In My Darkness: La Chatte Noire

Chapter Thirteen: Trust

Chapter Thirteen: Trust

He grinned as he spun her around again and held her in his arms. She leaned against him for a moment, then looked up into his face. They began leaning in again, and finally, their lips touched. Camillé felt a blissful peace as she ran her hands up to his shoulders and kissed him softly. Erik grasped her waist in his hands and pulled her closer yet, wanting this single moment to never end. All their love culminated in this one kiss, and he knew now that she loved him entirely. Her kiss said all the words that she might never say.

The kiss deepened, and they pulled each other closer still. He loved her more than anything, and she returned the sentiments in kind. Erik wanted to hold her here forever. Then his mind was taken away from the kiss and Camillé by one simple occurrence. His mask began to slip upwards. Forced to break the kiss, he reached up to pull it back down, but stopped when he felt Camillé's fingers on his. He looked into her eyes, and saw her silent plea to him to trust her.

She knew that this was going to be hard. They had only just found that they loved each other, and this would be the last thing that he wanted. Yet... she wanted to see what he looked like, free of his mask. It was the only thing really keeping them apart. She knew that if he asked anything, she would tell him. All he had to do was ask. So, silently, she asked him to let her remove his mask. The look in his eyes told her that he was hesitant. He didn't want to risk losing her now.

She breathed slowly and deeply. "Erik, je t'aime (I love you). It does not matter to me what you think lies beneath this mask. It is you that I love, and therefore I love all of you. Erik, please... trust me."

"Camillé, you do not know what lies behind the mask... I cannot lose you. I do not want to lose the woman I love," he pleaded, "You mean everything to me. And you will leave me if you see what is behind this mask."

"Non, Erik, I will not. Never could I leave you. Finally, I am home, Erik, and I would not leave you if offered the world in exchange. Nothing behind that mask could ward me away from you if it tried," she told him, smiling slightly, "You have my love and will have it forever."

He looked into her eyes for a moment, presumably looking for the lie in her words. Slowly, as if it was painful, he lowered his hands and closed his eyes. The uncovered half of his face grimaced, waiting for her to react with a scream and leave him. Tenderly, she pulled away the mask and put it in her right hand.

The flesh on the right side of his face was red and enflamed, as if it had been burnt. The natural contours of his face were bumped and ridged, giving it an appearance like blistered skin. Yet she reflected that it was not as horrible as he made it seem. Yes, it was deformed, and yes, it was quite different from the other side, but it was only different. It was not world-ending as he had made it seem. Her thumb reached up and grazed across his forehead, then cheekbone, and down to his jaw. His blue eyes opened in surprise and he tried to back away, but she set the mask down on the organ and kept his head there with her other hand.

"Now you see," he said, his voice sounding broken.

She nodded, a gentle smile on her face. "Now I see," she repeated, "the face of the man I love in its entirety."

Their eyes met, hers full of understanding and love, his of grief and disbelief. She leaned up and kissed him softly, as if she felt him the most beautiful creature in the world. His eyes widened as he realized that she truly meant it. Slowly, his hands fell to her waist and held her gently. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled him close. When she broke the kiss, she grinned at him.

"Tu es très loufoque (You are very silly), Erik," she told him, and he gave her a surprised look, "Your face is nothing as bad as you made it seem. In all honesty," she mentioned, "I have seen worse."