"But I'm afraid; I can't play anything for you."
At this instance, even I could've thought that the Phantom would be infuriated for someone not following his request. And though we may never assume why he would ask someone he doesn't even know to play something for him for no reason at all. He was unusually calm.
"Who are you really, Monsieur?" she asked out of the blue.
"Ah, little flower! That is a story for another time."
"Why not now? Who are you really, Monsieur?" she asked again not letting go of a question after it is asked.
"Eloise, have you ever been frightened by ghosts?"
"Not…quite, I don't believe there are any. But if there are, I wouldn't be able to see it!"
"There are so many things invisible to the world. Nothing is as ever as it seems"
"But why do you wear a mask? What is it you are trying to hide? What are you-"she stopped seeing that the masked man was staring rather coldly. In her thoughts she blamed herself for being childish, if she were to offend the man, she didn't mean it; words are the source of misunderstanding. Words can sometimes have a different meaning to the speaker and to the receiver. For example, if an English man asks an Italian man to draw him an ape, The Italian man would draw a bee: for "ape" in Italian means "bee" and both the Italian and the English man would be confused with each other. If one must talk, he should be cautious of his words, but this is an act often neglected.
Eloise sat down in a stool quite abruptly; a sudden headache pierced her head. "I have a friend" she tuned.
"She called a little boy a ghost, and all the other children laughed at him." The Phantom, who was busy compiling some papers that fell on the floor, looked at Eloise in sudden seriousness.
"The boy kept quiet, only keeping to himself and moved away from the mocking crowd. I saw him crying alone in a dark place cursing his existence tearing his own heart apart.
But he was more than alive than those who scorned him. If you ask me, that friend of mine haunted me more than the boy she called a ghost!"
She added sadly- "It is better not judge a person by his appearance or his disability. No matter how he looks, his heart is what matters."
The Phantom stared at her for a moment, she didn't seem like a child who got lost and wounded up inside a room in a subterranean lake. And yet here she was, talking so casually like they have known each other for so long.
"And is all you say is true?"
"She didn't know I was her friend."
And the Phantom chuckled, if not heartily, rather frightening. And Eloise broke into lovely peals of laughter, though she was unsure why.
She stopped and sighed
"I would like to go on my way now."
"If you would like to go back, I could order a carriage for you. Just tell me where it is you come from."
"N-no monsieur! I'd be fine, thank you." What she didn't want to say is that she didn't want to come back to her family ever again!
"Come with me, I'll show you the way out."He quickly got up on his feet and walked directly to the lake, and Eloise, thinking they're going to swim through the lake, laughed in her thoughts for not seeing the boat nearby. She picked up her toy she settled on the floor, when something gleaming caught her eye.
It was a knife.
And perhaps the room was full of lethal weapons, some hidden in plain sight. And let's not forget the disheveled mannequin behind the curtains. She suddenly became wary, but dared not to ask when she boarded upon the boat. She kept quiet only keeping to herself, much like the ghost boy, burying herself in the pleasure of her treasure, her toy, she outgrown her other toys but kept the one her father gave her as a memento.
"Perhaps, you should stay Eloise. Your fever will do you no good." And it was true, her face was pale though it is mainly because of her fever or even perhaps because of him. "I'm fine" she smiled "see?'' showing her wounds to the phantom, "You treated my wounds and they have healed. I'm no longer in pain!" and she looked away. "They say time relieves all pain" she continued "but the process is dreadful."
Finally they reached a glasslike door. "Is it made of glass?" she asked. "It is in fact, a mirror"