Guardian Angel

Chapter 3: Wall of Masks

There was little to do but mourn the loss of her father as Christine sat confined in the room Erik had left her in. She hardly slept and only consumed small amounts of the food he would leave outside the bedroom door. He repeated the process three times a day for nearly a week, though not without attempting to coax her into speaking with him. It wasn't that she didn't want to interact with him, but that she felt terrible for how she treated him the night of her father's death.

Erik had saved her life as she clutched her dying father in her arms, welcomed her, a complete stranger, into his home, and had comforted her when she behaved like a sniveling child in his arms. He was far too kind-hearted to be treated that way and she needed to apologize as soon as she could, after all, she knew he wasn't lying about her father's debts.

The evidence was so clear and she had completely ignored it in lieu of giving all of her attention to Raoul. She didn't even question it when her father would come home hours after rehearsals ended smelling of liquor. She hardly fought him when he informed her that he couldn't send her to a music school in Rome due to a lack of finances when they were never a problem before.

It was her fault really. He wouldn't have even known the de Chagny's if Raoul hadn't been courting her for the past year. The Vicomte de Chagny who so easily sat across from her father just two weeks prior and spoke of horse breeding over a meal she spent hours preparing. Little did she know, her suitor had ordered a hit on her father. It was pitiful how he still planned on taking her to the park after Sunday mass knowing her father would be dead. The gal of that bastard!

Christine had never felt hatred in her life, though if she were to even attempt to explain the feeling she had for Raoul, it would surely be the most unbridled loathing the world had ever seen. Perhaps Erik would–no, he had done enough already, besides, what kind of being would she be if she committed the same sins as the man she despised the most?

With a sigh, Christine sat up in bed, intent on apologizing to Erik for being such a horrible guest. Though she hardly knew him, he was all she had left in the whole world and she didn't want him to come to hate her, nor did she want to be alone any longer. When her mother passed away, she spent as much time with her father as she could which made coping with her loss easier. She could only hope that Erik would be willing to dedicate some of his time to her.

Christine looked to the left of the bed and spotted a small oakwood vanity positioned next to a matching dressing screen. She had to admit that Erik had a great sense of interior decoration as all of the furniture in the room was made of the same oakwood, even the massive bed frame. The room was far larger than the one at her townhouse. The periwinkle paper adorning the walls combined with the simplicity of the decor reminded her of her childhood home when they still lived in Perros-Guirec. The coverlet she laid on was cream-colored and the matching sheets felt much like the silk she had slept on when she and her father visited Florence. She would be forever thankful that the room wasn't trimmed with gold and silver as she had seen in most chateaus.

Christine clambered out of bed and crossed the room to sit at the vanity. She opened the single drawer and found only a comb, handheld mirror, and a lavender hair ribbon. If she was staying, she would need to ask Erik if she could be afforded a hair brush. It was already a chore maintaining the wild mane of curls that she had been "blessed with", as her father would tell her, and a comb would not suffice.

Despite the prospect of breaking the comb, Christine decided to at least fix the top layer of her curls and tie her hair back with the ribbon. There was no possibility she would present herself to Erik looking like she had just returned from a day of horseback riding. Unfortunately, she had nothing to correct the splotches of red on her cheeks or the light swelling of her eyes from the endless hours of crying. She quickly replaced her sleeping gown with one of the few dresses she brought with her and she finally felt ready to speak with Erik.