Hi guys! So thank you all for the very sweet reviews, I love hearing from all of you it just makes my day!(: Anywhoo Good-ish news I was just cast as a supporting lead in my schools fall play so that's exciting I guess haha! But yeah this chapter is going to be rather exciting in a way so I hope you all enjoy it!
Please read and review! Thanks so much!(:
"So, I hear the little mop head wants to sing." May stood cowering on stage with her back pinned against the ballet bare as one of the oldest ballet rats paced her way towards her with her poesy of backstabbing followers.
Giselle, the extremely pompous red head was the meanest of all the ballerina's; for some reason this vicious girl's favorite past time was tormenting May, and pulling ridiculous tricks on her. Giselle was rather tall but May stood taller than her, although whenever she was around May seemed to lose a few inches from cowering. Giselle came from a rather wealthy family so she often used that as her advantage; she always had the top clothing, the newest shoes, the brightest jewelry, and always had a wealthy, and on occasion, handsome suitor at arm.
This girl was rather terrifying and May was at a loss of words as she cowered in front of her. "W-where did you hear that from?"
"Where did I here that from?" she scoffed, "Please everybody's talking about you." May froze, how everybody can know that I'm auditioning, she thought to herself.
"They are, really?" She questioned shyly.
"Why of course, everyone seems to be so amused by the fact that a tone deaf ballerina has the gull to audition for one of the most important operas of the season." Every word she spoke had venom behind it. "If I were you I would just keep my mouth shut and remain in the background where I belong, better yet if I were you I would just leave the opera house in general." The evil arrangement of the girls friends crowded behind her giggled at her statement. "But thank goodness I'm not you. So good luck at your audition little rat, and I hope you don't choke under pressure." With a toss of her hair and one last scoff Giselle and her group of annoying followers were gone.
May stood completely shocked and saddened. Giselle's words hurt her worse than usual. Is this really worth it, can I really do this? Oh I can't do this I just can't. Tears began to stream down her flushed cheeks; suddenly she felt worthless and pathetic. She felt as if a huge weight had been laid upon her chest and there was no way she could lift it. She needed to find Erik and tell him she couldn't audition. Swiftly she raced away from the now empty stage, through the vacant hallways, and down through the catacombs of the Opera house.
Her feet didn't stop until Erik's lair was finally in sight she and heard beautiful melodies playing off the stone walls of the catacombs. Although her feet stopped her tears hadn't; May was racked with grief and fear, as she ran across the slab of wood strategically laid across the lake. She stopped when she finally saw him; his tall shadowy figure was seated at the extravagant organ as always. His body swayed back and forth as he pounded out beautiful unnamed melodies.
Tears still flowing May softly spoke his name as he played "Erik." No response. She spoke louder and more desperate for his attention "Erik!" The melody abruptly stopped as Erik shot up from his work and faced May.
Erik quickly scanned the girl. She was still in her white ballet attire and soft pink pointe shoes, obviously just from rehearsal. He noted that she was shaking slightly and when he brought his eyes up to meet hers he saw that they were filled with soft shining tears. "May what happened, what's wrong?" He quickly made his way to stand in front of her.
"I can't do it. I just can't do it." She spoke with sorrow as soft tears trickled down her cheeks.
"What are you talking about?" He searched her eyes for an answer but nothing was found.
"Erik I can't audition tomorrow, I just can't. They will make fun of me for sure. I don't belong in the chorus, it is not for me."
Erik sighed in confusion. "May nobody will make fun of you, you have a beautiful gift, you deserve to be in the chorus and share that gift."
"No, no I don't they have already started making fun of me."
Erik was lost, who would make fun of her, she has a beautiful voice, and nobody has even heard her sing yet. Erik grabbed her arms lightly.
"May who has made fun of you?" he questioned.
"Giselle." She spat out. May tried to wriggle out of his grip but Erik was to strong.
"Giselle?" Erik laughed lightly as he restated the girl's name. May nodded in response to him. "You cannot be serious May. That pathetic brat means nothing and you shouldn't be listening to her. She enjoys getting you down and you let her to easily."
May gazed up at Erik through teary eyes. "May you need to realize that you are far better than that vicious girl and all of her friend's; you have a talent that I can guarantee you none of them will ever possess. You are different than all of them, you are stronger than all of them, and you are more talented than all of them combined."
May smiled lightly at his thoughtful words, "Really?" she questioned.
"Absolutely," Erik dropped his hands from May's arms. "May I know you're scared about this but I can guarantee that you will do fantastic tomorrow. You're ready for this; you know this opera inside and out, and if you don't audition tomorrow that would be a complete shame, because they need you for this and you can do it."
May was finally able to calm herself down, and her tears finally stopped flowing. I'll do it, she thought to herself. I'll do it for Erik.
Wiping the tears away from her eyes May gazed up at Erik and gave a shy smile. "Thank you."
Erik nodded in response. There was a slight pause, "You must be exhausted from rehearsal, why don't you sit down for a little and then we can start our lesson."
May gave a quiet "Okay" then went and sat down on a couch. Erik turned and walked back to the organ where he cleverly organized the many sheet music that had been sprawled across it. "Those retched things on your feet must be horribly uncomfortable."
"Huh?" May was confused by his statement so she looked down at her feet and saw that she was still in her pointe shoes. Yes they were rather uncomfortable but from her years of experience she was used to the tight shoes, and the bloody and bruised feet. "Oh well, yes they are but I guess I am just used to them."
Erik finished what he was doing and slowly made his way over to where May sat. Erik sat down in his large Thrown like chair across from her.
"Really," he questioned, "Well I do not mind if you decide to take them off, I can only imagine the pain they must cause."
Glancing back down May decided to be rid of her shoes. "I mean they do irritate me time to time but I have to learn to tolerate them."
Erik nodded agreeing with her. Quickly May had both shoes off and lying on the ground in front of her. She shyly then tucked her feet underneath her.
There was a short pause between the two. Erik was looking down at the shoes laid upon the ground and noted something. Leaning forward he gently picked up one of the pale pink slippers and examined it in his large hands. The shoe was completely tattered and ruined; there were holes in the sides and strands of frayed thread hung off everywhere. The fronts were completely warned down and the insides were shredded and stained. You could hardly make out the actual color of the shoe because it was so warn out and dirty. They were obviously very old.
"May how long have you had these for?" he asked.
"Um I don't know, maybe for a couple of years. They were handed down to me from a past ballerina who stopped performing. I know that I need a new pair but I just don't have the money."
An idea suddenly stuck Erik, but he quickly pushed it aside. Setting the shoe back down Erik watched May as she played with the hem of her white rehearsal skirt. She looked so meek and innocent; Erik suddenly remembered that fact that May was all alone. She had nobody besides him really. How she was able to even fend for herself in the world outside of the opera house was a thought beyond him. Poor May.
"Well why don't we begin rehearsing, we don't want to waste any time getting you ready for tomorrow." With that they both stood and proceeded over to the piano.
The lesson went very well; in the beginning May was holding back a little because she was still unsure of herself and scared but as time went on her voice seemed to be stronger than ever. At certain times Erik would get caught up in the music and begin to sing along with May creating his own haunting harmony. May absolutely adored when he did that; she could listen to him sing for hours. His voice was absolutely beautiful and combined with May's they sounded flawless together. The two could sing for hours on end and never get tired of hearing one another.
The lesson was now rapping up and May decided to sit herself right next to Erik upon the piano bench.
"Wonderful job this evening May. Tomorrow's audition should be a breeze you have no need to worry about anything."
May smiled up at him. A sudden chill swept over her causing her to shiver and wrap her arms around herself in an attempt at warmth. Erik watched as she did so.
"Are you cold? Why don't we move into the study I can start a fire." May nodded in response to him. Erik led the way into the warm study; May sat down upon the floor in front of the fireplace as Erik lit the charred wood inside of it to life. The fire danced in an array of rhythmic patterns and swirls. Erik settled himself on the floor beside May and picked up the conversation where he left off.
"Tomorrow at the audition don't let anybody get into your head. You are beyond ready for this May and if anybody tries to tell you otherwise then just push them aside and let me deal with them." Erik gave a wicked smile that made May tremble with fear. She knew about the wrath of the Phantom of the Opera and was afraid to witness it. Erik laughed lightly at May's reaction. "I'm only kidding, don't worry."
May laughed a little. Another chill swept over her and she shivered again. Erik watched again and decided to try something else. "Why don't I make you some tea? Not only will it warm you up but it will also help your voice."
"That would be lovely thank you." She responded. Giving a slight nod Erik stood from his sitting position and left the room.
All alone in the study May to a chance to finally take a proper look around. Behind her was a small couch and a little coffee table with non-other than sheet music scattered atop it, there were various candles randomly placed all around giving the room a lovely luminescent glow. Standing now May took in the sight of a rather large desk that was positioned in between two mighty book shelves.
There were book shelves all over the room, each one standing grand and mighty with books from floor to ceiling. Walking over to the nearest book shelve May glanced at the spines of each book reading the names each one. Many of the books seemed to be in different languages, one language she could faintly make out. It was a book of old German fairytales. May pulled out the old book and flipped through the pages looking at different pictures and stories. As she slipped the book back into its place upon the shelve she began to walk back to where she was seated before but accidentally knocked up against the book shelve.
The sound of a thick book rang out. Turning around swiftly May saw an old leather bound book of some sort lying upon the floor. She slowly bent down and picked up the book. The leather looked old and warn down and there seemed to be sears of, what looked like, led upon the cover. Unraveling the tie that held the book closed May flipped open the old book and gasped.
It was another drawing, another drawing of Christine. May was confused again as to why Erik would be drawing her. The art was beautiful though, it captured Christine perfectly. Flipping to the page after there was yet another picture of Christine, flipping again there was another picture, then another, and another. Almost the entire book was filled with various pictures of Christine. There were numerous pages with other things depicted such as a mask or a rose, and the occasional forest like setting but after every page was Christine. Thoughts flew through her mind in rapid speed when suddenly something stopped her cold in her tracks.
"What are you doing?" Erik's voice rang out with anger. May turned to face him as he slammed the cup of what she perused was her tea against his desk.
"I-I just I- um," Before she could get an actual word out Erik was in front of her with the sketch book now in his tight grip.
"Where did you find this?" he questioned quickly.
"It… it just fell and I was curious." A wickedly haunting smile played upon Erik's lips.
"Well you know what they say, curiosity killed the cat." May's breath caught in her throat. "Never, go snooping through my things without permission again do you understand?" He was beyond angry at this point.
"Erik I wasn't snooping it fell and I picked it up," She was quickly cut off.
"But then you looked through it." He spat back.
"Well yes I did." May stood taller now as she played back at him,
"Then if you happened to have any thoughtful manners you would have realized that was the wrong thing to do."
May stood in disbelief at what he just said. She was at a loss of words and had no idea how to respond. Erik swiftly turned on his heels assuming he had won and walked to the book shelf placing the sketch book back in its place. Suddenly May questioned him causing him to freeze in his spot.
"Why do you have all of those drawings of Christine?" she questioned.
Erik looked down at his feet. "I thought I told you to never question me about that." His words rang out with rage and a hint of distress.
"You did but apparently since I have no manners I shall ask you again." May had a rather cocky tone to her that showed her strength. Erik was beginning to get impatient. He spun around to face her; his white mask glowed in the candle light.
"You are baiting me on purpose girl." He retorted.
"Maybe I am," She practically yelled, "but Erik you know my secrets and I know most of yours, please, you can keep the rest of them private I don't mind, but Christine is my friend and I want to know this one."
"May you are testing my patience." His anger was increasing.
"Erik, just tell me."
"No!" He shouted. "May you are driving me insane right now." He lunged forward and grabbed her arms. "I will never tell you anything about my drawings or anything about Christine Daae, do you understand." He shook her roughly. "Anything between her and I is our business not yours, alright?" He waited for a response.
May gazed up into his stressed eyes and saw something she had never seen in them before. Erik suddenly shook her again. "Answer me girl!" May wasn't able to answer. Her mouth hung open and her breathe was getting heavy. She just stared at him until she was finally able to speak.
"My God," She spoke slowly. There was a long pause as she searched his eyes. "You love her."
Erik tensed up immediately. Oh god she knows. He thought to himself. No she can't know, I cannot let her know.
"Get out." He spoke softly.
"What?" May was confused.
Erik spoke up louder with more anger. "I said get out, get out now I don't want you here anymore, just leave." He was practically screaming. He began to push May out of the study and down beside the lake. May tried to fight back but he was too strong.
"Erik, Erik stop please I'm sorry." Erik turned her around to face him now. May was now able to see all of the anger within his golden eyes.
"It is too late for that Blondie, just get out now and don't return!" Wriggling out of his grasp May sprinted across the lake and away from Erik and his lair. Her feet didn't stop until she reached her dorm and collapsed on her bed in a heap of tears.
Deep below the opera house Erik sat on the ground in front of his large thrown like chair, with his head in his hands. She knows there is no possible way she doesn't know, God what a fool I am. A complete fool, Dam you Erik. Glancing up from where he sat something caught his eyes.
A small beaten up pair of ballet shoes.
Hooray for Erik's temper! Haha anyways I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please review! Thank you all!(: