Prologue
October 29th, 1910
My heart beat twenty miles a minute as I backhanded sweat off of my forehead; my hands were ice cold as I touched the warm, red, velvet curtain that hid me away from the world. My legs became weak as I saw that the amphitheater was filled to the brim with people; I quickly shut the curtain and turned away, it was my first performance. Sure I practiced and practiced with Megan but being in front of all those people made it a whole different scenario entirely! My hands began to tremble as I heard M. Richard Andre tell the crowd that the performance would continue as usual, despite the gruesome circumstances. Your probably confused, dear reader, as to what I am describing; it's not a commonplace story at all.
Ha, far from commonplace, my life was normal once, or so I thought; all will come in due time, reader, due time.
Chapter One: A Remembrance
I felt a bit sick, so I slowly walked away from the curtain and collapsed into a small, blue, wingback chair that was used as a prop in Act IV. My head swam and my cheeks became hot, I couldn't believe this, how could I? A girl of such a young age acting as Margarita in a major opera? How could this be? An organ began to play a slow and melancholy tone, signaling to the ballet dancers to ready themselves to run, hop, or skip onto the stage.
My head fell into my hands which were still as cold as ice and as white as snow; all of a sudden warm fingertips touched my cold ones and I slowly picked my head up to find Megan standing before me with a worried expression plastered all over her face "Megan I...I don't know if I can..." I whispered.
"Easy, Elizabeth, hush now, we've been over this before, darling, you can do this! Why do you think M. Richard and M. Barnabus chose you over all of those other girls who auditioned? Because you're good, Izzy, your more than good, you're great! The first time I heard you sing I swore to Mamma Giry that it was the Harold angels calling to us; Izzy, your voice is so beautiful that no other being of this earth could top it, not even Christy." Megan said, Christy was the Margarita before I came into the picture; in this moment I felt all of my worries and woes melt away, Megan hugged me.
"Now, go show the audience how beautiful Elizabeth De Chagny can sing, I will be here, backstage with your sister" Megan added, I smiled and quickly nodded, I stood from my seat, refreshed and no longer ill feeling. The organ died away and the ballet dancers came giggling and laughing backstage; I smiled and waved to a little girl of only twelve years of age. Her hair was the color of molasses and her eyes matched; her skin was a bit tanned and her cheeks had the faintest touch of a blush. The little girl broke from her friends and ran into my arms, Victoria, my sister, Victoria.
"I wish you all the luck in the world, sissy, don't be nervous, sissy, momma's watching us!" Said the little naïve girl, I smiled and nodded; hugging her tightly. "Sissy, please don't be nervous, you're going to do fine! Besides it says on the pamphlets that you are the new Margarita, they won't expect too much of you, and then, when you sing they'll be blown out of their seats for sure!" Victoria cried, her hazel eyes sparkled and twinkled in the dim lighting of backstage.
Vikki (for, that is Victoria's nickname) reminded me everything of my father, she was practically a spitting image of him. Whilst I, on the other hand, looked like my mother in every way; my hair, blonde with the slightest touch of brunette from my father, my eyes a blue that matched the color of a spring lake and my skin, if you poured milk on my arm, you wouldn't even notice a change in color. My body was slender and I could easily fit into tight places; I am not very strong, in fact I am weaker than Victoria, and she is seven years my junior! All of a sudden the lively melody of several violins in harmony floated about the amphitheater, this signaled that my part was neigh a few moments; Victoria smiled and kissed the top of my hand quickly "You've got this, sissy, don't you worry, if you mess up; I'll run up on stage and create a diversion so you may slip away" to this proposal I laughed, but my laughter quickly died at seeing my sister's serious expression. Now, a drum was struck which told me to get ready, I slowly left my sister and Megan to walk to the middle of the stage; the large, red, velvet curtains rose to reveal thousands of eager people, they clapped and waited for me to begin.
I sang with all of my heart and poured my soul into each word that left my lips; my eyes would close but for a few seconds, only to reopen to the crowd and dazzling lights. On the final note I fell to my knees and raised my arms to the sky, going to my highest pitch and emptying myself into those final words.
I give my soul to thee,
I plead, let my soul rest with thee,
I plead, let my soul rest!
The crowd couldn't contain itself, everyone got to their feet and clapped wildly, flowers where thrown to me and screams of "bravo! Brava!" Came to my ears. I slowly got to my feet and bowed, even more flowers were thrown at me and I caught one; it was a daisy. I bowed a few more times and walked briskly to where Victoria and Megan were waiting for me; Victoria jumped into my arms and buried her head into my shoulder.
"What did I tell you! What did I tell you, sissy? You were absolutely amazing! I've never seen nor heard anyone sing that song more beautifully!" Victoria cried squeezing me and kissing my cheeks.
The next thing I knew I was upon the stage again and again, singing my heart out and astonishing the crowd; during Act V I saw a newspaper reporter with a camera in the back of the amphitheater taking photos of me upon the stage whilst the ballet dancers weaved perfect lines and circles around me. Suddenly, I felt a draft of cold air overtake the stage and I heard a creaking noise come from above me; I only glanced up, but I found nothing wrong and continued to sing. Now, I started to twirl and I felt someone grasp my dress and pull me backwards; I heard screams erupt from the audience as I fell upon my back and faced a man wielding a rapier, holding it high above me, as if to throw it down and stab my bosom. A shock of instant terror ran through my body and up my spine, causing the hair on my arms to stand on end; I couldn't speak or move, the man laughed. "Sing little birdy, sing" he growled in a rough, Irish, accent; the man had black hair and a black mustache along with beady, brown eyes.
I was paralyzed in one spot, my arms refused to move and my legs were frozen to the stage; all of this happened in a moment or two, but it felt like an eternity. The man lowered his rapier to my neck, tears of horror filled my eyes and spilled over, my jaw shook and my body trembled uncontrollably. "What? You're not even going to call for help?" Asked the man with a sneer.
"H-h-h-he-help" I whispered attempting to choke down sobs, in this moment there was a great clatter from above; it sounded like someone running, then there was a great 'snap!' and the sound of rope being pulled through a hanger very quickly; my eyes squeezed shut, all of a sudden I heard the man cry out and then a loud 'whump!' came to my ears. My eyes shot open to see the man on the ground, unconscious, instantly I felt a burst of energy and crab walked a few paces away from the man; I heard Victoria calling my name, and then I felt her skinny arms wrap around my shoulders. Now I felt a sensation I had never felt, I was weary, dizzy, hot, confused, and nauseous; I began to pant and fell backwards, my eyes looked up to the catwalk to see a darkened figure holding something shiny, I sighed and closed my eyes, only to awaken in my dressing room, a room I had only acquired that morning.
Chapter Two: Mamma Giry
October 30th, 1910
I sputtered and kicked as I felt a hot substance cover my face and body, I gasped and groaned; I shook my hands and wiped my face, it was water. I opened my eyes to see Megan, Victoria, Doctor Munroe, M. Richard, M. Barnabus, Mamma Giry, and Victoria's friend, Cindy. "You gave us a right scare there, Elizabeth, you've been out all night! Now it's well...to-morrow!" M. Richard cried handing me a soft, green towel.
All of a sudden the pink door to my room opened and in walked a fat man in an inspector's outfit; this man introduced himself as Inspector Henry Saddeninger, the inspector had orange hair and green eyes, his accent was unknown to me. I was lying in the foremost room of my dressing room; my dressing room consisted of two rooms, a sleeping room where my bed, WC, wardrobe and dressing screen were. The foremost room consisted of a living area, my desk, a mirror that was twice my height, and candelabra's that reached from the floor to over my head; my room's color was a dark red that was meant to match the curtains in the amphitheater. They placed me in the living area on a fainting couch, which, Inspector Henry now approached; the inspector got down on one knee and kissed my hand, taking off his hat as he did so. "Mademoiselle, I beg your pardon, but I must attain answers to some questions that no one can answer but yourself, and I need those answers this instant" said he, his tone when he said 'this instant' reminded me of when a child is naughty and the parent yells at them to do something 'this instant'.
It was Mamma Giry, a friend of my mothers whom I have known since birth, who spoke up against this inspector. "Don't you see?" She asked, breaking from Megan (her daughter) and hastily walking to me; she kneeled down beside me and held my hands "the poor girl is weary, she's only just awoken from a night-long coma; give the girl time to collect her thoughts and calm down! As Elizabeth's legal guardian I demand you leave her be for an hour and a half at the very least; don't you see that she is still shaken? My gosh, I would be too if someone held a cutlass to my throat" Mamma Giry growled standing and staring daggers at the inspector.
"Mamma" I whispered meekly, Mamma Giry quickly turned to me.
"Yes, child?" She asked sweetly, holding my cold hands in hers; I smiled weakly to her and asked if I could speak to her alone. "Of course my child! Of course" Mamma only had to turn her head for everyone to go running out of my room, M. Richard and M. Barnabus pulled the inspector out whispering words of warning to him about Mamma Giry. "What is it, my child?"
"This whole affair is strange, Mamma, I-I just arrived here this morning...well, yesterday morning, and I've almost been killed; what's happening, Mamma?" I asked holding Mamma Giry's hands tightly in mine, Mamma Giry smiled and kissed my forehead.
"Child, sweet, sweet child; it seems to me that someone in this opera is jealous of your position as Margarita. I suppose that that someone hired that man to attack you, darling." After Mamma Giry finished my thoughts instantly pointed to Christy, the old Margarita, people rumored that she had an army of followers and she was very angry when I received the part after my audition. Mamma Giry saw me thinking of this and smiled "do not worry, child, do not worry at all; you are in safe hands now, very safe hands. Tell me, child, what did you see before you fainted?"
"I saw...well, it was a figure...a black figure and it held something shiny...the figure was tall and gaunt, and Mamma, it saved me. I don't remember how, but I remember knowing that it saved me...you probably think I'm going mental, don't you?" I whispered with a giggle at the end, Mamma Giry gave a soft smile and shook her head.
"No, child, I most certainly do not; for, I have seen this figure also. You are right, darling, this figure saved you by cutting a large sandbag free and the sandbag landed on your attacker's head; knocking him unconscious. The shiny thing you saw was a knife, darling, to cut the rope" Mamma laughed "your not round the bend yet, child, not yet" I chuckled but several hundreds of questions surfaced, who was this figure? Why did it save me? Did the figure sing in the opera?
These questions I attempted to ask Mamma Giry but she hushed me with the wave of her shriveled hand "child, you must be patient; suffice it to say that he is your guardian angel" said she softly, I nodded and Mamma smiled again, pulling me into a warm hug as she did so; all of a sudden there was a loud 'thump!' and my door was flung open to reveal Victoria, Megan, and the inspector in a pile on the floor; they had been listening at my door and the door had given way. "Well, my gosh! The rudeness! All she asked of was a bit of privacy between a godmother and goddaughter!
Oh, the idiocy!" Mamma Giry growled, she stood from me and balled her hands into fists, her eyes spat fire and I swore she could kill them all in her anger. The three quickly stood as straight as nails, Victoria and Megan remained silent whilst the inspector started to speak to Mamma, which was a very bad decision.
"Mademoiselle, I-"
"You, nothing! I was going to allow you to speak to Elizabeth afterwards, but now, now oh that is never going to happen! Get out of my goddaughter's room this instant!" Mamma Giry growled, her anger rose with every word spoken and her blood boiled, making her face turn a red color as she advanced upon the dumb inspector. Inspector Henry quickly bowed, not taking his eyes off of Mamma, and ran out of my dressing room; Mamma Giry slammed the door to my bed room and screamed "stay out!"
Mamma Giry sighed and fell, Megan reacted quickly and caught her mother, pulling her to a golden, silk chair that sat in front of my desk; I rose and quickly walked to Mamma Giry, Megan held her hand to calm her. "I cannot do that much more, girls, it takes an awful lot out of me; but I will not have some inspector terrorizing my goddaughter...or any of my girls." Mamma Giry said with a smile to each of us, I smiled but something attracted my attention that was behind Mamma Giry; Mamma saw this and moved a bit to reveal a red rose with black lace tied around the stem, Mamma smiled at me and held it out to me. "This is for you, I believe" said she, I slowly grasped the rose and as Mamma let go of the rose she cried out and yanked her hand back to her, we all looked over to her hand to see that Mamma Giry got pricked by the rose's thorn on her index finger. A little dot of blood was the only evidence that she had gotten pricked, Mamma Giry laughed and licked her finger, wiping it free of blood.
Now my door opened once again and inside strolled M. Richard and M. Barnabus, the managers/owners of the Opera Populaire. "Well, Mrs. Giry you gave Inspector Henry quite the scare! He came running down the hallway as white as a sheet and mumbling, all we could make out was 'g-g-g-g' then he screamed and ran out of the Opera House; we followed him and he swore up and down that he would never set foot in this Opera House ever again. What on earth did you say to that man?" Asked M. Richard who stood before the elderly woman with a stunned expression.
"Oh" Mamma Giry said softly "nothing, that terrible! It wouldn't have made him run out screaming...I simply told him to stay out of Elizabeth's room, and to not come back; hardly something that would make him run out screaming." Finished Mamma Giry, Mamma Giry was the box keeper for the Opera Populaire, this meant that during shows she would cater to the people in the opera boxes and keep the boxes clean for guests. Now M. Richard and M. Barnabus looked at each other with curious glances and then stared down at Mamma Giry, who smiled devilishly and nodded to the managers, M. Richard cleared his throat.
"Well, Elizabeth...Megan...Victoria and of course, Mrs. Giry, a celebratory dinner is going to be held in one hour in the parlor...don't be late" M. Richard said with the wink of his eye and the tip of his top hat. M. Richard was a young-ish man of around late twenties with brown hair and amiable, hazel eyes, he had a brown mustache and wore a golden monocle along with a big, black top hat; M. Barnabus was a man in his early thirties with blonde hair and vivacious green eyes, he wore no glasses but always wore a black, bowler cap and the both of them were almost always dressed in tuxedos. After the two left I looked over to Mamma Giry and asked her what all that was about, all Mamma Giry did was point to the beautiful, blooming rose in my grasp and smile.
The door to my bedroom was quietly opened and M. Barnabus's head poked inside "girls, don't forget that to-morrow is All Hollow's Eve! In the lobby we will host a masquerade, your costumes are in the costume room with your names on the tags, good day!"