Say You'll Share With Me | Phantom Oneshots

POTOber Day 14 - Twisted Every Way

this is a little late, but this is another piece that I wrote alongside BrendaDaaeDestler! enjoy!

day 14 prompts: force/manipulation/defiance 

~ 

Erik tiptoed down the stairs from the attic, peeking his eyes around the wall to glance into the parlour to make sure that his mother wasn't around. Seeing that the room was empty, he smiled to himself and hurried over to the piano, then climbed up onto the bench. He ghosted his fingers over the keys, pressing them so lightly that they hardly produced a sound. He dared not play loud enough to alert his mother of his presence downstairs and played the instrument if he could help it; instead, he simply admired the beauty of the ivory keys and poured over every sheet of music he could find nearby.

He couldn't understand why his mother hated when he played music so much, though he figured it probably had something to do with his face. He knew that she hated that part about him, no matter how badly he just wanted to be around her and love her. Through his window, he had seen families in their little town out walking together, smiling mothers hand-in-hand with their young sons. He knew that he had a mother, but something was missing between them. He wished that wasn't so.

On some of the compositions sitting on the piano, Erik noticed a very familiar name signed in the corner - Charles. He smiled when he saw it, just like he always did when he managed to find anything related to his father. His mother didn't speak of him very much, though she had told him never to ask questions about his father. That only motivated him to poke around even more to see what he could find.

He wished he could play the pieces that his father had composed...but perhaps he could. Looking around the house and listening closely, he could tell that his mother was still out in the garden tending to her flowerbeds. He actually might have a chance to get away with it so, carefully straightening the piece of sheet music, he set his fingers on the piano keys and started to play, smiling as he did.

What felt like only a few seconds later, though, Erik flinched when he was struck on the arm, making him realize how quickly he had lost track of time while he'd been playing. Turning his head, his eyes went wide and he started to scramble off of the piano bench when he saw his mother, only for her to grab him harshly.

"What are you doing down here?" she demanded, slapping his face swiftly as he tried to squirm away. "Explain this, Erik! You know you aren't supposed to be down here!"

"I know, I'm sorry," Erik said, the burning in his cheek and the tight grip that his mother had on his arm already making him sniffle and tear up. "You were outside, I thought it would be okay."

"It isn't!" Madeleine exclaimed as she yanked him off of the piano bench and forced him to stumble to his feet. "You know you're not to play this piano, and you know even better that you are never to play your father's music."

"But Mother, why? It's so beautiful," Erik replied, reaching up with his free hand to try and wipe away the tears that were streaming down his face.

He saw his mother roll her eyes as she started to pull him out of the room - back to the attic, he already knew. "You've been very bad, Erik, and you know what happens to boys that are bad," she said, hardly glancing back at him as she spoke. "Boys like that have to stay in their rooms and they don't get to see their precious little puppies. You don't want that, do you?"

"No. Mother, please let me still see Sasha," Erik replied. "She's already up in my room, please let her stay."

"Keep trying my patience and I will take her away and not let her back in with you for the rest of the week," Madeleine snapped, shoving him towards the stairs to the attic. "Now go up and don't let me see you for the rest of the day."