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Aria P.O.V
"Where did you live?"
"I love your outfit, beautiful!"
"What room are you staying in?"
"How do you like it here?"
"Girls, Girls!" Mme. Giry called over the commotion of all the excited ballet girls "She did not come here to be suffocated by her peers!" They all settled down, trying to hide their smiles. "Now get back to practising, you still have an hour to go of rehearsal! Oh, Clara, you can come with us, you will have to show little Aria the ropes of the opera."
Out of the crowd of white tutus came a tall thin girl, about 5 foot 7, with strawberry blond hair. She had brilliant hazel eyes and a small button nose, and she looked about 16 years old.
"Bonjour! It is very nice to meet you!" She gave me a very warm smile, and gave me a gently but friendly hug.
" Well," Ms. Giry said, clapping her hands together excitedly "I will leave you, Aria, in Clara's capable hands!" She turned to walk away, but then turned slowly to the other girls and gave then a death stare. "The rest of you though, don't think that you can slack off, where is my grandson! He is supposed to be keeping you in order!"
"He went to the washroom, he told us to practice our pirouettes." A girl in the back called forward.
Just then I felt two large hands cover my eyes. "I'm back now." A voice said, and I heard all the ballet girls giggling to each other. The hands grabbed my shoulders, whipped me around, and there was Stephan. He pulled me in and kissed me on both cheeks, he then walked past me to Ms. Giry, giving her a kiss, while I wiped my cheeks.
"It was nice to see you again, mademoiselle," he gestured towards me.
"A pleasure." I said, giving him a slight smile.
" I am sorry grand mama, I had to excuse myself, but I expected them to keep to their studies." He said giving the girls a scolding glance.
"Its fine! Just make sure these ladies are ready for the next show." She then turned to us. " Well, ladies, I will leave you, Clara will take care of you from here on out, and make sure that you are at the dance rehearsal tomorrow, Aria. We need to start getting you up to the level all these girls are." With that, she gave all the girls a smile, and left.
Stephan turned back to the girls, who from the time he arrived, were gazing at him with glazed over eyes, while some stared at me with jealous looks. "Alright, girls," He announced, "You seem to have gotten me in trouble with Giry. Now, what am I going to do with you?"
"I tried to tell them we shouldn't stop Stephan!" Called a small girl in the front, with a face like a pug.
"Mhmm." hummed Stephan. "You don't want me to get the opera ghost to take care of you all?" Some of the girls gave gasp's, while some jumped and shrieked. Clara just gave a big sigh, which made Stephan look back at her."Well, nun-the-less we will have to go for 10 min after 2:30 this afternoon."
Multiple moans and groans emerged from the group of girls, except for the little girl in the front with the pug-face. I looked over at Clara, and she looked absolutely board, she wasn't even looking at Stephan. He turned around and stepped toward her.
"Could I speak to you for a moment Clara?" He puffed out his chest, and his voice went noticeably deeper.
"If this is about 'seeing me after' again, I don't want any part of it Stephan." She was noticeably annoyed, even disgusted, when she talked to him.
"Shh," he grabbed her by the wrist and led her away.
I stood there in front of all the ballet girls, who, under instruction from the pug-faced girl, had started to practice their dance numbers again. I stood there, feeling very awkward, and with nothing to do but stand, I couldn't help but overhear Clara's and Stephan's conversation.
"Not in front of the ballet brats, or that new girl." Stephan said very firmly.
"Why not? All those girls should know how big of a jerk you are!" She said, with disgust coated thickly on her tone.
"You were the one who came to my room with me!" He said matter-of-factually
"No, I walked beside you, because you refused to let me alone. Then you just . . ." She stopped there, her voice seemed to get caught in her throat. "Please," she said slowly "just leave me alone!"
I heard her start to walk away, but I heard her gasp and she stopped, I could only guess that he had grabbed hold of her to make her stop.
"Fine," he said, venom in every syllable "The new girl is very attractive as well, and she is Christine Daae's granddaughter and you know the scandal to that story. Maybe, she's as much of a slut as her grandmother and she will put out and not be so much of a . . . tease."
I stayed staring forward as he walked past me, and did not look at him as he turned to look me over and then proceeded to give me a wink. Clara quickly strode to my side, with as much pride as she could muster, grabbed my arm and led me out of the rehearsal studio.
"Here is the dressing rooms for all the actors and singers," Clara said walking slowly past all the dressing rooms in the hallway. "They have a special ventilation system that makes it possible for the noise from the stage to be heard in the dressing rooms, so the actors can hear their ques."
"So, they can hear what ever happens onstage from those rooms?" I asked, this was very interesting to me. I had always been interested in stage and opera,even if I wasen't that great of a singer.
"Yes, to a certain extent, as long as the people talk loud enough to be heard through out the whole audience." She explained, leading me through the halls.
"It is very confusing back here isn't it?" I was trying to keep up with he as she twisted through the dark halls full of ropes, props, and set pieces. "Not very tidy either." I said jokingly, giving a small nervous laugh.
She gave a small chuckle "No, I guess not, but after awhile you get used to the halls, you might get lost once in awhile, but you'll figure it out eventually."
Just then a large black figure stepped out from the props and the set. "If you get lost, I'll take good care of you." Said a deep, gruff voice. The figure was very tall with broad shoulders. The figure came closer to them, and I backed away slightly, frightened and ready to run away. Clara stood her ground, giving a big sigh, I was very impressed with her bravery.
"Jean-Lu, please! Can you not be creepy for once in your life?" Clara sighed, folding her arms in front of her.
"I'm just saying hello to the new girl." He stepped out where I could see him clearly. He had very ragged hair, his face looked very sagged, he was about 40 years old. "My, my, my!" He said looking at me with an intensity that made me feel very uncomfortable. "If it isn't little Aria Marie . . . Granddaughter of the great Christine?" He took a step toward me, I took a step back, and Clara put her arms out to block him.
"Leave her alone." She said very sternly.
"You look so much like her." He didn't even notice Clara, standing between us. "I knew your grandmother, she was so beautiful! And her voice," He took a small gasp for air. "an angel's voice. I was a young boy helping Joseph Bouquet when she started her debut." Then he looked at me with anger in his eyes. "I remember what happened after, too." He stepped toward me, pushing Clara out of the way. I backed up, but I was stopped by a large prop horse behind me.
Clara pushed her way between Jean-Lu and myself. "Leave her alone!" She turned to me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me the way we had come. "Come on Aria, we have to go." Jean-Lu would not let us go though.
"No!" He shouted, grabbing my arm.
Just then we heard a large bang five feet from where we were. I looked over and saw a large set piece that looked like a scene from "The Magic Flute" fall to the ground. I looked up and saw a dark figure covered in a black cloak. I couldn't believe it, it looked like the exact same man I saw in the market. Jean-Lu saw the man, too.
"He . . . He's back! He was gone . . . but he came back!" He stepped back, staring at the area where the shadow was, then something seemed to dawn on him as he looked back at me, with pure loathing in his eyes. "You!" He shouted pointing at me.
"Aria come on! We have to go!" Clara sounded scared, and she pulled me the way we came. Jean-Lu stumbled toward us.
"You brought him back! He came back to get you!" He shouted after us, picking up speed.
"Come on Aria! Come on! He's crazy! We have to leave!" She pulled me harder, and we were running through the twisted halls.
"He's back for you! The Opera Ghost won't stop until he gets what he wants! He won't stop!" He shouted after us, and I heard his heavy footprints hitting the ground behind us.
We ran through the twisted halls, trying to get away from Jean-Lu, who was running right after us shouting at me abut "The Opera Ghost" when suddenly, he stopped, he wasn't chasing us anymore but Clara just kept running through the halls. We kept running until we got to a dark wooden door, covered in notches in the wood. She quickly opened the door and threw me in, followed and shut the door. I heard a clicking of a lock on the door and the sound of Clara rustling around trying to find something.
"I'm sorry about this," I heard her whisper to me from the other side of this darkened room. "We just needed to get away from that man." I heard her shudder "Just the way he talked about it was creepy. I just needed to get to this room, and you know I trust you. This room makes me feel safe. Hmm, I can't find the lamp . . . ah! Here it is!" I heard a flicking of two things against each other and saw some sparks in the corner of the room, lighting Clara's face. Suddenly, the room was filled with the soft light from the match that Clara was holding in her hand.
I finally saw the room I was in, the wallpaper was a burgundy floral pattern. There was a light green-yellow couch on the right side of where I was standing, and in-front of me was a huge vanity with a small rotating mirror on top. Underneath there was a small white wooden stool with faded pink roses on the side. In the corner was a tall coat rack with one small, pink cloak hanging on one of the hooks. On the far wall was a large floor to ceiling mirror. The border of it was absolutely exquisite! Golden with beautiful carvings throughout it.
"What is this place?" I asked as i made my way over to the lamp on the vanity when Clara stood.
"Well," she said looking calm. "This is your grandmothers old dressing room."
I froze. I couldn't tell if I was excited or afraid to be in the room of the person who I resembled so closely. I stared at Clara, I walked toward the vanity.
"You can sit down if you want." Clara said from beside me. "Look, there's still some of her makeup, I don't think anyone wanted to come in after what happened." She grew quiet again.
I sat down and ran my hand over the chipped white paint. I felt a warm surge of energy run through my body. I felt calm for once in my life, and happy.
"How old are these things?" I asked picking up some of the old blush and lipstick.
"Well your grandmother left the opera in 1881 or something like that, so I would guess about 30 years, and no one has been in here since 2 years ago when I started coming in here." She said, rocking back a forth on the tips of her feet.
I sat there, staring at my reflection in the dust covered mirror. I could imagine my grandmother looking in the exact mirror brushing her hair, getting ready for a performance on the stage. I started to hum an song from an opera I had the record too. I just stared in the mirror and hummed, and then I heard it.
"Aria." whispered a voice close to my ear.
I stopped humming. I looked up at Clara, and realized that she was staring at me in what looked like a sort of awed silence.
"Did you hear that?" I asked looking around.
"I did hear something. . ." She was silent.
"Clara?" I got up and walked toward her. "Clara, whats the matter? Did you hear the voice too?"
She looked at me confused. "The voice?" she kept staring at me "I heard your voice! Your singing!" she walked right up to me and grabbed my hands. "That was one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard!" Her eyes widened like she had just thought of something. "Come with me!" She pulled me in toe behind her, through the door and once again through the twisted halls, but this time around a different corner and through thick red curtains. Finally, we made our way onto the seemingly never ending emptiness of the huge platform of the stage.
"What are we doing here?" I asked as she let go of my hand and dashed to the instrument pit.
"Okay," she said as she hopped down from the stage and made her way to the piano. "Since you didn't grow up around all this 'Opera Ghost' nonsense, I am going to fill you in. The story behind your grandmother is. . . well-known. The basic thing is that she loved your grandfather and-"
"And she had an angel of music?" The story sounded familiar.
"Well, more of a stalker." She said looking at me "and well long story short he kidnapped her and then let her go. But the thing is," she motioned for me to move closer to her, I moved closer to the edge of the stage "He died in the sewers of the opera house of a broken heart! Isn't that romantic?" Then she made a face "Except for the sewer and the kidnapping and stuff. . . ." She smiled. "but the other thing is, is that his ghost is still around the opera house, as a real opera ghost."
"I. . . but when Stephan was talking about the opera ghost, I thought you didn't believe in him." I was very confused.
Clara rolled her eyes "Well, I just really don't like Stephan, but I do believe in the opera ghost." She leaned in close to me. "It actually really scared me when that Jean-Lu was yelling at you about the opera ghost wanting you. He thought that he left to find your grandmother, but all of us know that he died long ago." She had a giddy smile on her face as she stared at me.
"What does all this have to do with," I motioned around me "All this?"
" Let me finish," She went and sat at the piano. "As the story goes, sometimes, if the ghost hears a voice he really likes, he will make sure that someday that person will be on stage someday. Sort of a good luck thing for singers here."
"But I'm not a singer, I'm in the ballet." She slammed her hands on the piano stool.
"I KNOW! It's a crime! You should be one of the singers!" She leaned over the piano "Which is what I'm getting to. You are so good at singing, that I want you to sing for the-" She took her arm and motioned a cloak across her face. "Phantom!"
I felt my eyes widen. "I really don't feel comfortable with that. . ." Clara looked visibly disappointed.
"Oh, but Aria, it's only for the fun of it. Really if the idea of the phantom scares you, I'll let you know now that he is a very nice ghost. We haven't heard from him for years."
"What about when we were with Jean-Lu?" I questioned, "I was sure I saw a man on the flies!"
"Oh, no that was just because of Jean-Lu, don't worry, he scares everyone." She gave me a small smile.
"I just don't know." I sighed
"Well," she said positioning herself in front of the piano "I am going to play a song on the piano, and the music. . ." She slide some extra sheet music on the piano "will just 'happen' to be sitting right there"
With that she started playing the first few bars to a song I had never heard. It sounded beautiful and I couldn't help but grab the music at least take a look at the words. The sheet music read, Think of Me from Hannibal. I heard the piano stop, I looked up and saw Clara staring at me smiling.
"You want to, and you know you do!" She practically shrieked.
"Fine," I sighed "Fine, I'll do it."
Clara gave a squeal of excitement and played the first 2 bars of the music, and with that, I started singing.
"Think of me On that day
think of me fondly, when
we've said goodbye
remember me
every so often
promise me you'll try
that not so distant day
youtake your heart back,
and be free
if you ever find a moment,
spare a thought for me"
I felt a surge of joy rush through my body as I sang the last verse. I could feel my self gaining the confidence that I lacked for so many years. As Clara finished the interlude, I prepared my self for the beginning of the next verse.
"We never said Think of august
our love was evergreen
or as unchanging as the sea...
but if you can still remember,
stop and think of me
when the world was green, Think of me
don't think about the things
which might have beenThink of me
think of me waking, silent
and resigned...
imagine me, trying too hard to
put you from my mind...
please say you'll think of me
whateaver els you choose to do...
there will never be a day when
I won't think of you"
It was then that I felt another set of eyes gazing on my performance. Not from the audience, but from the one of the theatre boxes. I looked to my left and saw a dark figure staring at me from one of the boxes. I then heard the same voice from the street and my grandmother's dressing room. It was singing to me.
"Can it be
Can it be Christine!
Brava! Brava!"
I looked down at Clara, but she was engrossed in the score and listening to me. I looked back at the box, but the shadow was gone, and it was time for the final verse.
"Flowers fade
the fruits of summer fade
they have their seasons so do we
but please promise me,
that sometimes
you will think-"
I took a deep breath and started the runs.
"Ahahah ah ah ah ah
ahahah ah ah ah ah
oh ah oh ah oh oh ohh
ah oh ahhhh of me!"
There was silence. I was afraid to look at Clara, because for the first time in my life, I sang with my full voice! It felt fantastic! I was afraid though, because I wanted Clara to be my friend, and I didn't want to lose her because she thought I was a bad singer. It took me a while, but I finally looked down at her, and what I saw made me sure that she wasn't displeased by my singing. In fact, she was looked absolutely thrilled.
"Now that," she said breathlessly "is what I call a voice!"
" You liked it? Really?" I asked trying not to sound self-conscious.
" Are you joking ?" She climbed up on to the stage, and practically skipped up to me "With a voice like that, you could have such a standing ovation here! And possibly an encore." She squealed and trapped me in a tight hug.
"You think so?" I spoke with the gasps of air I could manage. For a thin ballet girl, she sure was strong!
She released me and held me at arms length "Of course I do! You could be even better with some proper voice lessons." She gave me a huge smile. "Come on, lets go see if the other girls are finished with their rehearsal."
She grabbed my hand, gave it a friendly squeeze and led me back to the rehearsal studio. I couldn't help but look back at the box, and wonder if what I saw and heard was just part of an elaborate day dream or if it was real. If it was the Opera Ghost. . .