Erik's heartbeat turned rapid, and for a brief moment she could see his glowing eyes, before he turned away and pulled out of her grip. She can't see me! That's what always has turned everything sour. If I do not let anything happen beyond advice and help behind the scenes, surely it cannot go wrong that way. He ran down the alley, head in hands. And she touched me! Oh, what can she think? How can I come again? Will the world be over?
Eponine gasped, pulling back. Wait! she wanted to cry, but couldn't, shocked. She watched the darker shadow rush away, and finally found her legs, running after it.
Erik turned a corner and ran along into a dark, sooty, industrial part of the city. She can't see me! Well... at least she cared enough to run after him. Perhaps, if he hid, and waited, she would be more receptive, the next time he sang. But her eyes can never see the horror of Erik.
She rounded a corner blindly, thinking of the frightening, piercing gold lights she'd seen in the shade. "Where are you?" she panted quietly, looking around. Not receiving a response, she leaned against a wall.
The air became thick with belching smoke from the factories. Erik held his breath and found a secluded entranceway, where he sat.
Eponine hoped that the thing... the person... could hear her now. "I want your help," she said quietly. "I don't like asking for help, but... Marius... I need help." She sighed, not wanting to admit that. "I need a plan..."
Erik spoke this time, though with a soft, melodious voice. "Then I will help you. Tell me everything... what you want, what stands in the way, what advantages you might have... and I will see that your wish is granted."
Eponine couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, but decided to tell it everything. "There's a man...his name is Marius, and he's very smart and so handsome..." She sighed. "He doesn't love me. He doesn't even like me; he thinks I'm ugly, I can tell. He loves a girl, younger than me, her name is Cosette, but he doesn't know that. I don't know what to do..."
Erik nodded; he had suspected most of that. "Where might I find this Cosette?"
"The house with the gate at the Rue Plumet," Eponine answered unthinkingly. "Are... are you going to hurt her?" she asked after thinking a moment.
Erik stood, the soot stirring slightly, then paused. "Would you want it?"
"No," Eponine replied firmly. "I... well, I just want Monsieur Marius to be happy. I don't want Cosette hurt. But what are you going to do? Oh, this would be much easier if I knew who you were!"
"You want Marius to love you... don't you?" Erik sighed. Wouldn't that be the greatest thing in the world, to be loved? And if he could help someone else be loved... that would be the second-greatest.
"Yes," she replied. "But what if this is a joke? I bet it is. Do you work for my father? Are you spying on me?"
"How can I prove to you that I am not?" Through the smoke, the golden eyes were like embers.
"Show yourself!" She repeated it for a tenth time.
"No. Anything else." Erik stepped back, deeper behind the smoke, the eyes dimly visible as a diffuse scattered glow. "It would be our undoing."
"Why are you scared?" she asked curiously. "I want to know who you are, right now."
"I am the Angel of Music. There is nothing else you need know about me." Erik sighed. "It is for your own sake."
Eponine groaned. "That's not fair... I want you to help me, and I know you're a person... I felt you. I..." She thought of something that might persuade him to come out. "You were really cold, and bony. Do you ever eat? I know I never do." She shrugged. "Ah, well."
The golden lights turned aside. "No, it isn't fair... but you would hate me if you saw me, or be frightened..."
"If you were who I think you are, I would hate you. But you say you're not..." Eponine replied firmly. She looked at the two floating lights. "Are those your eyes?" she asked. If they were, then he couldn't be... anyone she knew...
A deep, heavy breath. "I am barely a man..."
"Do you have a name?" she asked as a start. "I mean a real name, not the Angel of Music, or whatever it was..."
The golden lights grew fainter, as if he moved deeper into smoke, or they became overlain with something else, perhaps tears. "If I were to tell you, then I would be a person to you, and not a savior." But already it is too late.
Eponine felt an odd feeling for this entity; a mixture of creepiness and pity. "Why can't you be human?" she asked after some thought. "If you're going to help me, why can't you tell me who you are?"
Erik tried to be human once, but he failed. Now he must not even be Erik. But he could not explain this to her. The smoke drifted between them for a while. At last, in a haunting phrase of music, so soft her ears could barely catch it, he sang "goodbye" and the lights were gone.
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. All that was running through her head was: Marius, Marius, this ghost said he'd help me get Marius! He said, and I wanted his name! Why didn't I just do what he said!
"Wait!" she cried. "Please! Please...!" There was silence and she fell against the wall behind her, shocked. It couldn't have all been her imagination; she'd touched this thing..."Please..."
No answer greeted her. He had gone.
Eponine sighed again, and gave up. She'd had her chance, and maybe the person could have helped her, but it was over now. Marius would never love her.