I Can't Help Anymore, Help Me! (Christine Ellen)

[victorcoleson]

The sound of a door moving and the sound of footsteps broke Victor's concentration. Someone was here! Dropping his tools and leaving the memorial he had been working on at the table he ran.

Heavy breathing... Ooof...Crack...crash..

The scene of his demise played in Victor's mind as he silently wandered into the opera house of the manor, a place he knew well enough. When he was alive this was where he would spend the break from the his art. He often spent his time trying to refurnish the place. Afterall, this manor had been unoccupied. Who would care?

Stopping at the enormous doorway of the opera house he could hear it all again.


Heavy breathing... Ooof...Crack...crash..

The image of his broken body resting deep within his memory. He saw the image as though it were a dream, but he knew for a fact he was dead. He could no longer go to the village. He was stuck in the manor, forever. Shutting his eyes tightly, he tried to wipe the memory from his mind for the moment. The image disappeared and the sounds had stopped. He would find out what scared him to run off one way or another.

Gliding through the enormous doors, he entered the room without difficulty and gave it a look around. It looked nearly the way he had left it before he had passed away. His toolbox was hidden in a small wooden floorboard that he had noticed came off. He sat at the edge of the stage, or rather...floated...and sighed in resignation. He needed to think of a plan. Someone was in the manor. Whoever they were they owed him one request. That was his price for the life he had lost.

[phantomsdarkangel]

Christine had been walking around for what seemed forever. There wasn't much else to do in the manor...
Her curiosity had grown unbelievably and she was more than willing to explore the dark corridors and empty rooms. She was getting used to being there and she wasn't scared anymore. Truth was, she had seen a few more ghost around, and even that didn't scare her.

She knew she wasn't the only one that was lost there. She had found at least six more people that were just as confused as she was. Time was strange there. Had she been in the manor for a day? A week? A year? She couldn't tell and, at the time, she didn't care. She knew for sure that she wasn't going to get hurt there. There was nothing to be afraid of.

...Or was it?

Walking towards the room where she had seen the glue she needed for Erik, she got lost again. That was easy to do for the manor was really big and there were lots of dark corridors and room yet to be discovered.
Not sure where she was, she started to feel the air getting heavier. Don't freak out, Christine, don't freak out... don't freak out...

A door opened. Oh, Jesus...

Trying her best not to get scared, her breathing increasing, she kept walking, looking around. When she felt a presence there, she quickly ran into one of the nearby rooms, closing the door behind her. She ran to a corner and sat down, her knees to her chest. She was breathing heavily when she heard the door open, making her gasp out of fear and surprise. She wasn't alone.

And her attempts to stay calm and not freak out had failed.

[victorcoleson]

Upon hearing the sound of someone entering the room and the door closing, Victor looked up. His ghostly eyes a dark grey as he peered at the door way before reaching the door without even any sudden movement. He stared at the door and tilted his head.

He had seen no one for he had been too busy reminiscing on his desire to find out what had been in that manor that night. And now he seemed to believe that he had just found them, whoever they were.

What was that? His mind whirled as he turned toward the gasping sound and looked down at a pale, frightened looking girl. What was she wearing? It looked nothing like the 21st century clothing he had grown up seeing.

His eyes softened in that moment and he felt sorry for the young girl. He wished to comfort her but his fear that she would grow frightened of him stopped for a few seconds and so he tried to seem as lively as he could.

"Are you alright, miss?" He asked softly, though his voice took on a bit of an echo. Victor wanted to be gentle. Perhaps she had answers. He would ask her if she were calm and collected enough.

[phantomsdarkangel]

Christine looked up at the... man? before her. She wasn't sure if it was a man or a ghost, but she tried to stay calm. "Who are you?" she asked as soon as she could catch her breath.
Standing up slowly, Christine took a deep breath and examined him, curiously.
No, she hadn't seen him in the manor before.

"I'm alright..." she finally answered his question. "Who are you?" she repeated shortly after.

Christine sighed, closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again, walking towards a nearby chair. Sitting down, she looked at him again.

She waited for his answer, trying to breath normally and calm down. She succeed and, if a few moment, she was better, somehow not scared and willing to know this new person. Maybe he knew how to get out... maybe he lived there. Maybe he was the one messing around with their heads. Maybe he was the one that brought them there. Maybe he was... maybe he was...

But she couldn't be sure of that until she asked the right questions.

[victorcoleson]

When the young lady looked up at him, he tried to stay as close to the shadows as possible. At least it would make him seem like less of a ghost, for the moment. He could not risk frightening anyone. Not if he wished to get the help he so deeply desired. If anything he had to be kind enough to keep her calm. Everything could be explained. Perhaps she would understand. Yet she asked who he was. How could he tell her? Perhaps she lived in the village and only found the manor. Perhaps she knew his brothers! He kept his distance and did not answer the question.

When he answered his question, he only nodded which if seeing him correctly seemed rather odd for he was translucent. He could walk through anything, anyone. So any sudden movement and his translucent body became more obvious. Yet still he could not help but smile softly. The dimples in his cheeks were deep and made his smile welcoming. But she asked him once more and the smile fell. He had to tell her at some point or risk frightening her more.

Seeing that she closed her eyes, he took the chance to move forward and stopped when he saw her looking over at him again. He had wanted to answer her question, yet could not find the right words.

He watched her cautiously, continuing to keep his distance. She seemed to be trying to calm down and before answering, he decided to wait. When he felt she was calm enough. He moved forward slightly, still keeping a slight distance between them. "My name..." He paused. What if she was from the village? Would she believe him? Somehow he doubted she was from the village due to what she was wearing but he couldn't be sure.

"My name is Victor Coleson." He replied slowly. Again his voice echoed slightly as it normally did since his death. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Now his voice was stern and serious. He could not help but ask questions of his own.

[phantomsdarkangel]

Christine kept studying him for what seemed forever. He didn't look too "normal", but who was her to judge? She knew she wasn't normal, herself. Maybe he was as lost as she was then, maybe he needed help. Maybe he could tell him where they were or why. Did he live there? Maybe he knew a way to get out, find a village and send a message to Philippe! Both Raoul and Christine knew that he'd be there in a heartbeat if he knew his brother might be in danger.

When he didn't tell her who he was, Christine's pulse quickened. She was starting to get scared again, but she was trying her best not to. There had to be an explanation. Maybe he didn't know who he was. Memory loss. It was a possibility, non?
Even though, she was feeling rather uncomfortable around him, yet not knowing why. "Please... don't hurt me..." she begged, looking down at the floor again.

He's walking closer, Christine, he's going to hurt you, he's going to kill you!, her mind told her. But the only thing she could do was close her eyes tighter and wait. Wait to live or wait to die. There was no reason to freak out...

When he moved closer again, Christine opened her eyes and looked at him. There was a slight light in the room and it was shinning right through him!
Christine couldn't believe her eyes. Was he another ghost? At the time, she was sure there were ghosts there. But she hadn't seen any face to face. But then again, there was no reason to freak out... yet. He seemed... nice.

When he finally said his name, she nodded. She was calm... calm enough not to run away from him and out of the room. But then, he wanted to know who she was and what was she doing there. Could she tell him? Then again, if she wanted to get her questions answered, she had to be nice...
"I'm... My name's Christine Ellen Daaé... I... I really don't know what I'm doing here. I just... got here, for some reason... and I can't get out. I want to find a way out of here, but it seems impossible. Strange things happen here... time's strange..." but then she remembered that maybe she wasn't supposed to be there. "I swear I have no idea why am I here... please, don't hurt me..."

[victorcoleson]

He saw the way that Christine observed him and it made him uncomfortable. Yes, he was did. That did not mean he could not experience discomfort. He wished there was a way to comfort the woman because she seemed to be more uncomfortable than he was and yet there was no idea as to what he could do. He reached a hand over to her but took it back. He couldn't touch her. That would give away his ghostly nature.

He could tell she was scared and for a moment it angered him. Things began to shake about. The doors opening and closing a bit but he calmed down in order to stop from scaring her more. Victor knew that it was a possibility everyone would fear him. There was nothing he could do other than give people reasons not to fear him and if he wanted this young girl to help him, he would have to gain her trust. The moment she begged for him not to hurt her he moved back, thinking it would help. "I'm sorry...I don't want-" But he couldn't finish that sentence. He did not believe she would trust in his word.

He stayed farther away if only to comfort the poor girl. After all, he had no idea how she got there. It could have been pure accident. Victor could not cause any harm to someone like that.

She seemed calm now and that, again made him smile a dimpled cheeky smile. As long as she was calm and he stayed far enough away things would go smoothly. Or so he hoped. The moment Christine answered his questions he grew confused and unsure. He had never heard a girl by that name. She couldn't be from the village. Everyone knew everyone. Perhaps not completely, but there was knowledge of who people were either way and he knew not of a Christine Daaé.

Then she said that she had no idea what she doing there or how she got here, Victor once again grew angry but he kept it as calm as he could. The worst affects were lights flickering due to his anger. "You're not from the village then.." He muttered softly in the echoing voice that he gained after passing on. He shook his head but the way he looked when he shook his head made his ghostly appearance much more obvious. "I don't want to hurt you. I just..." But he stopped himself mid-sentence. "Where are you from?" He asked in curiosity.

[phantomsdarkangel]

As soon as he said he wasn't going to hurt her, she sighed in relief. She even muttered a 'Thank you', but she wasn't sure if he was able to hear her.
She was starting to calm down a bit more. She was calm enough to stand up slowly and look at him. "I'm sorry, monsieur... but I have no idea where I am, or why... If you live here, I never meant to intrude, I'm so sorry..."

Slight movements around the room could be heard, but Christine tried her best not to freak out again. It was going to be hard, or so she thought. But first, she wanted to find out who he was and if it was safe to be around him. She hoped it was...

"I swear I don't know where I am. I just... appeared here, oddly, not knowing who -or what- brought me here. I just..." she started, but her voice faded for a few moments. "I just want to go home," she told him, looking up at him with her big brown eyes that looked even more green-ish and bright as the sun hit on them. She knew there was fear and sadness showing in her eyes, but she didn't care.

"I repeat, my name's Christine Ellen Daaé and I'm from Sweden, but I've been living in Paris for a long time, since I was very little..." Remembering the talk she had had with Raoul and went on. "Excuse me, monsieur, but where are we? Are we in Paris still? Europe, at least?"