Chapter Two:

"Flattering child you shall know me. See why in shadows I hide.

Look at your face in the mirror… I am there inside."

- from 'The Mirror' by Andrew Lloyd Webber

…

Although Sarah tried repeatedly throughout the day to get Toby to tell her more about his 'friends', the child refused to answer. He would grin and giggle gleefully, looking quite like a Goblin himself, then bound away to another part of the house.

She told herself it was because of Toby's drawings that she dreamed of him again.

The dream was different this time, though. She dreamt that she was in an old theatre hall, far grander than any she'd ever seen. The walls were a deeper red than human blood, and just looking at them Sarah knew they'd be velvet soft to touch. The stage was framed with plated gold, and engraved with images of battles and lovers, dancers and sorcerers. The room itself contained a thousand seats, where ghostly spectres watched from raised balconies that disappeared into the shadows of the ceiling.

The only light came from a chandelier, which hung low, dripping real wax candles and illuminated the row of seats where Sarah sat in the stalls.

We're waiting.

The thought came unexpectedly, but coherently and Sarah felt as though it was a thought shared by the wraithlike forms that sat above her.

We're waiting.

What for? Sarah wondered.

The stage before her was covered by thin curtains that appeared iridescent and seemed to billow with an unknown breeze.

Was a show about to begin? No one sat in the stalls around her, it was only the balconies above that were inhabited.

Until the seat behind her creaked under a phantom weight.

"Sarah".

His voice was feather soft, ruffling the hair at the base of her neck and she gripped the armrests either side of her.

"Are you ready?"

…

The dream left her feeling frustrated. What did the Goblin King mean? What was everyone waiting for? It was infuriating! At least when Brian approached her the next morning, as she was locking up her bike at school, she was confident she wouldn't start blubbering in front of him. Again. She was too angry to cry.

"Well?" she asked him.

"I haven't looked", at her raised eyebrow Brian shrugged. "I wanted to wait for you. I haven't even stepped inside the building yet. We can find out our roles together".

Sarah was amazed at his thoughtfulness. She wondered guiltily, if there roles had been reversed, wether she would have had the restraint to wait for him. The hallways were crowded with students, but a large group had formed around the bulletin board that hung outside the studio theatre.

"I got it! I got it!" one girl squealed. Her name was Shannon and she was tall thin and blonde. She was one of the best dancers in school… did that mean she'd make a good Christine?

"What did you get?" Sarah asked her.

"Mme. Giry! I'm Mme. Giry!"

Sarah was pleased for her - and more then a little relieved. One of the guys ahead of Sarah let out a cheer and his friends clapped him on the back.

"Woohoo! Way to go man!" they applauded.

Brian swallowed. "Hey Matt, you get a good part?"

Matt played on the football team and was big with broad shoulders. When he turned to face Brian and Sarah he almost knocked several people down.

"Yeah!", he grinned. "I got the Phantom! I can't believe it!"

Nothing changed on Brian's face, but Sarah saw a muscle in his neck start fluttering erratically.

"Wow", he said. "Congratulations. You got the lead".

"Yeah, I guess we'll be working together a lot", his smile changed to an over the top frown and he deepened his voice. "But you are now my enemy".

Sarah exchanged a glance with Brian.

"Come again?" he said.

Matt's face twitched and his expression returned to normal. "Wait, you haven't seen the board? Oh, man, I'm so sorry! There I go spoiling your surprise!"

"What do you mean?" Brian didn't even wait for him to answer, he ducked under Matt's arm and snaked closer to see the casting list.

Sarah stayed rooted to the spot. "Congratulations Matt", she said.

"Thanks. I don't think I should talk to you anymore right now though. Not until you see the board too. I've already spoiled it for Brian", he grinned and waved jauntily before striding away. When he'd gone no more then five paces, he couldn't resist looking back over his shoulder and calling for Sarah's attention. "Congratulations to you too!" Then he ran away.

Most of the students had started to leave for lessons, allowing Sarah easier access to the bulletin board.

"Sarah!" Brian shouted, before she'd reached it. "I've been cast as Roul!"

"That's fantastic!" Sarah cheered. "Are you okay with that?"

"Sure, it's still a leading role", he grinned and then without warning grabbed her waist and swung her around. "But you Sarah! After everything you said yesterday! I knew you'd do it!"

Sarah struggled until he put her down again. "Do what?"

"Get the main role of course! Miss Maddox cast you as Christine Daae!"

...

Robert and Irene were thrilled. Robert kept hugging her and kissing her hair three times in a row, the way he used to do when she was a child. Irene said she never had any doubts Sarah would get it. Even Toby wrapped his arms around her knees and repeated 'well done' a hundred times over.

Sarah waited until she was safely in the peace and sanctity of her bedroom before she allowed herself to properly celebrate. Sitting before her vanity mirror, she watched as the beaming smile that had been building all day now threatened to split her face in half.

"I did it", she told her reflection. "I did it!"

Digging into her backpack, she pulled out the hefty script Miss Maddox had presented her with at lunchtime.

"I expect everyone to have learned their first scene, when we start rehearsals after school tomorrow", she'd told Sarah, her plastic smile widening.

Flipping the script open now, Sarah skipped ahead to her first song with the Phantom. She would sing to herself before he appeared and guided her through the mirror, taking her to his lair beneath the Opera House. Sarah shivered delightedly. Damn, she loved this story!

Glancing back at her door to make sure she'd closed it, she turned her gaze back to the mirror and sang softly:

"Angel, I hear you. Speak, I listen. Stay by my side. Guide me".

Leaning closer, she met her reflection's gaze and began to raise her voice.

"Angel, my soul was weak. Forgive me. Enter at last, master".

Her reflection cracked and Sarah leapt backwards in her seat.

The centre of the glass, only inches away from where her nose had been, had shattered into a spider's web of splintered reflections. Sarah clapped her hand to her mouth in an attempt to hold back the shriek in her throat. Her breathing was heavy and she stared at the tiny fragments where she could see thousands of her own eyes staring back at her.

I am your Angel of music…

Sarah's breath stopped as the eyes in the mirror seemed to change. She dared not blink as she returned the mismatched stare of the reflection that was no longer her own.

Come to your Angel of music...

The chair she sat in toppled backwards as she dived to her feet and fled the room. Long splinters of glass falling out of the mirror behind her.