Chapter 10: The Trap Door

"Do you think that Christine has gone down through the mirror?" Meg asked.

"Yes." Of course Christine has gone through the mirror. "But I don't think she went alone…"

Meg's eye widened. "The Opera Ghost! He must have had something to do with this!" Mai nodded and opened the door to the dorms. Only to find Bouqet talking with the other ballerinas. She rolled her eyes and walked to her bed, avoiding Bouqet.

"Like yellow parchment is his skin. A great black hole serves as the nose that never grew." Bouqet was trying to scare the ballerinas about the Phantom, and it was working. "You must always be on your guard, or he will catch you… with his magical lasso!" He used his lasso and tossed it around a passing ballerina. Pulling her close he snapped his teeth and made weird sounds. The ballerina yelped and tried to get out of his grasp. To her luck, Mme. Giry came at the moment and saved her.

"Those who speak of what they know…" She addressed everyone in the room. "Find too late that prudent silence is wise. Joseph Bouqet hold your tongue, keep your hands at the level of your eye!" Mme. Giry used the lasso against Bouget and wound it around his neck and pulled, while Bouqet quickly raised his hand to stop the lasso.

Bouqet soon then left and all the ballerinas settled in for the night. Mai changed into her nightdress and curled under the bed covers. I wonder what Christine is doing right now…

Meg shook Mai awake by her shoulders. "Wake up Mai!" She exclaimed, "Christine is back!" Mai simply responded by shoving the hand away. "Idontwannagetup…" She mumbled incoherently. Meg huffed and grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the bed. Mai woke up instantly as her face slammed into the cold floor. "Fine, just let me – Wait?! Did you just say that Christine was back?!" Meg nodded. "Oh my gosh, come on then!" Mai grabbed her coat on the way out of the dorms.

She rushed down the halls and skidded to a halt outside of the Primma Donna room. "Christine? You in there?" Mai knocked on the door and waited patiently. No answer came. Well this feels like deja vu…

"She is asleep." A voice said. Mai turned around the see Mme. Giry walking towards her with Meg in tow.

"Where did she go?" Mai asked. She had a hunch that Christine was with the Opera Ghost, but where did that path in the mirror lead?

"That is none of your concern." Mme. Giry said. "All that matters is that she is safe and back." Mai huffed and walked away. If no one was going to tell her what happened then she was going to find out herself. She ran up to the stage and took the stairs up towards where she was last chasing the ghost. Puffing by the time she go to the wall, she rested against it for a breath. As she slowed her breathing, her eyes spotted a small bump on the floor, beneath the mat. She lowered herself to the ground and removed the mat. Mai gasped! It was a trapdoor! So that's how the ghost got away. Sneaky.

She pulled the metal ring attached to the wood and heaved the door open. Below there was a dark abyss that seemed to stretch on forever. Mai chewed the inside of her cheek contemplating. Go into there now and possibly get hurt because it's dark. Or come back later with a lamp and explore then. Option number two seemed the best one to choose. Mai closed the trap door and covered it with the mat before walking back to the dorms and getting ready for the day.

Oh great. Carlotta's back. Mai was unhappy for that reason, the squawking chicken had returned to the Opera Populaire complaining about Raoul sending her a note about not performing that night. The managers although insisted that she perform in Il Muto, the opera that was soon on show, and as the lead. Mai had overhead this information form some ballet girls gossiping to each other in the dorms while she was getting ready.

Mai changed into a dark blue dress that was left over from a previous opera. The blouse part was a rich royal blue with a light sky blue skirt made of silk. There was black lace adorning the hem of the dress. The dress hugged Mai's curves and slightly puffed out at the bottom. In Opera terms, the dress was fairly plain. She twirled around in a circle and watched as the dress swished about her legs. I feel so elegant! Mai grabbed an oil lamp and went to find the trap door.

When Mai reached the trap door and opened it, she was confronted with a problem: she was wearing a dress. Ugh! How could I be so stupid! She huffed and put the oil lamp on the wooden boards before slowly lowering herself down into the trap door. Please don't let there be anything to bite my legs off! Her arms shook and her upper body muscles were burning from holding her up. Soon, her feet skimmed the bottom of the abyss and she dropped down to the floor. With a heave of a breath she looked up towards the top of the trapdoor – it was only a couple of inches above her.

Now that she knew where the ground was, she jumped up again and grabbed the oil lamp before going back to the bottom. Mai lifted up the oil lamp in front of her to see around. There was a tunnel leading into more darkness. She hoisted up the hem of her dress and walked forward. Mai walked slowly so she wouldn't run into anything ahead of her that would suddenly pop out. Something fury scuttled past her boot clad feet and Mai screeched. She pointed the lamp towards her feet – only to find a group of rats surrounding her!

"AHHHHHHH! OH MY GOSH GET AWAY GET AWAY!" Mai screamed, for she was deathly afraid of rats. For one, they carried disease. And secondly, they had teeth. That used to chew through peoples stomach in medieval times as punishment. As Mai jumped around trying to shoo away the rats, the oil lamp jiggled around and fell to the floor. The glass shattered all over the ground and Mai froze. Oh crap… I'm screwed. She looked around her into the abyss and felt the walls. Which way do I go now?

"Hello!" Mai yelled. "Can anyone hear me?! HELP!" Silence. Then, a scuffle of feet – but not Mai's. She turned slowly to source of sound…

WHACK!

Mai's head flung back and collided into the wall. Her last thought wasn't very happy.

Rats are going to chew me to death…

AN: Shout out to E-man-dy-S for your review! As for your question; the reason that Mai hasn't heard of the Phantom of the Opera is because she just… doesn't. I've met many people who haven't heard of it. Anyway, I thought that the story would be more interesting if she didn't know what was going to happen or know everything about Erik.

Here's the link for the blue dress:

blue_dress/set?id=192539806

Edited: 5/1/14