Lisa and Ami (The Scorpion and The Grasshopper) are back with another co-written phic based on an RP in which Lisa was the mind behind the thoughts/voice/action of Erik and Ami was the mind behind those of Christine. In this phic, each section written from Erik's POV was edited and filled in by Lisa and each in Christine's POV was done by Ami.

We have started this short phic in order to get us back into the groove of joint writing so that we can effectively continue (FINALLY) I Sentieri Scelti (Our very first phic together!… Which will soon be moved to be under this penname, but is currently under The Scorpion). Scelti was originally meant to be a novel-length epic adventure, but we let it die for a while after chapter 9… before the adventure even began! But it's high time we picked it up again, and we think doing this little phic will help motivate us. (Reviews also help motivate us! ;) )

Anyhow, like most of our phics, this phic is twisted (hence the title). Please enjoy! Please review! And much fmeek to all!

Twisted in Every Way

The First Twist

Christine is mine.

After all, that is the essence of the bond, is it not? To have and to hold… Possession. Until death do us part.

Vulgar, in a way…The thought disappointed me. I could not let it be that way with Christine…eventually. Perhaps it would take some time, but she would be mine without my control. Oh, I know she did not feel that the essence of bondage ever might have existed when she made her promises, but she does not know what I know. It begins with possession, yes, I think that might be true, but I do not intend to let it live long.

Losing control…Is that what this day had been for me? Giving up…Giving in…I had let her take my hands and promise to be mine so long as I would be hers. And she had sincerely meant her pledges with all her mind. Perhaps it might come to be that Christine would be the possessor of Erik.

But as I looked at her, I forced these twisted thoughts from my mind. How typical of me to be morbid on a night like this. This day was about balance. Yes…Equality between the two of us. Eternal equality. The choice I made today was permanent. What I have done to Christine, I can never recant…Not without losing my heart. But it all had seemed so easy for her…So simple. And now she dozed so sweetly in my arms as I carried her toward our destiny.

I laid her in the boat, careful not to dirty her gown, and she stirred when she no longer felt my touch. Her eyelids opened only enough to make certain I was still with her.

"It's all right my dearest…It is over. Soon you will be in the warmth of your bed and you will sleep to your heart's content…"

"Yes…" she barely whispered, and her eyes fell shut again.

When later I lifted her from the boat, I knew she was still not yet asleep, because I know I felt her tighten herself against me. Such devotion! It was the most heart wrenching feeling, and suddenly I began to tremble. I looked down at her white face in silence, stricken with remorse. So beautiful, so darling, so innocent…How could she be mine?

"Christine," the word made her stir again. "Tell me that this is what you want."

"Yes, Erik…" the whisper was the same, barely audible. "Take me inside…" And once more, her eyelids drifted shut.

Inside my fortress home, she looked at me again when I laid her in the bed.

I sat on the edge for a moment to look down at her as I draped her dress over a nearby chair. "This has been quite a day for you…Sleep, my Angel…"

"But…" she tried to lift a hand to me, but all her strength was gone.

I took the hand, pressing it to my cheek and then set it by her side as I tucked the bedclothes about her. "No, Christine…You must sleep now."

"Yes, Erik…" And she sank back into the pillows.

I turned down the light and went to the door. She was still looking at me with those half-closed eyes…I turned back to her before leaving. "We have now and forever, Christine. The rest of our lives lie before us…Open and waiting. Sleep now, and when you awaken, you will be mine…And I will be yours. 'Til death do us part."

"Death do us part…Yes, Erik…Yes…" And finally she fell asleep as her eyes slowly closed.

My eyes snapped open.

At first I was not sure what had awakened me exactly because there was no sound. No, the room was conspicuously still and quiet...I could not even hear the soft ticking of a clock. And it was dark...Very, very dark...And even though I had been asleep and my eyes should have been attuned, I could only barely make out the shapes of a room in the darkness.

Bed covers were wrapped around my legs so tightly that it took me a moment to uncurl them, and the eiderdown had been tucked up underneath my chin. The comforter was soft, like silk...I knew that I had felt it before. Yes, I knew where I was. My hand moved to find the lamp that was so dim that it had nearly gone out...But it was lit enough to let me turn up the flame.

A glint in the mirror above a vanity table was the first thing that caught my eye. I looked with confusion at my own reflection for a long moment...I tried to read my eyes' own expressions, but all I could see was bewilderment...and a bit of fear. My gaze shifted around the room, but yes, I already knew where I was. What I did not know was how I had come to be here.

I was in Erik's house...And in my room...

But...but why? How? To be here was not a very puzzling situation, but...I could hardly even remember when I last saw Erik...Or why...Or...None of it made any sense...The last conversation I could recall…He had told me he was going to be working on his Opera and he had told me to go back above and to spend a month with Raoul before he went off to the North Pole until Erik had finished his work...But had I gone? I could not remember that time...Why was I here again already?

Or had I never gone...? Was Raoul in the North Pole now, or was he waiting for me to return? Why could I not remember? Had Erik even sent me back at all?

I lifted a hand to brush back the blonde curls that had fallen into my face, but as I did...I saw something else reflected in the mirror. I froze for an infinite moment before I lowered my gaze to my hand...

The plain gold wedding band twinkled up at me mockingly. I released my breath slowly...I must have dreamt that Erik had told me to return to the surface, and I was still with him...For if I had gone back up to the Opera, I would have not returned so soon...and so would not be wearing Erik's golden ring! To my shame, I always tried to remember to take it off when I saw Raoul...I would not want to upset him...

I was almost relieved...My entire conversation with Erik must have been a dream...A dream was a better explanation than him telling me to go and then finding myself back the very next evening...Especially when I had no recollection of returning.

I pushed the covers back carefully and shifted to the side of the bed, and as I stood, I nearly stepped into the folds of a dress that spilled off a seat where it had been carelessly left.

Very strange indeed...I did not recall wearing a white dress like this...Not last night...Not ever. I bent slowly and lifted up the dress by its two sleeves. White lace and velvet, laced up with satin ribbons to the neck...I could imagine the feel of the irritating itch the fabric would give the wearer...And then I did remember wearing it...But not putting it on or taking it off!

I stood then, bringing the dress with me, and I examined it underneath the light. Right away, it was obvious to me what it was. I should have realized when I first touched it, but a part of me had briefly hoped that it was perhaps a discarded costume...

It was a wedding gown.

The delicate beading formed patterns along the bodice, and the materials were intricately woven and designed...So very odd! Why would I have been wearing a wedding dress? When had I taken it off?

I now pronounce you…

And then somewhere in the back of my mind, a cloudy memory began to form...I remembered a priest's voice...and the silence of a chapel. There had been hardly anyone in the pews...Maybe only one person...I remembered feeling the lace of the veil brush my face as I inhaled... And my hands joined with someone else's...Locked together...

…man and wife…

My hands leapt to my cheeks, and I shuddered. An unbelievable chill made its way up my spine until all my hair stood on end, and gooseflesh prickled my arms. How was it possible to remember having been married but nothing else? Even worse, I only remembered part of being married...and not even to whom! Who was it that held my hands? Had I married Raoul? If so, perhaps Erik might have then brought me here out of anger...It would have been my deception...But no, it could not be. Surely I would never risk his wrath! But...what other explanation could there be? If I had been married...I would certainly have been more apt to marry Raoul than Erik! It was far more likely...Even though I had truly never wished to be married at all... How could this be!

A small whimper escaped my throat, and I threw the dress aside. The feel of it made my hands burn! Though I could not remember, I knew that the ring on my finger and my location told a far different story than such irrational hopes...I knew whom I must have married. Even as I thought of Erik, a more detailed picture of the wedding ceremony began to envelop my mind...And I saw Erik in front of me. The image was as hazy as if I were viewing it through a thick fog...But I saw him, and I knew.

Oh, God! But...My fate could not be as bad as this shock...I did care for Erik, but...but to marry him! To marry him...The prospect terrified me to no end! I had never wanted this! All the horrors that he was capable of; all of what he had done...What had possessed me to exchange vows with my mythical Angel of Music? What had motivated me to make a choice so an unexpected that even afterwards, I could not believe it had happened! Had it been fear? Desperation? A bargain?

I had absolutely no idea. I could not remember a single specific detail.

How had this happened?...Had it happened? Why could I not remember! There was one way to find out, but I was terrified to leave the room...I did not want reality to verify even the little that I remembered. I did not want it to be true. And perhaps...Perhaps, if I just stayed in this room, then things would remain a dream. This could be another figment of my imagination! I could have only dreamed of the wedding, and I could have only been maybe trying the wedding gown on last night...But with all my effort, I could not imagine a reason why, and I knew without a doubt that I had not seen the dress before the ceremony so vague in my memory. The realities of it were the simple facts that drifted in my mind, and my own sudden certainty petrified me all the more.

But I also knew that there was nothing that I could do until I left the room.