On Angels' Wings

Chapter Two

Fourteen Angels

Erik awoke several hours later, feeling rather uncomfortable. His back was aching. His head hurt like hell. I am in hell, he reminded himself. Not feeling like greeting the day, he kept his eyes closed willing sleep to come to him again. But, as always, his body had other plans.

His head began to pound profusely, offering him absolutely no mercy. He brought his hands to his temples and began to rub them. When that did nothing, he gave up and laid his hands at his sides once more.

The surface under his touch felt harsh, cold, and flat. Confused, he forced his eyes open.

"Perhaps it would help your headache if you got up from the floor," a voice said

He turned his head to his right where he had heard the comment come from. His eyes met a torn, white skirt and a pair of olive colored legs that were crossed. He allowed his eyes to travel upward. They traveled past the pink rose colored top, past the olive complected neck until they met a pair of dark, mysterious eyes.

"Good morning," Cielle smiled, "Well, I think it's morning. There's no real way to tell down here, is there?"

Erik groaned as his head continued to hurt. His temples were threatening to break away from his head and run off into the darkness.

Cielle cocked her head to one side. "You fell asleep on the floor. I tried to wake you, but you wouldn't budge."

He looked at her blankly.

"And I certainly wasn't able to carry you."

Without responding, Erik tried to sit up. His attempts were fruitless, however. His strength was completely drained. Defeated, he lay back down on the ground. He closed his eyes once more

"Do you need help?" Cielle asked him

Erik opened his eyes. Didn't she see he was trying to rest?

Despite his efforts, Cielle didn't seem to mind his silence. She stood up and offered her both her hands.

Erik's hands felt heavy as he lifted them and took hers in his own. With a force that surprised Erik, she helped him up off the ground and on his feet.

He immediately felt dizzy and lightheaded. Still holding his hands, Cielle pulled one of his arms around her shoulder.

"This way," she commanded gently, leading him towards his bedroom.

He staggered, still exhausted from the lack of sleep the past few… Erik suddenly realized he wasn't sure how much time had passed by. It had felt like years. No, that couldn't possibly right. Months maybe? Weeks? Days?

"Almost there," Cielle said encouragingly, forcing Erik from his thoughts back into reality

She finally managed to get him up the stone steps, into the room, and led him to the peacock bed. She let his arm fall to his side.

Erik tried to sit, not realizing that he was about to sit on nothing, falling to the ground again.

"No, this way," Cielle said, grabbing his hand in hers and leading him until he was seated on his bed

When she let go, he sat there. His head hurt so much that it had confused him completely. He was in a daze.

"You should rest," she said," You look tired."

He sat there without moving, looking into thin air.

Sighing, Cielle grabbed his legs and managed to put them on the bed. Erik still sat up, looking straight ahead. She gently put both hands on his shoulders and pushed him gently down until he was lying down.

Erik gazed at Cielle as she pushed him down. Time seemed to last forever as she hovered above him. Maybe if I wasn't so tired then she'd be helping me lay down on the bed for an entirely different reason, he thought vaguely staring blankly at her face. Realization dawning on him, he blushed. I must be extremely exhausted.

"Are you feeling alright?" Cielle asked kneeling next to the bed and placing her hand on Erik's forehead and running it down his face. "You're red. What if you're getting a fever? I wouldn't know what to do…"

Erik watched her as she trailed off. "I'll be fine. I'm always fine." Unfortunately, I haven't caught anything fatal enough to kill me and end the misery.

"Well," she said, "you should probably get some rest then."

"Honestly, now that I'm comfortable, I feel restless." He chuckled. Where did that come from? Erik never smiled, never laughed and he most certainly never chuckled.

Cielle smiled at him. "Do you need a lullaby?" she teased.

"I don't know if a lullaby coming from you would put me to sleep or split my eardrums," Erik responded.

Cielle raised her eyebrow in response. "Well, then," she said, "I guess I'll just have to leave you here to your restlessness." She stood up and began to walk away.

As he watched her nearing the stone steps, he felt a sense of emptiness. He suddenly felt abandoned and lonelier than he had ever been in his entire life. And Erik had experienced his fair share of loneliness. "Wait!" he called desperately.

Cielle turned to face him, right eyebrow raised, and a smirk across her face. "Yes?"

"A lullaby couldn't hurt, could it?"

She looked at him for a few moments.

Cielle must have sensed his loneliness, his emptiness after spending so much of his life on his own. He had lost the only woman he ever loved and his heart was a mess. As she looked into his eyes, he was certain that she must see right through him.

"If you insist," she smiled at him warmly. Cielle walked to the other side of the bed and sat down next to Erik.

He couldn't understand why this girl fascinated him. It was a fact that Cielle was beautiful, but so were so many other girls in Paris. She captivated him, and possibly even infatuated him. No, that's not possible, he thought, and even if it was so, she could never love a monster.

"When I was little," Cielle said, forcing him from his reverie, "my father took me to the opera. I don't remember very much. I don't remember the opera we saw. I only remember that I loved it and I happened to remember one of the songs. I hummed myself to sleep every night with it."

Erik nodded, hanging on to her every word.

"When at night I go to sleep

Fourteen angels watch to keep

Two my head are guarding

Two my feet are guiding

Two are on my right hand

Two are on my left hand

Two who warmly cover

Two who o'er me hover

Two to whom 'tis giver to guide

My steps to heaven"

Erik was stunned. Her voice was crystal clear. It was purely angelic. "Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel," Erik stated, hardly able to breathe, "the Evening Prayer."

Cielle shrugged. "I don't know really. I just remember that piece."

"Sing again," Erik whispered to her, "please."

Cielle smiled and sang her song again for him.

Erik was in awe. He was in love with her voice. So pure, so innocent, so angelic, he thought. A voice like that would certainly beautify my music in a way I never imagined before.

Cielle continued to sing, going over the same lyrics over and over again. But Erik didn't care. He held on to her voice, wishing she wouldn't stop.

But, alas, he finally felt the fatigue returning. Erik tried to stay awake, to hear her voice. Nevertheless, he eventually started drifting off to sleep, comfortable in his peacock bed, Cielle's angelic voice lulling him to sleep. For the first time since Christine had left him, he was content, and with that final thought, he finally fell to sleep.

Erik awoke, feeling thoroughly rested. He sat up, glad to find that his temples had stopped throbbing. When he stood up, he discovered the lightheaded feeling had abandoned him completely. He walked over to his armoire and pulled another one of the many white shirts he owned.

Erik pulled his shirt over his head, grimacing as he looked in the mirror. There were scars covering his chest and back, mostly from his childhood, when his parents had beaten him for his ugliness and, after he had run away from home, when the gypsies had whipped him incessantly, before he had made the opera house his home.

Shaking his head, he grabbed a shirt, put over his shoulders and made a move to button it up.

"I'm sorry," a voice said from behind him.

He looked in the mirror first, seeing Cielle backing away from the entryway, her face red. Unable to help himself, he turned to face her.

Cielle was carrying a small tray with crackers and bread. "I found some food, and I thought that maybe you might be hungry."

"I am not," he said simply, continuing to buttoning up his shirt.

"Are you sure?"

"I do not eat." Erik stated simply

"I can see that," Cielle said indignantly, "But, I will not stand here and let you starve yourself."

"Food is just a pleasure, not a necessity."

"Of course it's a necessity!"

"Only when you're starving," Erik said stubbornly.

"Well," Cielle challenged him, "if you won't eat willingly, I am going to have to feed you."

"Since when did you become my mother?"

"Since right now," Cielle said walking up to him.

Erik raised his eyebrow at her. It was comical to see her trying to intimidate him when she was considerably thinner than him and slightly shorter than him.

Cielle raised a piece of bread and placed it in front of his mouth. "Open," she commanded.

"No," Erik said, "I will do no such—"

Erik was caught off guard as Cielle shoved the piece of bread into his mouth. She was smirking at him as he glared at her, seriously considering whether or not he should spit the bread back at her.

He decided against it and chewed the piece of bread slowly and swallowed. "Happy?" he asked her

"Not yet," Cielle said to him, picking up another piece of bread and holding it out to him.

Sighing, he took the loaf of bread and sat on his bed. He ate and Cielle watched, one hand on her hip, until he was completely finished with the bread.

When he finished, she turned and left, saying nothing as she did so.

Erik shook his head. "Now I know why so many complain about having mothers." Suddenly realizing that his shirt was still open, he buttoned it up and left the room.

He stopped at the bottom of the small staircase when he saw the girl. She was by his piano, looking over the delicate pages of his music. It was intriguing to see the way she scrutinized the papers. Then, she ran her fingers over once of the pages.

With his eyes still on her, he walked over to where she stood. She didn't notice, and he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Startled, she jumped and turned her head to face him. "I didn't see you there," she whispered

"I notice that," Erik replied dropping his hand. He then walked away from her and grabbed his cloak. "I'll be gone today. If you stay here, you will be safe. No one comes to these parts."

Without another word, he walked into the tunnels.