Chapter Six: Les All Hollows Mascarade (Part Two)

October 31st, 1910, 9:30pm

The song 'Dies Irae Requiem' by Mozart now sounded from the huge gramophone, Mamma twirled me and danced with me at a very fast pace. Our hands were interlocked, her gloved hands interlocked with my pale, cold hands; as the music boomed she twirled me and broke our hands, she regained me again and held my waist whilst she wrapped my arms around her neck. Mamma was three feet taller than she normally is, (one foot taller than I) which surprised me; I didn't think they made heels that big! All of a sudden she twirled me again and at the table I recently vacated there sat a ghost...a short ghost with luminous, hazel eyes; the ghost had tan, wrinkled, old, hands with long nails and I knew in that moment that I was dancing not with Mamma, but with someone else. The person didn't see that I saw Mamma at the table, and continued to dance with me; their hands on my waist and my arms wrapped around their neck again, I looked up and stared into this person's eyes...they were a glimmering black now, still I felt that the person knew my most intimate thoughts and stared deep into my soul, figuring out my most honored desires.

The person's grip was gentle and yet...it was tight, as if to hold me with them; the person's grip tightened and the person slowly dipped me down, holding me close to the ground for a few moments and then quickly pulling me back up, letting go of me and twirling me as my feet touched the floor of the lobby once again. The person then pulled me from my twirl and my hand touched the person's chest; I was pressed against the person's chest and torso, I felt the warmth from the person and the gauntness of the person. The person was male and the person was skinny, but strong; very, very strong. We danced like that, the man's hands holding my waist whilst I was pressed against his chest; I felt as if I was in a trance, moving with his motions and following his actions, his left hand let go of my waist and stretched out.

My left hand slithered from his chest, up his arm and locked fingers with his left hand, his right arm wrapped around my waist and held me to him whilst my right arm hugged his back (for, it couldn't wrap fully around him). We danced like this in short strokes (his legs were long, but for his every one stroke of his step, were two for me) for a very long while, until the Managers tapped on a champagne glass and told that dinner was to be served in a few moments, so to find your seats at the table. I looked up at this man and his left, gloved hand touched my cheek, gingerly; and his right, index finger traced my jawline. Our left hands intertwined and he led me to the table, straight to my spot, he pulled out the hand carved chair and I sat down; never losing eye contact with him, he pushed me to the table and nodded to me "w-wait!" I said in an urgent whisper, the man turned back to me, his black eyes gleaming in the candle light "aren't you going to eat?"

The man shook his head and walked back to me, kneeling on one knee he kissed my hand, looked up at me, stood (nodded again) then he walked away; he walked up stairs leading to the second floor in the lobby and I never saw him come back down. My sister quickly sat beside me, a smile plastered all over her face "you danced so wonderfully! I didn't even know you could dance! So, who was that?" She asked, she talked so quickly and with such energy, it made me smile.

"Vikki, I can't dance; I don't know who that was..." I said slowly, even though he walked away from me I still felt as if I was under a trance; and every time I blinked or closed my eyes his black, mysterious eyes were staring back at me. "But" I whispered, gaining Victoria's attention again "whoever he was...I like him" said I so extremely softly that Victoria had to lean very close to me to hear what I said; she gasped and clapped her hands in joy. Dinner that night was Shepherd's Pie and chips or a Pastry-wrapped, Cranberry Brie; I had the Shepherd's Pie, and for desert there was a choice of Red Velvet Cake with hand whipped Cream Cheese frosting or French Toast cupcakes. As M. Richard came around, taking orders I felt inclined to do something "Monsieur Richard" I said

"Yes, Margarita?" Said he with an amiable smile as he held his pen, ready to take my order.

"Monsieur, there's a man" I pointed to the second level "up there...and I...well, I...wanted to.." said I fiddling my hands as my cheeks blushed, M. Richard smiled and wrote something down on his pad, I craned my neck to see what; he smiled.

"One Red Velvet cake slice for the Margarita and one for the man" M. Richard smiled, I thanked him and before he left he leaned down to me and whispered in my ear "I'll give you yours first, and then I will give you his, oui?"

"Oui, oui" replied I, smiling at M. Richard, he smiled and continued taking everyone's orders. As the dinner wore on and I almost finished my cake, Megan got drunk again and Mamma Giry had her escorted to her dressing room by a security man, Timothy sat next to Victoria and kissed her cheek; making her blush and return the favor. Mamma Giry walked and switched seats with a man who sat next to me.

"That man in the black domino has had his eye on you all night, Elizabeth" Said she with a smile, to this comment I peeked around her to see a brunette man with blue eyes staring back at me; he waved to me to which I gave a weak smile back. "You don't fancy him? He comes from a very wealthy family; he is Aaron Benjamin, son of Jasper Benjamin, you know, they founded Benjamin gas and oil? They're multibillionaires, Elizabeth" She whispered to me, I smiled fakely and finished my cake.

"No, I most certainly do not fancy him; I have met him before, in another pretense and another disguise, he is an utter prat to anyone else who is a social class below him; never mind his looks or money. All of his hair may fall out and his money may run dry, he will lose his 'friends' and he will end up a bitter, old man with nothing. But all of his life he will remain a prat; for a personality is hard, near impossible, to change; Mamma, you should know that." I hissed in a very low whisper, Mamma Giry's eyebrows rose at hearing my tone, Mamma nodded and I turned to M. Richard and nodded, he smiled and a few moments later I was handed a slice of Red Velvet cake; Mamma's eyebrows furrowed "I'll tell you later" said I, standing and walking for the stairs. I rounded a corner and came to a darkened staircase, with one hand holding the plate and one hand on the banister I slowly walked up the stairs and came to a hallway with a red, lush carpet.

There were beautiful archways to the right which opened into the lobby where I could look down and see my fellow performers dinning and laughing. To the left there was a dark brown wall and a few dark brown doors which led to prop rooms, all of these doors were closed and I walked the entire length of the second floor (which ended in a dead end wall), my brows furrowed...until I saw that the very last prop door was open; but there was no light inside. I peeked inside and turned on the light, but no one was there, I sighed, turned out the light and closed the door; I walked back to the middle of the second floor and walked to one of the archways, I placed the cake on the ledge and watched the candle light twinkle downstairs. In this moment I felt eyes staring at me, attempting to gain my attention; I then heard a cough behind me and I turned to find the man in the ghost costume standing before me. "Hello again" said I with a smile, the man bowed, I quickly turned and took up the cake; whilst I was turned the man came very close to me "I-I know you said you weren't hungry...but everyone deserves something sweet...especially on All Hollows" said I, quickly glancing up to him and then back to the cake; I felt my cheeks betraying me and turning a pink color, which you could clearly see through my make-up.

The man's eyes never strayed from my face, I glanced up to him again to see him staring into my eyes; I then felt him take the cake from me and set it down on the ledge beside me, he held out his gloved hand. I smiled with my cheeks still pink and slipped my hand into his, his eyes had softened when he saw my nervousness and they now shined against the white sheet; he turned me so that my back was to him, my hands griped the ledge as I felt his gloved hands sliding around my waist. My pulse skyrocketed as I felt him push all of my hair to one side of my neck and he set his head down on my shoulder, his hands left my waist and slowly, came forwards, slipping oh-so nervously over mine as if I was going to yank my hands back. I bit my bottom lip and closed my eyes, then I just listened to his breathing, slow and even; his calmness calmed me and reassured me...but reassured me of what? At the moment, I didn't know, and didn't care, all I knew was I felt secure and for once these past few grievous months I felt...happy.

Chapter Seven: Les All Hollows Mascarade (Part Three)

October 31st, 1910, 11:58pm

We stood there, like that, for at the very least twenty minutes; my eyes remained closed and I just listened to the sound of his breathing. Then I felt his right hand lift and tap my arm, I opened my eyes to see that he was staring at me...and probably had been; my blush returned. He raised his right had and tenderly touched my chin and cheek, then he looked beyond me and pointed behind me; I turned to find a large, golden clock face only moments away from striking midnight, I smiled as I heard my fellow performers calling out the seconds "56...55...54..." they called. The man turned my body towards him again and lifted my left hand up, flattening my palm; "45...44...43..." they continued, the man put his hand inside the sheet and started rummaging for something; "36...35...34.." the man found it and brought out his hand again. "27...26...25..." the man placed something velvety in my hand, but kept his hands wrapped around it, the man leaned close to me; "19...18...17.." my eyes closed as I felt the man's nose touch mine, his hands moved to my waist, pulling me even closer to him.

"10...9...8.." they screamed, the man's lips grazed my cheek; "...5...4...3.." I started to breathe quicker and I could practically taste his breath "...2...1...Happy All Hollows!" they all screamed, as they said "1" the lights went out and the man...disappeared. My eyes opened and I stood there for a moment, my hands trembling, my breath quick, my pulse was so quick that I heard it reverberating in my head, and my legs shaking; my hands were warm and slowly closed around the small object, I looked down to see that it was a black, velvet box. Slowly, I opened the box and found a golden ring studded with large diamonds on a golden necklace chain; my breath was caught in my throat as the beautiful ring shimmered and gleamed in the candle light. I put my hand down beside me, to steady myself, and expected the cake to be there; but when I looked down the plate and cake were gone and in it's place there was an envelope with my name written on it in red ink.

I picked up the envelope and held the necklace close to my heart, then I did something I would've never expected I would do; I took the ring out of the box and slipped it on my wedding finger. I stood for a few moments and marveled at it's beauty, until I heard my sister's quick footfall; I gasped and ripped the ring off of my finger, hastily putting it back in its box and closing the lid. "Sissy?" She called, I turned and she ran up the stairs "Sissy, Mamma Giry told me to come get you...it's after midnight you know" said she, then she saw the box and envelope in my hands "who's that from?" She asked.

"I don't know" I whispered, shaking my head "i-it was from the man...t-the man I was dancing with" I said softly, opening the lid again and staring at the ring. Victoria ran up to me and 'ooh'd' at the ring.

"That's so beautiful!" Victoria cried breathlessly, I nodded and agreed with her.

10 minutes later...

Victoria, Mamma Giry and I arrived back in my room where I showed Mamma the necklace, she smiled and told me to open the envelope, this I did and took out another tri-folded letter, there was a note inside, it ran thus:

Loveliest Elizabeth,

My dear, your radiance stuns me, and your beautiful eyes paralyze me where I stand. As we danced I felt your grace and fragility, I feared if I tightened my grip of you too much that you might have broken. Nevertheless, that was the best dance I have ever had...darling, you could have climbed the tree in your dress; I wouldn't have minded. Do what you will with the ring...wear it as a necklace...leave it on display or...let it grace your finger, any I am fine with. I had a most wonderful evening and night with you, Elizabeth, may you have the best of dreams.

P.S. the cake was absolutely amazing...thank you, Margarita.

With All Love,

The Opera Ghost.

Two hours later...

Mamma Giry and Victoria left me, my make-up was gone along with the fake wound and fake blood; but my dress and hair remained as they had all night. I sat upon my bed with my necklace in hand; I closed my eyes and sighed as my fingers ran over the jewels. But that wasn't was I was thinking about, no...far from it, actually; as I closed my eyes I saw The Opera Ghost's eyes staring back at me. Those mysterious, wonderful eyes...I opened my eyes when I heard the clock strike two, I sighed and slipped the ring back onto my wedding finger; it felt so warm, almost like it was happy to return to my finger. I took the necklace chain off and placed it on a side table, along with the box "I'll wear it on my finger" I whispered, pulling up the covers and slipping into my bed.

November 1st, 1910

I woke to find the ring still gracing my finger, but everything else had changed; I was no longer in my costume dress, I was in a pink night gown. My hair was washed and lay in many curls on my shoulders; as I sat up Mamma Giry's voice came to my ears "I washed you, on his orders, he wanted you to be comfortable when you slept; I expect you did seeing as it's ten o'clock during the day!" Mamma Giry walked to my bed and smiled "you decided to let it grace your marriage finger" she whispered then there was a short pause "You know...funny thing about that finger" she paused and put her hand on my leg "they made that a person's marriage finger because that is the only finger that has a direct link to the heart...tell me, Elizabeth, how did you feel when you put it on?" she asked, I smiled.

"...I felt warm and...happy, I was happy...and I still am happy; but when I take it off...I'm not happy anymore" said I, Mamma Giry smiled and touched my cheek with her worked hands.

"Well, don't take it off, then." Said she softly, I smiled and nodded.

Three hours later...

Aaron Benjamin had been spying on me all day, at least, that's what Mamma Giry said to me when Mamma and I sat on the concrete benches near the pond whilst Victoria played with the dragonflies. The sun was high in the sky and I rested my head upon Mamma Giry's shoulder "Mamma" I whispered "why does the Opera Ghost hide?"

"He likes to be mysterious...he also likes to watch you from afar, so he can see you do your daily activities without his interruption." Mamma Giry answered, holding my hand.

"When does he watch me?"

"All the time, Elizabeth, he never takes his eyes off of you...unless your in the WC." Mamma answered as Victoria played 'follow the leader' with a slimy, green toad. Now I heard the great magnolia tree rustle once more and I heard the door open simultaneously; a butler who's name was Gerard walked to Mamma and I, he wore a tuxedo and carried a silver platter with three lemonade cupcakes on it. Gerard had slicked back, blonde hair and squinting, blue eyes; he also had a posh air to him, he stood as straight as a nail with an upturned nose and addressed Mamma and I. Victoria saw Gerard and came running up to us before Gerard could speak.

"Mademoiselles, complements of Master Benjamin" Gerard held out the platter, Victoria smiled and quickly grabbed her cupcake, stuffing it inside her mouth; Mamma took my cupcake and gave it to me. I waited and watched as Gerard left, shutting the door quietly behind him, I sighed, turned the cupcake around, then I stood and walked to the pond and tore the lemonade cupcake apart; throwing it to the swan family.