Erik groaned softly as he woke up. He saw the soft gold and red glow of a fire in front of him. He tried to move his hands, but found them to be bound behind him. He could feel the uncomfortable rub of bark against his back. He was tied to a tree.
"Ah! Cheh shema bh arak anejam ma shewd?" (What have you done to Erik?) he demanded, refering to himself in the third person.
Aref turned to face him and chuckled once again. That horrid laugh which the masked man had heard before going unconcious.
"Shema waq'ea feker ma kenem keh men bh shema beguwam? Aan khala bashetr sergurem kenendh beraa keshef 'elet beraa khewdetan, feker nema kenad?" (You really think that I'll tell you? It's so much more fun to discover the cause for yourself, don't you think?) Aref smiled, walking over to Erik, bending down to come face to face with his lastest kidnapping victim.
"W aaa shema waq'ea feker ma kenem keh tenab ma tewaned arak atesal?" (And do you really think that ropes can bind Erik?) the trickster asked his kidnapper as he worked his hands from the rope.
"Nah. Men herguz az an ra der ser dashet." (No. I never dreamed of it.) the Persian said simply, holding up his hands in an uncaring fashion.
"Aaa dew'el akea dagur az cheh cheaza ma khewahad?" (Is another duel what you wish for?) Erik inquired.
Aref shook his head, "Benaberaan men ma tewaned shema ra ak bar dagur shekeset?" (So I can defeat you once again?)
Erik laughed heartily as he stood, grabbing the rope and already starting to make it into the familiar shape of the lasso, "Ama men der hal hader kelahebredara haa khewd ra ma danem. Shema ma tewanad hach baza beraa dam, derb 'easheq!" (But I know your tricks now. You will be no match for the trap-door-lover!) The persian man smirked at Erik's victory cry.
"Shema men ma danem keh kemetr az men ma danad, 'easheq dam derb." (You know me less than I know you, trap-door lover) he backed away from him, grabbing his own well-formed lasso. One that looked well-worn. It was something that Erik hadn't noticed the first time that he had dueled the young man in the way of the Shah-in-Shah's chamber of tortures. The weapon which the young boy brandished was worn and used, almost fraying.
Erik had a feeling that it would be quite a simple task to defeat Aref and regain Melody. Now he knew the man's sick style of battling. The man's trickster ways. He would be able to look out for the unexpected deeds that Aref planned. Erik tugged on the knot and then made quick work of forming it to fit the persian's head as Aref had already done for Erik before the masked man had awoken.
Had Aref anticipated this second battle of Persian weapons? Had he known that defeat might be close at hand and to prepare for such a battle of aim and struggling. Erik might not know.
As the two circled each other around the fire, Erik searched for Melody, but without finding her.
"Aw refth aset. Jestejw beraa aw dagur, beraa an aset keh tenha hewas pereta ra bh shema, 'easheq dam derb khewahed bewd." (She is gone. Search for her no longer, for it will only be a distraction to you, trap-door lover.) Aref told him, moving closer to the man that he had watched in Persia as a child.
"Agur men bernedh aan nebred, shema bh men beguwaad keh der an shema khewd ra neguh dasheth aset." (If I win this battle, you will tell me where you have kept her.) Erik started to make a deal with him.
"Shema der dest men ma marend agur bernedh men." (You will die at my hand if I win.) Aref finished the bargain. The two men briefly shook hands before returning to their game of cat and mouse. Or rather, cat and tiger.
A quick flick of the wrist and Aref's neck was captured within the confines of the circle of rope. A tug and the rope tightened as Aref struggled to come free from the catgut lasso.
"You... win..." he gurgled. The rope loosened ever so slighlty, "Edge of forest. Asleep against fence." Another quick snap of the wrist and the persian fell to the floor, a limp rag doll. Not dead, however. The man was just unconcious. The man did not deserve such a merciful death as a punjab lasso. Not for the pain and confusion that he had caused Erik, Melody and Christine. Raoul didn't matter much. The de Chagney twat could be pitted against Aref without Erik so much as batting an eye.
However Christine might have a few words to say if Erik did such a thing. It would be all to simple and perhaps a little too tempting for the experienced killer. This thought entertained Erik as he wove his way to the edge of the forest.
As promised, the young de Chagney girl was asleep against a white picket fence.
"Wake up." he shook the blonde girl by the shoulders. She jerked awake, fear in her eyes. Unlike he thought, the fear did not go away at the sight of Erik. The horrid emotion still danced in her eyes like a girl from the Corp de Ballet of the Palais Garnier.
"Wh--" she was quickly hushed by the masked man.
"Do not speak. You are going home. Be grateful, for if it were up to him, he would not do such a thing. He will not release his hold on you so easily, so hurry." he whispered to the girl.
"I... thank you." she said in a hushed voice. She stood quickly with the aid of Erik and the two ran off under the watchful eye of Aref.
Erik was right. Aref would not let the young girl go so easily, but neither would he let her live in fear for so long. Instead he would let her go and assume that she was safe. Safe before coming back under his dark, fearful control.
However that meant that he needed to take care of that ugly masked man with the great skills with a lasso. Aref had been rendered unconcious by his tutor's efforts, however Aref let him win. Under other circumstances, Erik would be the one lying on the ground. Although Aref would not have been so merciful. The man's life would have ended with a satisfying crunch of the neck. However, Aref knew that he had to get the old man's confidence up, or it wouldn't be as satisfactory as he was dreaming. As satisfying as he knew that it had to be.
It wasn't good for a teacher to be defeated by his student without at least a bit of a fight! And what a fight it would be indeed! However, like Erik, Aref loved to play with his food. So Erik would not have such a quick ending. And Aref was sure that Erik would quickly come back to play like a mouse that thought it was a cat. Oh, he didn't just think that he was the cat. Erik must believe it.
Oh, how satisfying it would be to pop his little bubble... to crush his little dreams with the simple snap of a taught rope. Aref couldn't wait. But wait he must. For he must not come to Erik. Erik must come to him. And for that to happen, time must pass.
And thus started the painfully long waiting game.
A.N. Really short chapters so far, I'm sorry. But I'm hoping that the suspense is building in my readers as much as it is building in me. For this is not the end. There is still more to come. That wasn't the climax! Not. Even. Close. Well, it is drawing close. Wonderfully, tantalizingly close. But for that to happen... time must pass. Both for Aref, you and me.
Who do you think will win in this final battle? What will Raoul have to say to Erik? Will Erik get to drag the Count de Chagney into a game of cat and mouse with Aref?
Read the next chapter to find out....
~Shadow
P.S. I now have the rest of the story planned out. If all goes to plan, there should be about 3 more chapters left in this story. I haven't written more chapters yet, but they are coming. They are planned out! So it may be a little while until the next update... I'm sorry. :c
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In the name of our love
FanfictionWhen Erik (also known as the Phantom of the Opera) loses his home to a fire, it seems that he has nowhere to run. Christine—the love of his life—has abandoned him, choosing instead to marry Erik's enemy and Christine's childhood friend viscount Raou...
