Erik

Even though I was exhausted, I could not fall asleep. I had become accustomed to sleepless nights over the past 6 months. Ever since I lost Christine, I have survived off of infrequent and short rests during the day. Regret surged through my body as images of Christine's horrified face invaded my mind. I will never forget the terror in her eyes when she finally saw me as the monster that I truly am. I blinked back tears and stared up at the cathedral ceiling. As I waited for sleep to come, I could hear the boy tossing in his sleep across the room. Perhaps, I was not the only one being haunted by their demons tonight.

Sleep finally overcame me as the sun began to rise. I could not have been asleep for long when I woke with a start. I had heard footsteps near me and panicked, forgetting where I was. As I saw the boy walking away, the memories from the previous night came flooding back to me. Then, I noticed that he had left a bucket of water for me.

"I could have fetched my own water," I told him stiffly.

"You're welcome," he replied with a small smile.

The boy irritated me. I was not accustomed to kindness. Did he not understand who-no, what-I am? I am a repulsive beast. A child should not be exposed to my monstrosity, let alone doing my bidding.

"I also left some food out for you. I ate earlier this morning," the boy told me.

I grumbled my thanks and silently ate my food. Though I would have preferred to be alone, I appreciated that the boy did not try to make me talk. I have always lived a secluded life and, ever since Christine left me, I never wanted to speak to anyone again.

Upon finishing my meal, I stood up and cleared my throat. "I shall be on my way. I do not wish to intrude upon your hospitality any longer."

The child looked up at me in surprise. "The storm's still pretty bad though. You won't be able to find shelter in this weather. There aren't any places nearby that you could stay." After a short pause he added, "unless, of course, you plan to stay at someone else's home."

I almost snorted at the ridiculousness of his last comment. Taking refuge at someone's home was certainly not an option. Of course, the boy did not know how ludicrous this suggestion was. He was still not aware that I was the loathsome Phantom of the Opera. Nobody else would ever welcome me into their residence. I could not tell him this, however, or he would start questioning my identity. I sat back down wordlessly, knowing that I had no choice but to stay.

As we sat in silence, I noticed the boy tapping his fingers impatiently. I came to the unpleasant realization that, even without knowing the monster that I am, he was growing irritated with my presence. He was merely too polite to throw me out into the storm. Of course, I knew it was only a matter of time before he shunned me, as everyone else had before. Even my Christine. To my horror, I felt my eyes well with tears. I could not help but feel slightly thankful that the boy could not see my weakness.

I stood up abruptly and took a deep breath. "Well, I shall be below in the catacombs," I stated, relieved that my voice did not betray my feelings. Before the boy even had time to reply, I quickly departed with tears streaming down my face.

Lucas

I sat there, pretending to play my organ. I was trying to distract myself from my hunger. I had lied to Erik; I hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. I know that it's bad to lie, but I was trying to nice… Okay, I was also kind of scared that he would get mad if I didn't give him food...

This might be a little mean to say, but Erik made me a little uncomfortable. I was not used to having a stranger in my church, and I wasn't sure if I could trust him. Also, I didn't think he liked me very much; he acted like he didn't want to be around me. I was fine with him avoiding me though; at least he wasn't trying to hurt me.

After he went down to the catacombs, I decided I might as well leave to get some food. It didn't sound like the storm was going to end any time soon, and I needed to eat. I started my usual 30 minute walk to a nearby farm.

The lady who lives there, Mme Dubois, enjoys music and has an old piano. I like her a lot; she's really nice and seems to care about me. I met her right after I ran away from the orphanage and had stayed at her farm for about a week. I loved it there, but then she started asking about all of my bruises and scars. I refused to tell her. Mme and Mssr Boucher told us that they would cut off our tongues if we ever told anybody about what happened at the orphanage. When Mme Dubois kept trying to get me to tell her how I got hurt, I got scared. I decided that it was safer to leave her farm.

After I found the church, I told her that a new family had taken me in. She seemed upset that I was leaving, but she told me to come back and visit whenever I wanted. Now, I visit her often. I play piano for her, and she gives me food.

I arrived at the farm and knocked on the wooden door. When Mme Dubois answered, I could hear the smile in her voice. "Lucas! Come in, dear. I was wondering when you'd come by to visit again! I was beginning to think that you had forgotten where I lived."

As I made my way to the piano, I could smell freshly baked bread wafting through the air. "Of course not, madame," I said with a smile. "I've just been busy."

"Busy in a good way, I hope?"

"Oh, yes. The family and I went for a trip, you see," I invented. "We visited some family friends that live not too far from here."

"That sounds lovely, dear. Well, I certainly have missed hearing you play."

I began playing her favorite piece, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. It's so nice to be playing again, I thought as my fingers glided across the keys. I closed my eyes and felt my soul being carried away by the melody. Even though it had only been a day since I last played, I had really missed it. It had taken all of my self control to stop myself from playing the organ, and it felt like a part of me had gone missing. After I finished Moonlight Sonata, I continued to play some of her other favorite pieces by Mozart and Bach.

After about two hours, I stopped playing. Mme Dubois applauded and cheered, saying, "That was spectacular. You really do have a gift! You should be a musician."

"I am a musician," I said with a small laugh. "I play music."

"No, but I mean you should do it as a job. You could make a lot of money."

I thought for a second before responding, "I don't think so. I really like playing for myself and for the people I care about. I think playing for money would ruin that."

"Okay," Mme Dubois replied, chuckling. "Well, why don't we have some pie then?"

As always, her pie was delicious. After finishing a large slice, I said, "I should get going. My family will be missing me." This obviously wasn't true, but I thought Erik might be wondering where I was. Not that he would really care; he didn't seem to like me very much.

As I said goodbye to Mme Dubois, she handed me a large sack full of food. It was filled with eggs, butter, bread, pie, fruits, vegetables, and dried meat. She always gave me a lot when I visited, claiming that I was too skinny for my own good.

As I made my way back home, the storm was worse than ever. I pulled my cloak tighter around me as the wind whipped against my face. I wanted to get out of the rain as quickly as possible, so I began to run. Big mistake. My foot slipped on the mud, and I felt myself sliding down a large hill.

I lay on the ground for a minute, mad at myself for falling. I was really embarrassed even though there was nobody around to see what had happened. Luckily, I wasn't hurt though. I picked myself up, unsure where I was; I had never gone this way before. I began to shiver, wishing that I was back in Mme Dubois' warm home. Afraid of getting lost, I decided to climb back up the hill and continue on the familiar path back home.

The trip took me longer than usual because of the storm. Not only was I afraid to walk to quickly now, but I was also struggling to navigate with the sound of the storm roaring in my ears. After about an hour, I was finally drawing near the church. Though the storm had started to let up, I was drenched to the bone and shivering violently. Traveling during the storm had been a huge mistake; I felt awful. As I opened the church doors, I felt relief wash over me. But relief quickly turned to horror as I felt hands grab my shoulders and violently shove me against the wall.