Christine dans Deux
An Alternate Multiverse - A Phantom of the Opera Story
Nyasia A. Maire
© 2006
DISCLAIMER: See Chapter One
Chapter Five – The Phantom's Lair – Revisité
The room is dark, but I know it so well I can easily find my way in the gloom. I walk slowly using my cane just in case Trystin has been here during the day and left a toy on the floor for me to trip over. I stop. The room seems darker than usual and I fancy that I hear the sound of dripping water. The air smells different. So, having the nasty habit of being a smoker, I reach into the back pocket of my jeans and pull out my lighter. I flip open the lid and roll the wheel. It lights. I hold the small flame before me and gasp. Was it that simple? Could I really have crossed over that easily?
Yes, I am in Erik's home, but everything is dark. No candles are lit and all is deathly quiet except for the occasional distant sound of water dripping. I close my eyes and try to sense him, but I feel nothing. He is not here. I am alone. I move to one of the many candelabras, light its candles then move on to the next one, and do the same. I make my way to his bedroom. Empty. I see the maroon towel where I had dropped it the night before. I bend and pick it up. It's still damp, so I was here just last night. But where is Erik?
I toss the towel over the back of the room's one armchair and hobble to the bed.
"Erik?" I call gently and hesitantly into the unearthly stillness of the room. "Erik?"
No reply. Not that I expected one. I can feel the emptiness all around me. It matches the hollow feeling in my heart. I sit on his bed and then lie down drinking in the fading scents of our previous night's lovemaking. I draw the sheets about me and find (much to my surprise) that I'm crying. Another love gone. One night wasn't enough, but it seems that is all I will have.