Insert Indiana Jones music here
Heyheyhey! Two Chappies in a day! ((In a rhyming way! I had to...))Pleasantly different for me. Maybe I should get stuck in airports more often! xP
Will we ACTUALLY get to Masquerade? OmG! Maybe I won't, just to keep you in suspense...
Nah, jk. I am insanely bored and will gladly write some more. xD Better than watching Christine be a flake. (No, seriously! I don't like her as much after Music of the Night. I realized on my 9 hour plane ride while watching phantom: It isn't that I don't like Raoul - I don't like Christine! I GET IT! :P) haha. Well, she can be cool. WHen she isn't "I love Raoul- I love Erik- I love Raoul - I hate you Erik... I love Erik, I love Raoul... YADAyada...yada... Okay, my rant is over.
Same ol' disclaimer.
Chapter 10
After Meg was finished gushing over John kissing her hand when bidding her goodbye and helping her into the carriage they were finally almost there - which meant that Meg was gushing for a long time. Tammy laughed, not understanding why anyone would fancy her brother but still loved him dearly and told Meg that she'll send him word if there is a job opening at the Opera Populaire. At this Meg ranted even more until they finally arrived.
When they arrived Meg turned to Christine. "Do not fret," she said, "I will get your trunk inside. You must worry about getting in undetected. Why are you sneaking in, anyway?" she asked curiously. Christine thanked her and mumbled something about not wanting to see Raoul, who would surely be near the entrance - being the theater's patron and all. Meg accepted this without question and watched as Christine slipped out of the carriage, the side not facing the theater. It was already twilight and she pulled the hood over her head so no one would recognize her.
She moved smoothly and quickly, most likely being a dancer for so many years, along the stone wall of the opera house. She didn't fear the set changers for she knew that right now they were enjoying themselves at the ball or working at the ball. Remembering the grate that was never locked, she scurried over and climbed into it. She lowered herself down into the chapel and was finally gifted with a sense of home and Christine was so happy to be back.
After lighting a quick candle for her father, Christine was on the move again. She turned to her left and saw the picture of the angel on the wall - she grasped the right frame and pulled up, trusting it to move. And move it did, causing the picture to come free and slide to the left. She looked down at the familiar, small spiraled staircase and smiled. Watching herself, she stepped over the bottom frame and onto the platform, sliding the picture back across and heard the frame click back into place.
She picked up one of the many torches lining the walls and with her other hand grasped the smooth, wooden banister. She made her way down the stairs, her steps quick and excited. She made it to the lake. Watching her step, as not to fall into one of the many torture chambers, she made her way down the sidewalk-like trail next to the lake. It was odd, in Christine's opinion, to think to think an underground lake beautiful, but beautiful it was. She passed the most likely millions of candles lining the lake in their various shaped homes - candelabras, candle holders, or their wax just stick to walls or torches.
((The two descriptions of Erik's home, in the book and in the musical, were so different. I'm going to try to combine them so this story can be familiar with both. And I'm going to put Ayesha in!! Lol.))
At last, the sight that she was so longing to see had finally met her. The millions of candles somehow came to a climax here, their light almost blinding but insanely beautiful. Scores of music were everywhere around Erik's organ along with beautiful sketches people she had never met and places she had never been. Most of them were of her though, which made her blush. Christine made her way past this area into his bedroom area, where the beautifully carved swan bed was. She traced it with her hand as she walked by it. There were many more areas like these, almost like rooms to a house, all of them separated by stairs or other things which acted almost like walls. One of these was a grand cat bed, and on it sat a cat named Ayesha. Christine had been trying to come to peace with this feline for a while now, and they had come across some kind of deal, and that was that Erik belonged to Ayesha: period. Christine could live with that though, for now, and scratched the cat's ear.
"Are you going to come to the ball, too?" Christine asked the cat playfully.
"No, you see - she doesn't especially like people," said a voice in response, from an unsolved source.
"She doesn't seem to mind me, or you for that matter," she said with a smile, her eyes wandering the walls.
"You see - " Erik said again, stepping out from behind a large harp, "you are an angel, and I very specifically said people." He smiled when Christine obviously brightened upon seeing him.
She walked over, admiring his red costume. His hand covered the right side of his face, letting his skin breathe and not be confined by the uncomfortable mask. "Oh, I see why she must love you, then."
"I'm more of a monster," he said, softly as she made her way to him. She reached up to his face and covered his hand with hers.
"No, you are not," she said with a small shake of her head. When he said monster she thought of Phillipe and shivered. He wrapped her cloak around her tighter with his other hand. She thanked him softly, not mentioning the true source of her tremble, and let him blame it on the dank catacombs.
Time seemed to slow when she was with him, especially in such a place where it was so hard to keep up with time. Christine let him turn her around and press her back to his chest gently. She shivered again, thinking of the damned Phillipe De Chagny and Erik froze.
"What is upsetting you so?" he asked, his voice a low whisper.
"It is nothing," Christine said and let herself melt into his embrace and forget time once again. A few moments later he spoke up. again
"It is surely not nothing," he said, Erik's mouth next to her ear. She turned her head towards his, not looking at his face, her voice a whisper, too, "It is nothing."
She didn't want to tell him for the same reason she didn't want to tell Meg - in a way, she was embarrassed by it. She was probably stupid in going up there alone, even though she didn't expect to run into any drunkards. His temper flashed once again, but he tried to control it. "Why won't you just tell me?" he asked, obviously struggling with his mood swing.
Christine looked up at him, her eyes watery, and he cooled down automatically, realizing that it was something serious. His right hand no longer covered the disfigured side of his face because he knew that Christine couldn't see it from where he placed her and he held her hands in his, bringing one of them to his lips in a soft kiss.
"Well, what ever it is, you can forget it now," he said softly, his voice always mysterious.
He disentangled himself from her gracefully and slipped on his mask. It was a different one than usual, Christine noted silently, and in someways it was as disturbing as it was beautiful. It was an off-white and had large, contorted lines that looked like veins. ((Yes, I am going to use the movie one. I found it very nice.)) Otherwise, he was covered head to toe in red.
"The Red Death," he said with a bow upon seeing her lingering glance. She recognized the name and later remembered that it was a story by Edgar Alan Poe. He turned back around and picked up a large, black envelope.
Erik planned to slip it into the managers office later during the ball and "kindly ask" them to "consider" this play, he told this to Christine to which she said, "And would 'Kindly ask them to consider' be written in a letter signed OG with a certain red seal?" And he smiled ruefully at her.
Christine took off her cloak and hung it over his swan-bed's neck and Erik slipped his cape on. "You look lovely, my dear," he said, taking her hand and assisting her into the boat. Once they were both safely in he shoved off the shore and into the underground lake.