The Human Heart

Chapter Two

Erik panted as he sprinted past doors and halls. He knew that it was illogical to keep running, since there was likely no way for the girl to find him now, but something in him prompted him to keep going.

However, as he made his way down to his lair beneath the opera house, he found the boat on the other side.

Giving a groan, Erik plunged into the icy water and made his way across, wondering how the boat got moved, not even suspecting Mia. Perhaps it was one of the ballet rats? he wondered. Did I not scare them enough?

His theory was proven wrong as he was greeted with the sight of Maria standing there, once he was out of the water and in his lair. "W-what? How did you even? I..." Too many questions filled Erik's brain for him to ask them all. Finally, he started with the most pressing question.

"How did you know to come here?" he asked, disbelief in his eyes, wondering why something felt different. 

Mia gave a small smirk. "I heard some dancers talk about the so-called opera ghost who wears a mask and immediately knew that you were him when I saw you," she explained. 

"As I was walking through, a blonde was telling stories about how the opera ghost lives beneath the opera house, so while I was walking around, I found a secret passage that led below and I took it, and found myself here."

Erik sputtered for a few moments. "How did you not fall into any of the traps?" he wondered. Something still felt off, but he ignored it, wanting her answer.

"It was easy," she shrugged. "They were pretty easy to spot, all I had to do was avoid them. I found you and followed you for a while, then took a shortcut I discovered earlier. Speaking of which, I was thinking you might want this back." The girl held out a porcelain white mask, causing Erik to freeze for.

He slowly brought his hand to the marred side of his face, gasping when he realized that his mask was no longer secured on his face. How did it fall off without me realizing it? he wondered, warring with himself in his mind. Why is she not running? What am I to do now?

Mia finally slowly walked over, holding her hands out where Erik could see them, and then gently placed the mask on his face, tying it secure. The girl was close enough for Erik to see all the different hues of green, blue, and gold in her eyes as she focused on tying the mask. Once she was finished, Mia gave him a small smile, then walked back.

"Well, I'm sure you have many questions," she eventually prompted him. "But first, may I take a seat?"

This brought Erik back to reality and he nodded, "Yes, of course. I beg your pardon, but I am quite stunned. Nobody has ever been willing to speak with me after seeing my face."

"Truly?" Mia asked, surprised. "In all honesty, I don't think it is too terrible, but I suppose I can understand why people are cruel about it." Hastily, she added, "Not that I approve of it or anything, of course."

Erik nearly laughed at her whirlwind manners, but first asked, "Why are you not running?"

Mia shrugged. "Do you want me too?" she wondered. "I mean, I have to say that I've seen worse things, working as a nurse. Speaking of which, did you really have to drop whatever that was on my sister? I mean, I'm not judging you, but still."

"Yes," Erik nodded at her last question, making the girl chuckle. "As for you running, no I would prefer not, because it isn't often that I get to speak with a normal person."

Raising her eyebrows, the girl asked, "A normal person? As far as I can tell, you yourself are a normal person, are you not?"

Tears sprang to Erik's eyes as he was referred to as normal. Nobody ever called him normal or human, due to his face, not even Christine, since she only knew him as her angel.