The Phantom's Daughter

Chapter Twenty-Two

Meg rushed me into the dressing room that Madeleine brought me into when I first came to the Opera Populaire. Laying me down on the fainting couch, she cooed and shushed me, gently stroking my hair back. Normally I’d bite her fingers off for giving me such a contemptive gesture of affection, but I was too shook up to do anything at that point, and I’m sure I frightened her with my wide eyes, still shaking like a leaf.

I was falling.

Falling.

Falling.

I had almost fell to my death. Had it not been for Erik, I would have been exactly like Joseph Buquett right now. Though I never saw the dead body, I could imagine his lifeless figure, broken and crooked in all the wrong places, the expression of shock resting on his face (or was he in a relaxed state? Didn’t Erik knock him unconscious first?).

“Joseph Buquett…” I tried to explain to Meg.

“Sh-ssshhhh, he’s dead. But he was not a good man, and a poor worker, so it was no loss.” she consoled.

“I almost ended up like him, Meg,” I stated.

She nodded, her pretty lips in a thin straight line. “But Erik caught you, he’s a good man, isn’t he?” Why was she talking to me like a baby?

“Yeah…” I responded, turning my head to the side, staring at the red wallpaper with the black furniture in the room, remembering the vanity set that Madeleine sat at, talking to me while she looked at me through the mirror.

Meg asked me if I wanted something to eat or drink but I shook my head, staring blankly at the wall. She got me a blanket and told me to try to get some rest, and dimming the light, she snuck out.

The soft glow of the oil lamp created shadows that danced on the wall. It was a gothic, but strangely comforting feel. It was helping me to relax, but I didn’t think I could get to sleep.

Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

The rafters up above.

Erik’s head popping out just too late. His arm reaching. But an emotionless expression on his face. A half-stretched arm, like he wasn’t even trying but made it look like half the effort.

The hard ground below me.

This was going to hurt.

SMACK! Like the sound of a heavy whip.

The pain ripping through me.

Immobility.

Darkness.

Stillness.

Absolute terror.

I gasped awake, the phantom pain of my body falling to its death still coursing through me, as if giving me an insight on what could have happened.

The oil lamp burned even dimmer now.

I trembled under my blanket. I thought about getting up and going out of the room, but I couldn’t move. My mind was tricking me to think that the fainting couch was over a vast abyss, and if I got up, I’d fall into nothing.

It was quiet…there was a faint noise outside, but I couldn’t tell if the show was ending, or if it was done and everyone was socializing and starting to head home. I wanted to get up, but didn’t.

I shivered, wanting to be warm and comfortable. This was the first time I was scared of the dark in years, and I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to fall….not wanting to fall…not wanting to fall….to be safe on solid ground. I opened my eyes again and my heart lurched into my throat.

The oil lamp had gone out.

It was pitch black.

There was no difference from when I shut my eyes to opening them. All there was, was pitch black. It was thick and heavy, and put a pressure on my eyes when I opened them. I stuck my hand close to my face. I couldn’t see it. The darkness was so thick, I couldn’t even feel my hand in front of me. I couldn’t feel my body, when I moved my legs, they felt distant. My breathing was like a distant echo. So much darkness. Does Erik take comfort even in this? When it is so looming and commanding?

I must have fallen asleep at some point then, because when I came to it, in the sweet inbetween of heavy sleep, and barely awake, I felt a presence in front of me. The darkness had embodied itself. It hugged me, and lifted me, with a scent of rosewood and musk. And I was not afraid. It was a comforting smell, and a comforting presence. And as my body floated away by this protective body of darkness, my mind went to blissful, happy sleep, with neutral images and colors to entertain my mind while I slept.