[Phantom of the Opera] Ragdoll

, the tip of the eye is lightly raised, and the wind will not fall.All Eric's words were blocked back, and he finally said only:

"……me too."

"I see you, and I feel familiar. Lottie. Me too."

"What do you mean?" Lottie obviously couldn't be convinced by such a weak explanation, she raised her eyebrows, her dark eyes sparkled, "Is this fate?"

The sarcasm in her words was not concealed, and Lottie Butler did not believe Eric's ambiguity.After that old fairy tale, she already knew who she used to be.

That is not the recovery of memory, but the recognition after 15 years.The most familiar yet unfamiliar, the black-haired little girl timidly raised her black eyes, and looked at the tall, beautiful but cold-looking woman across a long time and space, holding a red-dressed doll in her arms.They look so similar.However, a deep gulf lies between them, splitting the memory in two.That strange wound—the only witness Lottie could be sure of—was standing before her without a word.

"Fate." Eric's voice was full of illusion and uncertainty, and he repeated her words softly.He felt lucky to meet again after 15 years.But what he has always refused to admit is that everything has long been different.

Little Lottie was no longer Little Lottie, but he still stubbornly gave her a doll.

The longing for 15 years, and the unexpected meeting later, even though things are different, the bond is already deep.Does he understand that his feelings have also undergone a sudden change, just at the moment when he walked towards her?

She is no longer the little Lottie who lives in the fairy tale land.She was Lottie Butler, a very beautiful woman.But she is still the woman who walked out of that dream, and the woman he swore to protect for the rest of his life.

A strong sense of the same goal by different routes swept through Eric's body, and he couldn't help asking: "Don't you like this kind of fate?"

"I'm just curious."

Lottie replied calmly, she didn't seem to be affected by Eric's excitement, but the ruthlessness on her face clearly showed her determination.She paused and said:

"To me, Mr. Phantom, I've been surprised at how gentle you've been. As you admit, we're familiar with each other—I'm sure you can clear that up, can't you? After all, you Older than I am. Your memory must be more reliable."

"Then why do you think I came here to be your male companion?" Eric's light green eyes seemed to be burning.Memory, memory!The chasm that cannot be crossed!He hated himself so much at that time, hated everything that memory brought her!If she had forgotten everything about that year—then it would be the best—let him bear it all—but Lottie's cold expression made him realize that these were impossible, and she was also a victim of the painful memories of that year.

"Probably..." Lottie frowned uncertainly, "Interesting?" After she finished speaking, she laughed softly, not knowing who she was mocking.

"No, it's not interesting." Eric took a deep breath and retorted with difficulty, "You have to know that a person like me who has lived in seclusion underground for nine years will not be so boring. I don't have so many Xian Xin. I mean, it's because—" He paused.

"I love you without a doubt, Lottie."

oak leaf

"I love you without a doubt, Lottie."

This sentence suppressed deep feelings, obviously it was a soft sigh, but it sounded like thunder in Lottie's ears.

"I love you, Lottie." Mr. Ghost said, and Eric slid down on one knee, "I love you." His deep and beautiful voice rang softly in Lottie's ear.

Lottie froze all at once.Courtship, she has encountered it countless times.But on such an occasion, such a logical situation, and such a person, at that moment, she thought of "fate" in a strange way, and she almost nodded.

"Is that what I understand?" The black-haired woman lowered her eyes coldly and asked lightly.

"……Yes."

If it is said that before, I just missed her and wanted to find her.After the real reunion, Eric didn't really think about how to do it.But when he found out that she no longer wanted Fairyland, and when he realized his true feelings, Eric didn't hesitate any longer.However, Lottie's reaction at this moment made him a little uncertain.

Lottie Butler didn't say a word, she silently took a black velvet cape with a stand-up collar from the servant, put it on, and walked out of the hall quickly.

------

It is early morning.The night is too thick to melt away.A few cold stars twinkle in the night sky.Outside the opera house, which is carnival all night, is deserted Paris.In 10 minutes, dawn will come.At that time, the happy crowd will disperse and return to their respective homes.Celebrities and ladies will go to sleep until the afternoon to get up and dress up for the next carnival.

Lottie was walking aimlessly on the street, she was so dazed, she clutched the cloak tightly, she didn't even notice that her left hand was cut by the gold thread on the cloak.

Mr. Ghost Eric wooed her.Courtship was not a big deal to her, but when she was about to speak, Lottie found that she couldn't even be sure of her feelings for Eric.

Inexplicably familiar, both trusting and resisting.A momentary heartbeat, and a long period of confusion... and the breaking point of the dividing line in her life.Her life is divided by the age of four. Before, there were colorful flowers, but after that, it was frosty and snowy, and there was no color.The shrouded, suffocating gloom and despair made her want to cry when she vaguely recalled it.

The oak tree is a hard tree, and the dead leaves do not begin to fall off until the new leaves have sprouted.So it is with the old love, which is dead but still entrenched, and only a new love can make it die. — Turgenev

In little Lottie's young heart, she once had extremely complicated feelings towards the devil's son who met briefly and then separated.From fear to guilt, to trust and friendliness, to... dark terror.Although Lottie Butler lost those memories, she still had those feelings in her heart. When she looked into Eric's light green eyes, she could feel the echo of those feelings.Those feelings entrenched in her heart, making her painful and bewildered.Until she suddenly discovered that another new emotion was breaking through the ground, driving away everything before.

It was a sweet, warm, light feeling, and where the light came, the darkness disappeared.Likewise, when she stretched out her arms in the sun and let the new oak leaves grow, she felt the old ones fall off one by one.

"Lottie!" Eric had already chased him out, but when he got to Lottie's side, he didn't know what to say.He could only follow one step behind in silence.The woman's face was dazed, and her soft black hair was draped over the cloak.Slightly scattered.

His eyes drooped, and he accidentally glanced at her bleeding left hand. Eric's expression changed, and he grabbed her left hand: "Scratched? Why are you so careless?" He took out a dark brown silk handkerchief and carefully helped her Bandage well.

Lottie laughed: "A small wound, it's not a big deal."

Eric's face was gloomy: "Blood is a sinful thing, and it should not be exposed to the sun." He wiped the blood off her with great care, and then carefully bandaged the wound, using a handkerchief to tie a loose knot.

"Blood is a sinful thing." Lottie muttered, and suddenly, a scene unfolded in front of her very abruptly: blood was flowing all over the ground, and a little monkey with dark golden fur was lying on the ground, its fur was covered with muddy water. Sticking together with the blood and water, it looked extraordinarily oozing under the bright sunlight, and the little monkey screamed feebly, cheep, cheep, cheep...

It was a scene only possible in nightmares, Lottie suddenly turned pale, and her lips lost their color.She was caught off guard and pulled back to the scene back then, and became that dazed little girl who had never encountered evil.Her head hurt like a crack, she didn't know what those were, but the turbulent emotions made her so desperate that she couldn't breathe.Panting heavily, she backed away, looking terrified.Eric quickly realized what was wrong with her, and quickly stepped forward a few steps in front of her, reaching out and holding her shoulder: "Little Lottie?"

"...Don't be exposed to the sun." She finished the second half of the sentence lightly, and the handkerchief on her hand was loosened and fell down due to the action just now, revealing the blood that was not completely dried.

Large expanses, sinful bloodstains, exposed to daylight.It was a pain that neither of them could erase.

"Little Lottie..." Eric wanted to have a look at her face, but Lottie suddenly pulled away from his embrace and stood up. Her eyes were unbelievably bright, and her expression was paranoid and decisive. She paused every word. , can no longer ask with more certainty:

"I, we, yes, no, yes, know, know?"

------

"Did we know each other?"

"...Yes." Eric finally admitted.

He finally admitted that those dark and hopeless feelings had something to do with him.The expression of guilt and forbearance on his face at the moment already explained everything.Lottie felt a genuine exhaustion when she fell in love with a man for the first time, only to find that he was the starting point of her dark emotions.How ridiculous?And she really didn't want to face it all.She turned and hurried away.Leave the man who exudes a sad aura, leave that gloomy and desperate but intoxicating and sweet aura of sex.

And the direction she chose happened to be east.At this moment, a golden light in the east cuts through the thick