When he was little, before his parents gave him to the gypsies, Erik had a beagle named Sasha. He could remember spending countless hours with her, trying to teach her tricks like sit, stay, roll over, etc. And he could remember being so frustrated at the slow pace she learned. Well he was quickly finding out that teaching a beagle a few basic commands was nothing compared to trying to get an abused girl to act like a human being again.
The Phantom of the Opera's lair felt haunted. The first day she was here, she wouldn't, or was too scared to, leave her room. Erik had knocked on her door and told her that she was free to wander around if she wanted. Now, she'd come out from to time, but the second she saw him, she'd disappear back into her room again, even though it had been several days since he brought her here. He couldn't even get her to come out for meals. Eventually he resorted to just leaving a plate for her in the kitchen. Sooner or later it would always disappear, so he knew she was at least eating.
Erik wondered just who exactly this girl was. He didn't even know her name. Even though she had been here for days, he had yet to hear her speak at all and was beginning to wonder if she was mute. It would certainly explain how she could have ended up with the gypsies. A parent who didn't know how to deal with a mute child would see it as a way out, much like parents who didn't know what to do with a disfigured monster.
He sighed and began to play his organ. It was something he didn't do often any more since the Vicomte had taken his muse and left. Erik wouldn't play his own compositions anymore, but from time to time, he would play someone else's. His fingers started playing one of his favorite fugues from Bach.
As the music filled his home, he saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Without being too obvious, he turned his head, just ever so slightly to see her standing in the doorway, half in, half out of the room, watching intently. Her blonde hair was tied back in a braid and she wore a pastel pink dress. He could tell her bruises were healing, and she was already looking in much better shape than she had when she first arrived just a few days ago.
When the song ended, she started to retreat again. "You know, you don't have to go if you don't want to," he said without facing her. "You may stay if you like." Much to his surprise, she actually remained in the doorway. Erik waved her forward. "Come in and sit down." She edged forward into the room before sitting on the ground, right next to an armchair. Erik had to repress the urge to sigh. "You're not an animal; I'm not going to make you sit on the floor." She slowly sat in the chair, but kept looking at him like she was expecting to be reprimanded. Instead, Erik simply turned back around and resumed playing for her.
Eventually she stood and started to walk out again. Erik's brow furrowed when he saw a bright red mark on her back, right next to her braid. He quickly followed her to see what it was. Her body became rigid when he grew close, but he already knew what the mark was from. It was a deep cut from a whip, and it looked badly infected. Gently, he lowered the shoulder of her dress to reveal more of the cut. As far as he could tell, it went all the way across her back.
He led her back to the organ bench. Erik covered her chest with his cape to preserve her modesty. She whimpered as he pulled the bodice of her dress down. "It's infected. I have to clean it," he said apologetically as he grabbed bandages and a salve that would clear out the infection. "But I'm not going to lie; this is going to hurt."
Although he tried to be as tender as he possibly could, the girl still cried out with his every touch. But if he didn't do this now, it would spread even more and probably kill her. Once he had applied the salve to her back, Erik began to wrap the bandages around her torso. She grew stiff as he took the cape away to finish covering the cut, but he made sure to keep his eyes focused on her back and was extremely careful not to touch her at all.
As he put her dress back into place, he saw yet another bruise on her shoulder. Erik could feel his stomach turn when he realized it was shaped like a bite mark. How could someone treat such a young girl like this?
The moment he was finished, she leaped up and disappeared into her bedroom again. Erik had a feeling she wouldn't be coming out for a long time. At least she had let him clean the cut before it got any worse. And she had come out to listen to him play. That was the most progress they had had so far.
She wrapped her arms around herself as she returned to the bedroom. He had only bandaged her back, but she had been so scared that he was going to do something more. That's why she avoided him. There was no one here but the two of them. She was completely at his mercy if he decided he wanted to hurt her.
Yet she was starting to think that maybe he didn't bring her here to take advantage of her. He left her alone when she wanted to be. In fact, she was starting to think of this room as a 'safe zone'. The man would always stop at the doorway and knock, like he needed an invitation to come in.
Her back was stinging. He hadn't been kidding when he told her it was going to hurt. But at least he had cleaned and bandaged the cut. Maybe he really had brought her to heal. She couldn't remember the last time she could doing anything without being beaten, bathe whenever she wanted, sleep completely undisturbed, or eat until she was full. The thought of being treated like a real person used to make her cry, but now it was once again a reality.
The sound of music reached her ears again. This man was astonishingly talented. His music seemed to speak to her very soul. When he talked to her, his voice was so musical she somehow knew he was a fantastic singer.
She wasn't sure what time it was; there was no way to tell down here, but she had developed her own clock. Somehow plates of food always appeared in the kitchen when she was hungry, and she slept when she was tired. Right now, she could feel her eyes growing heavy and the music was warm and soothing. She climbed into the soft bed and drifted off to sleep.
Javert pinned her to the ground as she struggled in vain. He grabbed her chin and forced her mouth open as she twisted her head back and forth, trying to break free. She tried to cry for help but he poured the poisonous liquid down her throat and clamped his hand over her mouth so she couldn't spit it back out.
Instantly there was a piercing pain in her stomach and it felt like it was on fire. She screamed as her body began to writhe in agony. Looking down, she could suddenly see blood everywhere and began to scream twice as loud. Javert tied her wrists back to the iron bar of the cage and stuffed a gag into her mouth as tears slid down her face.
She woke up screaming from the nightmare. There was a knock on her door. "Are you alright?" she heard him ask. When she didn't answer, he knocked again. "I'm coming in okay?" The door swung open as he let himself into the room.
He found her curled up in the corner, rocking back and forth, sobbing uncontrollably. He knelt next to her and gently wiped her tears away. "They can't hurt you anymore. You know that right? I won't let them." She just shook her head and buried her face in her knees. She could feel him stroke her hair and murmur comforting things into her ear. Even though it was a simple gesture, his tender touch made her cry even harder. It almost made her believe that someone could actually want to care about her. He paused when he realized how much more she was weeping, but she didn't know how to tell him that she never wanted him to stop.