Love Persists

Chapter 5

Erik's POV:
I did not understand why that girl was so insistent about talking to me. I did not need a friend, nor did I particularly want one. Perhaps it was because I knew one day she would discover what I hid behind my mask and leave me. Or perhaps it was because I feared I would become attached to her and somehow be sent back to the time I was meant to live in, causing an even greater pain.

Regardless, the girl intrigued me. Everyone else in this school regarded me the way I had assumed they would, with confusion as to why I wore the mask and distrust because of it. But she was different, she did not treat me differently just because of the damned piece of porcelain I wore.

Pushing my thoughts surrounding Mandie away, I began to wander the school aimlessly for some place to spend my lunch in peace. I knew in the cafeteria I would be surrounded my odd and judgements stares, which I wished to be relieved from. I had grown used to my solitude and ached for it once more, to be safe in my cellars where no one dared to anger me in fear of facing my wrath.

I found myself outside of the auditorium, a place I had merely walked passed but had never entered. For chorus, we did not rehearse in the auditorium but rather in a separate practice room as the stage was shared by a number of groups. I was curious as to what it was like inside, so after quickly scanning the hallway around me, I slipping inside.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, finding a comfort in it as I looked around the large room. It was not the most acoustically sound hall I had ever snuck into, but it was not terrible either. There was a grand piano sitting in the pit along with a set up of stands and chairs for other instruments. The stage was overrun by some sort of set pieces, most likely for the production Ms. Cohen, the chorus and piano instructor, had mentioned briefly during rehearsal.

Feeling comforted by what somewhat resembled my life in the cellars, I settled in the back of the auditorium and removed a piece of blank paper from my bag. Still getting used to modern writing utensils, I drew a few staffs down the paper and allowed the song in my head to be transcribed onto the paper.

I did not know where the melody had emerged, nor did I have any idea why it had come to me at this moment, but it was a beautiful and emotional song that warranted being heard by more deserving ears than those that belonged to a monster. I did not need the piano to help me decipher what was stuck in my mind, knowing exactly which notes to transcribe without any outside help.

The song was suddenly cut short as I was pulled out of my trance by the quiet sounds of a door squeaking open. In the next moment, lights suddenly illuminated the once empty hall, causing me to retreat into the shadows the best I could. To my despair, the woman who had intruded upon my privacy was the very woman whom I had already been acquainted with.

Mandie looked around the room, as though realizing that she was not alone before calling out, "who else is in here, I demand you to show yourself!"

In response, I retreated further in the shadows in hopes that she would not find me. I had no desire to be picked and prodded by this woman at every hour of the school day, rather hoping that this lunch hour I could spend in solitude. There appeared no place to take refuge, so I merely held my breath and hoped she would figure me a mere object of her imagination.

"I know that there is someone else in here, I won't get you in trouble, I simply wish to know who it is," she called out again, seeming as insistent as she was when attempting to make conversation with me.

She finally sighed and spoke, "if you do not reveal yourself, you will leave me with no choice but to fetch Ms. Cohen and, believe me, you do not want to endure her anger when finding an unauthorized student in the auditorium, especially not this close to show week."