Through My Eyes...
A/N: Just a quick chappie for those who reviewed :D I love you all, my friend suggested that I upload this faster, so here it is! Enjoy. ^-^
Monica walked slowly through the catacombs, the little light that was available was now gone, and pitch blackness replaced it. She guided herself by running her hand along the walls, the Phantom simply following behind waiting for her to give up and allow him to lead.
She stopped however when scurrying reached her ears, her whole body going tense. She felt something scamper in front of her which sent her into a panic attack. By instinct she gripped his hand tighter and walked backwards to where his form was.
"It is simply a rat," he whispered into her ear as she backed up even more. He resisted the urge to sigh, he started to walk first as she stopped him hesitantly.
"They are not going to eat you," he chuckled; he looked back and with his enhanced vision managed to see her frozen form shaking in the darkness. He tilted his head curiously, he had never seen someone so horrified of rats before, but then again, there was a first for everything. Perhaps he had gone too far with the whole carnivorous rat joke.
"Come along, child," he whispered back to her letting go of her hand as she instantly clung to his side, her shaking hands gripping his vest, "this calls for an explanation," he said looking down to her before looking up ahead trying to see where they were and where they needed to turn to reach the upper levels.
"It's nothing," she replied shakily her eyes darting around for the slightest hint of movement. She didn't want to recall the death of her parents at the moment or how she had to recover their bodies. Nevertheless the images of the filthy rodents around their bodies plagued her mind; she didn't realize she flinched physically. She recalled the bites she had received while pulling their bodies away from the filthy rats, their beady little eyes glaring at her in the darkness.
The Phantom remaining quiet as he felt her body flinch, he was about to question her once more until he heard her sniffle. He stopped walking and turned to look at her in concern. He remained silent as her crying reached his ears. He in turn merely closed his eyes and tried to block out the sounds, his jaw clenching every time she sobbed. He hated to see her like this, and it hurt him even more to be unable to do anything.
"I believe that this is something," he told her as she tried to pull herself together. How she broke down this easily when he was around amazed her, something about his presence simply made her feel like she could tell him anything.
"Can we please just talk about this some other time?" she murmured back not wanting to remember that fateful day any longer.
"As you wish," he replied taking his hand and brushing it over her cheeks. He could feel her smile weakly as her tears were wiped away. She took the hand he had resting on her cheek and lowered it once more.
"We have to get somewhere remember?" she told him shyly as he merely shook his head slightly. She was right, how could he forget like that?
He merely nodded, by this time she could make him out in the darkness. He started to walk once more, this time leading the way as she followed behind, her arms wrapped around on of his own as he led them thorough the catacombs faster than before, for her sake and Kiri's.
They reached the top levels of the Opera Populair in no time since the Phantom had led the way, they currently walked through the prop rooms, the stage in sight as he let go of her hand and allowed her to walk ahead.
She tried not to sprint to the stage as the Phantom stayed behind watching the scene from the shadows. Judas looked up once he heard someone on the stage.
"I'm glad to see you," Monica exclaimed with joy as she jumped off of the stage and ran over to Judas. He caught her and spun her around laughing. It was good to have their leader back to the way she used to be.
"Good to see you too, baby," he replied with a smile as he held her close. She pulled away from the hug and looked at him expectantly. It seemed to take him a little to realize what she was asking as he turned and motioned towards a seat in the audience.
"She fell asleep waiting for you," he told her as Monica's eyes landed on Kiri.
She stared at the child before her, sleeping on one of the seats with her teddy bear in hand. Judas' jacket acting as her blanket. She seemed so innocent despite everything that had happened to her. The world hadn't tainted her pure soul just yet, and Monica was grateful for it.
"You can leave now, tell Lucifer to bring my bike around when he has the chance," she told him as Judas nodded.
"I'll see you soon then, babe," he told her pulling her close and kissing her on the forehead. Monica hugged him in return, she loved the man dearly, she considered him family.
He pulled away and walked down the aisle, she heard the door close behind him before a shadow settled over her form. She didn't need to look by now to tell who it was. The Phantom towered behind her, his piercing gaze locked on the door where they boy had exited through. He quickly dismissed it however, he could tell she wasn't interested in him in a romantic manner; in fact she seemed to treat him like a brother.
He then turned his attention back to the child that slept on the seat in front of him. She resembled Monica in some ways, and in others he guessed she was more like her mother.
"Well, this is Kiri," Monica told him as he crouched down to view the little girl. As soon as he got a good look at her face his mind seemed to finally click, she had been the one to pull on his cloak the other night.
"I see," he replied as he stood to his full height once more, "what are you planning on doing with her," he told her as Monica thought about it.
"I can't wake her, let her dream," she replied as the Phantom nodded.
"We cannot leave her up here however," he added as Monica paused and thought about what he had just said, an idea clicked in her mind but she hesitated in telling him.
"Could you carry her down to the lair?" she asked quietly, he tensed slightly upon that request, seeing this Monica quickly added, "it will only be for tonight, I will take her to my house in the morning…" she begged as the Phantom considered what this might bring.
He paused before looking at Monica, he almost wished he hadn't. She looked back at him with pleading eyes; he looked away but not before his mind had been made up.
He sighed quietly before crouching and picking up the small child in his arms. He started to walk back before he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned to look at Monica who smiled gratefully at him, "Thank you," she whispered as he nodded back and walked towards the entrance to the lower levels.
It took them a while to get back due to the extra weight the Phantom was carrying. When they finally arrived at the lair Monica stopped and yawned.
"There is a bed behind that door," the Phantom pointed out referring to his room. He really didn't want anyone in there, but upon realizing that Kiri would be sleeping on the bed in the Swan room he saw no other place to let Monica sleep.
"Thank you but-" Monica started before he cut her off.
"I'll take care of it, you do not wish to wake her, now do you?" he asked as Monica shook her head and turned her back to him walking tiredly towards the door he had pointed out.
She was so tired that she failed to notice the intricate door that she opened, had she been more awake she would have realized that the room she was about to enter was his.
She turned the blood red doorknob and stepped into pure blackness once more. She gave a shove to the door but failed to notice she left it open as she dragged her feet toward the bed. She collapsed on top of the soft bed and sighed with pleasure as the strong scent of roses filled her senses.
She pulled one of the many pillows to her and sighed in content. She drifted off almost instantly, still unaware that this was the Phantom's room, but grateful that he had let her sleep in such a marvelous bed.
The Phantom on the other hand watched her step into his room and fall quiet moments later. With that he walked over to the Swan room slowly trying not to disturb the sleeping child in his arms.
He crouched once he reached the bed and placed her gently on it. He took off the jacket that had been her blanket and replaced it with one of the silk sheets. He stopped to think as his eyes rested on her peaceful expression. She reminded him of his childhood, when everything had been different. She didn't have to go through all of the mocking that he had to endure, she was perfect just like Monica, beautiful…perfect. He closed his eyes trying to shake the memories of his childhood from his mind.
Before he knew it however he felt a small hand resting on top of his mask. How could he fail to notice she had woken up? How could he not hear her? All of these questions ran through his panicked mind. Before he had a chance to pull away however he felt Kiri pull the mask away from his face.
The whole lair seemed to go quiet as Kiri's eyes starred bewildered at the white mask in her hand. Her eyes blinked slowly as she stared at the intricately made mask, she then realized what she had done.
She forced her scared eyes to look up at the owner of the mask in her hand, and froze at the sight before her...
Review...you know you want to with that ending ^ Let me know your thoughts on the story so far, like or hate? What do you think will happen next? Just review my dears :D