The Phantom of the Opera (Cherik X Reader)

Chapter Eight: Erik's backstory

Angry at this, Erik grabbed a suitcase from a shelf in her dressing room and left through the mirror. He went to Carlotta's room where she was singing and putting on lipstick when she saw him in the mirror.

"Good evening, Madame. I have something for you," Erik set the suitcase on a table, opening it to reveal a dozen rats, "I do hope it's to your liking!" He threw them on her making her faint, "rats for a rat." And left.

Meanwhile, (Y/N) was exploring Erik's home wearing the dress she found seeing costumes, dresses, props and masks. (Y/N) noticed a cot rocking so she went to look in it. She took the blanket off to reveal a porcelain doll but saw it had no head when she picked it up and the little hat fell off. She looked up to see that woman in the picture again and the dolls head hanging next to it upstairs down, it's face scarred. (Y/N) dropped the body of the doll and went back to the bedroom. Gerard went down to Erik's home wanting to talk to him, only to see (Y/N) running to the bedroom. Not long after, Erik returned.

"Erik, you must send her back," Gerard told him, "if you don't, they'll come down and take her back and when they do, they'll kill you."

"That may not be as easily accomplished as you think," Erik said walking down the stairs to Gerard, "an assault from above is not entirely unexpected, you know. I've had more than enough time to get ready. My whole life, you might say. I shall simply show off my defences and prepare a counterattack."

Erik went to leave but Gerard stopped him, "if you let me take her back, I know I can persuade and not to say where she's been."

"Go away!" Erik walked off towards multiple barrels of gunpowder.

"They will not let you get away with this, Erik!"

Erik turned to him, "well, they may have no choice! Go away! I have things to do."

Erik started moving the barrels to another end of the room as the two talked.

"Send her back."

"No!" Erik said continuing his work, not stopping, "how could you even suggest such a thing? The world up there is not fit for one such as her. Up there is where hell it and I will not send an angel to hell. She was betrayed tonight. I'd sooner die than let her be betrayed again."

"Betrayed?" Gerard asked.

"Yes. Do you think she sang like that from nerves? That Carlotta woman poisoned her."

"Carlotta!"

"This company was in your trust!" Erik said angrily, "then you just handed it over to people who care nothing but beauty!"

"You know I had nothing to do with that!"

"Gonna burn the place down. Better in ashes and memory than like this. Send her back?"

"Yes!" Gerard still tried to convince him.

"Never! I may be hideous, but I'm not hideous enough to do that!"

"I don't care how many defences you have, Erik. I can't help you anymore. I can't protect you."

"It's they who need protecting, not I."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, a small amount of what's contained in these barrels and the opera season is gone forever."

"Erik, you're mad."

"Now listen to me," Erik stopped what he was doing, "for as long as I can remember, ever since I was a child, I have dreamed of her. People are born for many things, Gerard. I was born to live, if one can call this living, down here. But until now, I have never known quite why. I was born so she could save me. And that's what she's done. She was the reason I was born. I love her, Gerard. And I believe in time and with any luck, she will learn to love me. It would be a cruel God indeed if he sent her otherwise," Erik grabbed a touch, "I don't want you to come back here ever again. From now on she is all I need."

While Erik was busy, Gerard went to check on (Y/N) and try to convince her to leave but first, she wanted to know where she was so he told her the truth.  (Y/N) thought all this was a dream but Gerard told her otherwise and finally revealed Erik's name. (Y/N) was still in disbelief so Gerard told her everything. Erik's plans to keep her down there, his love for her and that her voice that reminded Gerard of the singer was Erik's mother. She died when he was young and he still kept her portrait. The very portrait in the room.

"He doesn't understand your world," Gerard told her, "you must get out, now!"

"No, no! Not until you tell me why he lives down here," (Y/N) said.

"He was born down here. He's lived down here all his life."

"Why?"

"Why does he wear a mask?" Gerard asked her.

"He won't say. Only that I'll never see him with it off."

"Be grateful. If you saw, you'd know why he lived down here."

"I don't care what his face looks like. I've seen his eyes."

"Erik cannot be helped by anyone."

"But obviously he was helped. When his mother died, who took care of him?"

Gerard was silent, "I did. I'm his father."

(Quick A/N: I'm getting fussy writing this😳 HELP!)

Gerard started his story:

*flashback*

Pellidore was a ballerina when the two were younger and Gerard was a stagehand. Since they worked together in the same place, they eventually fell in love. One day, after making love in the nearby woods, Gerard woke up to see Pellidore getting dressed and singing which he's never heard her do before. Gerard told her she should audition for the company which she did and became the toast of Paris but that didn't interest her.

She only thought of him.

One day, Pellidore told Gerard that she was with child and that they should get married. What Gerard didn't tell her was that he came to Paris a married man. He left because the girl he was married to said she was with child and claimed he was responsible for it but she no doubt said the same to five or six others.

Gerard never told Pellidore this because he was afraid he would ruin things. Sad, Pellidore tried to drown herself in the river they were at but Gerard saved her only to never hear from her for months. But one day, he found her asking a gipsy for something to kill the unborn child because she hated the thought of her child being a bastard.

The gipsy gave Pellidore what she wanted, only drank a bit of it before Gerard threw it away. After that, Pellidore felt the baby coming so Gerard took her to the stalls for the animals in the opera where she had Erik. She would sing to him for hours. Erik wasn't as beautiful as his mother, unfortunately. His face wasn't normal.

*end of flashback*

"The hardest part for me was realising she saw nothing ugly in this child at all," Gerard said, "to her, he was beauty itself and to him, so was she and his little eyes would open up with wonder and light. To him, it was the voice of an angel. Maybe it was. Then, one night, she died. Fever of some sort. It was not exactly a healthy place to live in. Erik was three and I thought, now he will die. That will be a mercy to all of us. But she begged me to take care of him. So I watched over him thinking he dies, he dies. With his mother gone, he began to cry and those cries echoed up through the shafts and cracks. At night, when the opera house was empty, you could hear them up above. And the legend of the Opera Ghost was born. By that time, I had become manager. To make sure no one will discover him, I allowed this ghost story to grow."

Gerard told more things about Erik to (Y/N) and tried to convince her to leave him again but (Y/N) refused and managed to convince him to let her stay and talk with Erik. Gerard went back up where Inspector Ledoux asked to talk to him.

(A/N: AHHH! IM GETTING TO THE GOOD S**T. See you next chapter)