Chapter Nine

Diana woke having the most awful headache she had ever had. She tried to open her eyes, but they seemed to have been nailed down. Her whole body ached. She said a very short silent prayer, "God…help me".

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Erik wondered why he hadn't received another visit or letter from Diana in so long. It left his mind wondering. It gave him many sleepless nights.

He decided that he would never have a moment's peace until he wrote her.

With a sigh, he reached for a pen and paper, and began to write.

Dear Ms. Callister,

You have astounded me by not giving me another visit or letter. Please do not think I am asking you to come. I don't know why I feel like this, but I feel like I owe you an apology. I am sorry for my awkward behavior. You have absolutely NO idea what I have been through in my life. Sometimes, I wonder why I am still alive, why I shouldn't just kill myself now. I have come to so many times where I am just about to pull the rope, or cut my wrist, but, seemed to feel like I don't want to, for there could be some point in my life where I would actually enjoy it. How I long for that moment, though I fear it will never come. Thank you for caring, but please, spend your time on other matters.

Goodbye,

Erik

After re-reading the letter, he folded it, and dressed himself to deliver it.

"Why am I doing this?" he thought.

Ignoring himself, he slipped out of the door. He asked a young man if he knew where Diana Callister lived, and handed it to him to deliver it there for him.

He quickly retreated back to his' home. On the way back, he tried to find some purpose to live, and seemed to find absolutely none.

The urge to commit suicide was very strong, but he seemed to feel the need to wait, and he had now idea where it came from.

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It had been a week. Diana was still in recovery. The doctor was worried.

Ms. Anna Lilac was always in her room, assisting her in whatever way she needed to be.

The doctor said her illness was caused from a mixture of immense stress and a strong cold, most likely developed from lack of caring for herself.

One morning, Diana felt a strange fluster all throughout her body. She seemed to feel the presence of the Lord, and she realized her strength was coming back to her.

Her eyes opened, and for what seemed an eternity ago, she could see. A smile slipped across her face. The next thing she knew, Anna was at her side, with tears streaming down her face.

"O, O Diana! You, you gave us all such a scare! I , I will be right back!"

Next came Madame Clark, saying, "Praise the Lord! My dear, o, I was so frightened!"

After kissing Diana's hand, she said, "Anna, go fetch the doctor at once!"

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"Well Ms. Callister, you gave us quite a scare. You must take better care of yourself. You need to eat more. I am guessing you were under a lot of stress lately?"

She gave a weak nod.

"Well, we can't have that", he replied with a smile. "I want you to drink plenty of liquid and eat lots of nutritious food. Get plenty of rest. I will be back tomorrow to check on you."

"Great. Now I will have Madame Clark and Anna forcing food down my throat," she thought, with a smile across her face.

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After some time of doing nothing but resting and eating, Diana became restless. She had read the letter Erik had sent her, and had been debating on whether she should send a letter, or pay him a visit.

When she continuously asked if she could go out for a walk, and always received the same abrupt answer of no, she decided she would just have to sneak out on her own, early in the morning.

Early one morning, she decided she would pay Erik a visit, though he, more than likely, will not enjoy it.

As she slowly walked out of the house, she felt the urge to run in the cool, crisp air she had not felt in so long. She walked in silence to his' home.

Once she reached it, she took a deep breath, and knocked on his door.

"Umm, excuse me, Erik? It is me, Diana Callister."

In a few seconds, the door slowly opened, revealing a very angry and annoyed man.

"Hello," Diana said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she could, " I am dreadfully sorry I never wrote or visited you sooner, you see, I have recently been, according to my doctor, extremely ill. I had to come here on my own, against every one else's will. How are you?"

Erik debated on if he should speak, or slam the door in her face. He thought of how she said she had recently been "extremely" ill, and wondered if she was fatigue from her walk here, and didn't feel like having her pass out in front of him, making matters worse.

He examined her, and noticed she looked quite exhausted, and decided he would let her in.

" Come in and sit down. You look like you are on the verge of fainting, and that would only make matters worse for me."

Embarrassed, she walked in.

The place looked nothing like she suspected. The walls were covered in beautiful drawings.

"Wow, it's, it's beautiful. Are… you an artist?"

Not feeling sociable, which he never is, he remained silent, hoping to make her feel even more awkward, and give her the feeling to leave.

"I cannot draw whatsoever." She said, with a light laugh.

Diana noticed the sheets of music on a table nearby.

"Do you write music?" knowing he would not reply, she went on saying, " I find music my only true friend at times. We share a deep connection, which… roots to my past."

After a moment of silence, she continued, " I play the piano, not very well. My, my uncle taught me. It was our passion. He was the most excellent pianist. I admired him. He was the father to me, that I never had."

Erik noticed the massive change in her mood, and manner of speaking. He figured that she must have had a deep relationship with this man, and that he must have died.

"Erik, I have no idea what you must think of me, for I would probably think I was a complete fool if I were you. But, I, I happened to come across an article in a newspaper," she pulled in out of her pocket, and handed it to him, " this, is about you, isn't it?"

With a sudden fear of who she really could be, he snatched the paper from her. After reading the title, he knew this girl must be working for someone, or she was a genius.

Diana saw the anger run to his face. She then realized that he must be assuming that she was there to turn him in, and began to look for something to say that would make it clear to him that it wasn't true.

"O, but you must not think I am here to turn you in? O, I hope you don't! That is not my intentions at all. O, what a fool I am, I never think of alternatives, I am so sorry. I, I do truly just want to be your friend. Part of this, is probably because, I want someone to talk to."

Erik felt the immense fear slowly go away. The innocent look on her face, made it clear she wasn't there to turn him in. He leaned back and stared at her. He wanted to know more about her, for he seemed to feel like they had something in common, and he had now idea why.

"Please," he said, " Don't worry. Just… please…tell me about yourself? About your past".

Stunned, she said, " Why…of, of course."

"My father and mother, were married through an arranged marriage. They at first didn't have any trouble with it, but, gradually began to hate eachother. Before this, when they were first married, my mother became pregnant with me. When I was born, both my parents were awful to eachother and me. I can remember them, beating me, and always yelling at eachother… it was awful. They made it clear, that they hated me, and wanted me gone… I can remember, once, when they locked me up in a room, for three days, without food or water, because I fell asleep during my chores… I, thought I would never be happy. But, when my parents finally went their separate ways, they left me,… to my uncle. He was, completely the opposite of my father. He loved me, cared for me, everything a father is supposed to do. He would stay up with me at night, when I would cry about how my parents had treated me in the past. He gave me life. He brought me to Christ, which has changed my life. He taught me how to play the piano, and how to sing. Music was his' passion, and it soon became mine as well. He was always singing, or playing his' piano. He was a very wealthy man. He always was giving to the poor, and the church. He would take me on walks, and "adventures" in the woods. We would play tag, and all sorts of children's games. I remember, lying on the grass one night, staring up at the stars, and the moon. Ever since then, we had always called the moon, "our" moon….Every time I look at it, I think of him. AS I grew up, he was always there, playing with me, teaching me more and more about music, singing, and the piano. He provided me with an excellent education. During my whole childhood, I had a friend named Anna Lilac. Her family was true friends with my Uncle. She would always be over, playing with my uncle and I. I thought my life would always be perfect, but I was wrong, very wrong. When I was 15, he caught a terrible sickness, that had him always in bed. When the doctors saw no hope of improvement, my life was crushed. I continuously stayed by his' side, until he died….I can remember, the day before he died, he called me to the side of his bed. He looked up at me, and smiled. He talked about how much joy I had brought him in his life, and how much he loved me. He told me of how he was going to die very soon, but of how I should never quit believing in God, which he knew I wouldn't. He told me of how he was going to send me to a woman called Madame Clark, to live with.….I can remember how hard I prayed that night for God to heal him, and the despair and horrible feeling I felt when I was told the next morning of his' death. When I was sent to live with Madame Clark, I remember, I had the house to myself. I went to her Pianoforte, and played and singed the whole time, with every bit of passion in me. When I finished one song,…I remember crying till there seemed to be no more tears left in me. After a few months or so, I slowly began to recover, and began to enjoy life somewhat again. Anna went off to schooling, and returned to worst flirt in the whole country, I was convinced. She had changed so much, wearing the big fluffed, bright-colored dresses. And there I was, inn my green and brown dresses. She is still to this day, trying to change me, along with Madame Clark. I think I disgust them."

She then grew very silent, and solemn.

Erik noticed how her emotions changed throughout the entire story. How she looked so very hurt when she talked about her birth-parents, happy and cheerful when her Uncle adopted her, about to burst into tears about when her uncle died, and slightly happier when she talked about Anna.

He then found them quite similar, in their pasts.

He looked at her hard, trying to soak in all he had heard.

"What about you, Erik? I only, know a little about your past. Please do tell me about it."

He didn't want to, but he told her all about his childhood abandonment, how he was sold to a traveling fair, tortured, and how he escaped, living in the catacombs of the opera populiare.

When he finished, he saw a single tear fall down her cheek.

"I am so sorry, I had no idea. I thought my past was bad."

"It was, mine was just worse."

She smiled at him, a sympathetic smile.

"I, truly should be going back now, for I will already be fussed at enough. Thank you, for letting me come by, I have had a very nice time. It is so nice to finally get out of that dreadful place."

"No, thank you for coming. I must confess…that I did find you very annoying, and wanted you to leave me alone, but, now, it is very much the opposite."

Diana smiled at this.

Once she stepped out of the door, she held out her hand to shake his.

"Well, it was a pleasure to actually get acquainted with you, and I would very much like to get back together sometime, it felt very good to have someone to release all that was in me to.

"The same here, Goodbye"

With a smile, Diana walked away.

Erik felt so strange inside, actually having someone to talk to, release all of the emotions inside of him to. He knew that he shouldn't be trusting her, didn't even know why he was, but, he knew somehow that she was no trouble or threat, he could tell. He smiled, for what seemed an eternity since he had, and closed the door, hoping to see her very soon.