The History of the Phantom

Limited Freedom

When I was first rescued, I thought I was never going back to the place. I was wrong. Gustave fought hard to get me out of that environment but unfortunately he didn't succeed. This is how it went:

We sprinted out of that building as fast as we could. Gustave held my hand tightly to make sure nobody could drag me back. We weren't sure if the police were chasing us or not, but we didn't want to take any chances.

It was only about 9:30 pm at night, so there were people still buzzing around Paris. We were on the sidewalk, running around the ones who were walking in the other direction. The closer I was to Gustave, the easier it was for me to not crash into anybody. It was a little difficult for me to keep up with him since he was about twelve years older than me. My seven year old legs were tiny compared to his fully grown teenaged legs. Luckily, I managed to somehow move just as fast as him.

The cool night air breezed against my cheeks which caused me to have shivers. My feet were moving so rapidly, they barely touched the floor. My hand was cramping as Gustave grasped it ever so tightly. My hair was soaring with the blowing wind. There were times when I was so far behind, I felt like my arm was about to be pulled off.

We finally stopped after what seemed like forever. He finally let me go. My knees collapsed onto the ground from exhaustion. I caught myself as I felt my upper body fall too. We were both panting strongly, struggling to breathe. My heart pounded so loud, it felt like it was about to burst out of my chest. I watched drops of sweat drip off my forehead and splatter on the concrete below me. I have never ran so quickly or for such a long period of time before.

I looked up at the city lights shining above me. It was at this moment when something very important hit me. A huge wave of anxiety suddenly washed over me. I quickly drew my hand to my face. I have forgotten I wasn't wearing my mask. With the city being so lit up, it was easy to catch my deformity. Never in a billion years did I ever think I would forget my mask in public. It was my biggest fear in the entire world. I was so focused on escaping, I didn't remember to get it out of my room when we left.

"Are you okay?" Gustave wheezed a bit when he got some of his breath back. He saw me turning my head around with nervous facial expressions as if I was possessed. I was searching for any person who could have seen my face.

"I left my mask in my room! I need to get it back!" I whisper-shouted.

"NO!" He screamed. He snatched my wrist as I stood back up again.

"You need to let me go."

"Are you crazy? I refuse to let you go back in there. Do you remember what they did to you?"

"Yes, I remember. That wasn't the only time they abused me for a show. Why do you think I was quiet about my background? Why do you think I cried when you asked me why writing music was important to me? What do you think I meant when I said my life is a masquerade?"

Everything was silent. He released my wrist, but I didn't leave quite yet. He looked at me with pity and shame in his eyes. Then he turned his head from me.

"This is why I never told you. I was worried you would think of me as a disappointment. My own mother definitely thought of me as one," I said.

"God, Erik. A disappointment is the last thing to describe you. I'm ashamed of everyone else. The owner of the fair, the people who cheered at the show, and even myself," He snapped as he threw his hands in the air.

"Yourself?" I asked in disbelief.

"I should have done something to help you."

I patted his back with my other hand in a friendly manner to ease his nerves. I saw his eyes look back down at me.

"You did help. You listened to me, you treated me as a normal person. You even taught me how to write music and gave me the chance to perform in front of an audience," I said.

"I'm grateful I did all of that for you, but I should have saved you from that psychotic place."

"You didn't know. I never told you. Don't punish yourself for that."

He stared at me with pleading eyes," please don't go back there." His begging voice made me feel guilty for wanting to hurry back.

"My mask is my shield of protection. I need it."

"What if they take you again? What if they hurt you?"

"They already hurt me. I know what to expect."

"I don't mean a regular beating like tonight," He choked on his saliva as he closed his eyes in fear from a visual inside his mind.

"They won't kill me," I whispered in a steady tone.

"After seeing what I saw tonight, I don't know how far their limits are. I don't even think they have any."

After a few seconds of quietly thinking he said," if you really need your mask that bad I'm going with you."

I told him I was okay with that and we headed back. We tried to sneak inside without being caught, but the tall man found us ducking behind house plants. I thought he would still be asleep from when Gustave knocked him out but turns out I was wrong. The tall man tried to drag me away from my friend. However, Gustave grabbed my arm immediately without any hesitation and refused to let me go.

The man yelled at both of us. He called me an ungrateful little piece of trash and gave me an entire lecture of how I should appreciate the home I was given. I begged and cried to be free. I was trying to pull my arm away, but his grasp was too firm. Gustave took an aggressive swing towards his head. Not only did the man let go of me when he got punched, but he had fallen to the floor in a big thump. Gustave kneeled down and grabbed the collar on his shirt. He continuously started throwing punches at his face. The man's nose gushed with blood that poured on to the floor. I heard a cracking sound when his knuckles met with the man's right eye. I winced when I saw a swollen black and blue bruise slowly develop on his lid. Everyone started gathering around us. They all glared at Gustave in horror. The guards started to pull me upstairs to my bedroom and I screamed. Gustave then dropped the tall man's head on the ground as he sprinted to me. He snatched me away but somebody from behind hit Gustave's head with a frying pan. His body completely crashed to the floor. Fortunately, I found a pulse when I checked his wrist.

People started dragging his body somewhere as the guards pulled me upstairs. They threw me into my bedroom and they slammed the door shut. I wasn't too surprised when I tried to open the door, I found I was locked inside.

"LET ME OUT! PLEASE! LET ME GO! DON'T LET THEM HURT GUSTAVE!" I screamed on the top of my lungs as I banged on the door.