Chapter 6 Sweet acceptance

Erick marveled at how light she felt in his arms. She was trembling, and still her breathing was shallow. He spread part of his cape around her body, providing some shield to the cool dampness that came as he descended. His own body ached from the impact of the fall, but he couldn't stop to think about what might be bruised or battered now.

Moving swiftly down the stairs, through each corridor, at last at his boat. He leapt into it. Briefly losing his footing as the boat lurched from the sudden disturbance in it's resting place. Erick stumbled a moment before regaining his balance. Christine didn't seem to notice, she still lay quietly in his arms. He shifted her body to the bottom of the boat, his cloak lying under her to provide some cushion against the scruffy surface of the wood.

Grabbing the pole he propelled his craft through the murky waters. Erick glanced around to see if there was anything else he should take with him, knowing that if by chance someone found their way down this far, he would not want to provide them with any assistance in passage. Satisfied that there was nothing else, he continued, thrusting the boat gently forward through the mist filled darkness.

Erick was scared, exhilarated, and confused, all at once. Normally he was the hunter, not the hunted. Normally his interactions with other humans came in the form of near misses, or in encounters that he had elaborately orchestrated. For the first time in many years, he felt out of control.

His presence had never been as obvious as it had been that night. He had revealed himself to the world. A myth or a legend, question no longer existed. He was not an apparition; he was a man, a man now wanted for destruction and abduction.

The quiet of the darkness soothed his jagged nerves. The only sound he could hear now was the swish of the water that passed beneath the boat. His Christine was lying still beneath his cloak. The utter amazement nearly took his breath away. She had chosen him. When her true emotions were brought to the surface, she had chosen him. She hadn't gazed upon him as a monster, a repulsive carcass, for she knew full well what lay behind that mask. In spite of the flaws of his flesh, she had chosen him.

The length of the river had been quickly managed. Passing the final turn, he pushed the discretely hidden lever to raise the gate at the entrance of his lair. Gliding the boat through the porticos, and towards the shore of his theater. The last time he had brought Christine to this shore, she had sat in awe of him, in reverence of him, drinking him in with her eyes for the very first time, taking him into every pore of her with amazement. How strange now, he thought, to bring her here barely conscious and motionless. Hidden beneath his garment in the boat.

Erick pushed the boat onto the shore, scraping the bottom of it slightly on the jagged rock. Kneeling, he carefully slid his arms beneath Christine, scooping her into them. He stepped out of the boat and carried her to the bed he had prepared for her so many months ago.

A swan lying in a swan, how appropriate he thought. He had carved the bed with his own hands, and procured the red silk sheets that lay over the feather bed. He had hung the dark veil around the bed to offer Christine some privacy and shield from the cool drafts that often wafted through the caverns. As he laid her ever so gently in the bed, he felt the warmth of her body depart from his torso, and it grieved him slightly to let her go. He carefully began to remove the cloak from her face and in its place provide a more proper covering. As he slid the warm, thick, blanket over her, he gazed on her beauty. The soft brown tendrils that surrounded her angelic face, the tender lips, parted slightly drawing in shallow breaths. He reached down and brushed the hair off of her forehead.

Christine stirred, her eyes began to flitter. A tear drew in Erick's eye as he knelt down beside her caressing her cheek. Christine opened her eyes squinting into the golden light of the candle filled room. She took in a sharp breath, looking wide-eyed up at Erick. She felt no fear of him, but was feeling somewhat faint and reeling in all that had just transpired.

"Christine…" Erick let her name drop from his lips in a whisper. She gazed deep into the twin oceans of the fiery blue and green of Erick's eyes. She saw the deep concern in them, and yet the hopeful longings of a soul that had been alone far too long. She studied the curves of his face, the strength of his jaw line. She took in all of his handsomeness as though she was seeing it for the very first time. Indeed, in a way she was. She was looking at him with completely new eyes. No longer afraid, no longer confused, no longer wanting. She had chosen him…him in all of his dark glory. Her guide, her guardian, her mentor….her angel of music…..her one true love.

She tried to raise her head as if to speak. Erick gently touched her lips with the pads of his fingertips telling her in his way, to save her strength. Smiling sweetly, but with an insistence he could not resist, she raised her head again, reaching out a weary arm to pull him to her. She looked deep into his eyes as she brought her lips close to his, uttering the words he had so longed to hear… "I love you too." Her lips pressing slowly and quietly against his.

Erick pulled away just far enough to look into her eyes, slowly opening to meet his. "Christine…." He pulled her up into his arms, holding her as he sat on the edge of her bed. So long he had denied that anyone could ever love him. Least of all this angel. They embraced as she buried her head in his neck. Clinging to him, she began to cry, tears flowing freely onto his exposed flesh.

He was holding her head, the thick curls of her hair woven between his fingers. With the other hand he caressed her back. Feeling the warmth of her tears on his skin, he pulled her away from him, one hand around her back and under her arms, the other pulling her chin up from his chest.

Their eyes met once again, and the tears that were running down Christine's face quickly mingled with Erick's own, blending as they ran down the length of his chest. Their eyes fixed on one another, exchanging thoughts, hopes, and dreams without a word. Speaking volumes with no sound, mountains moving with no utterance.

Erick took her face gently in one hand and lifted it towards his. Without hesitation she responded, closing her eyes only half way so as not to break their gaze. His lips brushed hers, first so lightly that it was barely a kiss. She leaned into him accepting his invitation. Their lips met with pent up passion suddenly being unleashed with abandon. Erick felt as if he were soaring. He had Christine in his arms, and she accepted him, loved him, wanted…HIM.

Christine was alive, as though for the first time. She could barely believe that these emotions had escaped her, that she had denied them, suppressed them, avoided them for so long.

These were the sweetest moments those stony walls had ever sheltered in the many years that they had been home to the Angel of Music. The kiss was long, passionate, and tender. Two souls blending, fusing, merging. Though the room was silent, music raged in both of their minds,…the music of the night. Nothing dare alter the magic in this moment.

Suddenly, Erick startled, jumping to his feet nearly sending Christine to the floor. He heard something. An echo. He turned back to Christine whose eyes were wide and full of fear. Erick jumped down from the pedestal that Christine's bed was lofted on. Moving quickly out to the center of his theater where he could hear the faint sound again. Someone was coming.

There was no time to extinguish all of the candles that were lit. There was no time to hide himself. Christine stood in the doorway to her room, mouth gaping open, looking pleadingly at Erick. His mind raced…what to do first. He ran back up to Christine, pushing her into her bed, throwing the thick blanketing over her, then dropping the dark veil that surrounded it. He wet his thumb and forefinger with his tongue, reaching out to extinguish all the candles in her room. He ran next out to the shore and listened again. The sound was definitely there.

Whoever it was, he knew that they hadn't reached the water, of that he was sure. Erick was so in tune with sounds that he could recognize even distant footsteps, or even the slightest ripple of water in his home. He looked around the room with his eyes darting here and there.

The heavy armored gate at the entrance would provide some time, if whomever was pursing him even made it that far. Disappointed that the many traps he had set failed to foil the intruder. The only one who had ever ventured that far had been Madame Giry, and even she, in her boldness, had never come that far down, always stopping at designated drop-off places, avoiding trap doors and snares, to bring him the items he required.

He first grabbed a satchel from under the organ, stuffing it with sheets of music, pens, and stacks of currency that had been hidden beneath the cushion in his splintering piano bench. He had thought the request for traveling bags to be absurd when he had asked for them years earlier. He never really knew if he would leave this place, thinking it may well one day be his tomb. Placing the filled case up by the mirror, he paused once again to listen. Not a sound.

Moving swiftly, he parted several drapes behind the mirrors beyond the piano. He pulled yet another larger traveling bag from there. He quickly made his way around the cavern pulling things from shelves and drawers as he went and stuffing them into the bag.

Erick turned sharply when he heard a faint but distinct snap, thud, and a splash. Grinning to himself, knowing that one of the last traps before coming to the underground lake had succeeded in catching its prey. Taking in a sigh of brief relief, he placed the second packed bag next to the first. He knew he, no they, THEY, could not tarry there much longer. If one had found it's way this far, there were sure to be more to follow.

Glancing over at Christine's room, he saw her peering around the corner behind the curtain. Erick smiled, and said "it's alright my dear, the sound you heard has bought us some time, but how much I do not know."