Paris, January 1881

Everyone turned at Jammes's shriek, watching her intently as she trembled with her hand outstretched, pointing into the depths of the crowd. People turned to where she was gesturing, craning their necks to get a look at the famous Opera Ghost. However, the only glimpse Lisette was able to see was Erik's hat bending ever so slightly as he moved faster than humanly possible into the hallway.

"The Opera Ghost!" one of the men beside Poligny bellowed, laughing as he clapped his hand on Poligny's shoulder. "Let's invite him to to the supper, shall we? I've never dined with a ghost before!"

"The Opera Ghost to dinner?" another man laughed. "What will we feed him? Ghouls and goblins?"

This sent the guests into a frenzy of laughter and Jammes's outburst was soon forgotten about as the room turned back to drinks and dancing.

"I really saw him!" Jammes exclaimed, turning to Meg. "He was standing just behind Monsieur Debienne!"

"There, there," Meg said, wrapping an arm around the small girl's shoulders. "You have been growing far too paranoid spending so much time on stage with La Carlotta!"

Meg insisted that Jammes return to the ballerina dormitories, as she was far too overstimulated from the excitement of the managers' retirement. Sorelli eventually joined them, her mood soured by Jammes's unwelcome interruption and unable to finish her speech. After a while of mindless chatter, the conversation took a turn which sparked Lisette's interest.

"Christine fainting on stage!" Sorelli laughed, the wine in her glass nearly spilling as she imitated becoming overwhelmed. "Please, if we ballerinas did that every time we received applause from the audience there would be no show!"

Lisette spoke up for the first time since Sorelli joined them. "I'm surprised Christine isn't here."

"She's probably still in Carlotta's dressing room 'recovering.'" Sorelli couldn't hide the scowl on her face.

"No," Meg said. "Christine hasn't left her dressing room since she fainted. Several people went to check in on her, but her room was locked and dark when I went in and checked on her."

"She went home?" Sorelli asked in horror. "On the night of Debienne and Poligny's retirement? She's lucky she'll still be prima donna when she returns if that's how she treats the managers that put her in the spotlight!"

Lisette couldn't help but let a small smirk escape her lips, thinking of how Erik had nearly bullied Debienne and Poligny to give her the lead role with all the pranks he had pulled on Carlotta within the last month.

"This has all been very overwhelming for her," Meg said in Christine's defense. "You had years to prepare yourself for the role of prima ballerina, she has only had a few months! I am sure this is the last thing she expected to happen after coming to the Opera House."

Sorelli sniffed, turning the other direction and pretending to be intrigued by the wine swirling in her glass. They at last settled themselves at the great table that had been set out for the celebratory meal. Lisette was careful to sit away from Sorelli in order to not spend the evening hearing complaints about Christine. She settled herself in between Meg and an older looking gentleman, only to see the count sit next to Sorelli and whisper something in her ear, which made her giggle and blush. Once the general excitement at the extravagance had settled down, Debienne stood up, practically beaming and bursting from his too-tight suit.

"Monsieurs and mesdames," he said, "On behalf of myself and Monsieur Poligny, we could not be more proud of those of you here we will be leaving behind. Our time at the Paris Opera House has been unforgettable and we are sad that our time to retire has arrived. However, I have the pleasure of introducing everyone to the men who will be taking over as the new managers for this season: Monsieur Armand Moncharmin and Monsieur Firmin Richard!"

The table erupted into applause as the two gentlemen sitting on Debienne's right stood. They both seemed to have perfectly white teeth as they beamed to those around them. Lisette did her best to study their faces as she knew she would eventually need to be introduced to them. As she studied them, she almost let out a gasp as she saw who was sitting to the right of Moncharmin and Richard. A cloaked figure sat very still, hardly moving, and Lisette recognized Erik's mask from the slight bit of face he dared let everyone see from beneath his hat. She glanced at Meg, but she seemed oblivious as she was talking to Sorelli and the count from across the table. However, the count caught Lisette's gaze and stiffened at the sight, immediately drawing his hand to his waist where she knew his revolver sat. Her heart tightened at the motion and she said a quick prayer that he wouldn't do anything rash.

Just as the count began to show interest in the mysterious stranger, others at the table began to notice him too. Sorelli, who was excitedly talking to Meg about Buquet's death was suddenly hushed by a well-dressed woman, turning their attention to Erik.

"The ballet-girls are right," Erik said in a voice that seemed to reverberate around the room. Lisette felt the man next to her stiffen, as it felt like Erik was speaking into her ear rather than across a large table. "The death of that poor Buquet is perhaps not so natural as people think."

There was a sudden uproar from the table. Debienne half-stood, clutching onto Poligny's arm. "Is Buquet dead?" the both cried.

"Yes," replied Erik. "He was found, this evening hanging in the third cellar, between a farmhouse and a scene from La Roi de Lahore."

Monsieur Richard seemed to choke on his food, Monsieur Moncharmin pounding his back relentlessly. Debienne and Poligny stared at Erik for a moment, as if in a trance, before grabbing Moncharmin and Richard by the arms and excusing themselves as the four walked from the room. She saw Erik smile from beneath the collar of his cloak and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. Lisette couldn't help but let her mouth hang open as she glanced around the room along with many others. She had always found Erik's ghostly demeanor to be an act, but it was no wonder that Jammes was frightened beyond belief of him when he had the ability to come and go in the blink of an eye!

She wondered if she should excuse herself to go find out exactly what he was up to. However, she had learned that it was best to simply trust Erik, rather than go about questioning his methods which would ultimately result in an explosive argument between the two of them. As she listened to Sorelli chat mindlessly with Meg and the count, she pushed her food around her plate as she thought of Buquet's death, Christine's failure to show at the gala, and Erik's boldness made her wonder if he was planning something that would surprise them all.