Here is the promised chapter.
Thank you woland666, my anymonous reviewer for helping me with Erik's past and Horses of Shadow and Night, thanks for suggesting the Susan Kay novel, but I wouldn't be able to get it and read it in time to update. But thanks ;)
Oh, and PeaceRoseG'ladheon, I hope you like the Phantom of the Opera book as much as I did!
Not as funny as I had hoped, but I hope you enjoy it!
Erik had fallen asleep.
It was a wonder that he didn't wake the whole opera house with his snoring. It sounded as though cannons were going off in his lair. However, nothing got peace down there when he wasn't snoring because he would also talk in his sleep. Actually, that would be giving it much too much justice; he would scream and yell in his sleep (mainly for Christine, asking why she had left him, death threats for the fop- uh, Raoul, and such).
Suddenly, a light appeared in Erik's gloomy room. Though Erik had been sound asleep in the dark coffin, the light seemed so bright, that it filtered through his coffin and into his eyes. Immediately, the Phantom shielded his eyes with his hands and growled. Who would dare shine a light in his eyes?
He slid the lid of the coffin back and faced someone he really didn't want to talk to. Of all people, it was Madame Giry. Erik wasn't too surprised to see her, she knew the way to his lair. So he slid back into his coffin and rolled over.
Giry sighed.
"Erik, get up."
"No," he groaned like a child.
"You really shouldn't sleep in a coffin, but I'm sure Madame Giry has already nagged you about that before."
Surprised, Erik looked up from his coffin bed.
"You're beginning to scare me, Madame. You do realize that you are speaking in third person, don't you?"
At this, the Madame laughed, "No, you're mistaken, Erik. I am the Ghost of Christmas Past. I only took the form of Madame Giry to keep you from trying to strangle me."
The Opera Ghost cocked his head.
"But if you're a ghost, then you wouldn't need to worry about getting killed."
The ghost lifted her chin.
"True, but it would simply waste time. Speaking of which, we already wasted enough getting you out of that silly coffin. Come now, Erik."
Indeed, the Phantom did climb out of his coffin, but he still wasn't fully convinced that the "ghost" was who she said she was. In fact, he still considered her Madame Giry.
He stood in front of her, looking down at her quite conceitedly. The Opera Ghost even smirked.
"You don't frighten me", he told her smoothly.
"Of course not", she replied, though it was comical since she had to crane her neck to speak to him. "You don't believe in me, just like you didn't believe in Nadir."
Erik scoffed, "You haven't given me much to go by."
He noticed that she held something in her hand.
"What's that?"
The Ghost of Christmas Past held it up for him. It was a hat, much like the one that he had worn for Christine when he had kidnapped- uh, shown her to his lair (this makes sense if you've seen the musical or at least seen pictures of the musical).
Erik flinched when he saw it, no good memories flooded back to him. They were all filled with poison and hate.
Angrily, he asked, "Why don't you just wear that stupid hat if you carry it around so much?"
The Ghost seemed appalled as she hid the hat behind her, "I'm here to give you Truth! Do you want to hide Truth?"
Erik considered it, "Actually, Madame, that wouldn't be so bad, considering what I have been through."
"Well, I'm still not wearing it. I think it fits you better."
Erik rolled his eyes. His hat that was like that was in the next room. He didn't feel like getting another one.
"There are a lot of memories tied to this hat, aren't there, Erik?"
Erik only groaned, "Just tell me what you want."
"I'm here to show you your past."
He chuckled, "No, I mean, really? What is it you want?"
The Ghost held out her hand.
"Come with me."
Erik only stared at it.
"At least give it a chance, Erik", she persuaded.
Not thinking that it would really hurt, Erik grabbed the ghost's hand. A strange sensation coursed throughout his entire body as he did so. The Ghost of Christmas Past's hand had once been hollow and had as much feeling as a mist, but all of a sudden, it seemed to be flesh.
Erik looked around him and realized that they were no longer in his lair. They were far away from his lair, in fact. It was his old home.
He looked down, hoping beyond all hopes that the Ghost wouldn't take him in there. Then, something hit him.
"How'd you get me here, Madame?"
"I told you who I am, Erik. You must believe me."
Erik glared at her, "I need more than this to prove it."
But The Ghost of Christmas Past gave him a strange look.
"I think you just want me to turn into Christine instead of staying as Madame Giry. Even if I did that, you'd still feel the same. However, I feel that you may change your mind about believing me after we're through."
Once again, Erik rolled his eyes.
Then she gently pulled Erik into the house.
Erik attempted to grab his Punjab in defense, but found that it was not there.
The Ghost smiled coyly at this.
"Oh, that is back in your lair. I know that you cannot hurt me or anyone else you see in these visions, but it would be such a distraction, wouldn't it?"
Erik only growled to himself, but knew that it was no use to try to strangle a ghost. Then he looked at the house again.
"Do you miss it?" she asked.
Erik shook his head, "I hardly even remember it. It's been so long since I've been here…" Then he interrupted himself. "You're not going to make me go in there, are you?"
Laughing, the ghost replied, "Why, are you frightened that they will see you and recognize you? Remember, these are only shadows of the past- of what already happened. There is no way that we will be seen or heard."
This time, Erik couldn't wriggle away from her grasp; they had already magically appeared in the living room.
He still attempted to leave, but the Ghost of Christmas past grabbed his arm in a firm grip. The Phantom was shocked that it was even possible that someone could hold him there like that.
So, he complied, too his own dismay, and watched his past unfold.
A pitiful tree sat in the corner as a child played with some small string beside it. Erik looked at dismay at the child. He was about three years old and had dark black hair. His eyes were a strange hue and would glow, but could really only be seen glowing in the dark. However, no one could see his face, but only his mouth, for a black mask covered the whole upper half of his face.
In the other room, the parents of these children could be overheard by the two unseen and unheard visitors.
"Well, what are we to do with the boy? We've had him for three years and still nothing has happened. Are you sure that it will just 'go away'?" They could hear the mother say.
"It has to! You know what people would think if they heard that we had a son with a disfigured face!"
"But his eyes, I've heard that children start out with blue eyes first, and as they grow up, their eyes change, but he- his… his eyes GLOW!"
A large thud could be heard, and the three year old Erik looked towards the kitchen in puzzlement. The little boy couldn't hear what his mother said after that, so he only played with his miniature mask.
However, the Ghost and the adult Erik could hear the father mutter, "She had to go and faint again. Ever since he was born, this has happened more frequently…" He sighed and they could hear him drag his wife out of the kitchen.
The adult Erik turned his face away from that room and looked fondly at the child playing. He felt his mask unsurely and demanded, "Take me away from here."
The Ghost rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. However, the only thing that changed was the room. A different tree, smaller and unhealthier than the first, lay shrouded in a small corner away from neighbor's eyes. No ornaments or anything else festive could be traced within the house. A young couple sat in what appeared to be desolation. Erik immediately recognized them as his parents, though he hadn't seen them in so long.
The Ghost of Christmas Past turned to him.
"You see, Erik, even though you thought that they didn't love you because of your face, they saw who you were inside as a person and wanted you back"-
"We've lost so much", Erik's mother lamented.
The Ghost of Christmas Past smiled smugly at Erik.
Then Erik's father answered, "I guess it all began after I lost that chess game."
Erik raised his exposed eyebrow.
"No, Dear", Erik's mother reassured her husband. "It was before that. I-I just can't remember what it was…"
"The child", Erik's father said angrily.
"Oh yes, well, he's gone now, and good riddance. I could never stand his face- but that's something for a different time.
I think it was ever since you began your obsession over Opera."
"Opera?" Erik echoed with a laugh. "The man never appreciated anything so great in his life!"
"How do you know? You weren't there to see him grow old, see his interests change", The Ghost questioned him.
They watched the couple sit in silence until Erik voiced, "So what does this have to do with them missing me?"
The Ghost looked at him and answered simply, "Nothing, I just told you that to get you to pay attention. Now come on, there's more that I have to show you!"
He caught glimpses of his past as they raced back through a time vortex. Erik saw himself much younger, on Christmas Eve exhibiting himself as the "Living Corpse". Those who didn't have loved ones to see would stop and glance at him, but mainly people had ignored him that day. It reminded him of many Christmases he had doing that.
Next, he saw his many Christmases with the gypsies and Christmases spent in Asia- too many to count that The Ghost of Christmas Past didn't spend too much time with those memories. Erik caught a glimpse of the flashback of a gypsy giving him a monkey with symbols. He silently remembered still having it in his home.
Finally, the Ghost stopped at one of his most unpleasant Christmas memories. A younger version of Erik inspected the great edifice before him. It wasn't completely finished, but it was indeed according to his plans, so it seemed. Laborers worked around him as he studied the plans. It was Christmas day, and they were still being forced to work.
One of the laborers tried singing and others joined him later on. However, Erik knew why they were only paid to work: they were lousy singers. The younger Erik yelled at the men, "Be silent now, or you may be silent for eternity". It was indeed the same old Erik- mean, cruel, and full of very clever death threats.
"What were you building, Erik?" the Ghost asked most curiously.
"I don't wish to speak of it", Erik replied, quite tired of the Ghost's nagging. She was worse than Madame Giry. He made a mental note to not "accidently" kill Giry now.
A man stood on the currently unstable roof of the building and began to sing again in a very high-pitched and off-key voice. Without even glancing his way, the younger Erik took a random bottle lying on the ground and threw it with perfect aim at the man. The bottle barely brushed against him, but it caught him off-balance and the poor man fell off the roof.
It got all the other men to get back to their work.
"They don't seem happy, Erik. You took them away from their loved ones and families."
Erik scoffed, "At least some of them had families to go to."
The Ghost swirled her finger around and announced, "Why don't we see what happens later."
Suddenly, the scene changed before them. All the laborers had long gone, and the young Erik still remained. Alone, he measured the building. Alone, he built upon it. Alone, he worked on the palace.
"You were alone, Erik. You were all alone so you decided to build the palace on your own. You did the same for the opera house too, am I right?" The Ghost of Christmas Past supplied.
Erik growled, "I really wish I had my Punjab right now."
"Wouldn't do you any good," the Ghost muttered.
The man shivered in the cold before them. Not even the man who had employed him came to check on his progress. Neither did the sultana or any of the laborers. Not even Nadir checked to see if he were alright. The poor deformed man worked all alone.
Then, something unexpected happened. A song began to play. Erik didn't remember this happening to him on that night. He looked around. Where was the music coming from?
All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live
All by myself
Anymore
The Ghost of Christmas Past yelled to the sky. "That's not funny, Ghost of Christmas Present! Turn off the stereo!"
Erik was confused.
"What's a stereo? Is it some type of homicidal device?"
The Ghost ignored him as she snapped her fingers and brought them to their next destination.
"Christine…." Erik breathed.
Indeed, it was Christine before him. She stood in her dressing room singing one of Erik's compositions that he had written especially for her. He began to make his way towards her, seeing that she still looked as young as she once was, before the fop….
"It's in the past; she cannot see you," the Ghost of Christmas Past clarified.
"I know", Erik snapped back. "But if she cannot see me, then I can still move towards her.
The Ghost rolled her eyes.
The Phantom was startled when he heard his own voice in the room, but remembered that these things that he was witnessing were past events, therefore, he would still be there teaching her.
"Christine, the last note was flat, but otherwise, you were flawless."
"Thank you, Angel", Christine gratified, still with a radiant face after her song.
"Will you still return to me tomorrow?"
Christine sighed as she shook her head.
"It's Christmas day tomorrow! I need to see Mama Valarius (A/N: Sorry if I didn't spell that name right. I didn't feel like looking through my Kindle to find the correct spelling for that. But you know who I'm talking about, right?) Tomorrow since she doesn't have any family besides me to spend it with. Otherwise, I'd be more than happy to come."
Erik could hear the sigh throughout the room. He inwardly wondered how Christine could not be completely freaked out by him for acting that way.
"Very well, but you must come the next day. Do you understand?"
"Oh yes, thank you, Angel!"
The girl seemed overjoyed as she exited the room.
The scene dispersed before them.
"You made her really happy, Erik. It could have gone on that way, but"-
Erik spun on the Ghost and stood so close that he spat in her face, "Don't you dare lecture me on love. I did nothing wrong. It was simply wrong timing. If I had brought her to my world sooner, before the fop came, then she would have been mine. I already know about that."
The Ghost of Christmas Past didn't flinch.
"No, you don't understand, Erik. I don't think you ever did. Not about Christmas and not about love."
Erik had enough of her. Without even thinking, he grabbed the Ghost's hat and pulled it down over her head. All she told him was, "You can't hide the Truth, Erik. You cannot conceal it forever." Then, as she disappeared along with her hat, Erik once again found himself in his lair next to his coffin. Growling that the Ghost had wasted his sleeping time, he crawled back into the coffin like all annoyed Opera Ghosts do.
Okay, like I said, not as funny as I had hoped. Also, if you didn't like how I portrayed his past, I'm sorry, but I based it off Leroux. Most of it for me is the musical with some elements of Leroux. By the way, I FINISHED THE BOOK! YAY! Now I know what a bunch of people are talking about on here now! Like the Fifth Celler thing. Wow, that made me feel so dumb.
So anyway, enough of my rambling. Please Review!
Thanks! ;D