Wow. Ok, did a lot of writing tonight. Its 2am... so there may be some errors but i quite like this chapter :) I really like writing dialogue for some reason.
As usual, many thanks for the support! 3
Phanty belongs to Leroux and Lloyd Weber.
"Thank you, Madame." Erik said, leading Christine out of the cupboard before stepping out himself. "That was very quick thinking indeed but you should not have risked yourself for me."
"It was no trouble..." She said, still shaken up. She turned to Erik. "I have done it before and I daresay that I shall have to do it again."
Erik nodded at her stoically and even shot her what she thought could have been a small smile. Christine looked at them both; again they both seemed to share something; perhaps lost in a memory of some kind...
"Come, we must discuss this letter you received." She said.
They sat around the small, rounded dining table; each of them staring thoughtfully at the note which lay in the center.
"I really think that we should just leave now." Christine began.
"We can't rush our actions, Christine." Erik said calmly. "We haven't a clue who these people are or what they want."
"I have at least one clue what they want; you! As long as we know that much, it isn't safe to be here. Erik, each time something happens I'm so afraid that I will lose you... I feel like it's only a matter of time before..."
"We don't know for sure, Christine. They already know we are here. I think we should wait and plan our..."
"Do you remember what happened last time we waited, Erik? Or isn't the pain reminder enough? You could have been killed..." She folded her arms on the table and began to weep helplessly. Erik placed a consoling hand on her back. She was right. Last time they had waited and it had ended badly.
"I'm sorry, Christine. I hate that I'm doing this to you..."
"Erik." Madame Giry began. "What... happened last night?"
He looked at her. "We... ran into some people who were... not enthused, so to speak by my actions."
"Not enthused?" Christine lifted her head. "It was a mob, maman! It was horrible. You should see his back!"
Madame Giry looked at Christine. She had just called her mother, something she hadn't done in quite some time. Clearly she was distressed; distressed for Erik... She had no idea what had transpired since she had last seen them both but something had most definitely changed between them...
"Erik. What happened? Are you alright?"
"Yes, yes. I'm fine. Nothing that won't heal."
"Fine?! Show her, Erik!"
"What?" He asked in astonishment.
"Its fine, Christine." Madame Giry said calmly.
"Show her!" She said, pulling at his jacket.
"No I'm not going to show her?" He couldn't believe that she was suggesting this.
"Its fine, Christine, I have seen it."
"What? How could you..."
"I have seen it before."
"Madame, no." Erik said.
Surely she would not...
"Erik, she should know."
"Know what?" Christine asked, glancing between both of them. "What should I know?"
"How Erik and I met."
She is!
"No, Madame!" He commanded.
"Yes, tell me."
"No, I can't." He stood up and turned around; perhaps attempting to shut them out by physically turning away from them.
"Why not?"
"Because, I cannot Christine." He looked at Madame Giry. "You see what you have initiated?" His voice was now turning cold; dripping with the cynicism and venom he usually reserved for those at the Opera; those who crossed him.
"Just tell her, Erik!" Now Madame Giry's voice was raised too despite the presence of the Opera Ghost who had now fully returned.
"NO! I will not!" He shouted, silencing both Christine and her mother figure mid sentence. He inhaled steeply and turned to face them both. "I will not just tell her!" His face screwed up in indignation as he continued.
"I will divulge the private details of my life when I am good and ready and not a moment before! Who are you to tell me what I should, shouldn't discuss... those are my memories. MINE!" He leaned on the back of his chair for support, seemingly defeated by the power of what he was discussing. "My pain... my suffering..."
"...Erik." Christine began, touching his hand.
He looked down at her hand but did not pull away. He exhaled unevenly before speaking again.
"No. I... I will not share them until I am ready. Until I am ready..." His voice was deep with emotion. "Surely that is in my power..."
"It's alright, Erik." Christine soothed, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "I just want to know about you. That's all... You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to tell me."
He shook his head slowly and chuckled cynically.
"It isn't that, Christine. It's... something which isn't easy to discuss... to re-live." Yes, it was that... but it was also the fear of telling Christine. What would she think of him once she knew that he was kept in a cage as a boy? Branded an animal; a monster. Tortured and degraded daily for entertainment? It wasn't something he was willing to share just yet. Starting to feel claustrophobic just thinking about that cage he pulled out his cravat and threw it haphazardly on the table.
"Just tell me, those old scars that I saw on your back... Did they have anything to do with it?"
Erik flinched.
"Yes." He said.
"I am so, very sorry." Madame Giry began. "You are right. It is on your terms... Now come, sit down and let us discuss a plan."
It was slightly embarrassing to simply sit back down at the table after his performance but a plan was more important than his pride. Christine was more important that anything. Removing his jacket and placing it on the back of the chair he sat down. He was irritated and worked up and he wanted nothing more than to remove his mask, but he could not.
"Now, I think that Christine is right." Madame Giry began. "You should both leave as soon as possible."
"Yes. We will. However... at the present time, and as I have already said, they already know that we are here. If we left right away... they could be waiting right outside and we would be none the wiser. I think that we should wait until the morning."
"The morning?! Erik, anything could happen by then!"
"But I don't think that it will. Why would they warn me with a note? If they wanted to take us by surprise, they wouldn't have sent this." He said, picking up the note on the table.
"I don't know but we can't just wait here! I mean...say that we do wait, and that we manage to escape whoever this is... where are we to go?"
"I... hadn't planned that far ahead..."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm doing my best, Christine."
Truthfully, he had planned their destination. He had a contingency plan but it was a last resort; his childhood home... Of course he would only tell Christine when she directly asked about it and he would not mention the history of the house unless he absolutely had to.
"Christine, be sympathetic."
"No, it's alright Madame. I promised Christine that I would take care of her. She has every right in questioning me."
"I'm not..." Christine sighed. "I'm not questioning you. I'm just so afraid."
"It's alright, Christine." He smiled at her; a strange sight in combination with his mask...
"I have somewhat of a plan... Not one of my brilliant ideas but I believe that it will suffice." He turned to Madame Giry. "It involves you, Madame."
She smiled. "I thought that it might. What is it?"
"It's as simple as misleading them... They overhear us planning to depart at a certain time... we simply depart before that."
"How will we communicate that?" She asked.
"Well... this is where I need your help. Given the circumstances I would say that it is too dangerous for you to travel out after dark, you could sleep on the divan, the couch or take the bed upstairs... You would leave tomorrow morning. Once you are outside you will clearly state that you are going to return in the evening. Christine and I will leave directly."
"That could work." She said. "I will do whatever you need, of course."
Erik smiled gratefully.
"We will need to saddle Caesar up in advance then, will we not?" asked Christine.
"Yes..." He pondered for a moment before speaking. "Perhaps in the morning, we too could announce something. We could actually mention that we are preparing him for later, when Madame Giry would supposedly arrive."
"Yes." She nodded. "That will work."
"We will need to pack any food we can carry... It could be a few days before we reach any sort of sanctuary." It was going to be a few days. Erik's childhood home was in a small town near Rouen and was a few days ride away from Paris.
"But Erik, how will you ride? You found it quite painful last time..."
"I do not have a choice, I'm afraid."
After eating a small dinner, they began to prepare for the day ahead. Erik had packed clothing, medical supplies and food for the journey. He had no idea what they would encounter or what they would need but it would have to be enough; He didn't want to weigh Caesar down too much as he would already be carrying two people.
"You will be sharing the bed with Christine and I will not hear another word of it." Erik smiled.
Madame Giry sighed.
"This is your house, Monsieur."
"It does not matter. You are our guest. Take the bed. It is better that I stay downstairs anyway. I am a light sleeper and have keen hearing. I will be the first to know if anything happens."
"Alright then." She said as she began walking up the stairs.
"As I have told Christine... I have ladies clothing in the wardrobe in the bedroom but no nightwear... feel free to wear anything that feels comfortable."
"I will be there shortly, Madame." Christine called from the kitchen. She walked out into the living area to find Erik in the middle of the arduous process of blowing out all of the lit candles in the room.
She walked up to him as he was approaching the final candle and gently wrapped her arms around him from behind. She felt him immediately exhale and relax to her touch.
He leaned back into her and placed his hands over hers.
"How is the pain?" She asked quietly.
"It's Lessening."
"I cannot wait for the day when you are pain free so that I can properly embrace you."
He smiled.
"This is more than I had ever hoped for." Erik turned around to face her. "I actually keep thinking that I should have less pain than I do. Then I remember that it has only been two days."
"Yes." She said. "It's quite strange, time."
"I had hoped for more time with you."
"You will have... Don't talk like that, you're scaring me." She said, embracing him once more.
"I can't apologize enough, Christine. You deserve so much more than this... and I want to give it to you. Instead all there is... drama, fear. This isn't what I wanted for you."
"Stop that. I told you that I'm happy, didn't I?" She stroked his face gently before reaching up to place a small kiss on his lips.
"Christine..." He began, slightly breathless from such an unprecedented act of intimacy. He was convinced that they would always be like this to him; unexpected. "Did you mean what you said before? When we were hiding? It's been eating at me since it happened... it has been eating at for as long as I can remember. I need to know."
"Yes." She said decidedly. "Yes I meant it." Again, she leaned in and placed a small kiss, this time on the corner of his mouth.
Yes. YES!
She meant it!
She said it!
Love!
Love...
For the first time in his life, he was loved and it was a glorious feeling. If nothing else, he had that.
"Can I remove this?" She asked, gently touching his mask with her other hand. Immediately his hand snapped up to where hers lay. "Please? It's quite dark... If that's what you worry about."
"I... don't know, Christine." He said, stepping back slightly.
"I can't kiss you with your mask on." She said
After a moment of thought he acceded. He wanted nothing more than to experience that glorious feeling again and if that was the only way it could be achieved, so be it... There was always a possibility that this would be their last. Did it really matter if she saw him?
Reaching up once more she moved in to kiss him. He welcomed her mouth gratefully and slowly deepened the kiss. Gently she pushed him backward until he was met with a wall. Dropping his mask and wig carelessly on the ground he held her.
What did it matter?
What did anything matter?
She loved him!
He wouldn't let things go as far as they did last time. He could not afford to lose control; not now... not tonight. He could not afford to lose himself for a moment. Regretfully he broke the kiss.
"I love you..." He breathed against her cheek before burying his face in her neck.
"I love you too..." She repeated for the first time. Only after saying it aloud did she truly realize how much she actually felt for him.
She could not lose him.
She could not.
Claude had followed them until they had left Paris. He had reported his findings, as instructed and had led the rest of his men to where he had last seen them. The route they had taken only led to a handful of houses and finding them afterwards had not been a difficult task at all. Surely the Phantom of the Opera should have been harder to track down...?
"Let's do it now!" One of the men whispered to another.
"No, we wait. His orders."
"Will you two be silent?" Claude whispered; pulling his jacket tightly around him as a particularly icy wind blew through him. "What do you think He would say if it was all ruined because they heard the two of you?" The two men fell silent. "It is the same for all of you! Silence!"
Darkness surrounded them as they waited.
Waited for the man who had so wronged them those many years ago...
Waited for Erik...
Waited for The Devil's Child...
