Erik sat in my kitchen, every bit as flighty as a stray dog. The way he kept glancing at the doors and windows made me wonder what he expected; did he think I was going to hurt him? Send for the police and chase him out?

I set a pot of chamomile tea on the table and sat across from the boy, pouring us both cups of the steaming drink and watching as he glanced down into the cup hesitantly. "What is it?"

I blinked in confusion. "What is what?"

"This," he said, leaning over the cup and inhaling deeply to smell it.

"It's only tea. Coffee keeps me up at night, but I find chamomile helps calm me down when I'm having trouble sleeping," I explained, wondering how the boy had gotten by in France without ever having been exposed to chamomile tea. Tentatively he took a sip and I watched as his bottom lip twitched some; he seemed to enjoy it, but I couldn't be sure. That odd, ugly little mass covered up any true emotion. "Erik, before we speak any further do you mind taking off the mask? It would be easier to talk if I weren't trying to guess what you're feeling."

Even under the mask I could see the boy's eyes widen and dart fearfully around the room. "I can't. The monster will come."

"Don't be silly, sweetheart," I soothed. "There is no such thing as monsters. At least, not ones you have to be afraid of here," I amended, thinking back to the boy's mother and whatever had driven him away from home.

"Yes there are! I've seen one myself," Erik insisted, his yellow eyes wild with fear.

I frowned deeply. "Where did you see a monster?"

"In the mirror. Mama made the mask to keep the monster away, but it hurts my face. I took it off one day and Mama was very angry. She showed me the monster in the mirror, and it went away when I wore the mask," he explained, glancing to the windows and to the mirror I kept in the hall behind him.

"Monsters aren't real," I promised again, but his insistence made me nervous. "Mirror only show you yourself and the things behind you."

I moved from the table behind Erik to pull an oval mirror off the wall and bring it back. I held the mirror up on the table in front of him and stood behind him, smiling and wiggling my fingers at our reflection. "See?"

Erik shifted uncomfortably in his chair when confronted his reflection. "I'm wearing the mask. The monster doesn't come when I wear the mask."

"I have an idea. Why don't I keep looking in the mirror for any monsters while you take off the mask? That way if I see one you can put it back on before it can scare us," I suggested.

The boy was still hesitant, but he apparently could find no flaw in my plan. Looking as young and frightened as I had ever seen him, Erik reached up gingerly to untie the mask from around his head, glancing up at my reflection to make sure I was keeping my end of the bargain.

I was not prepared for the face of this strange little boy I had befriended. His face was like something out of a nightmare; it was stretched tight across his skin, yellow and misshapen like dripping wax. His flesh was so thin across his cheeks I could see every blue-purple vein fluttering underneath. His yellow, animalistic eyes were deeper set than I had imagined them to be, which explained why they seemed to glow when he wore the mask; an animal's eyes only seemed to glow in the dark after all.

Of course I had expected none of this, but perhaps the least expected feature of them all was the absence of any sort of nose. There was simply… nothingness in its place. A hole, like a gaping wound in the center of his face.

To this day I am ashamed of the way my heart clenched in fear at a five year old boy. I am just as ashamed of how slow I reacted; Erik saw his reflection before I could hide the mirror and froze, gripping the mask in his hands. "Do you see it? Do you see the monster?"

I gaped, struggling with how best to respond; I was not his mother. This was not my responsibility, not my place… but how could I do this? How could I convince this little boy with a broken face, a face that would cause anyone's heart to drop that he was not a monster when I myself had felt a moment of fear at the sight of him.

I covered Erik's hands with one of mine, pulling his gaze away from the mirror to look him square in the ruins of his face. It was sickening, unnatural… but he was still just a little boy. "Erik, what you see in the mirror… That isn't a monster," I said carefully.

Erik glanced back over his shoulder at the mirror as I lowered it carefully so as not to break the glass.

"But I saw—"

"I know what you saw, sweetheart," I continued. "Erik… that wasn't a monster; that was you. That is your face."

The boy shook his head fiercely, strange yellow eyes filling with tears. "No. You're wrong."

"Erik, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I had no idea why you wore the mask –"

"You're wrong," he cried, ripping his hands away from mine. "I'm not a monster."

"No, Erik, you're not a monster," I promise, my heart breaking as I reached out to grab his hands again while he did everything he could to avoid my eyes. "You're not a monster; you're a wonderful, clever little boy. You just… don't look the way little boys usually look.

He began to protest again, but I was desperate now. "No, you listen to me and listen well," I told him firmly. "You are not a monster. Anyone who tells you otherwise is the monster, Erik. They might think you're ugly on the outside, but they are hideous on the inside. Inside," I tapped my finger on his chest just over his heart. "Inside you are the smartest, cleverest, bravest boy I've ever met in my entire life. Do you understand?"

Erik stopped struggling and simply cried in defeat. I pulled him close and let him cry into my shoulder, knowing as he gripped me this was likely the closest anyone had ever held him in his life. I was crying too, and after what seemed like ages I finally took a deep breath and pulled away, wiping at my eyes. In a fluid motion, Erik strapped the mask back to his face and took a steadying breath. "I have to go."

I frowned. "You're not still planning on running away?"

When Erik nodded, I leaned back in my chair. "What did you and your mother fight about?"

"She never lets me do anything. Father Mansart wants to bring in someone from an architecture school in Paris. He thinks I could be a really great architect someday; Mother forbid it," he explained bitterly.

"So you decided to exact revenge by running away," I stated rather than asked, and his nodded his agreement. "Have you thought about where you'll go?"

"Paris, to the architecture school."

"Paris is very far," I pointed out. "Several days trip even if you move quickly. And what if the school doesn't take you? You're very clever, but there will be people who say you're too young," I pointed out, neglecting to mention his strange appearance.

The small portion of Erik's face I could see drew into a frown. "I didn't think of that."

"Even Mozart had his father with him when he traveled," I added, and Erik nodded his understanding. Suddenly an idea seemed to hit him.

"You could come with me."

I shook my head. "I can't, Erik. Even if I could leave my husband here, it would be considered kidnapping. I could get into very big trouble," I pointed out, and Erik tapped his foot thoughtfully. I spoke again. "I have a different idea."

"What?"

"Instead of running away, why don't you come and visit me more often? I can see about writing the architecture school and having them come here to talk to you."

Erik thought this over. "That sounds like a good idea."

I smiled. "I think so too. I'm starving. Are you hungry?"

When Erik nodded, I stood and began to gather ingredients for a quick meal. The masked boy watched as I worked, studying my every cut and pour as I prepared our meal. With a smile I pulled up a chair by where I stood so he could stand upon it and see better. "Do you ever cook with your mother?"

"No. Mama doesn't like me very much. She's not a very good cook," he added, watching as I spread the batter I had made for crepes thin on the pan.

"My father was a chef at the best restaurant in all of Paris," I explained, smiling down to him. "Well, maybe not the best. But I thought it was. I used to watch him cook all the time. I like to think my cooking is part of what won Andre over."

"How did you and Doctor Aumer meet?" Erik asked curiously.

I smiled at the memory. "I was eighteen years old. Mama decided it was about time for me to find a husband, so she set me up on a date with this lawyer she knew. It went horribly. He took me out for dinner and drank far too much. I agreed to go on a walk with him, thinking he would sober up with a bit of fresh air. He didn't. He started getting handsy and wouldn't listen when I told him to take me home. Andre was on a walk in the park with his sister and her dog and saw the whole thing. He pulled my date off me and chased him off, and the rest is history. He's always been my knight in shining armor."

"Was it love at first sight?"

"I think so. When he my date ran off and he turned back to ask me if I was okay we both sort of… stopped and stared at each other for a moment. It was like the whole world stopped for just a moment while we tried to wrap our heads around what we were looking at."

Erik considered this for a long moment while I filled the crepes with the season's first ripe berries and a bit of cream. "Madame Aumer? Do think I'll ever meet someone like that? Someone I love right away?"

"Please call me Collette," I insisted, before pausing to consider his question. "Well, I don't know. I think what Andre and I have is rare. Not many wives love their husband the way I love Andre. For many people marriage is just convenient," I explained, and Erik considered this thoughtfully as we sat at the table again to eat.

"If you and Andre love each other so much why don't you have any children?"

This question dropped my heart so far into the pit of my stomach I could only push my food around my plate. "Well, it's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"…We had a baby. Almost had one, rather. I lost it."

Erik tipped his head as he took a bite, confused. "How do you lose a baby? Don't they cry and squirm a lot?"

I chuckled some, halfheartedly. "Yes, yes they do. I lost him before he was born. It's called a miscarriage. I was about seven months along and one day I couldn't feel him moving anymore. The doctors weren't sure why it happened, just that it did."

This time Erik frowned so deeply I could see bits of his scarred flesh from under the mask. "How long ago?"

"Not long. A few months. That's why we moved here –" I had a sudden thought. "Erik, how did you know where I live?"

He looked down at his empty plate, embarrassed. "I sneak out at night a lot. I saw Doctor Aumer out late one night and followed him. He came back here. I'm sorry," he added quickly, and I shook my head.

"You don't have to apologize. I'm glad you came," I promised with a small smile. Erik smiled back, and I pushed my plate in front of him, taking his empty one. "Eat up. I'm going to fatten you up so quickly your Mama will wonder what happened to her son," I teased, and the boy grinned before tucking away my portion as quickly as he'd devoured his.