Finding the Beauty Underneath

VI

When I awoke the next day, I had forgotten I was in Erik's room. I climbed out of his bed and put on my shoes. I quietly walked over to the curtain and opened it. There, I saw Erik sitting at the table by the organ, hunched over and resting his head in his arms.

As I approached him, I found that he was asleep. I felt bad for forcing Erik to sleep ou there for the night. Upon a closer look, I saw that his face was contorted into a frown. His back slowly went up and down with each breath he took. I silently took the vacant seat next to him and put my head down in my arms. As I listened to Erik's rhythmic breathing, I ended up falling asleep once again.

I was running.

"Emilie!" my father growled. I looked over my shoulder to see Father chasing me.

"Please, Papa! Stop!" I cried out.

"You're going to get it!" He chased me down an alley with a dead end. "You're not getting away this time!" He ran up to me and roughly grabbed me. He shook my body hard. "I finally got you."

"Emilie!" I opened my eyes to see Erik with his hands on my shoulders, shaking me.

"Oh, Erik!" I sobbed as I sat up and threw my arms around his neck. I cried into his chest. His body went rigid. "I had such an awful dream!"

"I could tell." Erik muttered.

Very slowly, he put his arms around me. Once I calmed down, I pulled away from him.

"I'm sorry, Erik."

"It is. . .alright." I looked down at my lap sheepishly. "Did you sleep out here all night?" he asked, frowning.

"No. I came out here after I had woken up this morning and I found you asleep. I sat down and ended up falling asleep myself."

"I see."

Erik stood up from his chair and yawned. His grabbed his cloak from the table and put it around his shoulders. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"Upstairs. I imagine you must be famished. And I'm assuming you want a change of clothes." I looked down at my attire, forgetting I was still wearing men's clothing. "I also need to retrieve a few items for myself."

"May I go with you?"

"No."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"No one knows you are here at the Populaire. I would like to keep it that way." he said softly.

"I didn't know that someone who wreaks havoc all over the opera house had rules."

"Ah, dear Emilie, but having these rules is the reason I have never been caught."

"Even so," I said as I rested my chin in my hands. "following rules is awfully boring."

"Well, no one is forcing you to stay here. As I recall, you were the one who asked to stay here, not the other way around." he said simply as he put his hands into his gloves. "You are free to leave from my home anytime you wish. If you choose to leave from here, then be careful when you row the boat across the lake by yourself. . .swimming would not be a good idea. Also make sure nobody sees you when you exit the passage."

"Alright, Erik. And thank you again for letting me stay here last night."

He bowed his head then turned and walked to his room behind the curtains. When I followed Erik into his bedroom a few minutes later, I found that he had disappeared. There must have been a secret passage in this room that I had not noticed before.

What was I to do while Erik was gone? When I was in Father's home alone, I'd either be cooking, cleaning, or be playing Father's violin. Erik did have a violin, but it would feel strange to sneak around and play his violin rather than Father's. I didn't want to play Erik's instrument without asking. I wondered how long Erik would be gone.