The Demon's Child and the Phantom

Chapter 34

Erik's POV:

I had watched her pace for the last four hours or so, brushing off my arm or walking around me each time I tried to settle her pacing. We were to meet Daroga and Madame Giry out front of the opera house, before taking a carriage to where the gypsies were performing, in an hour or so. But as the time drew closer, I could see the fear grow in Rosella's eyes, her body becoming more and more rigid with each passing moment until she seemed like a walking statue.

"Rosella, please?" (E)

I watched as my plea seemed to go unheard for a moment before she stopped pacing, her shoulders shaking a bit before she once again became as rigid as stone and turned to look at me. I stood from the piano bench and crossed to stand in front of her, hoping that her pacing was done for now. I put my fingers under her chin and gently raised her head so that she was looking at me rather than the floor. She stared at me for a moment before reaching up with one hand, pausing just before her hand would brush against my mask.

I knew what she was asking, and though a sigh left my mouth I nodded to her unspoken request. She took it off before gently running her hand along my deformed cheek, even as her own appearance in front of me remained stony and tense I could see the emotion in her eyes. I could see the pain and fear that she held in those sparkling gems. I took her hand into my own before I gently kissed it and placed it back on my deformed cheek, willing to take whatever comfort she would bestow on the horrible deformity.

I felt her thumb start to rub small circles along my cheek but still she remained unchanged in her own form even as my arms wrapped around her. My heart couldn't take it for a moment longer as I pulled her closer to me and ran my hand through her black curls as gently as I could before speaking in as soft and gentle a tone I could manage.

"It will be alright my Rose, nothing will happen to you tonight. I swear it, and we will save the child." (E)

"It's not myself I worry over, nor even the child." (R)

"Then what is the cause of your fear Rosella?" (E)

"I'm no fool Erik, I know that given the chance you would kill the bastards that tortured me for so many years, and I cannot let my fears of you getting captured or killed go until we are safe here once more tonight." (R)

I felt surprise that her fear was in regards to my own safety until a small smile seemed to grow on my face as I realized our fears were the same simply for one another rather than ourselves. I kissed her hand that was still on my cheek once more before I looked at her again, this time with a sense of understanding towards her tense and rigid form in my arms.

"I swear I won't leave your sight tonight Rosella, if you have it so. Just as long as you will not leave my sight." (E)

"Do you swear it? No matter what tonight may bring forth in your own mind you swear that you will not leave my sight." (R)

"I swear it upon my music." (E)

I watched as she nodded a bit before closing her eyes, leaning into my chest and relaxing in my hold of her. I gently pulled her over to the chair and sat with her in my lap, before I began humming and running my hand through her gently curls once more. I knew that even as my blood seemed to boil and yearn to hunt out the men that harmed my precious flower, that I would not break my word tonight. I would not leave her side, nor would I allow her to leave my sight.

"Thank you." (R)

"I would do anything for you Rosella." (E)


Rosella's POV:

It was just past 9 when we reached the outskirts of the caravan and I felt a chill race up my spine as I walked under the banner. How many times had I done such a thing when I was owned by the gypsies and sent out to gather wood with one of the younger members of the troupe? We had gone only a few steps before a voice called out to us that made my skin shiver yet again. It was a voice I would never have forgotten as it belonged to one of my two tormentors, Salin.

"Aye, you're just in time for the big show. Come quickly into the tent to see the Devil's Child yes?"

I heard his laugh some as I squeezed Erik's hand tighter, having felt him tense the moment Salin began speaking to us. As the four of us made our way into the tent, I was forced to remind myself I was not in the past and I was not a slave here for everything seemed to present itself as a potential trigger. It was dimly lighted just as I remembered, and for another moment I had to fight off a flashback as I watched them drag a small child out to the middle of the tent.

He was small, no matter what his age was, skin and bones and nothing else. I saw him covering the left of his face with one hand before he had both hands chained to a wooden and metal board at his feet. I heard my own breathing increase as I realized it was the same one that used to chain me in place, and I wondered how many of the blood stains were from the young boy and how many were left behind from me so many years ago.

I watched as Salin yanked the boy's face up and towards the crowd who was jeering and yelling at the poor soul. His face was not as scarred or deformed as Erik's, rather his looked more superficial almost like a burn scar but was perfectly smooth with only a difference in color and nothing else. However, just the slightest resemblance made my entire body tense knowing that was what Erik once went through.

I felt Erik's hand disappear from my hand before he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer into his chest. I heard him whisper to look away or close my eyes but I couldn't. I found my eyes frozen on the poor boy awaiting his fate. Yet that wasn't the cause of my fear, no my fear was from the metal cross that was bringing brought towards the poor boy as he stood shaking on the board. I knew the vile monster that held the metal cross, as the years might have changed him in the graying of his hair and the added weight, but the look in his eyes was the same.

"Malik." (R)

I heard Erik let out a low noise very similar to a growl as I whispered the name of the man that still haunted me in my nightmares. I flinched with the boy as the cross was held against his arm and he let out a scream. The crowd screamed in fear and belief of the scam of the cold cross burning the young boy as he screamed for help, though none came.

It was as if I could hear the hissing of his own flesh from the hot iron over the sounds of the crowd, my own left arm seeming to burn in response. It was then I saw that they had only just started doing this to him as he had only two cross burns on his body. Erik's hold on my body grew tighter still as people started to toss coins towards Malik and Salin as they bowed before shoving the boy to the ground.

"Come, we need to be well hidden in the camp before the show is officially over." (D)

I nodded in silent agreement with Daroga before I followed him and Madame Giry out of the tent, Erik walking slowly next to me. I had not doubt that if my hand was not gripping his own tightly that Malik and Salin would be dead and Erik would be as well if not arrested. We were a few feet into the campground before I took the lead of our small group, my mind leading my feet as if we were once again living here among them for as I walked I could tell that nothing had changed.

All the wagons were ones that I recognized and they were parked in the same order and fashion as they had always done and would most likely always do. It felt for a fleeting moment as if my life after the gypsies had been but a dream and I had never left the camp, it was a living nightmare of sorts. That was until I heard Daroga and Erik both whisper to me asking what I was doing, but I still didn't respond for soon we were standing in front of the place I had called home once. Florica's wagon.

I heard the sound of voices growing louder as many of the caravan were returning to the rest of their tasks and chores for the evening now that the show was completed for the night. Daroga and Madame Giry walked closer as Daroga gently placed his hand on my shoulder as he broke me from my trance as I stared at Florica's wagon. It was exactly the same as it had always been, the only difference were the number of plants she now had, as they seemed to have grown in number. I looked to meet Daroga's frantic eyes even as a lingering wave of peace flowed through me.

"We must hide, now!" (D)

"Trust me." (R)

I wasn't sure how I knew that we would be safe in there when I had been telling myself for years that Florica was long dead, but somehow I just knew. I walked up the wagon steps and opened the door, Erik silently behind me with Madame Giry and Darago following closely behind him. We were all inside the small wagon, as I walked further in and was instantly met with the same lavender scent that I had always known Florica for. Erik stiffened next to me but as my eyes traveled to where he was looking I felt my own world seem to stop for a moment.

"I can't say I'm accustomed to being robbed in my own wagon by strangers. The ones that I was given as family yes, but strangers...well this is new for me." (F)

Having just walked around the curtain that separated the kitchen and the bed, just as Daroga and madame Giry shut the door of the wagon behind them, was Florica. Her hair was no longer the soft gray but a bright white, still intricately done in the braid bun that I had long known her for. Her brown eyes still as sharp as ever, but under their sharpness I could still see their kindness. I felt tears start to slip from my eyes as I let go of Erik's hand and walked closer to woman I had never allowed myself to hope to see again.

"Florica?" (R)

"That is my name child, but knowing my name does not grant you a pass to enter a person's home unknowingly. Who.....who are you?" (F)

I couldn't find the words to say to her so I instead pushed the hood back and off my head as I walked closer to her, before I saw her eyes cloud over with tears. She took a step closer to me, her hand shaking as she reached out and brushed a tear from my cheek that I didn't know I had let fall. I tried in vain to say something else but was unable to as she pulled me into a tight hug, something else I had never thought to ever experience again.

"Ah my little flower, my little Rose. You are alive. You are here. Oh how I have prayed for you little flower."

"I....I thought you dead Florica."

"I'm old dear, but not dead yet. But......surely you know it is not safe for you here. I have no power over this caravan now. The little I had died when they sold you away." (F)

"We....we came because we heard of the Devil's Child and.....we couldn't let another child live through what we did." (R)

"We?" (F)

"Yes, myself and....and some friends." (R)

I pulled out of her tight hug and motioned at Erik now standing just a few feet behind me. I walked over to him and gently pushed his hood off his face even as he tensed before me, but I knew that Florica would not judge him for his mask. Madame Giry and Daroga pushed their hoods back as well as they quickly introduced themselves to Florica before she turned her attention back to Erik.

"You are like the child then too my son, but also.....you are her dark prince. I knew you would find her one day. I dreamed of it after all." (F)

I was about to say something else regarding the child before we heard the voices of the two men that I feared and hated above all others. Florica made a silent motion before pointing us towards the kitchen area, sliding the thick and heavy curtain in place just as the door of her wagon banged open. I felt my body start to shake and the numerous burn marks seemed to burn yet again as I heard the voices of two men that were more monster than man.

"Well old Florica, here is your little pet. He did well for us tonight, so the damage done is minor I would say. Goodnight pet, sweet dreams from hell." (Malik)

I flinched as I heard him utter the same thing he used to say to me after a show or a beating, before I heard them toss the child onto the floor of the wagon before slamming the door shut. I heard Florica curse them in Romanian before spitting and locking the door. I heard the soft cries of the child before I looked at the others, seeing the shocked look on Madame Giry's face and the anger in both Erik's and Daroga's faces. There was a reason I never went into great detail about my past, but now they had just seen small glimpse of it.