Disclaimer: Please don't sue. I don't own POTO... All I own is an overactive imagination.
Summary: ErikRaoul slash.
Warning(s): homosexuality (that's what slash is people, but in later chapters though)
Pairing(s): ErikRaoul
Story note: none that I can think of right now.
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Imaginary Friends
Chapter 02 - Plans
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By: Lucifer Rosemaunt
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Last time:
Erik pushed himself deeper into the corner. He could only guess what his master was talking about with the Comte's family but he knew two things: (1) the Comte's family would be coming into a bit of trouble and (2) when his master was this excited, the beatings were much worse and the ridicule seemed to increase as well.
o.o.o
The Chagny family had arranged for a vacant room in a hotel to sleep in for this one-day excursion. Everyone was exhausted after the whole day of excitement at the carnival. Philippe hadn't mentioned anything about what he had seen to his parents. They were only beginning to treat him like the adult he knew he was.
However, in the darkness of the room, Philippe couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he would see the deformed face of the "devil's child." The frightening thing was not the fact that closing his eyes summoned the image immediately, but it was the clarity with which he saw it. He had not even been that close to the cage to begin with. He could not understand why it was so clear.
He tried to push it out of his mind, but nothing would work. He needed to sleep though. His body was exhausted; it was only his mind that was the problem. The family was going to leave before dawn so that it would not be as hot and they could cover more ground in a day.
He grew frustrated with each passing hour that brought him closer to their departure. It was not as though he could not sleep in the carriage ride, but it would be most uncomfortable. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't four years old anymore. He should be able to stay awake. His father and mother would discuss adult matters while the children would sleep. He would not be asleep.
When he finally felt sleep claiming him, his father walked into the room and shook his shoulder gently. Philippe would have cursed if his father had not been in the room.
"Philippe, wake the others up. The carriage is already being loaded."
He stared at the ceiling a moment realizing that the only light was provided by the candles. He rolled over and stared out of the window. He could make out some stars from his vantage point. It was little wonder he had had any sleep. Though all he wanted was to lie back down, he forced himself to sit up. He could barely keep his eyes open.
Standing up, he dressed himself and was going to head towards his sisters' beds when he realized that Raoul was always the hardest to wake. He was not in the mood to be that frustrated when he himself was not fully awake yet. Except he knew he should wake the hardest sibling first, so, he headed towards Raoul.
"Raoul." Philippe shook him slightly. Raoul was nestled in the sheets and Philippe was tempted to join him. The bed was big enough for Raoul to not even notice. He knew he could not though. He shook Raoul's shoulder again.
"Mmm" was the only reply he received.
He shook him a little harder, "Raoul, wake up."
Raoul swatted his hand away and pulled the blankets over his head. Philippe suppressed a yawn and shook his head. He was awake. Philippe just had to convince his body that he was awake.
He considered just carrying his brother. It would not be difficult, but he decided to try one more time. "Raoul, the monsters are going to eat you if you don't get up."
He saw his brother frown. "Monsters?" He murmured though his eyes were still closed. Philippe doubted that he was even awake. Sighing, he lifted Raoul up and carried him out of the room. He knew he should have just done so in the first place, but Raoul was coddled much too often by his parents and sisters, and even by Philippe himself. It would not do him good in the future.
He passed his mother on the way out. Seeing Raoul still asleep, she took a cloak, tossed it over one of Philippe's shoulders, and wrapped it around Raoul as best she could.
"We're taking one of the newer carriages. I think he'll be comfortable if you lay him down on the bags," she brushed Raoul's bangs and then did the same to Philippe. He frowned at her, but could do nothing else. She turned to leave, "Your father and I will be there momentarily."
Philippe nodded. The moment he stepped outside, he was glad his mother had placed the cloak over both of them. It was quite chilly, and Philippe woke up just a little bit more. The moon and stars were still shining brightly and the streets were completely empty. The carriage waited out front; Philippe did not think he could get used to these larger carriages. Even though it made traveling easier in any weather since both luggage and occupants were covered, they seemed unnecessarily large. Their luggage had been placed neatly in what could have been a whole other seat. The actual seats were two benches that faced each other. Philippe knew his parents would sit on one and he and his sisters would sit on the other. With Raoul asleep, he would take up too much space lying down.
He listened to his mother's advice and placed him nestled between some bags. Philippe was not too sure about leaving him there. What if he was crushed by a falling bag? However, Raoul managed to nestle himself in to what seemed to be a comfortable position. Philippe was tempted to once again just join him so that he could find some rest. He sat down to close his eyes momentarily, but he realized that he had to wake his sisters.
Groaning, he stood up and went back into the hotel.
o.o.o
Erik had been moved to the dark carriage. Little light penetrated the cart but his eyes were already accustomed to the darkness. He had many years to grow accustomed to it. He could see the wood paneling, but that was hardly interesting.
It was late or was it early now? He would usually be asleep by now, fitful as it usually was, since there was nothing for him to do in this bare carriage but sleep. The only things he had with him were the toy monkey, its cymbals, a blanket, and the burlap sack he had removed from his head. No one would be able to see him here, and he hated that sack more than anything in the world. He hated wearing it. He hated the fact that he had to wear it. It was close at hand though when he woke. The cold that clung to the inside of the carriage weather did not bother him, so he hardly needed the blanket, but it provided some cushion against the hard wooden floor. He did not have a hard time falling asleep; it was staying asleep that was the problem. He would be haunted by the jeering faces of the gypsies and everyone who paid to see him. He would feel the beatings all over again, but at least it was sleep.
However, he had heard his master moving about outside. When everyone else had been sleeping, his master had been pacing near his carriage muttering to himself about Comte's and rewards.
Erik did not particularly care about that family. He told himself he was only awake because the last beating had been worse. He had been given some cloth to make some crude bandages to wrap around his arm. The blood had dried quickly. He had to worry though. His master wanted to be rid of him, and whatever happened with that family affected him directly.
He was not sure if he should hope that his master succeeded or failed. He knew what life entailed if his master failed. It was this carnival. He would forever be the monster in the cage that deserved to be beaten. If he succeeded, Erik may be killed or worse, he could be given to a crueler master. He did not know what he wanted. He had called for death many times in his life, and death had not answered. There had to be a reason that he was still alive.
Some hours before dawn, his master had left. Erik watched through the bars of the small window as the dark shadow that was his master left the grounds. He sat back down and closing his eyes, he concentrated on hearing the footsteps that would signal his master's arrival.
o.o.o
The gypsy had easily found where the Comte's family had been staying by paying an eager street rat. He was not quite sure how he would manage to kidnap one of the children without being seen, but he knew he had to. He could not let anyone know what he was up to. The other gypsies would not cover for him. It was risky, but it would be well worth it when he could rid himself of the monster.
It was true that it made money, but he did not want to spend his life with the thing. He could feel the hate in the monster's eyes whenever he beat him in front of crowds. He was weak now and did not fight back, but the fortuneteller had told him to beware. She had told him that he would die by the monster's hands. He was not going to wait until that day arrived. He would obtain a large sum of money and find another means to survive. All he needed was an opportunity.
When he arrived at the hotel, he saw that the luggage was barely being loaded into the carriage. He knew for certain it was the Comte's family because he had never seen such a luxurious carriage before. He hid nearby watching and waiting. Every minute that passed, he was losing hope for his loose plan. It was only when he saw the teenage boy he had seen earlier did he begin to think that what he planned was actually possible. The boy was holding a child, a toddler.
The gypsy crept closer pressing into the shadows. He waited wondering if the boy was going to stay in the carriage. When he left empty-handed, the gypsy knew his moment had come. The carriage had been left unattended. He quickly climbed into the carriage looking around for the toddler he had seen. He panicked when he saw no one, but a moan amongst the luggage grabbed his attention. Seeing the child sleeping, he pulled him out from the back gently so not to waken him. When he realized they would immediately notice the missing child, he quickly tried to make it seem as though the child were still there or else they would find him too soon. He took the cloak and rearranged the bags to make it seem as though someone still slept amongst it.
Luckily, the child was still sleeping. He nervously looked out of the carriage hearing voices coming from the hotel entrance. He grabbed the child and barely made it across the street when the Comte and his wife walked down followed closely by the elder son who was holding the hands of two younger sisters.
The gypsy clasped his hand over his precious cargo when Raoul began to moan again. He held his breath and was glad when he quieted down. He waited nervously until they left. If they realized now that Raoul was missing, he would immediately leave him on the streets to fend for himself. If not, then he was in luck.
o.o.o
Philippe's eyes were closing of their own accord. He managed to lead his sisters to the carriage only because his parents were in front of him. Philippe was losing the battle against sleep. He found himself jerking awake when his head fell forward; it was quite a feat considering that he was still walking. They entered the carriage and his sisters moved to a better sleeping position.
"Is Raoul here?" Philippe's father inquired.
Philippe spared a glance behind him and seeing the cloak covering a form, he answered, "He's still asleep." It was too much effort to turn all the way around. He figured that Raoul must have just pulled the blanket over his head again.
His father signaled the driver and the carriage jerked forward. Philippe felt sleep tugging at him.
His mother smiled at him knowingly, "Perhaps you should sleep as well."
He shook his head and forced his eyes to open wider, "I'm fine, mother."
She did not reply, and a few moments later, Philippe was already asleep.
o.o.o
When the carriage left, the gypsy excitedly rushed back to the fairgrounds. He would leave a note at the hotel for when they returned asking for a sum of money, a large sum of money, in exchange for their son. They did not need to know it was him at all. He would take the child and hide it, hide it… he did not know where he could hide it. The other gypsies would surely notice a child in his possession. They would realize what he had done and he would be left out on the street or in prison.
Unless he hid the child in a place no one dared look.
He walked through the fairgrounds glad that no one was awake just yet. He sneaked to the lone carriage that no one approached but himself.
He unlocked the door cautiously. He stared into the darkness and thought for a moment that the monster was gone. However, it stood up and approached the door.
The gypsy sneered when he saw the sack had been removed from his head. "I have a new companion for you. If he is discovered, I will beat you until you cannot reach for that sack between shows."
With that said, the gypsy placed the child down and none too gently rolled him further into the carriage before closing the door. He locked it double-checking its security.
o.o.o
Erik slowly approached the child. He looked young, very young, and because of the actions of his master, he was waking.
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End Chapter
Word count: 2,327
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A/N: Don't forget to R/R (Read and Review)!
Chapter
review:
Did they have hotels back then? Random thought.
And the carriage thing was hard because Raoul needed to be kidnapped and I could not think of a way to do it without them noticing sooner (lame huh, not the most brilliant plot ever, but the good part is coming up). Thanks for reading (I got a lot of readers and one reviewer… I know there's not much up yet, but a little encouragement would be good… or, or you could just keep hitting the page because I note the number of readers and that's awesome when the number goes up… you know false sense of accomplishment and all).
I was mildly annoyed with not naming the gypsy, but I figured why bother to do that. So he is now known as 'the gypsy'. Any other gypsy would be called 'the other gypsy' – actually, I don't know how I plan to do that.
Oh, and it jumped from character to character. I hope it wasn't too jarring but I put the 'o.o.o' thing… do you think I need them there?