Search for the Opera Ghost: Rewrite

XIV.

When Erik returned from his fit he found Zuri sitting on the kitchen floor. She had not moved from the spot in which she had been slapped. "Why are you sitting there?"

"All I ever wanted to do was help...and you wouldn't let me." She paused for a minute, "I suppose I should have expected it. All I saw was good in you. I thought that you might want someone to talk to, but I should have known. You will never change Erik."

Erik narrowed her eyes at her then pulled a chair in front of her and sat down. "You know nothing about me and yet you want me for some odd reason. I do not understand you Zuri. If you do not like me then why do you write such interesting things down?"

For the first time she felt truly speechless. She avoided his gaze while answering, "I don't know. Love is a silly emotion I suppose."

"You love me?"

"I used to Erik...now I think you are going to be an embittered man because you won't give anyone else a chance. You never will."

"Why would you want to be with me? Tell me Zuri? Am I the last resolution for you to avoid a marriage?"

"I would never use you to avoid a marriage!" She sighed softly, "I used to have dreams of you...though you were always in the shadows because I never knew what you looked like. I was so excited when you came to me...I thought we could get along, but silly me for thinking such a thing."

"Did you truly mean what you wrote?"

"Did you truly apologize to me?"

There was a long silence between them then finally Zuri spoke up, "Yes I meant it Erik."

"I truly feel bad for what I did to you. If it makes you any happier, I feel disgusted that I did such a thing."

"No it doesn't make me any happier. It still hurts...I wish you could understand what it was like to be taken against your will."

"I do know what it is like."

Zuri stared at him for a few minutes then said, "How?"

Erik sighed, "I was captured by gypsies and forced to show my face when I didn't want to."

"How terrible. I am sorry for what you have been through, but it is no excuse for what you did."

"I know. What I did can never be undone and I truly apologize for that."

Zuri slowly stood up and began to walk away but Erik caught her wrist as he stood from the chair he was sitting on. She sighed as he pulled her back against him. "Erik, I can't do this anymore. You should let me go and return to your life without me. Isn't that what you wanted??"

"If I do take you back, can you honestly say you won't regret it?" Erik questioned her while she turned her head to the side.

"Yes..."

"Do you lie to everyone or just yourself?"

"I'm not lying!"

"You are lying."

Zuri reached up to slap him with her other hand but Erik caught her hand pushed her hard against the nearest wall he could find. Erik pinned her hands above her head as she struggled to be released. "Let me go!"

"No." He simply stated with a smile then pressed his lips harshly against hers as she struggled. Zuri's eyes widened in shock as his tongue slipped between her lips. She gasped then altogether stopped struggling. Erik noticed her change immediately and decided to pull back from her to gauge her reaction. "Be honest with me Zuri, did you enjoy our kiss?"

Zuri blushed, answering Erik's question without saying a word. He felt a hunger for her, one that could be sated in one way only. He kissed her again, this time with more force behind it.

She knew she shouldn't be feeling this way, but Erik was making her feel things that she had never felt before. Her heart beat fast as his kiss made her burn. She felt as if she was on fire. This was not the way things were supposed to turn out. Erik seemed to always have to upper hand against her.

Their lips separated again and he said, "If I release you, will you run away from this or stay to see it through? After all Zuri, you wanted so much to know me." He reached with his other hand and brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. "You are aching for me. You want to know what it is like to be with me. Don't deny it."

"Erik...I don't give my heart and body to anyone so easily. Especially you." She took a deep breath to steady her breathing, "You don't want me. It is only lust and desire to sate your need with me."

"No it isn't."

"What is it? Why do you torture me so Erik? What did I do to deserve this?"

"I am not torturing you Zuri. I only tell what I perceive. You and I both know that you desire me. You are the one denying it."

"Release me please."

He smiled then said, "I would prefer not to."

"I..." She began but stopped when his lips moved down her neck. Zuri bit her lip as a pleasant sensation spread along her limbs. 'Damn Erik', she thought to herself. Damn him for the drugging effect he was having on her. He bit her neck lightly causing her to groan softly. "Erik..."

"Yes." Words caught in her throat and she seemingly could not talk or tell him what she thought of him at the moment. "What is it that you wish to say Zuri? Are you going to give up?"

"Don't mock me Erik. I am not some weak-willed woman you can control. I know you will try to take liberties with me."

Erik raised an eyebrow at her comment, "Moi, why mademoiselle I am not that much of a beast that I would take you without some sort of agreement."

"You did before. What is stopping you from doing it again?"

"My conscience." He simply said as their eyes connected. "I could not bear raping you again because I despise myself for doing so in the first place. However, do not deny that there is not an attraction between us."

"What you call attraction, I call lust."

His golden eyes reflected laughter as a huge smile appeared on his face, "Indeed Zuri. So you are lusting after me as well?"

Zuri blushed, "No. That is not what I meant."

"Oh but it is."

"Release me."

"Where will you go?"

"I want to sleep."

"How do I know that you will not try to run away from me?"

Zuri sighed deeply, "Why don't you sleep with me if you don't trust me?" Realizing what she just suggested she covered her mouth in mortification. "That's not what I..."

"Meant?" He paused then lowered her arms to her sides. "I know what you meant Zuri, but I could choose to misinterpret what you just said."

"Now you are being silly Erik."

He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling with mischeivousness, "But I like to Zuri."

"Are you going to release me or not?"

"Very well." He released her and stepped aside, watching her walk away from him rather quickly. He grinned to himself, sooner or later, she would give into her want for him and he wanted that day to be soon.

xxxx

Zuri burned beneath the covers as she thought of the previous moments with Erik. She thought of his kiss, it seemed to have such a drugging effect on her that she did not know if she would be able to resist another moment like that again. Yet Erik had not taken her, though he could have, and he even had apologized for his actions and explained how he felt after. The problem it seemed wasn't 'could she forgive him', it was 'should she forgive him.'

Her heart had raced in her chest when he had been so close to her and he was correct in saying she was lying, because in her heart she wanted him. She wanted to be his for one night. However, her heart did not want to be disappointed or hurt again.

Why had she fallen in love with a notion of a kind man beneath the facade of the Opera Ghost. It simply was not fair. Erik wasn't anything she had thought he would be. However, why should she expect him to be anything in particular. She knew that Erik was somehow her last hope before she was to be married. An adventure of some sorts before settling down and bearing children.

She gasped at the thought. She had been using Erik all along as a scapegoat for her problems. How could Erik forgive her for such a thing? She threw the covers off of her and decided that she would forgive Erik for his sins against her.

xxxx

Erik looked up from the book he was reading as Zuri entered the main part of his home. "I thought you were going to sleep."

"I was but I have to tell you something."

Erik shut his book and put it aside. "Go ahead. I'm listening."

"I would like to say that I forgive you for raping me. I know I was the one who instigated the situation and I apologize for the intrusion upon your home. Secondly, I would like to apologize to you for using you Erik. It seems I have been using you for a scapegoat to escape my impending marriage. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." Erik laughed softly which angered her to no end. "What are you laughing about? I have come to apologize and you are just rubbing it in my face."

"No Zuri!" He said, turning serious now. "I was laughing because no one has ever apologized to me like that before. You make it sound like you had killed me." Erik stood up swiftly and took her hand in his own then watched as she squirmed slightly.

'When did it get so warm in here?' She wondered to herself then stared at Erik intently. "Then you accept my apology."

"I really do not see the need in such an apology, however, I accept and am glad you have forgiven me of my crime."

"What are we to do now?"

"Whatever you wish to do."

"I have to be back in Aveyron in a few weeks." She explained.

"Aveyron. That is a long ways south from here. You came all this way to see me?"

She blushed lightly, "Yes Erik," she paused and took a deep breath, "It was my dream."

"A dream?"

Zuri nodded her head slowly, "I wished to know the man who wrote Don Juan Triumphant. You see, I was in the foyer of this very opera house trying to get in to see it, but I had lost my ticket or most likely Father took it away. Father never liked the arts and discouraged it in our household. Anyway, they let me listen to the music at least since I had come a long ways. I heard the most beautiful voice I had ever heard that night, but then the chandelier crashed and well the rest you know about."

"I was the one you heard singing Zuri. Tell me, why does your father discourage the arts?"

"He says it is a waste of time. I wish I could have seen it though."

"No you don't. You may not have been alive today." Zuri smiled at him then gently kissed his cheek. Erik pulled back, astonishment upon his face. "I am sorry," she suddenly said, "how forward of me."

Erik pulled her in his arms then pressed a harsh kiss against her lips, igniting the fire between them once more. Zuri grasped his arm and whispered against his lips, "We shouldn't be doing this."

"You want to. Don't deny it. You desire me, as I desire you." Their eyes met and Zuri knew that she could not deny their desire of each other any longer.

"Yes Erik...I want to."