Erik's POV

After taking Gustave to school, I wallowed home and lifted the gun from my drawer…Oh, it would end my life in a matter of moments! Everything would be over, and then, I would see my Christine again. The only reason I even had this thing was because I carried it around for protection after being mugged during my first few nights on Coney Island. I pulled back the safety and stuck the pistol against my head. This was the quickest way to my demise…I would soon be with my Christine, and that's all that mattered.

"Erik, what are you doing?" came Christine's frantic voice.

I pressed my eyes closed and squeezed the trigger.

"Doing what I should have done two weeks ago."

"Erik, don't…What about Gustave?"

"Gustave will be just fine…"

"Erik, no…"

Before I could pull the trigger, Christine got a hold of the gun and pulled it away from my head. I refused to let go of the gun go, and pulled it back towards me.

"Erik, stop…"

"Give me back my gun!"

"You don't know what you're doing…"

"I very well know what I'm doing."

Christine and I were on my bed now, wresteling over my pistol. It was up against my chest, when suddenly, I tugged it towards me, only to have Christine's fingers pull on the trigger. A loud blast, agonizing pain, and then nothing at all. The bullet must have entered my chest, for I stumbled backwards and landed up against the wall.

"No…" my angel was crying and holding the smoking gun in hand. "No…"

I placed my hand against my chest and pressed it against my wound. I was bleeding…oh, so much.

"Erik, breathe…" my angel pressed her hand against my wound, looking me in the eyes. I was dying, I could feel it.

"Erik, Gustave needs you…Stay with me."

I couldn't even breathe anymore…I was so weak, that I fell back against the floor, my angel's arms wrapping around my body.

"Erik, you're going to be all right…You're going to be all right, ange…"

My eyes began to close, my life leaving my body. But just before I could black out, I felt my angel's lips press against my own, life being breathed into my injured body. Warmth overtook me, warmth and energy…And then, I was able to open my eyes. My chest throbbed, but when I looked down at my body, my wound was burning, burning and healing. When my angel broke away from my lips, she stood and held out her hand.

"What? What's going on?"

My angel helped me to my feet, caressing my cheek once I was steady.

"When you're an angel, and hurt someone, you can take it back…I pulled the trigger, not on purpose, but it happened. My kiss gave you life."

My chest still hurt, feeling as though I had been hit by a bus.

"It still hurts…" I moaned, taking a seat on the side of my bed.

"And it will, for a while. But you're alive, angel…Why? Why would you want to end your life? You disappoint me, Erik."

"I want to be with you, Christine. I can't continue to live this life without you. I need your company, need your kiss, yearn for your hands against my own."

"I know, ange…I know how hard it is for you to live without me in your life, but you must learn. Leaving Gustave alone will do you no good…it will ruin him. He loves you, Erik. He might not have said it to your face, but deep in his heart, he loves you."

"I won't try to hurt myself again, Christine." I said. "But on one condition."

"Erik, I know what you're going to ask, but I can't…"

"Please," I grabbed her hands and pressed my lips to them. "Please, Christine. Agree to spend some time with me…Agree to love me like you used to."

"And if I disagree?"

"I can't guarantee that I won't attempt death again. For the sake of the child, Christine, agree…Please…"

It took a few moments, but my angel finally nodded.

"I know you're not here, Christine, I know that you're an angel…But it would make me happy to have you beside me in some way, shape or form."

"All right, Erik." She sighed. "But don't make me regret it."

"You won't." I assured, pressing a kiss to her hand again. "You won't regret this, mon ange…"

With that, I placed the gun back into my drawer and turned to face my angel again.

"I have some work to attend to." I said. "I shall see you later."

As I walked towards my bedroom door, I pressed my hand against my throbbing chest. Oh, curse that damn bullet!

"Erik?"

I turned to face my angel. "Yes, Christine?"

"When you return home, put some ice on it…"

I could only smile as I exited my home and headed towards Phantasma to close it down for the season. Yes, life without Christine didn't seem right, but at least she agreed to spend some time with me…Angel or no angel, Christine was my life, my breath and my everything.

Gustave's POV

I stood in front of a classroom, surrounded by children around my age. Mrs. Smith greeted the children and placed her hand upon my shoulder.

"This is Gustave, everyone…For those of you who don't know him, he's Mister Y's child. Most of your parents work for him." She then looked down at me. "Well, Gustave, why don't you tell the children a little about yourself?"

"Um…" I gulped and thought about what to say. "I like to write music and play the piano…"

Just then, a round, pale kid interrupted.

"You're Mister Y's son?"

I nodded.

"Have you seen what's behind his mask?" another child rudely asked.

Before I could even answer, someone else interrupted. "Is he hideous? More hideous than what everyone else has been saying?"

"My daddy said he doesn't have a face." A girl blurted out.

"Children!" Mrs. Smith stepped forward. "Let's be nice to Gustave."

When the room fell silent again, Mrs. Smith motioned me to take my seat. I was walking nervously up the isle of desks, when I was tripped and fell flat on my face. Everyone began to laugh as Mrs. Smith ran up the isle to help me up.

"Children! I won't think twice about placing you all in the corner for time out. Now, let us open our books to page thirteen."

When she situated me in my seat, I wiped my eyes and looked down at my book. Already I hated it! I hated school…Why was I always made fun of? Why was I always taunted? Here I was, surrounded by freaks, and yet, I was still being teased. While I was sitting there doing my work, a crumpled piece of paper landed in front of me. I gasped and opened the ball, only to reveal a stick figure drawing of a monster face with an arrow that spelled out "Mister Y." It hurt my feelings, so much that I crumpled it up and went back to my work. When the bell occurred a few moments later, I stood to my feet and headed towards the small lunch room. The lunch room only housed forty children, all the tables being occupied.

I approached the counter and picked up a container of chocolate milk and walked towards the tables, searching for anywhere to sit. Every seat that was empty became occupied after approaching it, for the children placed their foot or book bag on the empty chairs. Why was I so different? What made me so different from everyone else? On the other side of the lunchroom, I found a small table and took my seat…Alone, I was sitting alone! Upset, I placed my head down on the table and looked out the window, staring at Phantasma. I wanted to be there more than anything in the world…I hated it here, hated it more than anything in the world. When I heard the chair beside me being pulled out, I looked up to see a boy taking his seat beside me. Believing that he was attempting to be friendly, I sat up and smiled.

"Hi," I said. "I'm Gustave."

"Is it true that you're Mister Y's son?"

Confused, I nodded.

"Mister Y is a freak…"

The child then stood up and began to walk away.

"Well, your dad is too!" I cried.

I couldn't take it any longer…I got up from the lunchroom and headed into the hall, hiding in a nearby bathroom. I took a seat on the toilet and buried my face into my knees.

"Gustave, are you in here?"

I didn't know this voice, but pulled my legs up over the toilet to make the stall look empty.

"Gustave, are you in here? I saw you come in…"

"Who's there?" I called.

Suddenly, the door to my stall opened and a little girl with curly black hair and a multicolored dress stood there. She seemed familiar, but I wasn't sure…

"Why are you in here?" she asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and wiped my eyes. "The other children hate me."

"They can be pretty mean." She held out her hand, but I backed away.

"It's all right, I won't hurt you."

"Who are you?"

"Adora, but everyone calls me Addy."

When I didn't say anything, the girl smiled.

"I'm Miss Fleck's daughter."

"Miss Fleck?" I questioned. "How come I never seen you before?"

She shrugged. "My mother always works. Usually, I'm home, doing chores…I try to help her out as much as possible."

"Do you think Mister Y is a freak too?"

"To be honest, I've never met him. Mother always speaks good things of him, so, he couldn't possibly be a freak. A freak, in my mother's eyes is a rude and despicable person…Don't you agree?"

I wiped the remainder of my tears away and nodded.

"Come on, it's recess… I can show you the playground. Do you know that your papa designed it?"

"I didn't know that."

"Come along then…"

Addy led me outside, where all the other children were playing. She brought me over to a set of swings and sat down.

"Well, give me a push…"

I stood behind her and gave Addy a push. When she was up in the air, I laughed, but that laughter quickly came to an end, when I was hit in the face by a ball. It hurt, for I grasped my cheek and turned to see the same boy that had taunted me earlier approaching me.

"Leave it to little Addy to take in the bird with the broken wing…" he taunted.

Addy jumped off her swing and stepped in front of me. "Leave him alone Iggy."

"You and what army?"

"He's Mister Y's son." She growled. "He could fire your daddy!"

"Your dad works for Mister Y?" I asked.

"What's it to you!"

"Whose you're dad?"

"No one you know, freak!"

When Addy continued to stand in his way, he turned, but not before threatening me one last time.

"This isn't over, Gustave! We will come face to face again, and this time, little Addy won't be there to protect you."

When Iggy walked away, Addy led me over to the swing and sat me down.

"Who's his dad?"

"Some guy named Iggy…He's Mister Y's human lizard man. That's all I know."

Addy began to push me on the swing, causing my smile to reappear. "We could be friends, you know…"

"I guess so…"

And even though I made a friend, my torment didn't stop, for after recess, paper balls continued to fly against my head and name calling continued. Oh, it was almost three, almost three and then, I would be free. I could only hope that Mister Y would be standing there waiting for me like he promised. Oh, he just had to be! I looked endlessly out the window, hoping that when school was over, Mister Y would be standing there…

Erik's POV

I stood there at the gates of Gustave's schoolhouse, waiting for him to emerge.

"Be nice to him today, Erik." My Christine warned as she stood beside me. "He's had a bad day."

"And just how do you know that?" I questioned.

Christine shrugged. "I watch over him, it's my job. Though, let him tell you about his bad day. Don't assume it…He will start to wonder how you know. Either that or he will believe that he is set up for failure.

When the children began to emerge from the school, I waited for my son to arrive. Though, instead of seeing a happy child, I saw a child filled with sorrow as he walked with his head down out of the gate.

"Gustave, how was your first day of school?"

He shrugged and continued walking beside me. Oh, what could I do? What could I possibly do in order to make him happy?

"How about you and I go out for dinner tonight? Tontos pizza is still open. We could get some milkshakes and pizza…"

Once more, my son shrugged. I knew he had a bad day, but I would try to make it better for him.

"Here," I slid my son his favorite kind of milkshake after finding a seat in a nearby booth. Gustave just laid there with his head in his arms, never looking interested in drinking it.

"So, tell me everything…"

Gustave sipped through his straw and wiped his mouth.

"I didn't like it…"

"What do you mean you didn't like it?"

"I was the butt of every joke." He said, tears welling up into his eyes. "I don't want to go back."

"Gustave, what's wrong…"

My child buried his face into his hands, crying silently. Oh, this child always loved milkshakes, but now, now he wasn't even interested. I would do anything to make him feel better, anything, and yet, there was nothing I could do.

"The children made fun of me…Made fun of you, Mister Y." he sobbed.

"Made fun of me?"

He nodded as he wiped his eyes. "They only want to know what's behind your mask. They called me a freak…"

Oh, how furious I was! I was steaming! Steaming over such cruelties! How dare they treat my boy like that, how dare they! Oh, they would pay, they would all surely pay! I didn't say another word to my boy about school while we ate. I wanted to keep the situation happy, I wanted to keep him calm… After we ate, I escorted my boy back home, where he bathed while I worked on some paper work in my bedroom. Ever since he nearly slipped in the tub, I didn't like leaving him alone while he showered. At least until he was tall enough to reach the shampoo. Though, he did wind up using my medicated wash one evening while blindly reaching for one of the bottles. It burned the poor boy's scalp…

"Mister Y, where are my clothes?"

I turned around to find Gustave coming out of the bathroom soaking wet with a towel draped around his body.

"Here," I stood up and approached my bed where I had laid out his night shirt. Though, before allowing him to place the garment over his head, I took his towel and dried his soaking wet body off.

"You'll catch a chill if you put on your clothes wet." I said, running the towel over his brown locks.

"At least I wouldn't have to go back to school."

I sighed and placed the garment over his head, slipping each arm into the correct sleeve.

"Gustave, you should never wish something so terrible on yourself." I lifted the boy up and sat him down on my bed while I hurried into the bathroom to rinse out the tub. "School will get better, son, you'll see."

"It won't get better, Mister Y. Everyone hates me…I don't fit in."

"Well, let's give it a second chance before we ditch it all together."

After hanging up his towel and washcloth, I emerged and began to disrobe my own attire, replacing it with my robe.

"You have a lot of scars, Mister Y."

I tied the sash and nodded. "So it may seem. I hardly notice them anymore…"

"Did mother ever worry about them?"

"Sometimes. Though, your mother always seemed to overreact when it came to my health." I smiled just thinking about my angel. "I miss her concern."

"I miss her kisses."

"Well, I miss them too, Gustave. We all miss something about your mother. It's the little things that we miss most. Now, come along…" I lifted him up into my arms. "You need all the rest you can get before school starts in the morning."

"Mister Y, could I please sleep with you tonight?"

"And why? There isn't a storm occurring, nor have you fallen asleep to experience a nightmare."

"It would make me feel better." He cried. "About everything that has happened today."

Knowing that the boy wouldn't sleep unless he got his way, I placed him down beneath the blankets and covered him up.

"Very well then."

When I began to gather up my work, Gustave sat up. "Aren't you coming to bed too?"

"Perhaps in a little bit. I have work that needs to be done. If you should need me, I shall be downstairs."

Before walking away, I pressed a quick kiss to his forehead. "Now get some sleep."

"Good night, Mister Y…" Gustave exhaustedly yawned.

And as I walked away, my little angel laid down beneath my blankets and closed his eyes. No matter what, I was never alone, for I had my boy in my bed and my Christine in my heart. Tomorrow would hopefully be a better day for him…Everyday always got better, even if the hole in my heart still bled for my angel…Everything hurts, everything bleeds, but life must simply go on.