A Light in the Dark

Chapter 5 (Erik's POV)

Chapter 5 Erik's POV

I had not slept soundly in a month. I kept myself up at night paying bills and worrying about Gustave, but that night I slept so soundly, I don't believe that the end of the world would have woken me.

Once I fell asleep, I stayed asleep, but before, I kept myself up thinking about that night. I remembered the rush of Christine's voice as she sang my song. Then, I felt the panic we both had when we could not find Gustave in the crowd. I pictured it all so vividly.

I saw Gustave on the pier with Meg. Meg was just about to jump with Gustave wrapped in her arms when I caught her by the shoulder. Gustave ran to Christine in a panic. Meg put the gun to her head and stood on the edge of the pier. She told me what she had done for me as far as my park was concerned. It occurred to me that I had never even heard about all of what she did for me. I remember the exact words I said to Meg: "Meg please give me the gun. I know you feel that I've used you and neglected you. I too have felt this way before. Please, Meg, blame all of that feeling on me. No one wants to see you like this, Meg. I know the world is mean, Meg, but, just like I see the beauty underneath in the world, I see the beauty underneath this, Meg. We all can't be perfectly crafted like Christine."

That's where I messed up. Meg lost her temper and her control of the gun. That's when the shot rang out, and I heard Christine's scream- that scream that still rang in my ears. That scream was all my fault. I was never good with people and especially with words. I screamed for Madame Giry to get help as I took Christine in my arms. Soon it was just Christine, Gustave, and I sitting on the pier. It was only the second time our little family had been together alone, and the first time I didn't even have the slightest idea that I had a family.

Gustave was in a state of utter panic. He screamed for his father. I wrapped my arm tightly around Christine's waist to try to stop the bleeding as much as I could. I had little faith that she would make it, but I did not stop hoping for a miracle. Christine was a strong lady. Christine then beckoned Gustave over to her. He came to her side with tears streaming down his face. He was still screaming for Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny.

"Gustave, please!" his mother pleaded, "Your father, well, your real father -" My eyes pleaded with Christine. The boy was scared of me. He could not know. Her eyes pleaded back with mine, "I know I promised you, but you are all he has now." She was completely correct. My bet with the Vicomte caused him to leave town, and I did not trust him to take care of Gustave in a proper manner.

"Gustave, look with your heart and not with your eyes. The heart understands. The heart knows what's wise," she softly said to him. "Gustave, your real father is here."

I watched my own son run down the pier crying about this news. I still to this day do not know if the tears were out of fear, mourning, or the fact that he had lived his entire life as a lie. It could have been a bit of all three.

Christine passed out in my arms from loss of blood. I squeezed her waist tighter and begged her to stay with me. She eventually, to my delight, opened her eyes and gripped my arm. My angel's eyes were filled with pain and love. I lost hope. She was slipping through my fingers even faster than she had ten years before.

The truth hit me like a sudden blow to the head. "The boy, Christine, what am I to do with him."

"Erik," in all of the time we had spent together that was the first time she had ever called me that, "Just love him, and give him everything that you can give him." I nodded at her commands and ran my fingers through her curly brunette locks. "And Erik, take all of the love that you deserve." I promised her I would keep all of her commands. I remember specifically how her body seemed to fade away in my arms. Her skin faded to the shade of my mask. "Come closer, please," she asked me. I pulled her farther into my arms and leaned down. She pleaded with me once more, "Please come closer." I pressed my head against hers and took in the scent of her perfume on last time.

"Kiss me one last time," she muttered under what little breath she had left.

In a matter of seconds I remembered everything we had been through. I thought of everything that had ever kept us apart, but it didn't matter anymore. We had finally put all of those interferences to the side, and now we only had one moment left. I decided that if all we had was a moment, it was going to be a wonderful moment. I felt a warm tear drop down my cheek, and I melted into her. Her delicate hand grasped my shoulder for a moment as I pressed my lips as firmly as I possibly could against hers. For a moment we were unbreakable, but then death took hold of my dear angel of music. Her hand fell from my shoulder. I cried out for her and pressed her lifeless body against my chest, and I stayed this way for as long as I possibly could.

In a matter of minutes the doctors arrived with Madame Giry. They had to pry Christine out of my arms. I looked down at her blood that soaked the sleeve of my white shirt and let the tears poor down my face. By the time I looked back up, they were gone. My angel was gone.

I stood with my feet at the edge of the pier. I put one hand around a post and hung my body off of the edge.

I wondered what it would feel like to drown. I thought about how easy it would be to just slip off of the edge and drown in sorrows, drown in fear, and drown in the blue water.

It was then I saw something pale and small out of the corner of my eye. I stood straight and looked eye to eye with Gustave. I bent down to look him in the eyes. They were red and wet. He reached out for my mask. At first, I backed away, but he looked hurt when I did. I did not think anything could make him feel any worse than the death of his mother, so I slipped the mask off of the abhorrent deformity of my face. Gustave did not run this time. He simply hugged me tight, and I held him in my arms for a long time that night.

I once again held the same scared little boy in my arms. I could suddenly hear his breathing get heavy. I held him even closer.

Even though I could not see a thing in the darkness that was my home, there was a light. The light was buried in my chest and asleep in my arms. I had already let one light, my angel, slip away from me, but nothing was going to take my child away from me. With that thought, I drifted off to sleep.

I slept soundly that night because I knew that I was safe. I was safe because there was light yet no one could see what I was.

For Gustave was my protector just as I was his.