I started down the hallway cautiously. Rebecca was right behind me, but I could tell she was extremely nervous. "Hey, you're fine. I'm here. It's not like anything bad is going to happen."
I turned and looked at her. Panic was written all over her face. "I'm not sure this is a good idea Lizzie. What if we find him? What if he is mad at us for disturbing him?" She started to walk backwards.
My hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. "Look, all logic says that there is no way he could really be down here."
"Screw logic! You said you were a believer," she accused. How dare she accuse me of not believing. I was the one who decided to go into the creepy hallway. This was cold hard proof that he had at least existed at one time.
I let go of her wrist, but Rebecca didn't back away anymore. Slowly, quietly I explained, "I do believe that he is down here somewhere, but if it makes you feel better we can pretend like we are logical people."Before I said it, there was no way I thought it would come out funny. However, Rebecca started giggling. "What is so funny?" I asked.
"I don't think either of us could ever be logical people. We just met and already we are exploring dark, scary places together. That isn't quite logical." I began to giggle to. She had a point.
I turned and started down the hallway again. Wasting time wasn't wise, especially since my teacher would soon realize I was missing. They would be looking for us soon. "Come on. We gotta get a move on." Cautiously, Rebecca gave in and began to follow me.
The hallway was pretty dark towards the end. Some light was seeping in from the mirror that we left open. There were candles on the walls, but none of them were lit. "Do you have a lighter or something?" I asked.
"No, but my phone has a flashlight if that helps," she replied.
I had forgotten about that. There was a light on my phone too. "That is okay. I have my own. Totally forgot about it." I pulled my phone out and turned on the flashlight application. The hallway was much more beautiful when illuminated. The carvings in the walls were probably done by hand at some point. It was all very dark and mysterious. Perfect.
We neared the end of the hallway when I heard Rebecca whisper from behind me, "I've never gotten this far. I always chicken out before seeing what is around this corner."
"Well, it's time to find out," I said with a smile.
Slowly I peered around the corner. When nothing jumped out at me, I stuck my phone out so I could see. It was just another hallway ending in another corner. I laughed quietly, "If it took you this long to get to the end of this hallway you are in for a real treat," I announced.
Rebecca shoved herself around me so that she could see. "You've got to be kidding me!" Another giggle escaped my lips as she turned pale.
This time was much easier. The first hallway had the element of surprise, but judging on the fact that there was a second hallway I assumed there were more after this one. Still, I took my time.
We came to the second corner. No surprise, another hallway.
After the fourth or fifth hallway, the fear left Rebecca. We were almost quick walking. No words had been exchanged since the second hallway.
The sixth or seventh, I'd lost count, started to seem different. The walls began to curve and the floor was angling downward. We were heading underground. I began to wonder if the end of this hallway would leave us on the famed staircase. Supposedly the staircase led into his lair, but was covered in subtle traps to keep nosy people like Rebecca and I away.
I was right. After a minute or so the curving hallway dumped us onto a curving staircase. I looked over the stone railing. It looked to be six flights down.
Rebecca was still in the opening to the hallway. "Well come have a look, won't you." I said.
"I ain't going over there! Stairs are scary!"
"Is there anything not scary to you?" I asked sarcastically.
She thought for a moment. "Macaroni," came her reply.
I shook my head slightly. There was probably no chance she would venture any further. I leaned over the railing again. It was very pretty. I could see without my phone. That was when I noticed the candles on the staircase were lit. Someone had been down here. Recently.
I turned to point this oddity out to Rebecca when a loud noise rang out from below us. It was so sudden and loud that Rebecca screamed, rather loudly too. She turned to run and nearly stepped on a rat in her haste, causing her to scream again. Then she started in the other direction, towards me, but walked into a spider web. This caused her to scream one final time.
Her screams echoed on the staircase and soon mixed with my laughing. To me, that had been very comic.
"What was that noise? This isn't funny! I was scared," Rebecca's face was pale as a ghosts.
I felt a little bad for laughing at her. "I think it was a piano. It was hard to tell with all of your screaming."
She looked at me with worried eyes. "Do you think it was the phantom? Could it have been Erik?"
That was what I had been wondering. It made the most logic in my very illogical way of thinking. Once more, I leaned over the railing. I was hoping I'd hear the noise again. "Yepp that was definitely the phantom," I told her.
Rebecca's eyes got great big, "How do you know?"
"Because I'm looking right at him." I could hear her jaw hit the floor. She gasped a little. It was the truth though. Leaning over the railing, I was staring at him. He was standing at the bottom of the staircase, staring at me. The phantom wore an old looking suit with the high wasted pants and white fluffy shirt under a black over coat looking thing. And let's not forget that he was wearing his signature mask, covering half of his face.
Rebecca took a step forward like she wanted to see him, but then took two backwards. She quickly asked, "Does he look mad?"
"I couldn't tell."
"Couldn't? Past tense? Is he gone?" She asked.
At this point her fear was coming back and spreading to affect me as well. "No. He's coming up the stairs," I explained a little too calmly.
Hey guys it's me Katerina. This is my first Phanfic, but I've been wanting to do this one for a long time. If you guys have any suggestions or comments you can pm me. It would be a big help if you all review because that makes me want to write more. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed:) Next chapter will be up soon!
