Darling. (Erik/Phantom x Reader)

Sixteen.

Behind the Mirror
Prima Donna's Dormitory at the Opera Populaire

(Image above is the Phantom's lair, as I describe)

***

As soon as the glass slid to a close, Y/N was engulfed in a darkness she never before knew. There was no light in the entirety of the tunnel, and the mirror seemed to seal completely unless purposely hauled open.

Feeling a new wave of panic, Y/N collapsed against one of the walls with a sob, before expressly and hopelessly yelling, "Erik!"

The yell came out as more of a yelp, and she would later be embarrassed by its hoarseness. In the moment, however, the darkness was so consuming that she could not see her knees as she tucked them against her chest, even as she buried her face into them with a desperate sob.

Her sobs almost drowned out the sound of sharp breathing, except the darkness seemed to amplify all noise in the chambers of stone. Hearing the breathing, she scattered to stand, using the stone wall to support her body before feeling a fair of hands on her arms, securing her in place.

"What is the matter?" Erik asked, and though she could hear and feel him, she still could not see his figure in the black.

Y/N let out a sob of relief as she leaned her head forward, where it rested on his chest, and she explained through heaves and tears: "A m-man tried... I was dr-dropping my mail off and he tried to... and then he followed me! He followed me to my door and he is trying to break it down and I—" Y/N felt Erik's hand on the back of her head, petting her hair gently, "I didn't know where else to go."

Erik's hand left her hair and she heard him i clip something, and then the feeling of him draping something across her shoulders. His cape, no doubt, that she knew he wore as he went around the opera house in the nighttime. He carefully wrapped her in the fabric, and then reached to her face, and wiped her tears with his gloved hands.

"Stay here a moment, I will return shortly. Fear not," Erik spoke in a calm, but gentile, voice. He then let go of her, and slipped the mirror open. The light flooded the tunnel for a moment, and then he closed it, leaving her alone in the pitch black echo chamber.

In the silence, she could feel the dryness of her mouth and the headache pounding in her ears. She did not wonder what Erik was going to do to remedy the issue. She did not care what he was going to do, but simply knew he was going to do something, and whatever he did would fix it. Erik was going to fix it.

She kept repeating it to herself: Erik will fix this. Erik will fix this. Erik will fix this.

The mental repetition continued even as she heard the sound of something slamming against the floor in her room.

Erik will fix this. Erik will fix this.

She was sitting on the stone floor again, but now she was wrapped in the velvet cape. She balled it up in her fists, and brought those fistfuls of fabric to her face, where she pressed them over her eyes. She couldn't bare the darkness. How the hell did Erik navigate these halls every day?

She was, meanwhile, still crying in sobs and streams. Never before had she been touched with such violence, never before had a man been so crass with her. She thought about Charles. Charles would have a heart attack if he knew. Charles would lock Y/N up in her room at home, back in Winchester, if he ever learned of this.

The worst part wasn't even the pain. It was not the soreness radiating in her arm, which had been so forcefully shoved against the wall, but instead the feeling of insecurity she now had. She felt unsafe in a previously safe place.