Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, or Le Fantôme as many called him, had not been heard from for several days. He had left no notes for anyone, neither had he shown up for Christine's nightly lessons. Even though there was a show on last night, Box 5 had remained empty. These were the reasons why Meg found herself walking through the mirror in Prima Donna's dressing room, carrying a medium sized picnic basket full of food long lasting food products for him. Stopping to check the wicker flaps were fastened down to ensure the contents would remain inside the basket.
Meg tried her best not the scream or shriek as rats danced around her feet. The dust coated every surface very thickly, causing numerous sneezing fits as she walked through the tunnels. After many attempts to find his 'home', Meg sat down heavily at the edge of underground lake, placing her basket on her knees, feeling very lost and wishing she had stayed upstairs. She thought about how panicked her maman was that morning about his welfare, which had in fact prompted her to come down here to find him. Her words echoed in her head.
'Marguerite, Darling, I do apologise for ranting like this at you but I cannot help but worry about him. He lives in a heavily trapped maze, if he is injured it is unlikely he'll be able to find a safe way out, not to mention die of disease or starvation, and don't get me started on how he decided to set up his home so he would have to go through a lake.'
"Lake!" Meg found herself shouting loudly, startling the resident rats "I have to cross the lake to find his home"
Meg stood up quickly, scanning for a boat of some kind, sighing when she saw none. She carefully stepped into the murky green water, praying nothing vicious lived in it. Meg found she was forced to lift the basket to sit on her shoulder to keep its contents dry. Her dress clung to her, wrapping itself around her legs making it even harder to walk through the water. The effort to get through the water was exhausting and Meg found she quickly began to sweat. After what felt like hours Meg saw a large iron gate. She remembered what her mother had told her when she was younger 'If you ever meet the Opera Ghost raise your hands to the level of your eyes. That way you will show him you respect him and have no weapons'. Meg raised her free hand to her eye level while she looked for his figure.
"Monsieur?" Meg called out in hope he would hear, she saw a lever out the corner of her eye "Monsieur? Are you there? … My name is Marguerite Giry … I brought you some food … Is it all right if I come in?"
Meg got no reply but pulled the lever anyway and the gate opened, allowing her passage to the other side. The water splashed loudly as she walked past his boat and onto the slightly dryer rocks. Carefully Meg removed the basket from her shoulder before calling out again.
"Monsieur?" Meg walked up the makeshift stairs "I apologise for the intrusion..." Her speech faded when she saw him trying to drag himself out of the bed, his leg was horrifically bruised and swollen, possibly broken, his body was significantly smaller in girth even after only a few days.
"What are you doing here?" Erik shouted at her, almost growling, obviously expecting an answer.
Meg jumped slightly at the harshness of his tone "Monsieur, I can only apologise for intruding into your living area but my maman was worried about your prolonged absence and she told me how dangerous it would be for someone injured to be down here without any help."
"So you decided to come down and check on me" He sneered, but there wasn't as much of an edge to his voice now "Imagine how she feels now that her daughter is missing"
Meg sighed, she did not expect a friendly welcome but she did not expect this either; looking down she replied as best as she could, "I know how upset maman will be with me for disappearing again." She paused looking up at his form, noticing he had managed to sit on the edge of his bed, his right side turned from her view and his body tense "- But I feel she will understand my reasons for doing this."
Erik sighed "You said your name was Marguerite Giry"
"Yes, my maman says you know her, so I thought my last name would help"
"Help? How?" He asked cynically.
"Monsieur, my maman says she helped you when you were younger and I thought that you may trust me enough to let me in if you knew I was her daughter."
"I was hoping you would leave, if I ignored you. It turns out you are too much like your maman."
Meg placed the basket on the floor and spotted his white mask resting on the floor in three jagged pieces, she bent down to pick them up, they were made of a material she could sew. She walked over to a small end table and placed the pieces on top.
"I can fix something for you to eat before I leave if you wish?"
He laughed. "Do think you could even find your way back?"
Meg sighed "It's unlikely but not impossible. After all I did find my way here … Do you want some soup? I brought vegetables and bread. I also brought some fresh water although I did have a small sip when I was walking through the lake."
"What time did you leave upstairs in your quest to find me?"
"Not relevant. Do you want food?"
Erik left out a sharp huff of breath deciding to answer her before she asked again. "Yes, I do I haven't eaten in a while. Now tell me what time you left."
"It took me three hours to get here." Meg scowled at his chuckle. "Do you have a kitchen?"
"You think I could carry a stove down here?"
Meg frowned at him "How do you cook?"
Erik could have laughed at her expression before pointing to the far corner of his bedroom. "Fire Pit."
"Ah …" Meg was in trouble, she couldn't start a fire from scratch.
