CHAPTER 11

OPERA GHOST

Flashback

You alone can make my song take flight

Help me make the music of the night

I woke up to the sound of his voice.

"Are you really here Angel of Music?" I asked.

"Yes, I am," he answered.

"I can never tell if you are or not. Sometimes you won't even answer me. It'd be nice to hear you talk more often, even if you're not real," I said.

"Why are you so sure I'm not real?"

"Well, there's no such thing as angels living under an opera house."

"Good argument," he said after a while.

"I know, I wish it wasn't though."

"Why?"

"Because that means I'm right, and me being right means you're not real."

After a long silence he spoke again.

"What if I wasn't a dream? What if I was real?"

"Then I'd be the happiest person in the world," I answered sincerely.

"You promise?"

"I do."

"Goodnight Christine."

"Goodnight Angel."

Present

I tried to focus on my dancing but I couldn't. It seemed like I couldn't focus on anything these days. My angel of music hadn't come back and I didn't know if he was going to. It had already been two weeks and there was no sign of him. It's like he'd never existed but I knew he had. I knew he was real and that's why it was so hard to forget him. It was hard forgetting there was someone so amazing in this world, someone I'd had and lost.

I hadn't just lost my angel of music, I'd also lost the man that haunted my dreams.

"Christine," I heard Meg call my name.

"Yes?" I answered, breaking away from my thoughts.

"What are you thinking about? You seem so distracted."

"I'm sorry Meg, I'm just tired," I lied. I wish I was able to tell her about him but I couldn't, she wouldn't believe me.

"Tired? How is that possible? All you seem to do lately is sleep," she snickered.

"Meg," Madame Giry said out loud.

"Sorry." I heard Meg say.

Madame Giry had become our new teacher and it'd been great except for the fact she was really strict. Especially with Meg and I. She was a great teacher though, unfortunately it was only a temporary situation. She was just filling in until our dance teacher felt better.

"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?" Meg asked again for the twentieth time.

"Nothing is wrong."

"It doesn't seem like it."

I didn't reply.

"Well, if you won't tell me I won't tell you what I heard."

I didn't reply once again.

"Ok, fine, I'll tell you anyway. Did you know there is a ghost in this opera house?"

"A ghost?" I asked curious.

"I mean, not a ghost exactly, more like a phantom. They call him the phantom of the opera," she explained.

I stared at her confused.

"Where did you hear this?" I asked.

"Some girls told me."

A phantom, how absurd, I thought to myself.

"Meg, stop trying to distract your classmates and practice your posture instead," Madame Giry said to Meg and she looked down embarrassed.

I kept thinking about what Meg had said. Why would anyone spread such rumors? There were no ghosts here. If there was anything remotely close to it that was my angel but obviously he wasn't a ghost even though he'd disappeared just like one.

And then it hit me. Could my angel be the phantom of the opera? No, he couldn't be, no one else knew about him but me. At least that's what I thought.

But if it was true he was the phantom, then someone must know where he could be.

"Meg," I whispered.

"Yes?"

"So about the phantom..."

"What about it?"

"What else do you know about him?"

"Nothing else I guess."

"Do you know where he could be hiding?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Just curious"

"Well, they say he hides out at the tunnels of the opera. Always looking to strangle someone with his lasso."

"Really, Meg? The phantom strangles people?" No way that was true if the phantom was my angel.

"Hey, that's what they told me, don't shoot the messenger."

I rolled my eyes.

"So, if you wanted to find the tunnels, where would you go?

"I don't know exactly."

"You're not a very good source"

"Well, pardon me, if I don't know where to find ghosts," she said jokingly.

But after a few minutes she spoke again.

"Actually now that I remember, I've heard there's a door that leads to the tunnels. Maybe that's how you can find the phantom," Meg whispered. Then Madame Giry gave us a look and we didn't talk again for the remaining of the rehearsal.

That night, after I was sure everyone was asleep, I tried to look for the door Meg had told me about. While I was looking many questions kept racing through my mind. What if he didn't want to be found at all? What if he hadn't come see me because he had been disappointed with our kiss? What if he was already gone?

Finally after looking through many doors I found one that led to a staircase and I knew it was the right one. But as I kept going down the steps I grew more anxious, not because of all the unanswered questions, but because no matter how far I kept going this staircase seemed to have no end.

Thankfully before I started panicking I got to the last step and right in front of me I saw a tunnel. I prepared myself for the worst and went on that direction.

I realized after a few minutes maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. I didn't even know if the phantom people were talking about was my angel. But it had to be, I mean, it's not like there would be anyone else living under the opera.

But even if it was him, what would I say?

I lost track of how long I had been walking and before I knew it I was lost. So many turns had left me confused and with no idea of how to get back.

"Great," I murmured sarcastically.

I wasn't going to give up just yet though. I needed to find him one way or another. And that's when I saw a figure in the dark, and when I looked closer I saw the mask. That mask which had haunted me just like the man wearing it.

"It's him," I whispered. I was the happiest person alive in that moment. But then he started walking away and I panicked. Should I follow him? I asked myself.

Of course you should follow him, this is why you came here, my mind told me.

And I did. And then I came to the realization I was hiding from him. This wasn't what I'd come here for. I'd come here to see him and now I was hiding?

"I'm such a coward," I said and regretted it right away. I covered my mouth, as if somehow that would help. He looked back and I tried to hide against the wall.

After a few seconds he turned around and kept walking. I sighed in relief and continued following him even though I knew this was not the smartest idea.

What was I doing? I was supposed to talk to him, to ask him all I wanted to know, but instead I was playing hide and seek.

I was feeling very much like a stalker at this point.

I kept telling myself I was just waiting for the right moment which was true, but it was also true I was scared to death.

I gathered all my courage once and for all and I opened my mouth to speak.

"Angel of music," I said and he came to a halt. He turned around and faced me, and that's when I realized it'd been too long since I'd last seen him because I'd somehow forgotten how perfect he looked. Everything about him, from his features, at least the ones I could see, to his garments, was perfection.

"Christine," he said with that beautiful voice I'd been yearning to hear.

Hi there! I'm so glad I was finally able to post a new chapter and hopefully you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you thought. I love writing this story and that's satisfaction enough but being able to know your opinions and reading your reviews make this much more amazing. So don't be scared to leave a review, I promise it'll be ok ;) See you soon!