My Bane My Treasure
In an attempt to appease the opera ghosts rage Andre offers to him his only daughter to be the Phantoms servant.
Elizabeth grimaced as her mother rushed around collecting miscellaneous objects from around her room and placing them into the chest sitting beside Elizabeth's slumped form on the tousled bed. Elizabeth had awoken that morning to an onslaught of preening and pampering in preparation of her arrival at the Opera Populaire. Her mother, Tilda, looked up to cast a reproachful glance at her daughter who had taken to absently pulling on the fine lace of her dress as her mind wandered. Pity filled Tilda's soul as she bustled about preparing her child's things; playing the final role in surrendering her daughter to her husband's nightmare. Elizabeth's eyes focused back into reality as the metallic clink of hinges being latched filled the silent room, announcing that the final minutes of her childhood had come.
Tilda turned to the door to see her husband, Andre, standing at the door drawn by the ominous echo bouncing down the vacant hallway. Without a word he stepped up to his daughter kissed her cheek and frowned turning his attentions to lifting the monstrous chest; silent tears slipped down his cheek as Andre brought the now weighty container to the awaiting carriage. Elizabeth rose from her position on the bed to glance around her room one final time before rushing into her mothers arms the pairs cheeks twinkling with shed moisture. After a fleeting moment Tilda pulled away from her only child, a brown haired fledgling of sixteen years, and kissed her cheek solemnly before gently leading her by hand down the steps to the open front door.
Andre was standing at attention holding the carriage door open his hands un-burdened by the cumbersome load he had already stored for the journey. Unable to withstand the solitude already filling the well worn halls of her childhood home Elizabeth strode forward with a steady pace until a stiff object was struck by the toe of her boot. Looking down she smiled fondly picking up a well worn book and tucking it tenderly into her grasp caressing the pages tenderly as she took the final strides up to her father. Their goodbyes were simple, the pain making any coherent sense fly into the rift of the broken family, Andre pecked his daughters forehead lightly before taking her hand to guide her into her seat closing the door securely after she was comfortably seated. With a kiss from his wife he took to the drivers seat at the front of the carriage and drove forward the dark horses that were to carry off his daughter, with him leading the way. Tilda walked back into the house after watching her daughter turn from waving into the beloved book she had placed on the floor so that her precious joy would have a familiar treasure to keep with her in the cold world.
The trip to the opera house took merely ten minutes but the dread that filled both father and daughter dragged out the time into something the was perceived more closely to a trip across country. The sudden halt of the vehicle drew Elizabeth's attention from the volume on her lap to the vast and ornate building they had come to a halt before. A stark woman dressed in black and holding a straight ebony cane was standing at attention at the top of the grand staircase leading to the entrance of the building. Slowly she descended as Elizabeth took pause to collect her racing thoughts. As Elizabeth stepped out both women, the naïve and the wizened, stared each other up and down in a manner of which is common of a women who speak little but know much. A forced gruff chuckle broke through the examination as Andre walked past carrying his daughters trunk not stopping until he reached the top of the stairs.
The foreboding woman turned to him, "Give that to a stage hand and tell him to put it in room thirty six, I am sure that will do until other arrangements are made." Andre nodded and the woman turned to the pale young woman standing before her, "My name is Madam Giry, if you come across an trouble be sure to come to me." Then the woman was off leaving Elizabeth to hasten after her up the stairs and into her future
Well this is my first attempt at Phantom fanfiction, I hope you all enjoy. All constructive criticism is welcome :)