I Belong to You (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Slowly leading Christine to the den, Erik distantly said, "Part of me wishes I could show you..."

"Show me what?" Christine asked, but most of her attention was directed towards her always-interesting surroundings. She really was always looking for a way out...although, from past experience she knew it was useless to try to run away.

"My past. Where I went, what I did. It is sometimes hard for me to believe all that I went through..." Erik sighed, and the sound seemed almost wistful.

He looked to be in a sort of daydream, and Christine didn't like it. She wanted him in his normal frame of mind when he told her about his past, even if normal didn't equal sane. In the grand scheme of things, anything other than 'normal' -in this situation- would serve as a back-step for both of them.

"But, it is impossible," he continued. "You are a missing person, I am the reason you are missing." Erik stopped and turned towards her. "We have to be very careful, don't we?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned and continued walking.

Christine could only look after him with one raised eyebrow.

When they reached the den, they sat in separate armchairs about eight feet apart facing one another. Christine wasn't so sure about this idea anymore. He was acting strange... As if the person he was in the past was different than the person he was now. Maybe his past wasn't just bad, but really bad. Perhaps... "Look, if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

Erik shook his head. "No, what's done is done. I must tell you."

There was silence.

Then, as if suddenly coming to the realization of how to go about telling her, Erik sat up straighter and began, "My father died when I was five...heart attack. Mother was left all alone with a child to raise. She hated the mask... Seeing it so frequently was what made her turn to alcohol. In fact, it also drove her to insanity. You see, she insisted that I was a repulsive handful and that intoxication could help her manage her life and mine.

"Mother was also quite the shoplifter. Somehow, she was always able to steal at least one bottle of liquor each time she entered a liquor store." He shook his head and sighed. "The woman beat me daily. I was but a child. Yet again, the mask is to blame." He shrugged. "I discovered that the only way to prove myself was to steal things for her. So, I did. I became a shoplifter at the age of nine. The beatings didn't stop, no, but I could see fear in her eyes at times."

He seemed to notice Christine's confusion. "Yes, she feared me. Who wouldn't fear a monstrous child who is able to commit severe crimes without getting caught? I was a natural con artist. Well, Mother soon decided that I was too dangerous. She told me that anyone who can look as I look and commit such sins at such a young age deserves nothing. So, after claiming that I was the 'Devil's Child', she abandoned me on a street corner in a bad part of town. I was young, only eleven."

There was a long pause. Christine was thinking of all he'd told her so far, and Erik was allowing her a few moments to process everything.

"What happened next?" she asked, swallowing hard.

He studied her from his distance. "As you can expect, I developed some... bad habits. Stealing, naturally. But, I also delved into the dangerous world of drugs. At one time, I was a powerful dealer. However, because of the way I looked, there were still those who wanted to hurt me...kill me. I will refrain from going into detail, though, as your innocent mind should not have to hear such things."

She didn't try to sway him.

"Eventually, and it took a long time mind you, I acquired a great deal of money and respect from, for lack of a better term, the 'underworld'. Of course, the respect had to be gained by force. I had to make others learn to respect me."