28

Erik

I had been playing Break My Stride for a few minutes on the pipe organ but was interrupted by an echo of a sob. Someone was crying, whoever it was came closer and closer. The only one beside myself who knew the way to my lair, however, was Nicole. And there she was, wearing the jacket I gave her over what she wore to the show. She was holding her right wrist with her left hand and crying out of only her right eye because her left was swollen. "Nicole," I muttered, running towards her. She threw herself into my arms and sobbed on my shoulder. I held her tight enough to not hurt her but secure her and whispered, "What happened to you?"

She started to breathe properly and replied between quick breaths, "Dante…tried to attack me."

I knew he was trouble, but I wouldn't gloat before my poor angel. I practically carried her to the pile of cushions and laid her down in a position that I hoped was comfortable enough. She pulled me down with her and clung onto me. I held the back of her head in my hand and pushed her head closer to mine. I kissed her forehead repeatedly, trying to soothe her, which didn't hurt or help. Time was the best medicine. Her sobs and tears became shaky audible breaths until she spoke. "I told him I have a boyfriend in an attempt to get him off my back. Nothing else. I won't tell anyone else."

"Thank you," I said before kissing her hairline.

She sighed and I felt her muscles melt against me. "I love you," she said. "And I'm really sorry I was wrong about him. Dante. Even when I was in love with him when I was eleven, he had a girlfriend, Jenna. She went to college in California, though, so they broke up. He always had a girlfriend. I didn't know how much of a monster he could be without one."

"I wouldn't regard that as monstrous behavior," I said. "Remember, Nicole, I am the monster." It nearly killed me to say this, but I had to give her freedom to prevent her from resenting me like Christine. "You aren't stuck with me."

She just laughed, loudly and for an oddly long time. Once she calmed down, she said, "Dude, I had sex with you. I don't care that I'm not stuck with you. Whatever it is, you're stuck with me. I told you and I mean it, Erik," She brought her left hand to trace the exposed side of my face. "I love you," she breathed. She pulled herself to my lips and kissed me so hard that my mask slipped off. Before she could see me, I stood up and turned my back to her, covering the vulnerable side of my face. "No, Nicole, no," I whimpered. "I am a monster."

"If I gave a shit, I wouldn't have done any of the things I've done with you," she riposted. I turned my head a little to the left to watch her pick up the fallen mask with her right hand, but she whimpered in pain. "I think he twisted it a teeny bit," she whispered to herself, picking it up with her left hand. She held it out to me, having noticed I was looking. I went to her and took the mask and put it back on my face. Before I turned back, she said, "You don't suck any more than the average human, monster or not."

Her black eye was terrifyingly swollen. "I think you could use some ice for your eye."

She nodded in agreement. "Got any?"
I retrieved a clean rag from across the room and stuck it in the cold water of the river, one of many ways to get into the lair that I stopped using long ago because it reminded me too much of the Opera Populaire. I squeezed the excess water out and approached Nicole. I bent beside her and pressed the rag on her swollen eye. She whimpered when it touched her but soon relaxed. I made myself comfortable at her side to hold the rag in place and said, "You were amazing tonight."

"At the gig?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied genuinely. "Just when I thought only Imani could sing Break My Stride."

She smiled. "Maybe it runs in the family." Her phone rang. With her good hand, she took it out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. It wasn't blocked, but not listed as a contact. She tapped a green symbol and put it to her ear. "H-hello?"

I could hear a male voice say, "Hey, Nikki, it's Dante."

She stiffened everything but her mouth and muttered nervously, "I told you not to talk to me for a while."

"Well, it's been an hour and I couldn't stay away," Dante replied.

Nicole trembled. I held out my hand to her, silently requesting the phone. She put it right in my hand. I put it to my ear and said, "Dante, right?"

"Yeah, who's this?" he replied.

"Take a wild guess," I snarled. Nicole beamed.

I could feel Dante grow tense. "You're…the boyfriend."

"Correct," I replied. "Now, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"Huh?"

I scowled as if he were right in front of me. "She has a black eye and her wrist still hurts."

"Well, I'm not saying she deserves if for not hearing me out, but what else was I supposed to do?" he scoffed.

Nicole groaned, having heard this. I said to Dante, "Oh, I don't know, perhaps respect her wishes and leave her alone?"

"Hey, I spent years and years struggling to find my voice, and now that I got it, I should be worshipped."

"What the fuck?!" Nicole shouted. She got up and walked across the room muttering about how she couldn't hear this. I said to Dante, "You've upset her. I strongly suggest keeping away from her until further notice. If you, for some reason, come across her by chance, keep your hand at the level of your eyes."

"Uh, why?" Dante asked.

"You'll find out if you don't. Good night." I hung up and placed the phone down, then stood to see Nicole staring at her reflection in one of the uncovered smashed mirrors, poking her black eye. I approached her and enfolded her in my arms. She leaned back and began to cry. I kissed the back of her head, the side of her neck. "He will not harm you," I whispered to her before kissing her ear.

"He was my friend," she muttered between two soft sobs. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, my angel," I replied. "But I'm here."

Her quiet sobs halted and she smiled. She turned around, still in my grip, smashed her lips against mine and said once she was out of breath, "Cool."