Chapter Ten: In Which Erik Sings Blue Oyster Cult
Oh my gosh, I finally found some more of the story! I found five more chapters besides this one, which is actually the continuation of the last chapter that I couldn't remember. So I am really, really elated right now, and will continue with regular updates until I am through with these chapters, then will continue writing as usual. I've noticed, however, that my sense of humor has changed, as my readers of my new comedy Double Vision might have noticed. Strange, huh? Ah, well, we can't have everything we want, can we?
Anyways, if you don't know who Blue Oyster Cult is, I recommend that you find a way to listen to their song "Don't Fear the Reaper" to better understand why it is so ironic that Erik should be singing Blue Oyster Cult songs.
Even though I only had three reviewers, which is far less than my pre-losing-the-story chapters, I am very grateful to you all, and thus I will respond to you, as always!
Sandra- Thank you sooooo much for those definitions, they had been bugging me for a long time. Haha, to be quite honest, I had thought that AU was author's understudy or something irrational like that. Heh, stupid me!
Sapphire Tearz- Well, I'm glad that you liked that chapter! It wasn't one of my favorites, but they get better! (Or worse, if you don't have a gutter-mind, as my sense of humor isn't pure at all!)
CeleryBunch- Hey, I lurve the word lurve! –laugh- Interesting name, is there a story behind it? Oh, and thanks for giving me license to change everything at will, though I've already done that with Erik's personality! –wink-
When Sarah once again recovered from her faint, she found herself backstage. Meg, Veronique, Tiff, Chris, and Mlle. Sorelli were all gathered around her, and Mme. Giry came over a moment later with a damp cloth which she placed on Sarah's forehead.
"Are you alright, my dear?" Mlle. Sorelli asked.
"Uhhhh…. what happened?"
"Dude, you fainted onstage!" Tiff said, seeming shocked that she had to ask.
"Can't you remember?" Meg placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder in concern.
"Sort of…" Sarah's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait, I missed the performance?"
Her friend nodded. "But we still have 9 more shows. So it doesn't really matter."
"Do you think he'll say the same thing?"
Mme. Giry imitated Meg's former movement. "The opera ghost?"
The girl nodded and sat up, looking about wildly as though she expected him to materialize right then and there. Mlle. Sorelli and Veronique crossed themselves nervously, also glancing around.
"Come with me, both of you." Mme. Giry stood swiftly, helping Sarah up.
Both Americans followed her as she hustled down dimly lit hallways, finally coming to a locked door. She unlocked it and ushered them inside, relocking it as soon as they were inside. She crossed to the wardrobe and took out a dagger. Handing it to Tiff, she headed for the door.
"I'll get you something to eat, and some cool water. You must be in need of it after that incident." She smiled kindly and left with one last comment. "I hope that you won't have need of that."
As soon as the sound of her footsteps had faded away, a soft voice seemed to fill the entire room and the gas lamp's flame died suddenly, without cause. The voice was singing a very familiar song.
"Came a last night of sadness
And it was clear she couldn't go on
The door was open and the wind appeared
The candles blew and the noose appeared
The curtains flew and then he appeared
Saying "don't be afraid; come on baby"
And she had no fear
And she ran to him-"
By this point both girls burst out laughing, and Tiff turned the lamp back on.
"Blue Oyster Cult, Erik?" She asked skeptically.
A panel in the wall opened, revealing the phantom's hiding place.
"It seemed fitting."
"Dude, how can you say that with a straight face? It's an '80's rock song!"
He walked into the room and suddenly turned to Sarah, his voice taking on a menacing tinge. "What happened?"
"Ummm… well you see… I have this… phobia of public… singing…" She sighed.
"Phobia of public singing?" He echoed flatly. "Perfect! My best pupil can't sing for an audience!"
Tiffani looked indignant about his saying that Sarah was his best pupil, and she was considering taking the dagger away from the girl for everybody's safety.
"How long have you had this… absurd fear?"
"Ummm… at least five years."
Both teens retreated nervously as he kicked the dresser and began ranting like a madman as he paced the room.
"Dude, chill! Can't you just teach her not to freak in front of an audience?"
Erik's only response was to grab their wrists and drag them into the passage he'd come from, leaving Mme. Giry to find an empty room. He spent the rest of the night forcing Sarah to sing her part over and over again, finally walking her back to the Louis-Philippe room. Tiffani was already sound asleep as Sarah lay down in her half of the swan bed.
"Erik, don't go!" She whispered, causing him to pause in the doorway, light flooding around his dark, lean frame into the room and making him seem almost to have an angelic glow.
"I fear it would be most improper for me to stay." A slight teasing tone edged his voice.
"Will you sing to me?" She once again winced at such a Mary-Sue request, but shrugged it off.
"What, now?"
"No, next year!" Her biting sarcasm immediately made her regret her words. "Sorry… yes, now."
Erik complied, coming to sit at the bedside next to the girl. He felt fortunate that she couldn't see the blush which he felt certain was on his unmasked cheek. "What shall I sing?"
"Music of the night… the alternative version by Michael Crawford!" Her excited tone sounded like a child begging for their favorite tale at story time.
"What?" He seemed immensely confused.
"Okay, I'll start it for you… but you take over, m'kay?"
Sarah began to sing then. "Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness wakes and stirs imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses, helpless to resist the notes I write. For I compose the music of the night…"
In the end she sang Erik to sleep, who fought his drowsiness, trying to remember the lyrics to the mutation of his original song, but finally drifted off with his head on the edge of Sarah's pillow, his legs dangling off the bed, and a smile on his face.
