Chapter 8
Down to the Lair
Arianne ran for Christine's dressing room. The night before, Erik had shown her the secret passage that led to his underground liar.
She ran from the stage hoping to reach the room before it was consumed by the flames, but the fire spread very quickly and there was people running all around. It was very slow going against the torrent of people.
As she ran there were more and more flames around her and less people. Searing hot pieces of wood fell onto her back and burned her neck; it was a miracle her dress didn't catch fire! She finally reached the dressing room and finds it was luckily still untouched by the fire.
She walked up to the large mirror on the wall and began to search for the secret button that unlocked the mirror. She couldn't find it.
Flames began to enter through the door that she had carelessly left open. The room began to burn quickly with all the draping on the wall and abundance of sheet music lying around. Arianne began to panic and franticly began to search for the button again.
She quickly looked up the side of the mirror several times pushing every point her fingers fell on. She could feel the heat of the fire on her back. She glanced back quickly to see that the flames were vast approaching and she search faster.
Her skin began to burn as the flames got closer and closer. Finally she found it and she couldn't keep the smile of relieve off her face as she pressed the button the mirror slid to the side. She almost jumped into the dark passage way beyond.
Quickly she slid the mirror shut and watch as the flames consumed the last bit of the room. Arianne looked down and noticed the small holes burnt into her dress and the pain of the burns finally settled in. She felt around her face a bit and pulled her hand quickly away when she felt a horrible sting when her hand reached he right eye. It would have to wait till later.
She pulled out the notes she had took the night before to tell her where to turn to get through the winding passages that was Erik's home. Erik had left her a lamp to help guide her way through long passageways.
She started walking and slowly made her way through the gloomy tunnels. Right, left, straight, watch that trap door. Finally she made it to the edge of the underground lake; a small boat lay on the shore with a one paddle lying inside.
Gently she pushed the boat into the water, got in and started to paddle. Her burns were hurting horribly she knew she had gotten more burnt than she had originally thought, but she had to reach Erik; God knows how much pain he's in.
She rowed for a while until finally she heard something.
"You alone can make my song take flight.
It's over now,
The music of the night!"
It was Erik. His voice was full of pain and despair. Sounds of shattering glass came out of the gloom. Arianne rowed faster and soon she reached Erik's lair.
Several mirrors were broken, but there was no Erik. This was not part of the plan. She found one of Erik's masks, but still there was no Erik.
Then she found shards of a mirror next to a curtain, strange. She pulled back the curtain and revealed a long dark and narrow passage. She grabbed a lamp and started down the passage.
Every step she took sent shocks through her body; the pain of the burns was almost unbearable. Her sight began to blur and she began to fell dizzy, but some how she continued through the passage.
Erik stopped abruptly, someone was fallowing him. He listened intently and heard the sound of footsteps behind him. They were uneven as if they were limping. A glow came up around the corner. It began to get brighter, too late to run and then Arianne fell into view.
She said one thin "Erik!?" Then she fainted.
"Oh God! What have I done?" Erik shouted to the gloom.
Her face and body was badly burned and her lovely light hair had been singed. He had to get them somewhere safe and he knew just the place.
