Gustave's POV

For nearly the entire day I had tried to get Mister Y to let me hang out with my friends, but his answer was always the same. He was cruel sometimes, and other times, he was kind. Whenever I wanted something, I would always wait until he was in his best mood. Though, sometimes, his best mood wasn't actually his best mood at all. There weren't many times when I would actually see him smiling, but when he did smile, I knew that he was happy…Or at least that's what I thought. Sometimes, I believed that he didn't want me to hang out with my friends, because that would leave him home all alone. I was all he had left after mother died, and I knew he didn't want me to grow up and get out on my own. Then again, mother had made him promise her that he would always see to it that I was safe. Yes, there were some things that I have wanted to do in the past that were dangerous, but hanging out with my friends wasn't one of them. All we wanted to do was go out and have a good time. My papa always believed that if I ever hung out with them again, that I would go straight to Luna Park with them and vandalize it. That was one stupid mistake and I knew it would never happen again. My papa had scared Zeus and Marius with a heavy work load, which instantly frightened them into never destroying anyone's property ever again. We were changed boys and yet, my papa just couldn't see it.

There were things that I believed in, and one of them was being able to go out with my friends. Therefore, I knew the only way I was going to be able to get out of the house and do so, was to go behind Mister Y's back. Yes, I didn't like doing that, but it was the only way I would be able to enjoy my freedom. So, on the night I was supposed to be hanging out with my friends, I brewed up some tea and crushed a few of Mister Y's sleeping pills up into his drink. He had been having a terrible time sleeping ever since mama died, and so, uncle Nadir told him to go see a doctor. A few hours later, he came home with a bottle of sleeping tablets and has been taking them ever since. He only took them when he was ready to sleep, which wasn't often. Some nights, I would wake in the middle of the night, only to hear his footsteps pacing back and forth from up in his bedroom. This was why I needed to make sure he was out…If he heard me walking out the door, he would surely come after me. When Mister Y's tea was brewed, I carried it out into his music room to find him scribbling away on some parchment.

"Mister Y?"

He paused from writing and spun around to face me. "Yes, son?"

"I…I have some tea for you. I was making myself a cup and thought that you would want one too."

He nodded. "Yes, that was very thoughtful of you."

I placed the cup of tea down beside him and sat on his piano bench.

"Is there something wrong, papa? You haven't been yourself these past few days."

"Myself?" he questioned, raising the cup to his lips and taking a sip. "Now, that seems odd that you would say something like that. I haven't acted any different around you."

"No, but you've been locking yourself away in your room and the only time that you do that is when you're upset. Is it me?"

Mister Y placed down his pen and looked my way. "Gustave, nothing in this world would ever make me hate you. I just miss your mother is all. Now, enough with this."

My papa finished his drink and I took away the empty glass, knowing that he would most likely be falling asleep soon.

"I have lots of work to finish tonight," he said with a yawn. "I'll talk to you later."

"I'm going to go to my room and read," I faltered.

After washing out his glass, I headed to my room and waited for the pills to work. While I did so, I dressed in my shirt and trousers, grabbing my coat before heading back out to his music room. I was glad to find that he was hunched over his work, fast asleep as expected. To be sure that he was sleeping, I approached his side and rubbed his shoulders.

"Mister Y…Mister Y, can you hear me? I'm going out…"

When he didn't stir, I smiled at my success and locked up the house. Home free, I hurried down the sidewalk and headed towards Luna Park.

"Hey, Gustave, there you are…"

I spun around to spot Zeus and Marius heading my way.

"Did you get out?" Zeus questioned.

"Of course I did. The old man's asleep…"

"Good," Marius replied, patting me on the back. "Let's go. I hope you're hungry…"

"Sure am," I replied. "Where are we going?"

"To the ladies…"

Usually, I wasn't the one who made the plans to go out. No, usually, I left that to Marius and Zeus. I had not been allowed out as much as they had been, which was why I decided to take a stand and make my own decisions. Marius and Zeus led me to a small club where music could be heard all around. Once inside, we took a seat at a table. The club was alive and filled with boys, men and women. I had never seen so many girls in one place in all my life. They were dressed in short skirts, and on stage dancing as men old and young shouted and laughed. This was surely the life of the party.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"The singles club, buddy…" Marius said. "It's about time you came with us."

My papa would probably kill me for coming here, but I didn't care. I wanted to have a good time and by god, I would. He never let me out with my friends, fearing that I was going to go do more damage, but that wasn't the case. No, I wanted to just have fun with the guys.

"Here you are…" the waitress said, placing a pitcher of beer down on the table.

"Thanks, sweet face," Marius said.

The waitress rolled her eyes and walked away, making it obvious that this hadn't been the first time that Marius had tried to flirt with the waitress.

"Every Friday you do this," Zeus growled. "And yet, every Friday you fail at getting a date with her."

"Maybe because she is a tease…" Marius assured. "That has to be the reason why. I'm going to make her my woman…"

Zeus poured me a glass of beer and slid it my way. "There you go, Gustave. Have a taste at Coney Island's world famous beer."

"I thought that you weren't allowed to drink until you were eighteen?"

"Do you always follow the rules? Shut up and drink it…"

"How is that we're getting served?"

"Marius knows a few guys who know a few guys who know the owner. We look older than we are, Gustave, be glad about that."

Without saying another word, I took a sip of the beer, placing it down and coughing afterwards. Zeus and Marius laughed as I took another sip. The alcohol burned my throat, but I didn't stop drinking.

"Hey, Gustave, you have an admirer," Zeus replied.

I turned my head to find a girl a little older than me, washing the dirty beer glasses at the bar counter. She was beautiful in a strange sort of way. She had long, black locks, blue eyes and a thin build.

"Why don't you go and talk to her?" Marius suggested.

"I…I don't think so."

"And why not?"

"What would I say to her?"

"I don't know," Marius teased. "Tell her that your old man owns Phantasma… Tell her that you're going to be the owner someday. Tell her how beautiful she is. Girls like that sort of stuff."

I was about to get up and head towards the bar, when Zeus grabbed me by my shirt.

"Take another sip of beer."

"Why?"

"For good luck…"

Like he told me to do, I gulped down another sip and headed towards the bar, already feeling strange.

"Hi," I said.

The girl didn't say a word…No, she simply continued working.

"I'm Gustave," I said. "My father is the owner of Phantasma…"

"Do you always go around sneaking into clubs for men when it's pretty clear that you're no more than thirteen?"

I was completely speechless after this. How did she know how old I was? And why was she questioning me?

"How do you know how old I am?"

"My father owns the club…He told me about your friend who knows his friend."

"It wasn't my idea to come here," I said. "My friends brought me here."

"Some friends they are. It's pretty clear that you've never drank before."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because you're swaying from side to side. You can't handle your alcohol."

"And it's pretty obvious that you'll never have a boyfriend with the way you're questioning me. Do you do this to every guy that approaches you?"

The girl gasped and crossed her arms over one another.

"You really know how to insult a girl."

"And you really know how to insult a guy. You know what? Forget you…"

I turned my back from the girl and began marching back to my table.

"Any luck?" Marius curiously questioned.

Before I could say another word, the girl came walking over to my table and dumped a pitcher of ice over my head.

"Ass hole…"

Zeus and Marius laughed, but I wasn't about to let this pass. No, I stood up and grabbed what was left of the pitcher of beer, storming over to the girl and dumping it over her head. The whole club became silent the moment I did so, and it was obvious that I had embarrassed the girl. She had tears in her eyes, tears that streamed down her cheeks. Ice had been one thing, but I couldn't take back what I had done… When Zeus and Marius began to laugh, the whole club started laughing at the girl. It only took a few moments for her father to get involved, for he showed up at our table with two of his other workers.

"I let you two in here out of the kindness of my heart and this is how I get repaid?" he growled in a thick, Irish accent. "You've got a lot of nerve…"

We were hauled up by our shirts and dragged out back.

"Get out and don't ye ever come back!"

When the back door was slammed closed, Zeus and Marius began laughing once again. But why were they laughing?

"What's so funny?" I questioned. "We were kicked out."

"You did it, man…" Zeus chuckled. "You actually did it…"

"Did what?"

"You actually talked to that wacko Melody..."

"Melody?"

"Yea, Gustave, she's nuts… Do you actually think you're the first one that's ever tried to talk to her? She hates guys…Only, you're the only one who's ever been brave enough to dump an entire pitcher of beer over her head…Awesome."

"No, it was now awesome, Marius! I feel terrible…But why did you set me up?"

"Because," Marius laughed. "We needed to see what you would do."

I was about to say something, when all of a sudden, a hand grabbed me by the back of my neck. Zeus and Marius both ran, as I was left to deal with my papa…Oh, he seemed so angry, but why was he awake? I was sure that the pills would have knocked him out the entire night!

"You little traitor!"

"Papa, no…" I cried. "I didn't mean to…"

"Oh, you knew exactly what you were doing! I trusted you…And what's this? You reek of alcohol!"

The man put me down and grabbed me by my hand, pulling me with all his might back to our home. Once inside, he threw me through the front door and came in behind me. Oh, I was dead…I was as good as dead.

"You had the nerve to knock me out with a few sleeping pills to get out of the house unnoticed! You are nothing but a lying little bastard!"

Yes, I could have cowered, and yes, I could have cried, but I was a young man, one who needed to stand up for myself. Yes, I was in tears, but all the anger in the world had been building up inside me, and now, I exploded.

"You can't tell me what to do any longer!" I shouted. "You're not in charge of my life! I can do as I wish and I can do it whenever I want!"

Mister Y grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me to him.

"Your mother is dead, boy, so, as long as you live under this roof, you will do as I say! Do you understand me?!"

I wasn't sure why I did it, but I slapped him across the face, the side that was deformed. The moment I struck him, he let me go and I ran to the front door.

"I hate you! I wish you would have died and mama would have lived! She was a better parent than you are!"

This hurt the man, for he dropped to his knees and clasped his chest with his hand.

"You can't tell me what to do anymore!"

And with that, I left, slamming the door behind me.

Erik's POV

My heart was crushed…He hated me… The boy hated me. That was enough to kill me. My heart exploded within my chest the moment he said those exact words. And when the door slammed shut, only then did my heart begin to spasm. I dropped to the floor and gasped for air. It had been so long, so long since I last experienced an attack. But this one hurt more than any other one I had ever experienced.

"Erik…"

Christine appeared at my side and held my body against her own.

"Erik, breathe…You can do it…Just breathe."

My sight was getting blurry and my chest was burning worse than ever before.

"Erik, please…Don't stop fighting, not yet…"

Christine rolled me over onto my back and rested my head in her arms. My eyes soon became heavy and my breathing was labored. She didn't want me to die, and yet, my body was fighting me to do so…

"Erik, you can do it…Don't die…"

She was in tears, and I could feel them hitting my cheeks, but that's all I ever felt after that, for I closed my eyes and my body fell limp.

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