"Damn you Nadir," Erik repeated with a growl. "Damn you and your cursed insistence on constantly checking up on me. I don't need a keeper." He glanced in the direction she had gone. "You couldn't have timed this worse."
He started to follow her, but the Persian grabbed his arm. "Erik who is she? And why does she look like she's been beaten?"
Erik twisted out of his grip with ease. "She's nobody that's missed."
The answer was too ambiguous to please Nadir. "What's her name?"
"It's…" Erik paused when he realized he still didn't know. "I don't know," he finally admitted with an exasperated sigh. "Happy? I don't know what her name is."
"You don't know?" Nadir repeated in disbelief. "How can you not know? How long have you been keeping her down here?"
"Just over two weeks," he replied. "But I don't know her name because she doesn't speak. And I haven't been able to ask her because she's scared to death of people. I was working on getting her to spend five minutes with me then you just had to show up and ruin everything!"
"Why?" Nadir pressed. "Why did you bring her here?"
"She needed help, so I saved her," Erik answered vaguely.
Nadir crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Generosity has never been one of your strong suits Erik. What on earth could convince you to help a girl you didn't even know to the point that you took her into your own home?"
"They were torturing her!" Erik shouted. "I couldn't just leave her!"
"Erik, there are millions of people in this world. You're going to have to be a little more specific than 'they'. Who was torturing her?"
"Gypsies," Erik spat. "They beat her, they, well I'm sure you can guess what else they did. She was locked in a cage for Christ's sake!"
He could almost see the connection being made in Nadir's eyes. "A cage?" he repeated quietly. "Just like you. That's why you saved her."
"It wasn't like," Erik whispered. "It was the same cage, the same gypsies. It was Javert."
"I thought you killed him when you escaped."
"I did too," he admitted. "But I was wrong. It was my fault that she suffered at all. If I had killed him like I thought I had, she never would have gotten hurt. I could have prevented her pain."
"So you've taken her in to make amends?" Nadir asked. "Or do you want something more from her? Do you intend for her to be your next pupil?"
"I brought her to heal. She does nothing that she doesn't choose to do, and I have no intentions of changing that," Erik explained.
"What are you going to do when she wants to go home?" the Persian demanded.
"I've already told her that if she would like me to take her upstairs, all she has to do is ask."
Nadir crossed his arms. "And how do you expect her to do that? You said she doesn't speak. Is she mute or simply quiet?"
"I don't know!" Erik snapped. "I've never heard her talk. But there's more than one way to express what you want besides your voice. She has her way of telling me what she needs."
"Erik, look how young she is!" Nadir cried. "I can almost guarantee that someone somewhere misses her! Someone has got to be looking for her! She probably has a family that's frantic! You can't be selfish and keep her here!"
"I'm being selfish for helping someone?!" Erik roared. "I'm not hurting her! I'm doing everything I can to protect her. If she wants to leave, then I will do as she asks. Is it so wrong to want to do something decent for once in my life? Why is it that when I do something good that you spend your time questioning my motives?"
"She's not Christine!"
She could catch snippets of their argument as she hid in her room. There was no way she could have ever guessed that her rescuer was capable of even raising his voice, let alone get into a heated fight.
"Goddammit Nadir I know!" he screamed. His voice was loud enough to shake the room. "I know she's not Christine! I made Christine a star, offered her the world, and she ran off with her lover! She betrayed me! I don't know why you think she's relative to this!"
"This girl isn't going to replace her!"
"I'm not asking her to! Christine is gone. She left me alone to rot in this hell! End of story!" Christine must have been the woman in the pictures. She could tell from the anger and the pain in his voice that he loved her very much and never quite got over her leaving him. "God forbid I help someone! I've come to your aide before Daroga, and you didn't question me then! Why can you just let me be?"
"Just let me spend five minutes with her. I want to talk to her. If she gets frightened so easily, then she might be too scared to ask to leave. Have you ever considered that?"
"Of course I have! I can only do so much, but I'm trying to earn her trust!"
"Five minutes!"
"No! Leave her alone! Haven't you caused enough problems already?" There was the sound of a scuffle outside her door. He was actually trying to protect her. Maybe his words were more than words. Maybe he really did mean to simply help her.
"Erik will you just quit being so stubborn? Maybe another person can help you help her!"
"I'm managing just fine! I don't need you butting in!"
The fighting was getting too much for her. She just wanted the shouting to stop. Peeking into the music room, she saw her rescuer standing toe to toe with the man who interrupted their playing. "I want you out of my home Nadir!" he ordered.
"Your pride has always prevented you from asking for help when you needed it Erik."
"I'm not asking for help! I'm telling you to GET OUT!"
She had enough. Without thinking, she stepped into the room. "Halt es!" she screamed over their fighting.
Erik was about to pulverize Nadir when he heard the feminine voice. Both men whirled around and saw her standing there, her hands clamped over her mouth, staring at them wide-eyed with fear. Before anyone moved, she was gone again. Nadir turned to Erik. "Well that asks more questions than it answers. So tell me Erik, how well do you speak German?"
Plot Twist! Tell me, you weren't expecting that one were you! Now that we've gotten over the no-talking thing, we now have the language barrier. I'm sure Erik's going to love that! One step forward, one step back. They're stuck in place. Or are they? ;)
Halt es=Stop it
Read and Review!
~nibblesfan