A New Beginning

Chapter 17

(Christine's POV)

Raoul and I had found Javert's circus and asked Nadir to drive us there. We snuck in while he waited in the carriage so we could escape fast and easily. Raoul and I looked inside several tents until we found the one Erik was in. The sight made my heart shatter; Erik, sitting on a cage, wearing nothing but a pair of torn off, dirty trousers. His mask had been removed from his face, and he seemed to have attempted to cover the right side of his face with mud. Why was he doing this? Then it occurred to me; he wanted to protect me. I had decided to leave me for the sole purpose of protecting me. Now that Javert had seen us at the village, he would look for Erik until he found him. He had followed the carriage that night, I didn't have the slightest doubt about that. Erik would never risk him getting to me.

"Just like the old days, right, my little freak?" Javert spat as Erik sat on the filthy floor of the cage. Erik glared at Javert as he chuckled madly. "The next show is in an hour, I better call someone to come prepare you," Javert said and left the tent.

Just then, a man entered the cage; whip in hand. "Let's get you ready for the show, shall we?" he said, kicking Erik on the ribs.

The man they proceeded to whip Erik mercilessly. It went like that for quite some time, until the man then started insulting him and spitting on him, then kicking him again. I let my tears fall freely from my eyes. I couldn't bare to see my angel being harmed so badly.

About an hour later, the man finally stopped hitting him, but not after a strong kick to the back, and then another one that sent him flying to the other side of the cage, landing on the ground, his back hitting the bars in the process. He yelled in pain, even though that was the only time he did.

The man locked the cage and put the key in his pocket, then left the tent. Raoul and I chose that precise second to come out of our hiding place behind a stack of boxes. I ran towards the cage and reached my hands to him through the bars. "Erik?" I whispered. Immediately, he shot his head up at me, his eyes filled with utter disbelief. He tried to speak as he opened his mouth, but no sound came out. My eyes again filled with tears, and I reached my hand to stroke his head.

"Don't worry, we are going to get you out of here," Raoul said and turned around. He leaned down and picked up the key that that man had surely dropped. He inserted it into the key hole with shaky hands and the door opened. He rushed inside the cage and helped Erik to his feet. He swung Erik's arm around his shoulder and placed his own arm around Erik's torso. "Come on, the carriage is not very far from here," Raoul told him, helping him walk through the camp.

"We should hurry, the show starts in ten minutes, they will be looking for him any minute now," I told them, starting to help Erik myself. We walked as fast as we could all the way to the carriage, Erik walking clumsily.

When we finally reached the carriage, we helped Erik in. I sat down and placed his head on my lap. Raoul sat in front of us and closed the door. Just as he was about to tell the Nadir to go, Erik stirred and muttered something. He was breathing heavily, and had tears in his eyes. I tried to calm him down, stroking his head gently and whispering to him that everything would be alright.

When the carriage started moving, Erik placed his head on his face. "M-mask," he said. "Erik needs h-his mask." He started panicking and shaking, until Raoul said he would go get it. "It is too dangerous," I said. "We will get you a new one, it is alright. Everything is alright." He nodded. I stroked his head and sang to him softly, until he fell asleep.

We eventually got home and Nadir and Raoul carried Erik upstairs and laid him down, then they bade me goodbye and kissed my hand before they left the room. I started treating Erik's wounds as best as I could, careful not to make them sting so I wouldn't wake him up. When I finished, I kissed his forehead, lay down on the divan, and, after a while, fell asleep.