Phantom of the Opera

Run Away

The kind nameless man removes the mask that covers the right side of his face.

Tears start welling up in my eyes. He braces for me to scream and run away. But I do what he least expects. I hug him tightly. I've never met anyone that has dealt with the humiliation that I have suffered. (I admit, his face does look quite horrid, but mine is probably worse). It must be some curse.

The man hugs me back, but gently. After I let go we talk about his opera and other things for a hour or two until I hear a loud banging from up in my room. It's like someone is trying to break through my padlock on my bed.

"Do you hear that?" I ask the man. He puts his mask back on and swishes his cape that he put back on as he stands up.

"Yes, it can't be good..." the says this and walks up to the stairs and listens. The banging gets louder.

"You need to hide! They can't know that you're down here," With hesitation, I watch the nameless man disappear into the darkness. Fear creeps into my heart as I hear the bed move from it's position. Remembering the new opera, I grab it make sure that all of the red cover is hidden under the cushions of my bench.

Four pairs of footsteps travel down the spiral stairs. One of the pairs is very soft, so Gustave must be coming with the others. I don't want him to see this.

The first face I see is my fathers.

"Fantine? You little demon! What are you doing down here? We have been looking for hours to find you!" My dad is drunk. He always yells at me when he is drunk but it is worse tonight, "I was hoping you were dead. We don't need an embarrassment like you in our lives."

Ouch.

"Jerk," I say this under my breath. But dad hears some of it and walks to me.

"What did you just call me?" He asks. I look dad straight in the eyes and make him even more mad.

"I called you an a-hole you ignorant fool," Just after I finish, he strikes me from the right side of my face. The idiot must have slapped me hard because I feel blood trickling down my already distorted cheek. I fall to the floor in pain as my hand touches the blood.

Mom rushes to me and tries to help me but dad....Raoul yells for her to come back, "Christine, don't comfort the worthless freak show," he then pulls Mom off me. I cover my ears to brace for what's to come.

He starts saying all my flaws and calls me names and a lot of other things. I focus on the pain on my face and my salty tears to drown out Raoul's voice. I only feel pain on my face. On the rest of my body, you could break one of my arms and I wouldn't feel it.

Raoul finishes his little 'speech' and heads back up the way he came with Mom's wrist in his grasp. Mom carries Gustave up the stairs. I feel hands lift me up from my shoulders.

I stand up with the nameless man's help, but suddenly my legs collapse from underneath me. Instantly, the man catches me. His name suddenly pops into my head.

He is my Angel.

"I don't want to be here anymore. I beg you, take me somewhere else," I say on the verge of passing out. My mind is shutting down.

"Where do you want to go?" My Angel asks. My eyes start to get really heavy.

"I don't care....wherever you'd like. Just....get me away from this place," I say. Shaking, I fall unconscious before I hear his response.