Disclaimer: I do not write for profit, fame, to infringe copy writes, or for a shady organisation of any form.
A/N: There may be a little more Susan Kay history to Erik now…
Chapter 7
Leah woke to the gentle lapping of water at the shore of the Lair.
This time, she readjusted almost immediately to her new (or as she assumed it now was…) 19th century home.
She pushed back the silky red sheet and noted that she was wearing a clean white shift, and she knew this was not what she had fallen asleep in.
Erik closed the lid of his organ when he heard movement from the bed, and walked over with the silence of a cat.
He noted Leah's puzzled expression at her clean clothes, so said quietly,
"You came down with fever in the night, I though it best that you be in lose clothing… Rather than in your day-dress…"
Leah started at the sound of his silky voice –she wasn't sure she'd ever get use to his silent ways- and her sluggish brain took a few moments to compute his statement.
Her gaze flew to the crumpled blue garment at the side of the bed, then her mouth fell slightly open, and a look of violation entered her eyes.
"Oh Mademoiselle, you have nothing I have not seen before in the harems of Persia,"
Leah might have chuckled at his tactless response had she not felt so awkward, and as he came towards her with a caressing hand, she reached out her own hand and slapped him on the left cheek.
It filled the cave with its short sharp sound, and Erik recoiled, holding his cheek in surprise.
"Leah! It was either this or remain extremely ill!" He said with barely suppressed anger in his voice.
Leah gulped, not sure what she had just done… Had she hit him?
Erik narrowed his eyes; turned, and swept from her sight, with a curt "I will be back later."
Leah sat almost perfectly still in the large bed, and felt very alone, with only the sound of dripping water and her breathing splitting the silence.
Leah had settled back into the masses of soft pillows, and must have fallen asleep, for she dreamed, of flittering glances of her Angel and home.
When she woke, she found that she was still alone in the silent cave. She picked up a roughly bound book placed on the nightstand beside the bed.
She opened its yellowed pages to a spread of a detailed sketch of the Opera Populair.
It was perfect; every statue and awning was flawless. She continued to leaf through the book slowly, savouring the wonderful drawings, which were accompanied by measurements and numbers pointing to various parts of the pictures.
Leah came to the decision that this was one of what appeared to be Erik's Architectural logs.
As she was engrossed in her reading, she missed the return of Erik to the cave, and she began to unconsciously hum a tune she had heard so may times before.
In moments Erik was at her side, grabbing her wrist, demanding violently that she tell him where or who she had gotten the tune from, the same betrayed anger of before returning to his face.
"I…I…" She stuttered, transfixed by Erik's face only inches from hers. "It was a song that came from my other world… By a famous composer… It is called 'All I As…'"
Erik's look slackened, and he strode away from her, muttering quiet things such as "Only a song, only a song… Not her, not her…" he slumped at his organ, his fingers hovering over the keys.
Leah ran a hand over her left arm, checking the bandages were still tight, and pushed aside the covers. He swung her feet to the stone floor, and stood on unsteady legs.
She tiptoed over to Erik's side quietly, eyeing the keys carefully. She had never been a Piano player, but she leant over his shoulder and tapped out the first six notes of the main tune after the scales.
Erik did not turn his head, but nodded slightly at this. "You play?" He asked.
She shook her head. "No, just that and Mary had a Little Lamb."
"What?"
"Never mind." She smirked.
"Sing for me." He said reflectively, as if the though had just dawned on him, but Leah knew that this subject must have been niggling at him since her arrival.
He played the cords of his song, giving Leah a moment to settle in to the music, then she sang the familiar words,
In sleep he sang to me,
In dreams he came…
That voice which calls to me,
And speaks my name…
And do I dream again? For now I find,
The Phantom of the Opera is there inside my mind…
Erik stoped playing, the last notes echoing into oblivion, and sat appearing to think.
Her lower register was unsteady but there, and she had unspeakable trouble with her high notes…
"I know I'm no Christine," Leah said, "Singing is not really my forte."
Erik flinched at the name, but looked at her earnestly. "No, I have heard worse, but I am afraid you lack a star's voice."
Leah shrugged. "Play something else, something… happy." She longed to hear Erik play, to see his fingers glide over the organ was like watching two parts of the one object. It was magic.
Erik scoffed at the word 'happy', but all the same placed his fingers on the keys again, and began to play a sweet tune.
Slowly, Leah swayed, then began to dance; sort of half Irish dancing, half ballroom.
Erik's eyes followed her around the confined space behind the piano… She had natural grace, but was clearly untrained.
He imagined her in a glorious dress, twirling on the floor at a masquerade ball, masks all around her, his own just another to add to the scenery… Somewhere even he could fit in with a beautiful partner…
He stopped playing, and Leah opened her eyes. Erik stood towering before her, his face expressionless. She was about to cower, ready for some for of outburst, but none came.
He opened his arms, inviting her in, as she had seen so many male dancers do in movies, shows, and even her own fleeting dance lesson (Something she preferred forgotten)…
She looked at him silently, then slowly and clumsily, took up his hands.
"You dance wonderfully." He said, looking directly at her. Leah felt slightly uncomfortable at such close scrutiny.
"Hmph. That's not what my dance teacher said. She kicked me out after I knocked down a whole row of dancers, and told me I had the rhythm of a stranded hippopotamus."
"She did not give you a chance. You have natural rhythm. You just need to be taught to bring it out…" He began to lead with his left foot as soon as he finished speaking, and oddly enough, Leah found she could follow him.
"But Erik, the music…"
"Hush, listen, can you not hear it?" he continued his slow dance, and despite herself, Leah listened.
Erik hummed a tune for a second, then ceased, yet Leah could still hear the soft melody.
She shook her head, then looked at the organ and the Monkey Music Box, but both were motionless.
The melody sped up, and Erik accelerated the rate of their dance. Leah tripped over his foot, and almost fell down the stairs, but Erik caught her, and straightened her to dance again.
He smiled a small smile. "Clumsy," He whispered.
Leah put her head on his shoulder, and again, he moved his feet in time to the silent music.
"Oh Leah, I could teach you… So many things…" He sighed.
Leah stopped dancing, and stood back, although her hands never left his. "Erik?" she questioned, rasing an eyebrow.
He though about what he had said, and hung his head. "I forget you do not know the monster under the mask… If you did you would fear me like the rest of the world."
"That's not what I meant… But I do not care what is under the mask! I know you, and you do not frighten me… I know the man behind the mask."
She put a hand to cup his masked cheek, "And I am falling in love with him."