Chapter 5

Flashback to… July 17

I awoke to the sound of a crackling fire but kept my eyes firmly shut. Confusion and some contentment settled over me. Maybe it had all been a dream… Maybe I hadn't been kidnapped, abused, and raped. Maybe I was laying in my comfortable bed at Aunt Giry's…

Though it was nice to imagine such fantasies, that's all they were- imaginings and fantasies.

In reality, there was so much pain in my left wrist, I couldn't help but wince. I had an excruciating headache, and, the proof that I had very much been violated, my thighs and insides ached horribly.

All that being known, I knew I wasn't at Aunt Giry's. The crackling of a fire was very real, and the feeling that someone was nearby wasn't false.

Finally, I decided to open my eyes. Better not to let my curiosity linger… The first thing my green eyes viewed was a vaulted ceiling. One could only call it 'elegant'. I blinked several times to focus, which made my head ache even more, and turned my focus to the right. There was a fireplace. A nice fireplace, too… Where am I?

"Ah, you are awake," a voice spoke, interrupting me from my thoughts.

Sitting up abruptly, I turned and saw where it came from- an armchair to the right of the couch held an imperial looking man in all black. The clothing looked to be very formal, and a white mask covered the majority of his face except lower jawline and mouth. Black hair covered the top of his head and shagged down to a little below the eyebrows. Light blue eyes stared at me intensely from behind the mask. The kidnapper…

I immediately stood, no matter how much it hurt, and backed away from him with my right hand covering my mouth. "No! Please, leave me alone!"

The man stood and slowly approached me while I continued to back away. "You were the one to intrude on my property." His tone was surprisingly calm but held a certain menacing intensity to it, which caused me to listen intently. It was overwhelming.

"Don't hurt me again!" I ran to the nearest door and turned the knob. Locked! "Oh, God, no!" I pounded on it with all the strength my right hand had. "Help me!" I cried desperately.

He crossed his arms and stood still staring at my display. "I will not hurt you."

His voice caused me to stop, and all was silent. How can one voice be so fascinating? "Wh- who are you?" I asked helplessly. But, did I really want to know the name of my rapist?

My question wouldn't be answered, anyway. Instead, he redirected it towards me.

"I must ask you the same question. Who are you?"

How dare he?! Surprised by my own bravery, I yelled, "I asked you first!"

He unfolded his arms and placed them by his sides. "My dear," he said with sarcasm, "You are in my domain, so you shall answer my question."

It was a demand, and… it scared me… "I am not your dear!" He narrowed his eyes dangerously, which caused me to gulp. "My name's Christine," I muttered.

"Well, Christine…" My eyes widened at the way he spoke my name. "Why are you here?"

His avoidance of having anything to do with me was pissing me off. "Damn you! What do you mean, why am I here? I should be asking you the same question! Why am I here?"

"You are here because you fainted in my backyard."

"Yeah, because of you!"

"Your accusatory manner is very unappealing," he said through clenched teeth. "Now, I must ask again, why are you here? What on earth happened to you?" He gave me a once over with his eyes… those light blue eyes…

"You…" Tears ran down my cheeks and blurred my vision. How can he act like nothing happened? "I- hate- you!"

It was as if I had spit venom on his very soul, because he winced and his hand flew to the mask on his face.

For a moment, I thought he would remove it, but, as quickly as his hand was there, it moved back to his side, and he returned to his normal overpowering state.

"I notice you are injured, Christine."

I instinctively cradled my left hand and narrowed my eyes. "No duh, you asshole! You almost killed me!" I knew I shouldn't have let him know that, but it seemed I couldn't care anymore.

"I have no idea what you are speaking of."

He moved closer to me, and I began to shake uncontrollably. "Please don't hurt me," I whispered. Staring wide-eyed at him was all I could do. He reached out, and, before I could scream, covered my mouth with his gloved hand. It seemed just like before, in the woods. The only difference was, he spoke.

"What happened to your hand?" he asked softly while gently taking it with the same hand that had previously covered my mouth.

My eyes never left his hand. It was so graceful… "I- it-.. you broke it," I whispered back.

"I did no such thing," he replied with the same tone as before.

Without thinking, I honestly whispered, "I'm scared of you."

He backed away slightly and said, "Come, I will take you where you feel safe."

I was surprised. "What? Where?" I demanded.

"You will see. But, I mustn't allow you to see until we get there, Christine."

"No!" I yelled, knowing he was about to do something to me. I watched as two pieces of fabric emerged from the pocket of his coat. "No!" Before he could do anything, I ran to the other side of the room. Unfortunately, he was right behind me and gently, yet, with power, placed a hand on my shoulder. "I will not hurt you, Christine."

"I can't trust you! I don't even know you!" Not able to escape his grasp, however, I closed my eyes in horror. I felt the familiar feel of cloth covering my eyes and was fixing to remove it when he took hold of my right hand, the only hand that I could move, and held it. He didn't let go, either, as we began to walk.

The silence was unbearable, so I sarcastically said, "Well, you've just thought of everything now, haven't you?"

I sensed him smirking, and he replied, "I believe so."

Finally, we made it outside, and I couldn't help but notice how hot it was.

"Warm, is it not?" he asked in what seemed to be a conversational way.

"Burning up," I replied coldly. "You've gotta be about to die." He laughed at that, but I continued, "What's with your clothes?"

"What's with yours?" he counter mocked.

His words brought the reality of the situation back to the surface. No more small talk. "You know what's wrong with them! You know what's wrong with me! Why in the hell are you acting this way? I don't get it!"

"Yet again, I do not know what you are talking about. And, I am getting sick of receiving your accusations."

I heard a car door open and gasped as he quickly tied my arms behind my back. My brow furrowed in confusion as I felt his gentleness with my left wrist. Then, he literally picked me up and placed me in what I supposed was the passenger's seat. The only way I could tell he was irritated was by the slam of the car door.

A short time later, I heard him get in, and the engine started. I hated being under his control, but I had no choice. I could only hope he had told the truth about taking me somewhere safe…

--

Hospital Room… July 23

"Interesting," Mr. Norris remarked.

I shrugged, my thoughts focused on the masked man.

"So, I presume he brought you here, since you arrived on the same day. Or, am I wrong in thinking that?"

I looked into the friendly but, at the same time, gruff middle-aged man's face, and it was as if I sort of awoke from a day dream. A day dream about the man in the white mask, who could, perhaps, be my rapist. "Um, yeah, he brought me here. I want to talk about the drive, actually. It was really weird."

"Go right ahead," the policeman said while making sure the recorder was ready.

--

Flashback to… July 17

When the engine of the car started, classical music filled the air and my ears. "You like this kind of music?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes," he simply replied.

Uncomfortable silence went on for quite some time while he drove and I sat blindfolded. Of course, I was scared out of my mind as I couldn't trust him for a second, but the music was helping. It reminded me of past family drives with my parents… before the car wreck.

One song ended, another began. It went on like that for quite some time. I sat chewing on my bottom lip, which was a small habit I had attributed as a child, and he drove and drove. Not being able to see him was driving me crazy. Not that I really wanted to see the man, but I didn't want to be left in the dark, either. If only he hadn't tied my arms behind my back! My left hand was killing me.. Doesn't he know I'm a naturally curious person? I want to see what's going on!

My thoughts were interrupted by the music. The instrumentals to O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini filled the air and my senses. It was one of the songs I used when auditioning for the University of Indiana back in the spring. My voice teacher had made sure I knew it backwards, forwards, and upside down. The entrance for a voice came, and, without thought, I hummed along.

The use of my vocal cords helped to lessen my fears. I always felt as if my heart were soaring when I sang. It felt as if I was in a different world without any cares or worries, and I absolutely loved that feeling.

Eventually, I began singing along instead of humming. I was alone, completely alone, except for my voice and the instrumentals to the song.

By the end, I was smiling. The first smile in days…

When the silence came, however, I was brought back to reality. The sad reality, which was my own...

A blush crept to my porcelain cheeks. Did I actually just sing in his presence? Am I really that retarded? What was I thinking?

I inwardly decided it'd just be better to keep quiet and stay humiliated, so I sat still and waited.

Silence pursued for about a minute while another song played. The minute seemed like a lifetime, but, finally, he spoke. "You can sing," he noted with more than a hint of wonder in his voice.

The blush deepened, but I replied, "So people say."

"How old are you?" he asked.

I figured, since I was pretty much completely under his control, I'd better answer. "Eighteen."

"I see… Are you pursuing an education?"

"Yeah, I'm going to be a freshman in college."

"Where will you attend?"

I was sick of his questions, no matter how much 'power' he had over me. "Why do you care? What's with the interrogation?"

"It is just a question, Christine," he simply stated.

There was a pause, but I finally gave in. "Fine. I'm going to go to the University of Indiana."

"What will you study?"

Never before had anyone been so interested in me. "Um.. I want a degree in vocal performance."

He didn't say anything to that, and I was just as, well, I guess you could say, 'happy' in the silence listening to music.

A long time passed before the car stopped again. When it did, the ignition stopped, as well, and all was silent.

I tensed considerably and waited, as that was all I could do. If only I could see what he's doing!

"Well, Christine, it is time to remove your bindings." Next thing I knew, the blindfold was gone, and so were the bindings around my arms. He studied the suspicious look in my eyes. "I told you, I will not hurt you."

I blinked a few times before looking out of the car window to see where we were. "A- a hospital?"

He was watching me intently. "Yes, a hospital."

"I-.. uh-"

He interrupted. "I hope it gives you the help you need. I will not go in."

I looked at him with questioning in my eyes before turning my head to open the door, although I still expected him to hurt me in some way.

I got out as fast as my body would allow and was about to slam the door shut, but he said one last thing.

"Until we meet again, Christine."

It sent a chill down my spine. What a voice, I thought amazed. With that, I slammed the car door shut and walked as quickly as I could into the ER.

--

Hospital room…

I paused, as that was a pretty good place to stop talking for the moment. Mr. Norris could sense the good stopping point, too. "Well, Ms. Daae, good progress is being made. I- I am optimistic.."

Although his words were meant to make me feel better, that was not the case. How long will this nightmare last? Of course, the physical results would last my whole lifetime.

Mr. Norris was a nice man, yes, but I was really getting sick of talking to him. It was going on three days of reliving the story, the hell, when all I really wanted to do was forget. Well, at least, forget the violence.

I was still very curious as to finding out who the white-masked man was. I still believed he was my initial kidnapper, but there was a certain feeling that made me hesitate on such a thought. A strange sort of hope and realization flooded through my veins. Maybe he wasn't the man who raped me… Maybe he was just the man who saved me! I mean, who's to say there was only one masked man in the world?

"Ms. Daae?"

I looked into Mr. Norris' eyes. "Do you think I'm telling the story well?"

"I believe so," he said while gathering the recorder and his cup of coffee. "Rest well. I'll come back tomorrow, and we'll finish up."

"Yes, Sir," I replied. I couldn't hide the hint of happiness in my voice… 'And we'll finish up'.