Stop!" Emma rushed at him, knocking him down in his surprise. The lantern he had been holding flew from his grasp and landed in a pile of hay, lighting it on fire instantly. The pistol clattered not far from the pair as they struggled. Emma pounded on him with all of her might and Isaac laughed, roughly throwing her beneath him and pinning her down with his body. She struggled but this seemed to only give Isaac more pleasure.
"Hmm, I love it when you squirm," he murmured against the shell of her ear. Emma struck the side of his head and he grunted but his grip on her never lost its intensity.
"I could have given you such pleasure," he murmured, licking the soft flesh of her neck.
"You could not pleasure a woman if you were the last man on Earth! You were intoxicated when you took me!" she spat. Isaac struck her, causing blood to fill her mouth. She closed her eyes and prayed that she was dead before he could force himself on her. The fire had spread quickly and half of the barn was on fire.
"You will die if you do not get out of here soon," Emma said. Isaac glanced the flickering flames. He smirked and stood up, roughly pulling her with him.
"You're right. We should finish this where we can take our time," he murmured. Smoke had begun to fill the room and Emma coughed, desperately trying to find Gustave in the gray.
"Let her go."
Both Isaac and Emma turned in surprise to Erik standing there, the pistol in his hands pointing straight at Isaac's chest. The man sneered.
"Or what? You are going to shoot me? You do not have the courage. You are nothing but a little street rat!" Isaac taunted. Erik cocked the pistol.
"Let her go or so help me I will kill you," Erik growled. Emma could not look away from the little boy she loved so much. He was no longer a boy, but a young man. The hardships he had faced because of her family had shaped him into a cold human being, his only feelings for her and her son.
Isaac laughed.
"Come on," he growled, tugging roughly on Emma's arm.
A single gunshot echoed in the room. Isaac's disbelieving stare found the gray green gaze of Erik as he clutched at the sudden hole in his chest. He collapsed to his knees, the look on his face never wavering. The little street rat had gotten the best of him. For the life of him he had never believed that he would have fired. It had cost him his life.
"Oh, God, Erik!" Emma cried, rushing to him when Isaac had taken his last breath. He dropped the pistol and allowed Emma to pull him into her arms, his entire body shaking from what he had just done. Emma gave him several kisses all over his face before pulling away, the barn beginning to collapse from the flames.
"We must get Gustave out of here!" she said desperately. Erik wanted to tell her it was to late, Gustave was dead. But her eyes were pleading and he could see how much she had grown to love the man.
"Alright! Go! I will get him!" Erik said. Emma did not argue and Erik watched until he was sure that she was safely out of the barn before rushing to Gustave. He could not believe the man was still breathing! Heaving him up from under the arms he began to drip the limp body slowly out of the barn.
"Erik!" Emma screamed his name as he slowly became visible to her. Erik looked up in time to see the burning rafter come toppling toward him...
xXx
"Oh, my God!" Christine gasped. Erik pulled the mask away to once more reveal his face to her.
"The rafter landed on my face...burning my flesh. I was lucky that I managed to get it off before it killed me," he whispered. Christine's good hand brought his face down to her mouth and she rained kisses all over the scarred flesh. Erik was left in complete and utter surprise. No one had ever had the courage to touch his marred flesh. Even Emma.
"I love you, Erik, I love you!" she whispered repeatedly. For the first time in a very long time Erik felt loved.
"Stay away from me."
Those words echoed in Emma's mind long after they had been said. They were cold and heartless and no longer recognizable to her. They were not the Erik she knew, it was a different Erik, one who had gone beyond the point of hell and back in his short life. They had left Persia several weeks prior and Erik's face had been bandaged the entire time after having that rafter fall on him. Emma would never be able to get that sight out of her head for as long as she lived. He had talked to no one and when he had finally seen what the total damage of his face was he had uttered those four words directly into her face. His eyes were cold and now unrecognizable. There was no spark of warmth, nothing. Gustave tried to talk to him after recovering from his wounds but Erik hated him beyond words.
It was his fault this had all happened. If he had not asked Emma to go to that barn so he could take his pleasure Erik's face would be fine and he would not have another mans death on his hands. He may have wanted Isaac dead with every fiber of his being but the idea that he had killed him stayed with him every moment of every day. Emma pleaded with Erik to see reason, to see that she loved Gustave and was happy with him. Erik had gone into a complete rage, yelling at her that she should have followed her heart and gone after Nadir. She said she loved Gustave but at one point she had said the same thing to the Persian! She had his son for God's sake and yet she could not find it in herself to go back to him and explain everything. Erik knew there had to have been a way for her to find him and explain. He knew Nadir was a good man and would understand. But now Erik hated him as well. Was he so naive as to believe that Emma would just run off with another man? Was that the kind of woman he thought she was?
Erik would no longer have anything to do with any of them. That day was the day he picked up his first mask and turned his back on the only family he had ever known...