Phantom Child

12. Six months of relief

For the next days Erik's emotional state could be described as 'mainly sad'. While the Opera Populaire was closed he didn't want to wander around, so he was composing a lot. And I really mean a lot. I was sitting with him most of the days, going out from time to time to buy food. He decided to evade the topic of the disasters to a point where he just didn't want to acknowledge my existance at all. I just waited patiently for him to come back to his senses himself; I didn't mind him ignoring me at all. I knew that once he is ready to talk, he'll do it.

After about a week or two, Erik came back to his normal routines and started actually paying attention to the fact that I was still around. Our first convesation had provided me with the information that he was really sorry for what he'd done. I forgave him, we needed each other; I couldn't just reject him and come back to the state that we had been in since the night of "Il Muto", or worse: to the state before we had met.

Even though Erik was the Phantom od the opera, I believed that he could be changed. He wasn't completely morally rotten and had human feelings, though he couldn't control himself sometimes. In this time that I had spent with him, I learned how to handle his various weirdnesses. He didn't like the fact that I knew him inside out. I liked it though. One day, during dinner he asked:

"Why are you still here?"

I was baffled. Did he not want me to accompany him? The perspective of being all alone again took away my words for a while. After it I started:

"I can go, if you don't-"

"No, no. It's just..." he hesitated "You should have ran from me."

Poor Erik, self-deprecating again. Why couldn't he understand his own worth as a human being, I'll never comprehend.

"Erik" I sighed "I don't want to leave."

He looked up ashamed as always, but smiled as soon as he saw me.

"What am I going to do with myself somewhere else? We've grown closer. You're like my..." well, family ties weren't exactly what described our relation "...dad and older brother in one?" I smiled sillily. He laughed weakly. "And I am Not  Scared." I added confidently.

He went silent. He realised where I was going with my little speech, soon with that came a realisation that he can't stop me. I gave him a begging look and Erik sighed. I slowly put a hand on his mask and took it off. His pitiful face emerged from underneath it. I examined it in silence. Erik was on the verge of tears, but I just placed my hand on the deformity. Then I pulled him into a hug. He was completely silent and soon placed his hands on my back as well. The difference in height really made it feel like he was on ebog blanket wrapped around me.

I really hoped Erik could believe that his face alone does not make him a monster. And I knew that ever since he was a child, the only thing he had been getting from his own parents was loathing, but I wanted to help him get over it. It was not fair - the way that he had been treated his whole life.

"Why can't Christine look at me the way you do?" He whispered, more like to himself, but I heard it anyway.

"Christine will return in a few months, probably for the masquerade. And then we can figure it out." I assured him.

In fact I had no idea what I was talking about. Erik didn't give up on his love for Christine, even though he knew how much she loved Raoul. The only thing I needed to figure out was how to stop the Phantom from doing something terrible again because of that. Coping with him was complicated, to say the least. I felt like I was his therapist... But still, I would do anything to make sure, he was mentaly alright.

This night Erik was composing again... late at night. Woken up by the music, I rubbed my eyes and sat up on the blanket. Erik was at his organ, softly pressing the keys, making a beautiful melody come out and ring out through the caves. It was as if he wanted me to wake up and listen; if yes, then he succeeded. I got up and walked over to him. He stopped playing, but soon started another melody; a very slow and sweet one. I felt the music in my body causing me to swing from side to side. Suddenly the notes of the organs didn't even matter, because I heard Erik's voice: