dark passage into the ground. Tears wet my face as I saw why we had all been so harshly attached. A tiny ball of fur, white as the snow squeaked from the opening of the burrow."
"Oh my goodness," Meg said as tears filled her eyes.
"I felt like I should have been the one to die," Erik said as he watched Meg dry her eyes, "I had been all apart of it and I knew I couldn't face the group again, nor could I take the baby back into the camp to be killed. I spent the night with the tiny ball of fir. It cried most of the night and so did I. In the morning it poured rain and it rained everyday that I made my way through the jungle alone. It was my punishment for angering the gods of the land and yet I felt an obligation to this small animal. I would never let anything happen to it as I had let the evil fall on its mother."
"That is so kind of you," Meg said as she stepped forward and knelt before him, "there is so much that you have known, and so much hurt and pain you have suffered. I feel guilty for the bad people in the world and yet they are the ones who live in the open. Its not fair."
"They aren't all bad," Erik said as he reached out to her, "there are a few good people in the world. Some still remain as pure and un touched as you. It saddens me to know that you have been through so much sorrow in this small world of the opera. I apologies for the bad things that I have done in the past. Some of my actions toward this place were unacceptable. They will not happen again," he said looking deep into her eyes.
"You cannot stop the onset of evil," Meg sighed, "if you are forced to defend yourself, and the ones you love then you have to, no matter what, or we are all to parish like a mother protecting her young," she said, "I blame you for nothing."
"Its funny," Erik said his mind deep in thought, "even with the forgiveness I have always longed for, that which I see in your eyes, I am still plagued with guilt for the things that I have done. Perhaps the gods are still haunting me to this day."
"If that can be true to you, then it is true for me as well," Meg said as she stood from the floor, "I feel as though we have all angered the gods again."
"Only time will tell if we have," Erik said as he too stood, "until then we have work to do. Come," he said and led her by the hand to another part of his home.