Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don’t own the Phantom or Christine, or any of the original characters from the book or the musical. I did however create Kaitlin so please ask if you want to use her and please don’t sue me for my own interpretation of the story. This is my first Phantom story so.... be nice, comments welcome but try to be polite instead of just screaming my head off if you don’t like it. Thank you. ~*~Teneshi~*~

Chapter 1: The Innocence of Youth

Somewhere in the French Countryside

“COME SEE THE FACE OF DEATH ITSELF!” The portly man bellowed to the onlookers.

“Come see the most hideous face the world has to offer, born twisted and deformed to match the evil of the Devil himself,”the man went on as Erik tried to cringe away.

Yet another day of this torment, closer to near a few years as close as he could guess. Which he also had deduced made him about 17 years old. The same thing every time too, people fainting, women and children shrieking all because that slave driver forced him to show his face. To cause all this torment to himself and those looking on his face.

“Careful you little wretch,”the man growled quietly to Erik as he sneered,”You better perform well today or else.”

With a slight inward shudder Erik resisted the urge to spit and growl at his captor. It was then that the first wave of onlookers surged forward and after they had moved away he gave a quiet sigh as he looked down as much as his restraints would allow. As he heard Torando chuckle he looked up to see more people coming to look at him, chained forward so all could easily view his curse. Erik closed his eyes to try and perhaps ignore the onlookers when he heard the heavy steps of Torando walk away as he shouted to bring more people to see the ‘face of death.’ It was then that he felt them, the eyes on upon him but not like the others who were staring or hurrying away. With a sharp look up he opened his eyes to find a small girl looking up at him with not curiousity or fear but something else he couldn’t place. She appeared about 9 or 10 perhaps, with dark red hair pulled back, deep reddish brown eyes and pale skin. She didn’t say anything at first to Erik who merely watched her, ignoring the face that for once the crowds were looking elsewhere and Torando was still off doing other things. Finally though she spoke up as she moved closer til she was almost against the bars herself.

“What is your name sir?”

Shocked that she wasn’t treating him with the normal human reactions he quietly answered,”Erik.”

She smiled and went to put her hand through the bars to touch one of his hands as she replied,”Pleased to meet you Erik.”

Her touch was warm and her skin was as soft as it looked, as soft as the lace of her sleeve which brushed his hand.

“I’m Kaitlin,”she continued cheerfully without waiting for him to ask.

“It’s.... nice to meet you as well,”he quietly stated, unsure of how to react to this girl who showed no fear of him or his deformity.

“....He seems like a mean man,”he heard her say, realizing his thoughts had cut off the first part of what she’d said.

“Excuse me?” He quietly asked to get her to repeat her self.

“The big shouting man,”she said again and as she thought about him, she frowned slightly,”He seems like a mean man.”

Erik barely nodded as he added with a quiet whisper,”Incredibly mean.”

“Someday I will kill him and gain my freedom,”Erik thought to himself with an inward growl of anger.

Thankfully though Torando hadn’t heard this as he walked back over, observing the young girl standing there. As he got closer he saw she had a slight frown on her face and was touching the little beast’s hand.

“Well well well,”he asked with a dark chuckle,”Get an admirer Monsieur Death’s Head?”

Erik remained silent, inwardly vowing yet again to get revenge on this man. He watched though as the Kaitlin turned to face Torando and she looked up at him.

“Sir,”she began,”Why do you keep him locked up?”

“So he won’t hurt anyone,”Torando lied to the girl, knowing she probably wouldn’t take to kindly to the real reason even though she was only 10.

“Sir I don’t think he’d harm me,”she quietly stated,”Could you let him out so I could talk to him for a little perhaps?”

“That’s out of the question,”Torando firmly replied,”Talk through the bars if you want.”

She reached into a small pouch at her side and pulled out some money as she added,”I’ll pay you of course.”

Torando greedily summed up the money with his eyes and then with a seething growl to Erik to not try anything funny he unlocked the door to the cage and went inside. As he unchained Erik he made sure to get firmly across through whispered threats that if he tried to run he’d most assuredly be caught and punished horribly. To insure that escape was futile he also added a slave ball and chain to Erik’s left leg as he drug him out of the cage. The little girl grinned and Erik inwardly sighed as she handed the money over to Torando who walked away gleefully after setting another man up to watch the two from a distance away, armed incase escape crossed Erik’s mind.

“Isn’t that a bit better?” She asked him as she watched him stretch his limbs.

“I don’t understand you,”he stated simply, as he mentally noted that she seemed somehow slightly older than she really was, at least in speech.

“You wanted out of there,”she replied and looked up at him with the pure innocence of her age,”I could read it in your eyes.”

“Yes,”he said quietly,”but I want to be gone for good from this place.”

“I’m sorry I can’t do more,”she said quietly looking down and shuffling her feet slightly.

He watched her small form and couldn’t resist a smile as he knelt by her,”Still though, thank you for what you have done.”

“I’m curious though,” he continued,”Why is it you aren’t bothered by the hideousness of my face..”

The sentance had been slightly difficult for him to say as he really did not like to remind himself of the severity of his curse but he had gotten it out.

“It isn’t who you are, just how you look on the outside,”she said simply, her eyes betraying the rare wiseness for her age.

She smiled up at him and gave a little half giggle that once again reminded Erik of just how young she was. It caused a small smile to spread across his face that she was so accepting and young. It almost gave him hope that others could be this way as well but then he remembered most people’s reaction and inwardly sighed.

“So who are you here with anyways?” He asked her as he sat down on the ground, watching as she followed suit.

“Most wouldn’t allow... well. this...” He said with a slight gesture to the whole scene going on between the two of them.

She looked down, visably uncomfortable as she answered quietly,”Mother has been gone for 2 years and Father is out somewhere for a few weeks.”

“Then who are you staying with?” Erik asked, shocked to learn this intelligent child seemed to have been ignored completely.

“The nanny comes by some times,”she explained,”Not a lot though. Often she makes food for a couple of days at one time and leaves it in the cool room for me. Other than that I watch out for myself. Especially since father always leaves me enough money to do things with.”

“Like?” Erik prodded and she looked up again.

“I like to read, I usually buy a book a week, sometimes I’ll even buy sheet music. I play piano and like to attempt to sing some of the famous songs. But not a lot. Father doesn’t like me buying such things. He says they’re not necessary for a real lady to have as talents,”she replied, her voice getting incredibly soft towards the end of the explaination.

“What does he think you should do?” Erik asked her, his face turned down in a frown that someone would discourage learning and music both.

“Sew, cook, the normal things a woman is expected to know,”she answered simply.

“To discourage music and learning... it isn’t right,”Erik said quietly,”Even for a woman.”

She looked up at him as he continued,”Everyone has a right to enjoy music.”

His voice held a definite streak of anger at the thought that someone would deprive someone else of music and she picked up on that.

“You’re a musician,”she said quietly, then added,”Aren’t you?”

He looked down at her and his eyes met hers as he nodded once.

“How about yourself?” He asked, curious to know what kind of music she bought.

“I play piano somewhat,”she admitted, as she looked down,”I’m not very good at all though.”

Noting her lack of self esteem he looked up at the sky for a moment then back at her as he said,”I’d like to hear you play sometime if it were possible. I’m a pianist myself.”

The last sentance was said quietly as he spotted Torando coming back over.

“Time to go back in,”he said with a dark cheerfulness as he roughly grabbed Erik and drug him to his feet.

Kaitlin stood quickly, her eyes narrowing for a second at the rough treatment of this seemingly nice man. Her gentle face though quickly resurfaced and she put on the innocent look again as Torando finished doing Erik’s bonds inside the cage up again. As he exited he grinned and locked the cage, walking away again.

Kaitlin looked up at Erik and she heard him sigh as he slowly met her eyes as she asked,”Would you mind if I came back again to talk to you?”

“Of course not,”Erik replied quietly,”You’re the only one who has talked to me with such kindness, ever.”

She gave a quiet ‘Oh’ and then as she reached through the bars to touch his hand again she said,”I’ll try and be by to see you again tomorrow. The nanny shouldn’t be home and if she is... she won’t ask or care where I’m going.”

He nodded and inside he was once again angered that this child had no one it seemed that gave half a damn where she was or what she did, unless it was something like reading or music. She slowly pulled her hand away and did a slight curtsey as she said,”Farewell for now Erik. I shall try and be here tomorrow to visit you again.”

“Farewell..”he replied quietly, his voice dropping to almost a whisper as he watched her wave and hurry off.

Later after Kaitlin was gone and he was back in the cage Erik heard Torando approach. Even before he could see the man in the dark night he could smell the stench of cheap alcohol and liquer.

“So... you made a little friend,” Torando muttered, his words were slurred and ran together.

“Maybe we should bring her with us so you’ll behave,”he continued with an evil smirk,”I’m sure she has some little talent we could use.” As he said that Torando made a lewd gesture with a smile. Erik fought the urge to say something nasty but remained quiet as Torando made some flippant remark about Erik wishing he looked like that, with a nice normal face. After a few more minutes Torando moved away again and Erik could hear him talking to one of the young girls of the fair. After a few drunken chuckles Erik watched him go off again, this time with a woman hanging on his arm. He sank back down on the dirty hay that made up his only small comfort.

“Damn that man,”Erik cursed quietly as he lay back, looking at the ceiling of the cage.

‘I will get out of here,’ he mentally vowed as a picture of him beating and hurting Torando entered his mind,’And then we shall see what happens.’

He almost chuckled quietly as he drifted off to a fitful sleep. It felt like only a few short minutes had passed to him when he awoke again. Proof he was wrong though was the sun shining outside and the fair startings it’s daily business. With a sigh he prepared to deal once again with the shrieks and stares. It was then that he remembered that the girl, Kaitlin, said she’d be back today. As he waited throughout the morning crowds he finally spotted her heading his way and almost released a smile. As she got closer though he saw her hair was left down and her eyes held a sort of nervousness to them.

Once again as the crowds dispersed around lunchtime she gave money to Torando to let Erik out. This time it was a bit more expensive but she still paid. As Erik exited the cage he saw the beginnings of tears in her young eyes.

“What’s the matter?” He quietly asked, inwardly worried that somehow she feared him now though he rationalized that she wouldn’t have paid for him to leave the cage if she feared him.

Furthur thoughts though were out of the question though as suddenly he found her arms wrapped around his thin dirty frame and her tiny body shaking from sobs she tried to withhold.

“Father...”she began as another sob racked her body,”He came home and.... found the music I’d bought.”

Here she paused and Erik realized exactly what she meant and what had probably happened.

“He was so angry...”she continued with another quiet sob,”He burned it all and forbid me to leave the house. Til I learned to be less of a disgrace.”

As she completed the explaination Erik was burning up inside about this. This sweet innocent child who he’d met yesterday and who had shown him more kindness than he’d ever seen was being made to suffer unnecessarily. It was then that he noticed the purplish marks around her neck and through the sheer sleeve of her dress the marks on her upper arms. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed them before as they contrasted greatly with her pale skin.

“He hurt you,”he said quietly, his voice betraying some of the anger he felt. This statement only brought a small shudder and nod from her and she let out another quiet sob.

“I’ll be fine,”she quietly mumbled.

Some how he doubted it but he instead continued his questioning.

“How are you here if he forbid you to leave?”

After a moment she simply replied,”I left. I’m not going back.”

“But where will you stay?” He continued asking as he looked down at her, one of his hands going to rest gently on her shoulder, far away from the bruises.

“She is staying with myself and my daughter,”a quiet female voice stated and a woman, not as tall as Erik, stepped out and closer. Behind her he could see a small blonde head peeking out until a moment later the girl stepped forward. She looked younger than Kaitlin by perhaps a few years but still her eyes held a reflection of intelligence. Erik fought the urge to run and hide himself merely settling to cover the left side of his face with his one hand.

“Do not worry Monsieur,”the woman said,”We will not stare or scream. I am Madame Giry and this is my daughter Meg.”

Erik nodded, his hand still covering his face, as he quietly explained,”I am Erik.”

As he introduced himself he spotted Torando giving him an evil glare and motioned to his hand. Erik picked up on this and spoke quietly as he slowly pulled his hand away.

“Forgive me ladies but I must keep it visable. He is angered if I don’t.”

“It is allright,”Madame Giry replied and Meg nodded slightly.

Erik removed his hand and asked them,”You will take care of her?”

“Yes,”Madame Giry replied,”She is a friend of Meg’s and we will care for her.”

“She has told us about you,”Madame Giry continued,”If there is any way I can help I will try. It is inhuman what they have done to you.”

Kaitlin at this point stepped back from him and nodded, her cheeks still wet from tears. At that moment before anyone could say anymore Torando came over and began to drag Erik back into the cage. Kaitlin almost began to protest when she spotted something on Torando’s person as he clasped Erik’s shackles on him. Motioning for Madame Giry to get his attention she did as he exited the cage.

“Good day sir,”she said with a semi-friendly voice. As she spoke she could see Kaitlin sneaking her hand to a key on a string.

Gently as Madame Giry and Torando continued to talk she pulled it from his pocket. He probably would have noticed had he not bent to pick up Mme. Giry’s ‘fallen’ pocket book and when he did, due to his immense weight, he felt his clothes do their normal shifting. Kaitilin hurriedly tucked the string with the key into a pocket and pretended innocently to walk over to the cage. Torando began to walk away, his simple friendly chat with Mme. Giry over.

When he was out of hearing range she whispered to Erik,”Later tonight I’ll come to set you free.”

He gave her a smile and she continued,”Act as if nothings changed and I’ll see you later this eve.”

He nodded and once again she smiled. After joining up with Mme. Giry and Meg they hurried off. Erik was excited now, he’d be getting free tonight. As the day wore on he ignored the peltings of fruit from the onlookers, thinking only of his impending freedom.