-EDITED: 7/25/13-
I would like to thank Vampiress Idrial for being my beta reader and that she rocks for it!
Little Luxa – I thought Magpie would sound a bit more graceful then Maggie for Erik to call her. Erik, knock-it off with that glare… You are starting to freak me out. Go stalk Lou. (Looks side-to-side before lunging at the waffle) Victory is mine! (Drags helpless waffle away from Lou and hobos)
SexyKnickers – Thank you my dear! There are so many things about Christine and the Nilsson theory lunged out at me while I was researching some things on her.
PhantomWaffles – Who knows if he's a ghost? And yes, time traveling is way cooler then drugging the person into thinking that all this happening.
inujisan – Barrett is a German surname that I like. In my mind the name Anna Barrett seemed like a strong, commanding, and regal name for Maggie's reincarnation. But if there was a real person back then, I think I have surprised myself. I did find this forum where they debate theories about them, I will post it on my page so you can check it out if want.
Phelicia – My bad on for switching the perspective in chapter 5. I am going back to fix the error now that I see it. I'm not getting you wrong, I know I err. I know I'm not perfect.
Maggie's POV (Or Anna's)
I was jolted awake by the carriage to see that we were out the city and a mansion that looked like a giant plantation to me. There is no way Anna could have enough cash, my bad, francs to keep this house, mansion! I mean come on! I don't think my family had this kind of money in the present!
The house was stone white with black shutters; the yard huge that was surrounded with black wrought fencing, rosebushes were underneath the windows of the first floor. There was a stable where they kept the carriage and horses in. The four columns were supporting the second floor of the house's roof with a small balcony jutted out above where the double doors were. The driveway was D-shaped, the house seemed to speak Anna's personality; there was nothing that defied her, everything was immaculate. Great Grandma Anna didn't seem like the person who would stand if there were a mess on her property.
"They must fix that awful hole in the road, someone's carriage wheel will break if they keep hitting." I murmured to myself, Anna taking over while I watched from her view. The iron gate opened up from one of the stable hands and locked it behind us. I saw that the Viscount had dozed off, but woke up after we hit the pothole.
His blue eyes looked around confusedly to see that we were in a carriage in front of the house. He had feminine look about with a small blond mustache sitting on his upper lip, he mumbled a bit before digging his golden watch out of his coat. "Its Midnight Mlle. Barrett, are you sure M. Strauss wouldn't mind you coming in this late?" Men, who needs a man to control their woman, not I! There goes an Anna thought, not mine.
"Viscount, I assure that M. Strauss would not mind me coming in this late. After all, I am mistress of my own home Viscount; M. and Mme. Strauss are in my home as guests, nothing more. Though I see M. Strauss has waited for me to return."
The driver opened the door of the carriage and helped me down, with the Viscount behind me. "M. Strauss it's a pleasure to meet you, I have heard so much of you and your wife." The men shook their hands; I turned to bow to Viscount. "I thank you for taking time out of your schedule to escort me home." Andrew smiled as he thanked the donor too, "as my sister-in-law has stated, I to thank you Viscount for seeing her safely back home."
The Viscount excused himself and went to his home for the home, one of the servants held the door open to the foyer as I looked around. White floor gleamed underneath my feet as crimson curtains hung from the window, and gold coloring decorated the railing of the stairwell that took up half of the foyer. There was also a black and red family shield that rested beside the doorway. It had the family name on the top of the shield with a bear standing on its hind legs, clawing the air. I mentally fell at the site of this; it was like the city mouse and the country mouse. Me being the country mouse while Anna took everything in stride.
A maid came to me and removed my shawl from my shoulders while a butler shut and locked the door behind us. "Thank you Mary and Randall, you both are excused for the night." They both bowed before me, they bowed, and wow she has the well trained here. "Yes Mlle. Barrett." They both said simultaneously as they fell to the servant's quarters on the property.
Andrew led me to the library on the first floor with a wine bar on the side. There was a chaise, a couch, and a desk in the room. The wood on the floor was a dark wooden color as the walls were crimson with gold trimming on the shelves and walls. I daintily sat on the chaise while Andrew made himself a scotch on the rocks. Once he was done with his task he sat himself on the couch in front of me. I had a feeling someone was watching us, so I spoke German to my brother-in-law.
"So Andrew, what is it that you wish to speak to me about?"
He looked down at his drink before he took the entire drink in one swallow in one gulp. He shivered as the drink went to his stomach like a rock.
"Anna, I think you need to import some of the Homeland's brew to your home when Ruth and I are here." I smirked at his comment as he tried cover his cough from the scotch. I spoke up, "I prefer France's wine then enjoying beer dear sir." I sighed, "you are delaying the inevitable, what is it that you wish to talk about?"
He sat up straighter, trying to make it look like what ever he was about to say. I felt Anna mentally sigh, as if she had this talk with him before. What was the big deal here?
"Anna, I think its time to settle down." My right eye twitched in annoyance, I invite him to my home and every time I arrive late to my home, he has to say this speech over and over again. This is kinda of freaky, with her thoughts and mine; I don't know which one to follow.
"Andrew, I tire of your insist chatter on marriage. I am not a woman who wishes to be tied down; I will not turn into a woman that is afraid to venture off her property without her husband."
His voice got deeper, like a low growl. "Just because you dropped your career at the Berlin State Opera, does not mean you can run off to Paris. You know as well as I you can never run away from your troubles."
I felt Anna cringed as if he poured salt into a fresh wound, a memory flew by, but I was not fast enough to see it. In a stern tone I spoke. "Enough! You never understood on why I left! Do you think I wanted to leave the life of a Prima Donna, having the audience demand an encore for my performing talent? To have my dressing room decorated with flowers and presents from men trying to sway me with their charms? I didn't want to leave the Homeland and yet here I am," in utter disgust I continued, "with Lisa Roma*** sitting in my dressing room, while my fans fawn over her?"
Anna continued to rant while I felt the presence of being watch grow stronger. "To them, I am nothing now! The opera singer you knew is no more, no more of the easily pushed around Anna! No man will bring down the new Anna Barrett; she refuses to fall for a man! If she wishes to be held down then she will do so here in Paris as a benefactor for the Garnier!" Anna didn't realize she was getting louder with every sentence, I thought I would have to mentally cover my ears.
She realized that she was yelling and mentally patted her ruffled feathers back down as she came back as the cold, calculating Anna. "I am a disgrace to the family, a Barrett isn't second best. Look at my brothers Paul, Peter, and James they are both successful in their businesses, they have children for Mutter and Urheber** to spoil. They have wives who are approved by them! And Andrew, look at the youngest of the children. A disgraceful, has been singer resorting to running away with her tail between her legs."
Her dominant façade was falling apart in front of him. She was on the verge of tears, "Andrew, we are not to speak about what has transpired in this room. Not Ruth, not to my parents, and certainly nobody else. My career in Berlin is no more; there is no need to bring up the unwanted memories. Gute Nacht*** mein herr."
I picked up my skirts to climb up the stairs and go to my, Anna's room. Man this is confusing, but what was that memory that Anna was trying to suppress? I opened the bedroom door to see that the room was the size of an apartment! The room had dark wooden panels on the wall while the floor was carpet that was the color of blood. A vanity was a red wood color stood near the wall with make-up products neat and tidy. I also had a bureau that could hold up five people tops. Another door led to my own washing quarters.
The king-sized canopy bed was made down, Anna just plopped down on the turned down bed and went into a deep sleep.
I awoke to feel a presence in my room; I didn't see anything. I was about to nestle back into the nest of pillows when I heard a note from a violin. My head jerked up at Brahms's Lullaby began to play, echoing in the room. I felt hypnotized by the lull of it as I opened the bedroom door and down the grand staircase to the back door where the horse pasture was.
On the very edge of the horse pasture were woods, which stretched out until what you saw was darkness. In this case, you saw amber pinpricks staring right at me as I dumbly followed the soothing lullaby into the woods. I stood before the masked man as he played the last stanza of the lullaby. Once the note ended in the vast expanse of the forest, he rested the violin against a tree and came over to me.
He smirked smugly before gently grabbing at my chin, "its uncanny on how both you and Anna fell for the music. Your eyes are glazed over as if you lust for the music to guide you." His thumbs touched my half-opened eyelids, I felt mentally exhausted and leaned against the Phantom. "Anna struggled to know where she belonged. Her heart is still in the music, but she was afraid to get near it again."
The lullaby was still playing in my head, his words were threading into the song. He sighed, "if you were only this cooperative when you are not hypnotized by music. Come, we must return to the present, your fat-friend will be missing you."
The marking on my shoulder began to burn; I woke up from my slight daze to see the Phantom looked triumphant on what he wanted to show me. But my friends, I knew this wasn't the end of the lesson there was still more to come. I screamed in agony and fell onto the forest floor where the tree roots and ground began to swallow me as I looked up to those amber pinpricks looked down upon as the earth swallowed me whole.
* - Mother and Father in German (Translation from Google Translator)
** - Good night in German
*** - An actual person, look her up.
Big thanks to Vampiress Idrial again for correcting things that needed to be corrected! Please review if you want the next chapter to come out!
Your writer,
BYD
