Disclaimer: I don't own any the Phantom of the Opera
A thanks goes out to Experimental Madness for being my beta on this story and making it much better.
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The following weeks proved to be trying. Angela was in a rage. Somehow, someway, Erik had found a way to block her out.
Erik himself was also in a rage. He would be more ruthless in his haunting and his demands on his managers. It was long before she found out why.
Christine was being courted.
Courted by a young Vicomte de Chagny. He was a rather handsome boy. Shoulder length brown hair that was clean and swiped back into a ponytail. He had high cheekbones and nice pale skin. His gray blue eyes were wide and eager for the sights and sounds of the world. Young and immature, but an intelligent stubborn. He followed Christine around like a lost puppy, turning his adoring eyes to her.
Strangely this did not move Christine. The first time that they had met was after her grand performance. She seemed excited and pleased to see him, but the next night when he came to call, she was cold and turned him away.
Angela knew the reason behind this. Erik. He must have forbid her to see the young boy in a jealous rage. Angela shook her head as she walked down the streets of Paris. It was the first time she had been out of that building. It was driving her crazy. That morning Christine didn't show up to rehearsal. No one was worried too much; it wasn't the first time she had pulled a disappearing act.
Angela had always thought herself as a patient being. But now that she had a deadline and the time was drawing nearer. She was ready to drop in on Erik and show her true form and tell him why she was sent. But that would be the worst thing she probably could do. She had to get him alone and talk to him. And the best way to do that was upset the balance.
XXX
A little stomachache can do wonders.
Christine was too ill to perform in the opera that night. So was her understudy as well as Carlotta and her understudy. It was then the managers had no choice, but to turn Angela loose on the audience. She shocked them into silence and received a thunderous standing ovation. She didn't hold back. She hit them with the full power of her 'voice', showing off the dexterity of her range, which was drastically more flexible than humans. She sung out with crescendos and decrescendos, with embellishments and perfect pitch, with a sense of rhythm and style that was uncanny. she tore into their souls with the angel's voices. Voices that should have never been heard by mortals.
She didn't really care. Her voice was 'borrowed'. Not real. She had no remorse about cheating. She had a job to do and he was slippery as an eel in slinking away from her pluses. She had to do everything the hard way and she would much rather get back to her own 'life'.
Finally she slipped away and headed back to her dressing room. She had left a note before the performance and she knew Erik would read it. It was addressed to him and after that one run in with him and her knowing his name would drive him in frenzy. He was curious as a cat, but also was cautious and wary.
Her door swung open with a creak to reveal him waiting for her, his eyes dark.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
He held the note up. "You left this for me I believe? What do you want?"
"I want to talk." Angela said simply. She closed the door. She opened her mouth to begin but Erik cut in on her.
"I do not care what you have to say. I don't know how Miss Daae came to be ill. I could care less about Carlotta, but in the future you are not to take any major stage performances." He waved her off.
"Now you just wait. I hardly think that is fair. I sung as well as any 'Prima Donna'. As a musician you would understand that." Angela glared at him.
"You know nothing about real music. There is not a soul in the world that can compare to what I know, and still you say you are the best." he was working himself into a real rage.
"I never said I was the best. But I'll say it now. I am the best and don't you what to know why? Why my talents seem to even out shine your little girl's? The reason is Erik-" she was again interrupted by voices in the hall. It was the managers and they were only feet away from the door.
Erik froze, his ice-cold eyes glaring down at her. "I want you to forget me. Forget my name however you know it, and never, I repeat never try to take my Christine's place again!" then he was gone. It happened in a blink but Angela was able to see the panel in the far wall close.
As soon as she was alone in the room she started to laugh but then stopped. It was the second time she was interrupted from truly talking to him. If she didn't know any better her father could be behind it.
The managers knocked on the door. Angela thought about ignoring them, but decided against it and opened the door. The two mangers stood there with a rather large stack of papers. In the end she declined the offer. The offer that was to become a diva after of course Christine. They had decided to remove Carlotta. They were going to allow her one last performance then cancel her contract. Angela shook her head and told hem that she was only going to stay a little longer. She had another engagement and she would leave soon.
They had grumbled but she finally agreed to one last performance.
XXX
She gnashed her teeth and found that she could not longer stand the sight of the human world. In a flash she was back to her own realm. The shrieks and moans of the souls in the 'mini-hell was for once relaxing for her. She walked around the wasteland. She shed her human disguise and stood in her full glory. She starched her body out and breathed in the dusty gray air. She would never admit to it but it felt good to be out of that Opera House. Everyone walked about in a dream state, Erik included.
Erik.
She frowned and thought about him. He had been extremely shy when he had talked to
her. Well, he sure wasn't shy about making his displeasure known.
She was thinking upon this as she was out gathering the souls of the day when in the western hemisphere it hit her. It was a pain like no other. It struck like a bolt of lighting. It exploded in her chest and traveled down her arm with a paralyzing intensity. She moaned and slipped back into the purgatory.
She groaned and sank down to her knees. She had never felt pain before and didn't know what was happening. The screams and moans of the souls dimmed out until, she could only hear her own ragged breathing and a heart pounding in her ears. Not her heart. She had no heartbeat. No heart actually. She had a dim idea as to whose it was. She waved a hand and a figure entered in her view. It was Erik. He was down on his knees and was clutching at his chest. A heart attack. More times then not fatal. Countless times she had gathered souls that had died of that human ailment. But why was she feeling it?
She pushed herself up and started to go to him, not as the human he had seen but as Death. To gather his soul and try to talk to him as he lay dying. But as suddenly as it had started it was over and another form came into view. The child Christine. She had his mask in her hand and handed it back to him. He would live. The view closed.
"That girl has a stronger hold on him then you thought." The deep smooth male voice rang out.
Angela growled and whipped around. "Brother."
The dark figure bowed. "Sister," he said mockingly.
"What are you doing here?" Angela snarled. Her hate for her brother was well known.
"A little family reunion. I came with father's and mine warning. Forget the task that the Council had sent you to do. The human is ours-mine. I'm the one with the claim on him."
He sneered and came into full view. His skin was as dark as her was white. Long black hair fell to his waist and red eyes glowed with a delightful evil. Two sets of black leather bat like wings were folded behind him. He reached out a clawed hand and touched her face.
Angela forced herself to stand still, but her skin still crawled away from his touch. "How is Father?"
"Ah. You know him. Reveling in his glory, taking credit for my doings."
"Yours?"
A laugh. "You have taken this task of Grim Reaper too seriously. When do you ever
visit? For the past thousand years it is I who have taken over Father's job. I am everything he was but not in name. He still gets the credit. But not this time."
"You are not thinking of appearing to him?!"
"You are.""But the council told me to-"
"My dear sister so naive if they wanted to save him they would admit him anyway. But no. They want you to mettle in his life, make it harder. That is why I'm here. I want you to stop. If you go to him and try to change him father then I have to step in, but if you leave him alone he will come straight to me."
"There is something more you are not telling me."
His red eye flashed, "I warn you sister, stay out of it, or I will make it hard for you!" he bared him long fangs at her and disappeared.
"No. You will not have him Mammon, he is mine." Angela whispered to the wasteland.
XXXXx
She had tried finding him, it didn't work. Had tried taking Christine's place and leaving him a note, that didn't work ether.
So she figured attacking the 'love' of his life would sure get his attention. She waited until after rehearsal was over. They had moved her to the back of the chorus line as punishment for saying no at the contract signing. Christine ran through her part last after almost every one was gone. Angela waited in the hall for her. She knew that Christine would head that way. Finally, she got up to leave and passed by Angela.
Angela was leaning against the wall and reached out and grabbed Christine.
Christine let out a sharp gasp, and then sighed when she saw it was Angela.
"Hello, Angela. It was nice meeting you but I am supposed to meet with my teacher now and I don't want to make him angry by being late." Her eyes went a little wide at the thought.
Angela forced a laugh at her.
"You find something amusing?" She sounded insulted.
"Just the fact that you're so timid as to be afraid of your own vocal instructor."
"If you had met him you wouldn't laugh."
She smiled indulgently, like she would at a small child. "Everyone knows that the Opera Ghost teaches you, and there are more gruesome descriptions of his face floating around this place than I could possibly believe in."
"Don't believe any of them," she whispered.
Angela shot an eyebrow up.
"It's much worse."
"Tell me, what does he look like? Tell me just what it takes to frighten the poor little hum-child?"
"Don't laugh, he looks like a man been dead a month." Christine said then gasped and started to shake.
"You haven't seen a man dead for a month. I can tell you…they look much worse."
She put a hand to her cheek and looked away. "He would be very angry with me if he knew I was speaking about him like this."
Angela smiled at her. "Are you sure he doesn't?" she said softly, smoothly. The look of terror that collided with her face was amusing.
It took her all of half a second to flee the room in tears, presumably to her dressing room to meet with her teacher of the violent temper.
Angela sighed. She didn't care about tormenting humans. They had enough torment, but if she troubled Christine she would run to Erik and then he would run to her demanding what she had done. She wasn't disappointed. It was later that night that Erik met up with her.
"What could she have possibly done to deserve your wrath?" he voice came behind her.
Angela didn't turn, but shrugged. "Who? Oh, Christine? Plenty." She turned and faced him.
He stepped toward her but she didn't back up or flinch away.
"This time I will talk to you. Erik, I want you to reconsider your devotion to this girl. You are meant for better things and this girl is standing in your way. I am here to give you a choice. Soon this will all end and you with have to make a decision. And that decision will affect you for all time. What do you want?"
"All I want is to be left alone to live my life with Christine." He stubbornly insisted.
Angela growled, "Provided you can pry her away from her handsome, young viscount. Oh yes, I know all about him. In fact, I believe I saw him meeting her last night when she left you. Quite a good-looking young man, if I do say so. I can understand why she's taken with him." she watched as his eyes flashed with rage and he lifted a hand. "Go ahead, Erik, hit me. See for yourself. Strike me down for the truth." Not moving she waited for the blow, even raising her face to meet it, but it didn't come.
"It's not the truth, she loves me," he growled. " I will make her love me." With that he left.
Weary, she sank into a chair and didn't bother to look up when she spoke again. "Damnit Mammon, I told you to leave him alone. He was starting to listen to me."
A cold laugh. "And I didn't even have to 'play human' for him to listen to me. I told you little sister, I want him. I could've let him hit you, you know." Mammon laughed again and the voice disappeared.