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The Silent Wish	By : LaurieBaker Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Het Views: 14629 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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“I see that the damsel is no longer in distress,” Erik muttered as he stood, momentarily only capable of dumbly observing the picture of sweet Aurora as a murderess.

Aurora sat quietly, unseeing and unhearing with tears streaming down her cheeks. Sadly, he was grateful that she had not heard him as he was already mortified at his own callous remark. He had been desensitized to murder and blood long ago, a necessity in order to survive. Yet Aurora knew nothing of violence. The poor girl was in such a state of shock that she seemed to have lost her mind. God only knew what had provoked her to murder the Baron so viciously!

“Come, love,” he coaxed gently, taking the weapon from her grasp. Her fingerprints were all over it. With a handkerchief, he wiped off most of the Baron’s blood before wrapping it up securely and placing it in his vest pocket.

“Er-Erik?” she asked in a little girl voice.

“Come, we must leave here.”

He extended his hand, tenderly pulling her up to her feet.

Once he saw her close up, Erik grimaced at how horrible she looked, as if she had been to hell and back. A small portion of her fair hair was hanging in strings, some of it having been yanked out. There was an angry red mark on her cheek. Obviously, the bastard had struck her. God, how he yearned to kill! Too bad his prey was already quite dead!

Aurora huddled close to him like a needy child, shaking and clinging to him, needing his warmth and comfort. He fought back his own tears, not accustomed to being so needed.

“Come, Aurora, there shall be plenty of time for that later,” he begged, trying to reason with her gently. He had to think with a clear head, not let the storm of his emotions lure him into foolishness. “We have to leave here at once.”

She simply looked at him uncomprehendingly.

And, then almost as an afterthought, he took his lasso and pulled it about the Baron’s neck. No doctor worth his salt would miss that gash of a razor wound. And yet perhaps with the mark of the Phantom, Aurora would be safer from suspicion.

Carrying her in his arms, he managed to get down the stairs and out of the townhouse. Fortunately, no servants or strangers seemed to be about.

Sheltering her from the pouring rain as best as he could with his body and cape, Erik quickly set her astride Cesar in front of him and they set off for his lair. At least, time was on his side. It was still the middle of the night. More than likely, he would not be discovered until the morning.

As they made their way through the labyrinth, Aurora shivered as though she had a fever. That blasted storm was the last thing she needed in her condition!

Taking her to the bedroom, Erik tried to get her out of her wet bloody wedding gown.

“No!” she shrieked, still out of her head. “Don’t!”

“Please…Aurora…” he cajoled, trying to reason with her. “You’ll get horribly sick if you stay in that…come on, love…you’re safe now…”

He sang to her until the tension in her body subsided and he managed to coax her out of the dress with his soft tones.

Once she was naked, he saw the true extent of the damage the Baron had inflicted upon her. Her back had a large nasty purple bruise as if she had been kicked. Her buttocks had angry red welt marks across them, some of them caked with dried blood. He knew all too well those were the marks of a belt or a whip. She would have scars from that bastard.

For a moment, Erik pulled away from Aurora, making sure she was not within his reach. He had to for his rage was so great that he was worried he might accidentally hurt her without meaning to. Closing his eyes, he clenched his jaw and his fists, inhaling and exhaling slowly, trying to keep his temper in check. As soon as the Baron had dared to lay his rotten hands upon her in this fashion, he had marked out his doom. Erik certainly would have killed him had Aurora not. And he would have let the cretin die the slow merciless death he deserved. No quick slashes of a razor would have sufficed.

Searching about, Erik found some salve which he began to rub upon her damaged flesh. As she lay on her stomach, she moaned in pain as he rubbed the ointment in, but he quieted her, shushing her as he hummed lullabies.

“I love you, Erik…” she whispered, half asleep.

“I love you,” he answered, fighting back against the urge to break down and sob like an infant. Never had he felt so protective and tender of another person. He had said words of love to Aurora before and meant them. Yet he was constantly surprised at just how much the word ‘love’ entailed…how much ‘love’ meant…

Once she was comfortable asleep and safe in his bed, Erik sat in his music room, not playing on the organ but simply trying to concentrate.

In the morning, as soon as possible, he would meet with Madame Giry. As much as it pained him, he should have to ask for help. And there was only one man he trusted enough to aid him in his plight.

The Daroga.

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The Persian shook his head in bemusement as he watched the various workers pack up all of Erik’s treasures. His organ, his tapestries and paintings, his large collection of books, his Eastern statues…

“I admit, Erik, I never thought I should ever see you with another woman aside from Christine Daae,” the Daroga commented to his friend. “And I never thought I would ever see you leave Paris. You love this old Opera House so…”

“It is simply a building, my friend,” Erik answered. “Nothing more.”

“Even that attitude is a tremendous change from…”

“Watch that vase!” Erik roared at one of the men. He felt at his wit’s end as he saw all of his possessions so hurriedly jostled about and packed away. “Are you quite sure these men are trustworthy, Daroga?”

“They will answer to me if they’re not.” The answer did nothing to soothe Erik’s worry. “Most of these men also have a price on their head. They need funds and protection too badly to indulge in gossip about you.”

“Indeed,” Erik answered, still not convinced. “I must check on Aurora.”

“Fair Goddess of the Dawn…” the Daroga said with a wistful smile.

“Don’t entice me to kill you, Daroga!” Erik called out jokingly as he hastened towards the bedroom.

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For some time, Aurora had been awake, trying to piece through the haziness in her mind. She remembered being forced to marry, almost being raped and then…

The frightful image of her slicing away at the Baron’s throat came into her head. Yet she couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe she had murdered. Yet it was all too real in her memory. The look in his face of shock and fear as the razor first sank into his throat…

Aurora covered her eyes, trying to will away the image. Yet, it would not leave her.

The man had tried to violate her in the most vicious way. Surely, he deserved to die. Yet she would do anything to get the sight of his grotesque dying face out of her mind.

“So the Sleeping Beauty is awake now…”

Out of her nightmare musings, she heard the beautiful voice of her lover. Her only lifeline to sanity, it seemed.

She reached out for him with silent pleading.

Erik sat beside her on the bed, holding her close. Burying her face in the lapels of his jacket, she simply enjoyed taking in the scent of him. When she realized how close she had been to never being in his arms again, she almost began to cry all over again.

“How are you feeling, sweet?”

“Like a train ran over me,” she answered honestly.

“Did that beast…did he hurt you?”

“He tried to.” Aurora shivered at the memory. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Very well,” Erik answered. “As long as you don’t think you need to see a doctor or…”

“I would rather not.”

There was a sound of a crash which made them both jump.

“Damn it!” Erik swore.

“What is happening out there?”

“I am relocating my home,” Erik answered simply. “Or I suppose I should say we are.”

“Because of…what I did?”

He nodded.

“It is not safe for us here any longer,” he explained. “Hopefully, I have arranged things sufficiently enough where everyone will assume that I killed the Baron, not you…”

“But…Erik!”

“Sshhh…let me finish,” he commanded. “Any way you look at it, one of us shall be suspected. Add to that your tattletale sister and your vengeful father and I do not see how we will…”

“What do you mean about my sister?” Aurora interrupted. “She was the reason we were discovered?”

“Yes,” he snarled. “No disrespect intended, Aurora, but your sister is…” He stopped himself before they would get into an argument. “…not one of my favorite people at the moment.”

“Nor mine,” she agreed.

“At any rate, I never mean to be separated from you again. So if that means leaving Paris, this is what we shall do. Which brings me to the next topic…where would you like to go?”

“Well, I know French, Italian and English,” she started with serious consideration. “I don’t think I should like to live somewhere where I wouldn’t know the language.”

“Ever the voice of reason,” he chuckled mockingly, resting his head against her shoulder as he stroked her arm.

“Do you know any other languages?”

“Mostly Italian…and only that because of opera,” he admitted. “English is a decidedly ugly language really. I have never cared for any operas written in English.”

“Venice would be quite romantic, wouldn’t it?” she asked with a small smile. “With all of those gondolas and canals…”

“Yes, and I should quite enjoy the opera in Italy…perhaps we should find a place in the countryside. Somewhere remote enough where I should not be bothered, but close enough to Milan or such a place where we could enjoy the city at night, should we choose to.”

Again, they were lost in their conversation of dreams, for a while oblivious to the chaos of their lives, content to be together once more.

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The next morning, the police were alerted by a chambermaid that the Baron von Rothsberg had been found dead in his townhouse with a noose around his neck and his throat slashed.
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The Silent Wish