Chapter 7:

Erik watched the managers talk in their private office, planning how he was going to force them to put Orpheus and Eurydice on the season.

"What a triumph! Haha!" Firmin laughed as he finished off a glass of champagne. Andre fell into the large leather chair behind his desk and gave a sigh of a relief.

"We're on our way Firmin." A childish grin spread across his face.

"And once Carmen opens as our first opera there will be lines for blocks to get tickets!" Firmin wiped champagne off of his graying mustache.

So that's what they were planning on doing... Erik stood contemplating what to do about this problem when a knock came at the manager's door. Erik didn't see who stood outside but he heard their conversation and watched as the duo filed out of their office. Without missing a beat he emerged out of a hidden door in the coat closet and began rummaging through the papers on Andre's desk. He finally found what he was looking for, the score and rights for Carmen. He tucked the papers into his cloak and quickly retreated into the coat closet to descend back to his lair.

The trip was quick since Erik was becoming more accustomed to roaming the opera once more. Rowing the gondola to the shore he hopped out onto the stone and rushed to his desk. He snatched up Orpheus and Eurydice which he promptly stuffed into his cloak. The phantom dropped the papers for Carmen on his desk in their place. Hurrying back to the gondola Erik remembered something. The girl was still lying in his lair! Bringing a hand up to his face he turned on his heel to check on her in the dimly lit bedroom he put her in.

After looking through books earlier Erik had determined she had scarlet fever. All he had tried to do was keep his distance while putting cold cloths on her to try and bring her temperature down. He had heard that scarlet fever outbreaks had been occurring in other countries, and he knew there wasn't a cure for it. Why was he still trying to save her? He stood over her in the dim candle lit room watching the light and shadow play across her face. She would probably not survive or wake up soon, yet part of him hoped and wanted her to wake up and see him standing over her. What would she say? How he longed for real human interaction... Erik turned away, he needed to place Orpheus and Eurydice on Andre's desk before the manager's returned to their office.

He planted the new opera on the desk just in time. As the door to the closet clicked shut behind him he heard the manager's approaching the office door. The door knob turned and he silently observed them go to their desks to begin filling out paper work no doubt. Erik wished he could stay and watch their reaction as they realize their opera was gone, but he needed to tend to the girl, so he turned and glided back down to his lair.

'Oh my head...' Claire unsteadily brought her hand up to her forehead and clenched it. She felt like her skin was on fire. Opening her eyes hurt and everything was a little fuzzy for the first few moments. 'Wha- Where am I?" Her vision had come into focus and all she saw over head was a deep red canopy. She willed her head to turn to the side where her cheek was met with something soft and damp. Her hand left her forehead and picked it up to examine it. A washcloth.

"Where in the world am I?" She whispered hoarsely. Looking around the room she saw deeply colored fabric, pillows, and small trinkets strewn about. A music box with a Persian monkey on top sat forgotten, partially under a white piece of fabric. Claire wasn't scared, just confused, as she heaved herself up to a sitting position with her bare feet hanging off the edge of the luxurious bed. The room was lit dimly with candles and she could see a stronger light coming from the entrance to the room.

'Is this a... cave?' Claire only now noticed that there were no smooth walls and that the candles made strange, fragmented shadows across the dark jagged stone that gently curved upward.

Unsteadily rising to her feet she staggered toward the entrance to the cave, needing to find out where she was. The small bedroom opened into a larger grotto that was lighted by more candles than she cared to count. A huge pipe organ sat in the center of all the candles with sheet music strewn on it. She could also see a desk not too far from the organ that had gargantuan stacks of paper that looked like a Leaning Tower of Pisa in the dark light. Grabbing hold of a tapestry to steady herself, Claire carefully walked to the pipe organ that sat looming and intimidating in the huge rock cavern. She gratefully sat on the worn dark wood bench perched in front of it.

'Who brought me here?' Claire wondered as she fingered the yellowing music sheets on the ancient organ. Her finger tips lightly brushed the keys as she selected which one she would press. After picking the key she pressed her finger down gently and was met with a booming high note emerging from one pipe. It nearly made the sickly girl fall off her bench. She decided not to mess with the keys anymore and instead took to reading the music sheets more closely. Most of them looked worn and had writing on them that was faded. Someone had worked for a long time on them and hadn't worked on them in a while. Claire snatched a random sheet of music labeled simply Music of the Night. The notes were long and seductive to match the words. Claire ran her finger along the first line while humming it.

'This is beautiful... and a little frightening.' Claire saw that there was something not right about what the words were asking. Why would anyone want to hide from the light of day?

"Mon dieu!" Claire exclaimed as her body was wracked with shivers and her headache intensified. Her hands flew forward and gripped the old worn organ to steady herself. The soft wood was nice and felt grounding as Claire's world rocked while she coughed dryly.

"What are you doing?!" A deep booming voice exclaimed.

A/N: Whoop whoop! Another chapter up! Whatcha think? Please leave comments and constructive criticism in a review :)

Thanks for reading!