Madeleine stood, eyes wide as she stared into the face of him. He stared back at her, a look of almost annoyance on his face. "You, my child, look rather...astonished."
His voice was like velvet, just as she had imagined it would be. She shook her head, realizing how rude she was being.
"My apologies Monsieur," she picked up on what little knowledge of the French language she knew, "I didn't mean to be rude." "Yes, well, if you don't mind, I will be leaving now." He stepped past her, and through the door. "No! Monsieur, please." She was surprised at her not wanting him to leave. He was the Phantom! She should be terrified!
"Mademoiselle, please, I am really in a hurry. I do not have time for stalky little ballet rats." Madeleine was taken back. "Ballet rat, monsieur?" "Yes. You are a ballerina, no?" He looked at her a bit confused now. She blushed, as she guessed he could probably see the pain on her features from his remark.
"No, monsieur. I kinda...just got here. Uhm...Guess you could say I'm just dropping by." She laughed a bit at her little private joke. The Phantom however, continued to look confused. "Well, my apologies mademoiselle, but I really must be going."
With a quick swish of his cloak, he was gone. The door to the Box was shut in Maddy's face, and she was left, looking confused, and even more like a lost little ''ballet rat''. Immediately, she felt like she would cry. She sat down on one of the seats, and held her face in her hands.
"Well, this may be a dream...but it feels all too real." She sat in silence, when suddenly, she saw a figure appear on the stage. She looked down at the figure, realizing it was a ballerina, looking round frantically, making sure she was alone.
She glided back to the shadows, and returned, her grip round a young man's arm. "Come on Louis! I need to practice! I can't practice if I don't have music!" "Calm down Emilie! I'll play for you, just calm down!" He sat down heavily on the piano's edge, which had been left from the earlier performance, 'Music of the Night' by the Phantom and his lady themselves.
He began to play the melody that Emilie was to practice to, and she began prancing across the stage.
Madeleine watched her throughout the whole dance, and she marveled as she moved gracefully over the stage. She liked the dance so much, she wondered if she would ever be able to actually dance herself.
Though, Maddy knew better. She was a much better singer in her opinion. She tried not to laugh as she watched the two drag off again, together. She suddenly wondered what time it was, considering she had school tomorrow.
She left the Box and decided to go hunt for a wall clock. Finding one on not long after looking round, she was trying hard to believe that it was only 7:30pm. She stared in disbelief. "It was 1 when I fell asleep!" She sat down on the floor underneath the clock, breathing a bit faster. "Have I seriously fallen into reality? Or am I going crazy?" She wondered which seemed more practical. At the moment..she was leaning towards the crazy option. All she could do was wait until she woke up. Thats all she had to do!
So, with that, she left her spot for another on a plush bench close by, and laid down, closing her eyes. She drifted off to sleep quickly, not at all prepared for what she would wake up to the next morning.
...
When Madeleine woke, she was no where near where she had been the night before. She found herself laying in a bed of white silk, a few pillows propping her up carefully. She sat up, alarmed at the fact that someone had moved her in her sleep. Suddenly the door to the small room she was in, opened, and an elderly woman walked in. Maddy recognized her, and identafied her as Madame Giry, from her movies. She still couldn't believe she had somehow fallen into this world of music and pure genius.
"Bonjour mademoiselle. How are you feeling?" She reached over and placed the back of her hand over Maddy's forehead, checking her temperature. "Not sick, I assume. What might you be doing, sleeping in the middle of the ballroom of an opera house, may I ask? Decide a tour of the place was a bit boring I presume?" She smiled teasingly at Maddy, which made her blush. "No, not at all. Honestly I rather enjoyed walking through here last night. I was rather shocked, really. You see, I'm not really...supposed to be here. I was asleep one moment in my bed at my home, and the next I was falling into the world of the Phantom!"
Madame Giry gasped and tsked Madeleine quickly and quietly. "Do not speak of him, mademoiselle. He is very peculiar about who is to talk about him. Especially since he married his Lady."
Maddy blushed again, realizing her carelessness. "My apologies, Madame." Madame Giry only nodded and went back to fiddling with Maddy's sheets. "So tell me again, silly thing, why you were found sleeping in the ballroom and brought to me?" Madeleine sighed a bit frustrated. "Pardon my behavior Madame, for I've been through some heck of a night, but like I said, I don't know! I was sleeping one minute, and then falling the next!" Madame Giry looked at the girl as if she were a bit nutty. "My dear girl, I can assure you it was only a dream. Now please, lie down, rest your nerves. I will talk to the managers and see what to do with you later. As of now, just rest. Yes, just rest."
Just before Madame Giry left the door, she paused slightly, looking back into the room, as if she expected someone else to be there, hiding. Madeleine looked about, but saw no one. Madame Giry, however, only closed the door and left Maddy alone.
"Great, I'm stuck in a dream and everyone else seems to think I'm really here." She sighed, not wanting to let herself believe she had fallen into the reality of her dreams. She had dreamt singing at the very opera house before, but she never would have let herself consider the dream to come true. No, not at all. Things just weren't adding up. Either she was laying in her bed, sleeping and stuck in her dream, or she had literally fallen into a reality of that dream. One or the other was the only logical explanation she had, and even they sounded a bit ridiculous.
Maddy sighed again and lie back on her pillows again. What was she going to do? Live things out until she woke up? Or assume that she never would? It was so confusing, yet it seemed like it should be such a simple question to answer! What to do what to do? Giving up with another sigh, she closed her eyes and hummed softly, Music of the Night lyrics in her head. If she was going to play this thing our, she would need the energy to do it with. Which meant, she was going to need sleep.
Her humming got softer with each moment, and she eventually began drifting off to sleep.
A shadow lurked in her room, watching her carefully. His white mask glinted slightly in the shadows which he was surrounded in. "Well well well. Another stow away wanna be. Well, we'll just see how long she lasts." He chuckled quietly, and swayed off into more shadows just before madeleine stirred and rolled over in her sleep. He crept into the mirror of Christine's old dressing room, and headed deep into the opera house's underground passages.
