Disclaimer: I do not own Erik or any of the other characters they are the property of Gaston Leroux.
The only character that is mine is Angéle and I'm gonna keep her!
Chapter One
Angéle tapped her thin cane impatiently on the marble floors of the foyer of the Opera Populaire. The floors were smooth as glass and perfectly even. The foyer was breathtaking. Open, with lots of light, the milky marble was polished so that one could see his face staring back from within. That is, at least, if you could see at all.
Angéle had been born blind. She had known nothing but darkness her entire life. She could not see the light that shone so delicately on the gold filigree, nor could she see herself in the marble floors she struck her cane against.
The tapping became more measured. Angéle hummed softly to herself. Angéle had always loved music. It made her feel as though she was seeing with sound, like she was hearing the colors people spoke of.
"Angéle!" the blind girl fell back to earth from her daydreams with a very uncomfortable crash, "Would you cease that incessant beating, child?" The woman who spoke was Angéle's mother. She had a hard, grating voice; cold as ice and measured like the clomping of army men's boots.
"I did not think I was being so loud mother," Angéle said in her best innocent, helpless little blind girl voice. She did not really care whether or not the tapping bothered her mother. Angéle was concerned with only one thing, whether or not she would be able to go to the opera without a chaperone. Her parents would be leaving for a few weeks and she wanted to be able to do something in that time.
"Would you like to have your own box to come see the opera, young lady?" inquired M. Andre; he talked slowly, in the kind of voice that is usually reserved for very small children.
"I'm blind, not stupid." Thought Angéle crossly. "I have to put up with these idiots though, if I want to listen to any music in peace." Putting on a heartbreakingly innocent smile she said, "I would like that very much, monsieur."
M. Andre walked back to talk with Angéle's mother. Angéle edged closer so as to eavesdrop. She had perfected the skill, and felt absolutely no shame in using it.
"Madame, most of the boxes are taken by other high standing people such as yourself, but I think that we may be able to free up box five for such a lovely pair of ladies," said M. Firmin.
"Thank you very much, monsieur," replied Angéle's mother. "Come along Angéle."
Angéle did not want to wait until that night to escape the family estate. There was only one thing for it. She turned in the general direction of the managers, purposefully staring a little distance away from their actual location.
"Oh, but I was so hoping some one would give me a tour of the opera," Angéle said in disappointed and slightly pouty voice. Another skill that Angéle was not at all ashamed of was her ability to manipulate people using their own perception of what a blind girl should be.
"Well, perhaps we could give you a tour, mademoiselle," said M. Andre who had clearly taken the bait, "that is if it is all right with your mother," he added as a formal afterthought.
"I don't see why not," her mother said.
"Oh! Joy!" Angéle squealed. She was no longer acting, she was perhaps the most excited she had ever been in her entire life.