Phantom's Fate 《Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction》

9

《Erik》

"What did you do to deserve this?"

I run my hands over my bare face as I gaze into the mirror propped on the vantit. Though it is dark in my room, I can still see the ugly beneath my bony hands. "What did Erik do..." I groan and peek through my fingers, my eyes burning in the dark. I wouldn't doubt if I had been born with the animal tapetum lucidum to go along with this horrid deformity. This ugliness...

How?

How can Alia wish to stay here with me and keep me company? I just can't see... Yet, she wishes no pain upon me, and she wants to stay! I don't deserve this kindness. This is more than anything I could ask for at this point. After living a life of solitude and damnation, I have been graced by an angel, and it is more than I could handle. Hearing her words gave me a rush of emotions that whirled in my brain all night long, and all of now. I don't know how to take it. I can feel tears brim in my eyes and my chest be squeezed of its air. "Mon Dieu," I breathe, falling back onto my bed, the darkness of the room enveloping me. She wants to stay...and she even touched me.

She willingly reached out to me...

Staring at the dark ceiling, I find my thoughts drifting further and further. How could a woman so beautiful bear to touch a twisted demon like myself? I remember...Christine, in all her purity, thought kindly of me until...she tore away my mask. Until she witnessed the horror that is my face. The only time I got to see her again was the performance, and her confession of love to that...fop on the rooftop. The very confession that threw my life into a dark pit of agony.

Then strangely...along comes Alia.

A spitting image of Christine, but nothing of the sort. Her personality is refreshing, real, and...fiery. Even though she resembles Christine, I no longer think that when I see her. No, I see Alia now for what she is and not what I hoped her to be on that night. Though we clash heads, my time with her has been enlightening and different...compared to that of Christine. When I first brought my angel down to my home, I tried my most to impress her with my music and voice, and all of my belongings. Within moments, she tossed it away by revealing my face. On the other hand... Alia...

She has not yet attempted to steal my mask away. In fact, she hasn't even touched it. Though, I still can't help but believe one day she will. One day she will want to rip it off like the rest of the world and reveal the true Erik. The ugly monster of the shadows. Until that day...I shall try my hardest to avoid that encounter.

At all costs.

As I lay with my eyes closed in thought, I hear a gentle melody hum through the walls. It's...beautiful, soft and light. That voice...it almost reminds me of Christine's, yet it is not. I taught that voice, and I would know it within the bat of an eyelash. This voice is soft and sweet, in need of higher professional training, yet more than satisfactory to hear. I grab my mask from the bureau and place it on, creaking open the door. The melody instantly becomes more audible.

My eyes flutter closed when the sweet sound plays with my brain. I must see her. Closing the door behind me quietly, I make my way down the hallway and toward Alia's room. The tune is coming from the music room, and I turn the corner, standing just outside the door. She sounds like the sweetest songbird of spring, singing of the warm rays of sun...

I scoff inwardly. What do I know about the sun and its warmth? All I've known is this dark hole! Yet...her voice paints me a picture of what it would possibly feel like...

Leaning over the doorway, I peer inside and see Alia sitting at the piano bench, singing lightly and examining my silver flute. I blink curiously as she holds it up, her fingers pressing over the keys, yet she doesn't play it. Her voice is far too beautiful to stop sounding. I should compliment her in the least, no? Do I just...walk in and tell her I listened to her sing from down the hall? Is that odd? It seems too odd...maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I should return to my room before she notices me.