Happy 16th birthday to May! Haha as you will find in this chapter January 3 is May's birthday and that just happens to be today (I timed these past two chapters perfectly, Score one for Meg!)
Anywhoo here is chapter 28. It is a tiny bit shorter than my most recent chapters but this is one of my favorites!
IMPORTANT WARNING: This chapter dose contain some graphic telling of blood and an injury, if you do not appreciate that sort of gore than I advise you to skip most parts of this chapter!
Ok that is all! Please read and review I love to hear what anyone has to say so please review! Thanks so much!
Chapter 28:
It was finally a new year. A new start to great things, a clean page set to be drawn on with memories of good times and happy reminiscing. The night of the masquerade Jack had requested for May to stay the night with him so that she would be in no danger of facing the Opera Ghost; little did he know she already had, and she enjoyed every second of it. By the time they returned to his flat it was late in the evening and both of them were rather tired.
Jack had lit a fire while May went to change out of her gown. May slipped into her pale blue chemise that she wore under her dress earlier in the day. She as well took her hair down from its up-do letting her wavy tresses fall down her back, and she attempted to remove most of her make up. When she went to meet Jack in the main room, he was worried she would become cold in such a simple dress so he gave her a soft shirt of his own to wear over top.
After sitting before the fire talking for quite some time about trivial thoughts and fantasies, they decided it was time to retire to bed. May argued with Jack saying that she would gladly take the sofa after he had offered her his bed. Jack refused to fall from his request and gave May a sweet goodnight kiss before sending her off into his room.
After a while the two found that neither could sleep and so they joined each other's company before the fire once more and drifted into a sweet night of sleep in their embrace. Jack's arm was draped around Mays shoulder and May rested her head against his chest.
The next morning the two talked over a nice breakfast then May waved goodbye to her adoring courter and left for the day.
Two day's had passed quickly and May was thrilled about it. The date was January 3rd, May's 16th birthday. That morning when she awoke she felt older, more mature in a way, but when she looked in the mirror, she looked the same. She was okay with that though. A rehearsal was being held for the ballet corps to get them ready for the up and coming opera. It was a simple technique rehearsal just to get them back on track after a rather unexpected and long break. May quickly dressed in her normal rehearsal attire and bounded on happy feet down to the auditorium to join her ballerina friends.
The rehearsal was long but May enjoyed it, she finally got to use her new pointe shoes. She couldn't help but smile brightly every time she landed a jump properly or finished a pirouette without faltering; she thought of Erik each time and silently thanked him over and over again.
May had plans to spend the evening with Jack; she was so anxious for their meeting. Right when rehearsal was over she dashed to her room and got ready in a matter of seconds, dressing in her favorite gown of dark blue with lace trimming and taming her frizzy hair. She realized that it was too early to leave for Jack's so she decided to pay Erik a visit.
She had not seen him since the masquerade and was anxious to talk with him. She began to run with an excited grin, to meet her masked friend.
May had no way of preparing for what she was about to encounter.
With a grunt Erik threw open the door to his lair slamming it loudly behind him; he was in pain, so much pain. Wrenching his cloak off he threw it to the floor behind him as he struggled to the piano. His jacket then followed, and after he ripped his cravat from his neck he tore off his waist coat and threw it to the floor joining the rest of his clothing. He glanced down at his once white shirt. It was soaked with blood. Tearing open his shirt with an anguished yell Erik was met with exactly what he expected.
Earlier that day he took to watching Christine, making sure that she remained safe; when she suddenly left the Opera House, Erik knew he had to follow. He quickly raced to the stables retrieved the newly named horse Delia, and followed a distance behind his angel. She was crying as she walked, Erik made sure to hide in the shadows of tall snow covered trees as he pushed Delia into a trot. After a while Christine reached her destination; the grave yard. Erik followed her as she sulked to her father's grave, listening to her hum to herself in a means of solace all the while.
Erik had abandoned his horse at the gates and now hid behind Gustave Daae's large grave. He listened with a heavy heart as Christine wept and prayed to her father; she prayed for Raoul, prayed for her father, and then prayed for Erik. She thanked her father for sending the 'Angel of Music' to her. She told her father that even though he frightened her she still knew he would protect her.
Erik made the decision then to confront her as her Angel again. He did not show himself but he spoke to her and she spoke back asking for forgiveness and pleading for safety. Erik was ready to show himself to her when suddenly the sound of heavy hooves beating on the cold ground quickly approached. It was Raoul, the 'valiant' hero in their woven horror story.
Erik burned with rage; he leapt from behind the grave, sword drawn ready to end the Vicomte's sorry life. His blade met with Raoul's giving an awful noise. Christine screamed and begged them to stop as they dueled one another, ready to kill either. They were both skilled with swords; Erik would swing Raoul would step, Raoul would slash, Erik would deflect.
They fought hard. Suddenly Christine let out a scream. "Erik!" she yelled with all of her might. It was the first time Erik had ever heard her call him by name. He could not help but turn to her and as he did Raoul took his chance slicing Erik across the stomach. Erik gave a grunt while Christine screamed in horror. He wouldn't let the Vicomte win. Gathering his strength he drew his sword and managed to slice a wound into Raoul's arm.
They fought for a few moments more, blood pooling from each victim, when finally Christine stopped it. Taking his prize the dammed Vicomte rode off with Christine while Erik fell to the ground panting, and groaning in pain.
He managed to make it back to his lair, and now standing staring at the damage, Erik was in tremendous pain. His hands were covered in blood and it was quickly staining the rest of his clothing.
Suddenly the door to his lair burst open.
"Bonjour Erik!" May giggled.
Erik jumped then cringed in pain. "May!" he managed to utter.
"Oh good you're here, I was afraid you would be out." She announced shutting the door and entering the lair all the way.
Erik kept his back to May not even daring to turn towards her an inch. He was about to attempt a reply when a tremendous cough erupted unexpectedly from his lungs.
May's brow furrowed in concern. "Erik, are you alright?"
He coughed a few more times, slightly doubling over from the pain. "Leave!" he was able to yell.
"What? Why?" May was confused by his sudden action.
"Leave Maygen, you must leave!"
He wouldn't look at her. May was confused, why would he not look at her. She took a step forward but stopped as she stepped on something. It was his cloak; peering forward a bit she was met with the sight of his jacket, cravat and even waist coat thrown in a pile upon the floor. This concerned her.
"Erik what is going on?" she asked in a serious tone, trying not to expose her fright. She quickly began to approach her.
Erik swiftly glanced over his shoulder trying not to move. "No! Don't come any closer!" he announced with a shaky voice.
May noticed something undefinable in his eyes. Why wouldn't he turn towards her?
She began to approach again, this time with a timid hand out.
"No! Do not touch me! Please I need you to leave."
May watched in horror as Erik held out his hand slightly to the side. It was a huge mistake on his part. May gasped at the sight of deep crimson covering his long white fingers.
She had enough, "ERIK!" she yelled as she made her final approach grasping his shoulder and pulling him around with a strength she didn't know she had. She nearly doubled over at the sight.
Erik watched as her eyes grew wide and all the color in her face completely drained. He cursed himself in his mind as he watched her.
The sight was horrible. First she noticed the gapping gash that was stretched from the top of Erik's left hip leading a bloody path diagonally up across his stomach just below his belly button. Second she noticed the scares, hundreds of them some looking old some appearing newer. They were everywhere, from the base of his neck down to the exposed area of his waist above his trousers. It was a horrible sight that made May's heart hurt.
There was blood everywhere. His white shirt that was hanging open was ruined in the crimson liquid; his sleeves were covered as well as his hands. Blood dripped onto his trousers and some even onto his shoes and upon the floor.
May felt as if she couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't look away. "Oh my God." She stated completely blank.
Erik coughed again then glanced at her holding his hands out. "I hope you are not afraid of blood."
In truth she was not but seeing someone she cared about bloody and injured, she couldn't begin to describe how it pained her.
She stood frozen to her spot not knowing what to do, when all of a sudden Erik let out another tremendous cough snapping May from her daze. She grabbed his shoulders not wanting him to fall forward.
"Erik, how did this happen, who did this?" she spoke hurriedly
"That dammed Vicomte," he managed as he gripped his bloody abdomen with a groan. His voice was becoming horse, and May noticed how he was beginning to grow deathly pale.
"He did this to you?" she questioned
"Yes, but that is not important now." Erik managed. He began to tremble.
"Oh god, Erik let me help you!" she exclaimed while attempting to pull him in the direction of his room.
"No May, no!" he made a motion to stop her but became horribly light headed and began to sway.
May was quick to be beside him holding him up from the side wrapping her arm around his back. "Erik, you need my help!" she began walking him to his room. Erik's strength was diminishing quickly, his head was spinning and his feet were not working. May practically dragged him to his room.
When they entered she hurriedly drug him to the bed pushing him down atop it so that he lie on his back. In her efforts to move him May was now covered in his blood. It was all over her dress and hands, even in her hair. But she didn't care; she just needed to help him.
Erik's eyes were shut tight; he couldn't help but groan in pain as he felt May's fingers close to his wound. He was completely mortified; he had never wanted May to see his scars but now there was no avoiding it. He was completely bare to her eyes. Turning the masked side of his face into his pillow he groaned again. The mask agitated his mangled skin and he wanted nothing more than to take it off but he wouldn't. He assumed May would be frightened enough by the image of his chest; he didn't want to scare her any further.
Erik's eyes snapped open when he felt May's fingers attempting to pull his shirt off the rest of the way.
"What are you doing?" he managed to yell
"I need to get your shirt off!"
"No May please don't, I don't want you to see." Erik cried
"Erik, stop. Now try to sit up." She instructed.
Erik obeyed and sat up panting in pain. The bed was too high off the ground for May to stand from the side so she climbed up and sat to the left of Erik. She helped him sit up and began removing his shirt the rest of the way. When she caught sight of his back she wanted to cry.
Scars were stretched out along his back as well, these longer and more painful looking than the ones on the front. She was mortified 'Oh Erik, what kind of life have you known?' she thought to herself as she gaze upon his beaten flesh.
She couldn't look any longer. As quickly as she could she removed his stained shirt discarding it upon the floor and helped him lay back down. As she gazed upon him she did something that she hated to do at such a time. She began to cry. She cried horrible tears, horrible heavy tears that dripped down onto Erik mixing with his blood.
He looked so helpless. He had gone horribly pale, he was shaking all over and the gash that he bore was so drastic May feared he would lose his life from the amount of blood draining from him. She began to cry harder. She needed to help him.
"May, please you don't have to help me, I will be fine by myself." He muttered shakily.
That's when she lost it. With a horrible cry she sat up on her knees and threw her hands against the mattress. "YOU IGNORANT MAN, SHUT UP AND JUST LET ME HELP YOU!" she began to cry harder, raking her hands threw her hair. "Erik, I don't want you to die… So just- just tell me what to do and I'll do it."
Erik was shocked by her outburst. She thought he was going to die. He couldn't believe it. Would he? He didn't know but he was touched that May was so worried about him.
Reaching forward with a bloody hand Erik softly wiped some fallen tears from her freckled cheek leaving behind a trail of crimson as she sobbed.
"Erik, I don't want to lose you." She cried.
"And you won't." He replied quietly. He was still trembling horribly.
"Then tell me what to do!"
Erik closed his eyes for a moment thinking and taking a moment to breathe. In that short amount of time he hadn't realized that May had grasped his hand and was now holding it tightly in hers.
He opened his eyes. "Go into your bathroom, in the cabinet that the basin is set upon there are bandages and any material needed. G-grab all of it and bring it here."
May was quick to jump to her feet and before he knew it she was at the door.
"May!" he quickly announced. She turned to meet his gaze. "Please stop crying, I will be alright."
May nodded and wiped her tears then was off. Erik stared up at the ceiling. Pangs of sharp pain shot to his core making him cringe. "Dammed Vicomte." He grunted.
Erik could hear May gathering supplies, occasionally he heard her sniffle attempting to stifle her tears. It hurt him to know that he made May scared, but he was so thankful to have her there to help him. He realized than that what he was saying before was a lie, he would not have had been able to take care of himself. He gave a silent thank you to his little nurse.
Another thought came to mind. Erik thought back onto his explanation of what he needed her to get. He realized that when explaining where to go he stated 'your bathroom' meaning that it was hers and that was where she stayed. It was odd how natural that sounded. The room was made for Christine not May, but yet May was the one to use it more often. It was natural to assume that it was more May's room than it was Christine's.
Erik was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard May re-enter. In her hands she cared the basin and wash bowl from the bathroom, inside the washbowl was all of the materials she could possibly need to help Erik. And he also noticed that she had tied her now blood streaked hair back with a dark ribbon.
Without saying a word May came to Erik's bedside and unloaded all of the materials upon the nightstand. May poured the hot water from the basin into the bowl and dampened a washcloth in the steamy liquid. She returned to Erik and sat up on the bed beside him again.
May began reaching forward to clean his wound when she stopped suddenly and just stared at it. Erik was confused by her action.
"May, what is wrong?" he asked quietly.
"I- I don't want to hurt you." She muttered.
Erik sighed then went to sit up groaning in harsh pain. May met his eyes. "Maygen, it is alright this needs to be done. You will not hurt me."
It took her a moment but she finally nodded and gently dabbed at some blood around the wound. She was careful not to touch it just yet, and simply worked around it, but after a while she realized attempting to clean the blood was useless because more and more kept coming.
Grabbing a new damp washcloth she lightly touched the actual wound now. Erik gave a sharp hiss of pain and a moan as he fisted his hands in the bed sheets and turned his face into his pillow.
May became scared. "Erik!" she cried
"May," his voice was horse and sounded pained. "It's fine; please just get this done with.
May sighed and went back to work cleaning out his wound. Every now and then he would cry out or yell a curse into the air as he clutched harder and harder into the bed sheets, his knuckles turning white.
This frightened May horribly but she knew she had to clean out the wound so Erik would not get an infection. After a few painstakingly long moments she was done.
Erik grunted. "G-good. Now do you see that role of medical thread there?" he asked turning his head. May quickly picked up what he was talking about. It looked like a spool of thread but only thicker. "There is a needle in the side." May pulled out the needle. "Now thread the needle."
She did what she was told and tried not to show how badly her hands were shaking. "It's thread." She announced after a moment.
"Have you ever sown, May?" Erik asked with pain in his eyes.
"Y-yes."
"Good because you will have to stitch my wound." Erik responded plainly.
May was horrified she had never done anything like this and knowing it was going to cause Erik tremendous pain made her hurt inside. But yet she could not back down she had to do it.
"A-alright Erik." She said shakily.
"T-that's a g-good girl." He stuttered. His trembling had not yet ceased.
May felt like she was going to be sick, she was so nervous. She managed to swallow her fear. "A-are you ready Erik…"
"Yes." With shaking hands May began to approach the open wound with the needle when suddenly Erik stopped her hand. "Wait… before you begin you have to promise me something… Now M-May-Maygen please promise that no matter what I do, whether I scream, or kick, or beg you to stop, you must not stop. D-do you understand?"
This frightened May even more. "Erik don't you have something I can give you to take the pain away?"
"No." he responded quickly. "Just please May; p-please promise that you will keep going no matter what I do." Erik had been through this before; he knew how painful it was going to be.
"Alright Erik, I promise."
"T-thank you." He sighed. "… You can start now." There was fear written in his voice. He wasn't afraid of what May would do but he was afraid of the pain. It was unusual for him to fear pain. For his entire life that was all he knew, why now did he fear it?
May swallowed then slowly approached once more with the needle. The first prick was easy; all Erik did was take a sharp intake of breath. May had not yet approached the center of the wound. She quickly cast a glance up to Erik; she was shocked to see that he had his eyes closed tight as if he were too afraid to watch.
Slowly May began to weave the thread threw Erik's bleeding wound. It was horrible; it looked like someone had attempted to cut him in half. The wound was still bleeding horribly and bits of flesh were hanging off. It was also a very deep incision but she knew none of Erik's internal parts had been damaged. May was still struggling to quell the rising sickness she felt.
As she stitched Erik did fine for a while only groaning and moaning here and there but once she reached the center of the wound where it was the deepest, he lost it.
Erik screamed horribly. "Oh God May stop!" he cried. "Please May, it hurts stop!" he would not stop, tears were springing from his eyes as he thrashed around.
No matter how hard Erik pleaded May would not stop. She promised she wouldn't. "Erik no, I gave you my word now stop moving!"
He cried out again. May hated to hear him scream more than anything she could imagine. "MAYGEN!"
She gave a cry then kept going. All of a sudden Erik gave one last loud moan of pain, and then everything was silent. May gasped and looked up at him. His eyes were closed and his head was tilted to the side. He had passed out.
With brief fear May franticly checked his pulse to see if he was okay. She was met with a steady heart beat that calmed her nerves. Now that he was 'asleep' she could finish without him causing problems.
She worked quickly but carefully. Every now and again she would have to stop to wipe away blood. Her fear of stitching Erik was now gone and she was able to finish calmly knotting the thread tightly so that it would not come undone.
Glancing at the once open wound, May was proud of her work. It was finally closed and the bleeding had stopped. Erik was still covered in blood though and so was she. Grabbing a wet cloth from the wash bowl May set out to cleaning off Erik.
For some odd reason she was timid to touch him. She didn't know why, she had no problem with touching him earlier. She glanced over his chest. He was horribly skinny but yet fairly built, she could slightly see his ribs protrude outwards. His skin was so white minus the pink scars that scattered about his chest. Timidly May reached forward and traced one. His skin was cold and rough but yet hard and virile. She had never touched a man like this before; it was such an exhilarating feeling to be able to freely feel his skin beneath her fingertips.
She traced her fingers over a scar that slashed over his heart. May couldn't help but place her hand flat against the expand of the scar feeling the soft thumping of his heart beneath her palm. She was suddenly filled with anger. Erik was nothing but good to her in every way. He was always a complete gentleman and never let any harm come her way. She wanted to know what horrible beast did such awful things to him, and why they had done it. She hated whoever it was that caused him all of the pain drawn out over his body and she hated the Vicomte for injuring him in such a way that nearly cost him his life.
Removing her hand May went back to work cleaning the blood from Erik. Oh, it was everywhere all over the bed sheets, it covered Erik's arms and there was even some on his mask. May was as well covered in blood but she didn't care that much, she needed to tend to Erik.
Once she got his hands and arms clean she went to his mask and slowly took it off washing away to redness. May glanced over Erik's sleeping form. He looked peaceful as if no pain had been brought to him that day. She decided to leave his mask off.
She quickly washed off his abdomen, then realized something. His trousers were soaked with blood. May had no idea what to do. She of course did not want him uncomfortable and didn't want him to be lying in his blood. She was stuck.
'Should I remove his trousers, is that even appropriate?" she thought to herself. 'Oh god what if he is not wearing anything underneath, what do I do then?" she had no idea what to do. 'But I want him to be comfortable. Oh damn you Maygen!'
She was going to do it; it was for the best. Reaching forward with timid hands May bit down on her lip as she undid the buttons. She quickly closed her eyes and turned her head as the buttons went lower, afraid to find out if he wore something underneath. With a quick deep breath May decided to swallow her fear and turn to see what she was doing. She let out a loud sigh of relief to find that he thankfully had undershorts on. Her fear was not completely quelled, for she was still unclothing a man, something she had never dreamed of doing on her 16th birthday.
It took her a while but she finally was able to get his trousers off as well as his shoes and socks. May couldn't help but glance over Erik now. His legs were long and thin but muscular, with a few scars scattered down the length of either one. His feet were big but she knew that already from studying his shoes. She didn't dare glance towards the area that could possibly show any sight of what made him a man; she simply could not bring herself to do so. May glanced at Erik's wound and cringed, she hated the sight of it, just knowing that it caused him pain.
Reaching for a pad of gauze May quickly covered the wound then bandaged it over top wrapping around his torso so that it would not be disturbed.
Pulling up the black comforter from the end of the bed, May covered Erik with it tucking him in tightly to make sure he would not get cold. She stood beside the bed for a while then, simply staring at his sleeping form watching the comforter rise and fall with every breath he took.
After a while she decided that Erik would be alright on his own while he slept, so she went to clean herself up.
May entered the bathroom in the room she normally occupied, it was dark inside so she lit a few candles. When the room was finally basked in light she turned to glance at herself in the mirror and nearly screamed at her reflection. She looked like a picture from a horror story; blood covered practically every inch of her. It was in her hair, all down her favorite dress, it covered her arms and some was even smeared randomly on her face. She needed to bathe, in the worst way. She felt absolutely filthy.
Deciding now was the best to bathe since Erik was asleep, she started the water in the tub then quickly ran back to Erik's room to see if he was alright. He had not moved an inch and May was thankful for that. Moving towards his figure upon the bed she laid a gentle kiss to his forehead.
"I will be gone for only a short time Erik." She whispered in his ear. With that she turned and fled to the bathroom.
Stripping off her tarnished clothing May was eager to slip into the warm embrace of the bath tub. She let out a loud sigh as she slid deeper into the water shutting her eyes for a brief moment.
'What a birthday.' She thought to herself. She was tremendously happy that she was able to help Erik. She despised seeing him injured; it hurt her deeply to see him in such a state of helplessness. He was always the high and mighty opera ghost always put together and never fearing pain. But now he was just an average man facing or horrible injury.
Suddenly Jack crossed her mind. "Oh no!" May exclaimed as she buried her face in her hands. She was due to meet Jack about an hour ago. Oh, she felt horrible. She knew there was no way she could leave Erik to go explain to Jack what was happening; there was no way that she even could explain to Jack what was happening. She would have to lie to him again, which she hated to do but allowed herself to only to save Erik. Sinking all the way into the water she let her thoughts drift away as she washed the blood from her hair.
The water quickly turned a deep red, which frightened May. She wasted no time. When her hair was clean and her body free of Erik's blood she left the tub wrapping herself in a towel and retreating to 'her' room in the lair to find something to wear.
After a while she found a simple and very comfortable salmon pink colored gown that she instantly fell in love with. She dried her hair the best she could with a towel then grabbed a knit blanket from the bed and retreated back to Erik's bed side, pulling a soft chair along with her to sit in. Seeing that Erik was alright and his wound was not bleeding, May curled up in the chair wrapping her blanket around her and fell asleep quickly.
Xxxxxxx
Jack was worrying, pacing back in forth, checking his pocket watch almost every two minutes. May was supposed to meet him in the lobby at 5:00, it was now 6:05 and Jack was panicking. May was never late for anything ever and especially anything with him. He feared something horrible had happened to her. He feared that her life was in danger and there was no way of knowing. He cared too much for this girl to see anything bad come to her. He had to find her
Jack quickly took off racing backstage of the Opera House and into the dorms where the ballerina's resided. He knew where May's room was and quickly ran to it pounding on the door with a worried anticipation.
"May! May darling are you in there?" no answer. This worried him even more. Trying the door he was surprised to find it open. He quickly ran in inspecting the dark room. It was vacant; she was nowhere in sight.
Jack stepped further into the room looking for any signs of where she would be. Her bed was not made but that did not bother him, what did bother him though was the fact that her cloak and satchel were laid upon the bed. That was very peculiar, he assumed that she would not leave the building without either so he knew she must be somewhere in the Opera House.
Jack noticed that all of the candles were out but one upon her vanity, he quickly approached looking for any clue as to where she could be. There was nothing only some make up a brush and perfumes. Something caught his eye though; it was a small piece of parchment with words upon it. He read it.
Maygen,
Meet me tomorrow at the back of the dormitories at 3:30 sharp.
It would be wise of you to dress warmly.
-Erik
Was this the Erik May always spoke about? If so why was he here, May told Jack that he lived just outside of Paris, it was quite a long trip to take into the city. Why of all day's would he decided to come today, and why would May abandon Jack to go rendezvous with some mysterious man.
Jack fled from the room with the parchment in hand wondering if that was where she could be. Little did he know that the note he held was meant for day's prior.
Xxxxxxx
May thought she heard groaning in her dreams. Someone was making that noise along with the sound of ruffling sheets. Suddenly her eyes burst open; it wasn't a dream. Franticly turning to the bed she saw that Erik was thrashing about in the midst of a nightmare. May approached the bed cautiously.
He began to grow more frantic caught in his dreams. He began to kick and groan even louder, sometimes even yell incoherent words at nobody. May noticed how he was sweating profusely. All of a sudden he cried out in terror panting horribly. May was terrified.
"Erik, it's alright, you are only dreaming." His eyes began to open heavily but yet he saw nothing. "It's me, Erik its Maygen."
"M-Maygen?" he gasped between his rapid panting as he grasped her hand. Suddenly something snapped in his mind and he began to mumble. "Christine." He spoke softly over and over again. "CHRISTINE!" he suddenly roared.
May couldn't help but scream in fear as Erik suddenly found his strength. He grabbed May by the shoulders throwing her onto the bed beneath him. He had her pinned down harshly. His mind was caught in a nightmare but his eyes were open and alert. May feared the worst, she had no idea what was going on.
"What did you do with it?!" he yelled in her face. May did not respond only shut her eyes and pressed herself deeper into the mattress. Erik's body was shaking rapidly above hers. "Christine, where did you put it, I need it!" he hollered.
"Erik please calm down. It's May, Erik, I am not Christine!" her attempts to calm him were useless.
"Why would you do this Christine?!" he was beginning to cry. May was horrified she had never seen him like this and it scared her horribly. She thought she was losing him, quickly letting him escape into a world of nightmares and horror. She couldn't do that to him. She couldn't let him leave her like that.
"Christine, you took my mask where is it?!" he roared once more. So that's what this was about. The mask. "Christine why would you do this to me?" he sobbed. May could feel him slipping back into his dreams as the weight he placed on her began to become heavier.
She took the opportunity while she could. Mustering up her strength she pushed him with her body so that he was now lying on his back and she was straddling his legs, cautious not to disturb his injury. In his process of kicking and thrashing he had managed to remove his blankets, so now May was more than aware that she was dangerously close to a part of him she did not want to know about.
Erik was still thrashing about yelling and crying. "I need my mask, please Christine I need it!" he sobbed.
May needed to get him to stop moving she did not want him to rip his stitches. Quickly May grabbed his hands and held them close to her. "Erik, you must calm down, you do not want to injure yourself further." She panted in an attempt to calm him.
"Christine, Christine!" his eyes were beginning to get heavy with sleep once more.
May let go of his hands and leaned forward still cautious of his stitches; she grabbed his face in her shaking hands and held him close while she soothed him.
"Shhh," she lulled. "It is alright Erik; I will get your mask for you as soon as you calm down."
"Christine!" he cried softer this time. Heavy tears were still streaming down his face. May had given up on attempting to let him know she was not Christine. If that's who he thought she was then that's who she would be.
She began to stroke his face calmingly as she met her forehead with his. He was finally beginning to calm. "Shhh, my Erik. It is all alright, you have nothing to fear, I am here, I will not leave you. I am right here."
He began to mumble Christine's name as his heavy eyes began to close and the last of his tears slipped from heavy lashes. May continued to calm him. "I am right here love, nothing will harm you. I will keep you safe." Her lip began to quiver. "You will be alright Erik. Everything is going to be… okay…. I promise you that."
He was finally asleep. As May watched his head lull to the side she finally let herself go. Collapsing against his chest she sobbed.
She could not bare seeing him in such a way; it hurt her so badly. He thought she was Christine, how could he ever think that. May was the one there for him when he bled and now she was there to hold him when he stopped. Where was Christine when this all happened? Her sobs shook her as she cried into the crook of his neck with her palms flat against his chest. Why couldn't it be her name he was panting? Why was he not screaming "MAYGEN!" instead?
Even though Erik was mad at Christine in his dream she still wished he would be dreaming of her instead. Why couldn't thoughts of May fill his mind instead of Christine. And this time they would be happy thoughts, thoughts of May caressing his ravished face with love and happiness instead of Christine wrenching away his mask and shunning him in response.
Glancing up at Erik, May suddenly realized why he would want his mask. He was pretty much completely bare to the eyes of anyone who would look upon him. His scars were exposed and his most hated feature was now uncovered. May's heart ached for him; he was such a pained man with a horribly shadowed past that she was desperate to know everything about.
Whoever caused him these scars, she was willing to hurt. Whoever shunned him for his face she was willing to hurt. And whoever showed him fear instead of the love he deserved she was more than willing to hurt.
Deciding her tears were useless, May gathered her emotions and carefully removed herself from Erik's lap. She gently removed his bandages to inspect his stitches. There was no harm done to them. She replaced the bandages, wrapped him in his blankets once more then gathered her own blanket and curled up at the foot of the bed falling into a dreamless slumber, after she had placed his mask beside him upon the bed.
Sorry but I had to go with part of the movie plot in this one, although I did change it a bit!
Please tell me what you think, I love reviews so please leave as many as you please! Thanks for reading, I hope you all are having a wonderful start to the new year!
One final Happy Birthday to May!(: