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Post by Lady Norrington on Jun 13, 2008 16:49:36 GMT -5
Megan ran toward the West Wing, dressed only in a thin nightgown, with a shawl over her shoulders.
"Pina!" she shouted.
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Post by Erik on Jun 13, 2008 16:54:26 GMT -5
A shadowy, smoking figure, back-lit by the flames, stalked towards her, the prone figure of Pina in his arms. Erik might have been recognizable by one who had known him Before, or by the ballet rats enthralled by their own tales.
He perceived Megan vaguely, mostly as a white figure in the smoky gloom who had to get out.
"Fire," he yelled, his voice a raspy shade of its former beauty. "You must get away."
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Post by Lady Norrington on Jun 13, 2008 16:57:25 GMT -5
"Erik! What are you- oh, God, you're burning-"
She rushed toward him, unwrapping her shawl as she did so, and started trying desperately to smother the flames on his body without hurting him.
"James and I could see it from the woods- all I could think of was Pina- what happened-"
She stopped, suddenly noticing the unharmed bundle in Erik's arms.
"You saved her," she whispered.
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Post by Richard on Jun 13, 2008 17:00:22 GMT -5
A crowd of people was now coming around the corner, Richard among them.
"What in God's name-"
He could see Megan easing Pina out of Erik's arms, and the cloak fell away to show that the girl was at least unharmed. Her father, on the other hand...
But he couldn't think about Erik now. He ran to Pina's side, such as he could run.
"Pina..."
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Post by Erik on Jun 13, 2008 17:00:46 GMT -5
Erik stared at her, the pale lamps of his yellow eyes fever-bright in his ravaged face.
"We cannot stay here," he said simply, as if he hadn't heard her, did not register the gathering crowd. "The house will burn; there's no stopping it now."
He staggered slightly, knowing he'd go down if he did not keep moving, so he moved towards the stairs, the door, safety.
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Post by Lady Norrington on Jun 13, 2008 17:14:35 GMT -5
"Erik, you're too weak on your own!" Megan wailed. She couldn't even imagine how he was moving...
It dawned on her slowly that he was ugly again, but she didn't care. She hesitated between him and Pina for a moment, but when she saw Richard tending to Pina, she imagined that she could trust him with her for at least a few minutes. Nothing could happen in the fire.
Megan bolted to Erik's side and patted out the last of the flames ravaging his body. His face was ruined beyond recognition, the beauty she'd wished to give him gone forever. Of course, he didn't look like his old self, either. The burns were alien-looking, alternating red and black and white, sticky and oozing and horribly dry.
There was no way she could hate him now. He would probably die, she realized. He had mortally injured himself saving her daughter. Their daughter.
In spite of everything he had done- every time he had made her feel more insignificant than an insect, every time he had spurned her love, even the way that he had destroyed that love and imprisoned her- she couldn't hate him.
Megan was forced to realize that she loved him still. Not the mad love she had once carried for him, not at all like she loved James. It was hard for her to understand, until it came to her that she loved him for what he was to their daughter. Selfish, egotistical wretch that he was, he was the father of her child, and the victim in his own right of a world that had turned him into what he was. Erik was not a good man, but there was still a spark of goodness in him, and a father's love for a daughter who was not only his child but the only person in the world who knew what it was like living with a face like his, and she could not hate him for that.
"I'll get a doctor- lean on me- James is alerting the others- lean on me- I won't let you die, you mustn't die..."
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Post by Erik on Jun 13, 2008 17:24:03 GMT -5
Erik fought her with uncanny strength born of adrenaline.
"Pina," he insisted, trying to get back to the girl's side. But his fight/flight reactions were ebbing away, leaving pain and exhaustion in their wake, and his battle was futile. He leaned suddenly and heavily on Megan's shoulder and wondered why everything was so hazy, why his heart beat so madly in his chest. He let Megan guide him, almost docile. In truth, it was only a matter of minutes before he would pass out, saving his daughter being the only thing that had kept him upright.
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Post by Lady Norrington on Jun 13, 2008 17:35:12 GMT -5
"Someone's already got her," Megan said soothingly. "She's going to be okay. There's nothing he can do in the middle of a fire. Just one step at a time..."
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Post by Erik on Jun 13, 2008 17:38:31 GMT -5
Momentarily reassured, not entirely comprehending her actual words, Erik stared at Megan as if seeing her for the first time. He stopped, unsteadily, and looked down at her with eyes absurdly limpid in his patchwork of a face.
"I'm sorry," he said in a voice that seemed to reach back across years.
And then he collapsed, unconscious.
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Post by Micaela on Jun 13, 2008 18:21:54 GMT -5
*Micaela had awoken at the acrid smell of smoke and was freaking out and waking Maxim up within about two seconds. She immediately ran to the servants' quarters and woke all of them up, giving them instructions to wake all of the guests. After that she ran to get her children, wringing her hands all the way.*
*She woke Liam and told him to follow her, and went and grabbed Ellie and carried her out.* "Mama, what's that smell?" *Asked Liam.*
*Micaela, who was looking decidedly harried, convinced herself not to freak out long enough to inform him that he needn't worry, and hurried him outside.*
*It was there that she saw the entire west wing in flames and pulled Ellie closer, keeping a hand on top of Liam's head. There was a gathering crowd of guests and some servants and someone had called the fire department, so they were just pulling up from the long drive...*
*Micaela sat on the damp ground, Liam sat on her lap, and she willed herself not to have a heart attack. On the bright side, if there was one, it hadn't spread from the west wing to everywhere else. She only hoped to God nobody had been in there.*
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Post by Magda on Jun 13, 2008 18:26:42 GMT -5
"Vhat's appening?"
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Leadora
- Ingenious Pilot -
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star.png)
Lost little Hobbit...%\1\%
Posts: 235
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Post by Leadora on Jun 13, 2008 18:29:14 GMT -5
*Lea clung to Magda's skirt, looking with wide eyes at the fire.*
*Micaela was now doing yoga breaths and attempting to keep calm, hoping to God that everyone was out.*
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Post by Magda on Jun 13, 2008 18:31:25 GMT -5
Magda suddenly saw the fire, scooped Leadora up in her arms, and started backing away, screaming uncontrollably.
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Post by Richard on Jun 13, 2008 18:34:37 GMT -5
"Pina, wake up... please wake up..."
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Post by Magda on Jun 13, 2008 18:36:24 GMT -5
Magda sank to her knees in sheer terror, still screaming as though being tortured.
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