Angel of Doom and an English Rose (Phantom of the Opera)

Chapter 29 - Broken

Erik's POV:

I wrote down a few notes on the music score I was composing. Since the day that I had fled from Rosetta I had started a piece of music. It was called Don Juan. When I had been at the gypsy band Javert liked to call me nicknames. His favorite was Don Juan. I guessed it was a way to get back at him by immortalizing his name for me in a piece of music.

I laid down the quill and looked over at a painting I had done of Rosetta. She was standing on a balcony with her golden hair blowing in the breeze, her eyes sparkling. I reached forward and touched her lips. I was dying without her. She was my life. She was everything to me.

I was a selfish creature and knew that had she found me before I had fled I wouldn't have been able to leave. I had more than once almost turned back. But I knew she deserved better than the monster that I was.

I closed my eyes and the picture appeared behind my eyelids was a heartrending one. I always pictured her with some handsome man, possibly pregnant with his child or holding his children in her arms. I always saw her laughing. I always saw her happy. No doubt, she was laughing about how she had almost run away with a monster. No doubt, she laughed at the thought of ever loving me.

I knew that in three years she was long over me. But I would never be over her. I loved and never would cease to love her. I had given her my heart and I couldn't take it back. I started to play again and held back the tears. One thought of her made me want to break down in tears. I hated being alone. Before I had loved it. If I hadn't ever known Rosetta I would have been content where I was. But I wasn't content. I never would be as long as she was on my mind.

I couldn't play any more and was about to go to bed and cry myself to sleep like I normally did when I heard someone coming towards my house. I was living in a small place beneath the Opera House and I heard everything. I was surprised because the only person who knew how to get down here safely was the master mason and he almost never came unless it was important.

I stood up from my organ and walked down a hall to the front door. I opened it as he docked the boat. He smiled at me and I frowned.

“Good morning, Sir.” He said politely. I nodded a recognition. He knew not my name and I never used his. He was a nice enough gentleman but I wasn't sociable by nature. He walked toward me and spoke again,

“How are you morning?” I didn't answer his question but merely said,

“What are you doing here? Problems with the building?” He shook his head and I was confused. There was no other reason for him to want to talk to me.

“Then why are you here?” He smiled and said,

“There is someone who came to me. They want to talk to you. Something about an old friend.” I stared at him. I had no old friends unless it was Daroga. I doubted that. It couldn't be Rosetta. That was completely impossible. I had no other friends. I scowled at him and said,

“What name did this person give?” He shrugged his shoulders.

“No name. Just said they were an old friend.” I scowled again and said,

“What do they look like?” He smiled and leaned against the wall of my house.

“Well, its a woman. She is probably in her early twenties. Tall, with dark gold hair. Quite a pretty girl if I say so myself. She arrived on a excellent black stallion, riding astride. She is very polite even though her clothing speaks of a low status.” I kept my face even thought my heart had started to pound. There was only one girl who could fit such a description. It was Rosetta.

I pushed the thought from my mind and quickly decided that it was simply a woman who looked a lot like her. It couldn't be Rosetta. I calmed my racing heart and said,

“Where is she?” He walked back towards the boat and said,

“She is in the designing room. I didn't want her standing around. She seemed quite tough but I didn't want to run any risks with my men.” I nodded and he pushed off. I walked back in and fetched my cloak. After I had straightened my mask, I took the water-less route from the lair to the surface. I moved silently among the builders but felt their eyes on me. I never surfaced in the day and my keen ears caught questions like,
“What is he doing?”
“I wonder what has happened?”
“Why has he come?”

I brushed them off and made my way to the designing room. I opened the door and gasped at the sight. The woman had been standing by the window but when I opened the door she turned to look at me. She looked older then I remembered. Her dark gold hair was as beautiful and silky as I remembered it. Her eyes didn't sparkle as much as I had thought. She looked tired and one look at her hands told me she had done labor at some point.

This was Rosetta though. The woman I loved and left. The woman I was dying without. She smiled at me and ran towards me, arms wide. I gasped again when she flung her arms around me. I held her close and ran my hand through her hair. I almost cried at the feeling her arms around me neck.

She pulled away from a moment and kissed me on the mouth. I was frozen for a second then pulled her against me. I had missed her kisses and her touch. The pieces of my dying heart came back to life the longer I held her.

She melted into me and I had no intention of letting her go anytime soon. But, why was she doing this? Did she still love me? I never thought she could. We had been separated for three years! Three long years. It was impossible that after all that time she could still love me.

I pulled away and held her head in my hands. I fought the desire to kiss her again and said,

“What are you doing here?”