The Girl on Fire-A Phantom of the Opera fanfiction

The Girl on Fire- Part 10

               It had been a few days, and although Anastasia dreaded it, she had to return above to the opera house. Sadly, she couldn't remain here with Erik forever. As much as she strangely wished to...Erik had given her a new dress, since her other one was destroyed. It was a dark blue with white lace along the edges, but a new dress would not distract anyone from her new fiery red hair and she knew it. 

               Last night, her and Erik had tried to dye her hair back to its original color, but the dye Erik had bought did nothing to the flaming waves upon her head.

             It would seem that there was an extra bedroom in Erik's home, and she and neglected to ask him why. Although a part of her didn't want to know why there was a bedroom such as this in his home. It was furnished with a black swan bed and Persian rugs, but what concerned her the most was the feminine vanity and attached bathroom.

           While it was certainly strange, it was not the strangest thing about Erik. But Anastasia was definitely not in a position to judge him. Especially not after how accepting he had been, and everything he had done for her.  Her train of thoughts led her to the question of why he had done all this? There was certainly no benefit for him to be helping her.

               A knock at her door brought her attention from her wavering thoughts, causing her to turn quickly as she called out.  

              With the click of the door knob Erik was standing, unsurprisingly in front of her.  But what did surprise her was the solemn look on his face.

 "Why so glum Erik? I would have thought you'd be happy to finally get me out of your hair." she said, her tone laced with sarcasm. 

        But he did not laugh.

"Here, let me take your bags." he spoke quickly, changing the subject before she could protest and took the suitcase from her hand.

            Anastasia just followed behind Erik through the twisting turns of the labyrinth, and when Erik went to re-light his torch after it had gone out from a strange gust of wind(which had thoroughly confused her since they were underground) she had gleefully, waved her hand and returned the flame. 

          It was a strange feeling, being this powerful. When she was young, she used to pretend that this "gift" of hers did not exist. She used to want to be like everyone else. 

        While there was no changing the fact that she would have to stay in hiding from others, deep down there was a feeling that she didn't have to hide from herself anymore. 

        Erik smiled softly at her trick, but the sad look on his face returned soon after. Stepping in front of him, Anastasia put her hands on her hips and demanded to know what was the matter with him. 

"Its nothing my dear, I'm just tired."

 "I'm not dull Erik! Something is the matter and your going to tell me right now!"

        She had almost expected him to be mad at her for something, or maybe he really was afraid of her. But instead, he shook his head, and said something even more shocking.

"I believe... I'm going to miss you."

          He spoke as if he wasn't completely sure, as if he hadn't missed anyone before.

"Really?"

       He nodded softly as they continued walking, just before arriving at some sort of granite column with a door. There were two small holes next to each other, and Ana had to go on the tips of her toes to peer through them. 

    After a closer look around, she was able to see that they were in the lobby of the Opera House, behind some sort of secret door. 

"I suppose this is where we part ways, I trust you'll keep in touch?" Anastasia had not forgotten their deal for the masquerade.

"I shall. Goodbye Ana." His voice held a lingering scent of sorrow, but like so much else about himself, Erik was masking it. Ana chose not to press him further about the matter, merely trusting him for the moment.

And that was something she had not done in a long, long time.