Of Monsters and Angels

by Partners in Fanfiction

ErikxOFC with LND elements. Nicole "Nikki" Lasalle-Jones approaches the mysterious Mr. Y of Phantasma for the rights to one of his shows for her school's theater department. Mr. Y turns out to be an old friend of her late mother's with a checkered past he's reluctant to reveal to anyone else, even if he's suddenly enamored of her. Rated for scary scenes, limes and language.

35. Chapter 35: Nikki's POV

35

Nikki

I drove nineteen hours to a New Orleans graveyard, arriving in the late afternoon. I wasn't tired, sore or hungry. I didn't even have to pee or anything. The only thoughts that took me while driving were Auntie Tonya and Deshawn injured or something, and Dante must have killed Erik by now. I was gonna be a single mother. I needed to keep the baby. It was Erik and me. I was scared. I needed a mother's guidance.

I walked through the open black iron gates, my hands in the pockets of Erik's jacket, searching for the distinguishable grave I looked up before driving down that was my mom's. I found myself half-humming and half-singing Break My Stride, but eventually started crying it. I found the big cross that was her grave eventually, by a willow tree.

Imani Desiree Little-Lasalle

1971-2005

Rest in Peace

The stone was cold against my hand. I fell on my butt a foot away from the grave and said, staring at her name, "Hi, Mama."

I blinked and the grave turned into a transparent smiling woman I recognized from mnay pictures. My mama. She mouthed to me, the smile never fading, hi. She sat in the same position as me and held out her hands for me to take. I tried to take them, but they sunk through. I held them out in place and said, "Mama, I need your help. Y'see, I…I met your old friend, Erik Destler. Remember him?"

She smiled and nodded.

"I…I fell in love with him, Mama. He loves me too. But…my ex-friend Dante might have killed him." I sniffled and felt the tears run down. "Mama. I'm pregnant with his baby. Auntie Tonya can't help me because she's in the ER…" I fell against the grass and wailed. My head didn't fall onto her lap. It fell onto a patch of grass, leaning against the motionless gravestone. "Mama, I need your help!" I sobbed too loud for the world to keep turning, but when I ran out of breath and energy, I heard a familiar male voice croon in my head but maybe in my ears, "Wandering child, so lost, so helpless, yearning for my guidance."

I sat up. "Erik," I whispered. I stood up and turned around. There he was, masked and spiffy as ever. He wasn't transparent, so he wasn't a figment of my imagination. And he was alive. I leaped into his arms and cried away the pain locked up inside me. He didn't let go. When I was done, however, he stepped back, still holding my shoulders. Still looking me in the eye and holding my left hand, he knelt and reached with his free hand into his jacket. My jaw dropped. He produced a ring. A huge diamond adorned the center, surrounded by smaller ones like a flower or something. "Nicole Lasalle-Jones, will you marry me?" he asked.

The sad tears were immediately replaced with happy ones. I didn't have the strength to say yes, so I pounced on him and kissed him until we both ran out of breath. "Yes," I told him."

He slid the ring on my finger and that was that.