As of now, this is how much I've written so far. I'm hoping to write more but for those of you that have been with me in the long run... you know I'm not very good at uploading regularly. However, I can promise that I am not giving up on this story, no matter how sparsely I upload!

I was very excited to write this chapter. For anyone who's read Leroux's novel, Lisette was actually inspired by the falling of the chandelier. I always thought it would be very interesting to hear the story of POTO from the perspective of an orchestra member. In the book, the chandelier falls directly into the orchestra stalls! Yikes...


Paris, February 1881

"Mademoiselle Geiger?"

The unfamiliar voice made Lisette jump nearly a foot in the air from her seat at the piano in the ensemble room. She quickly took the pages of Don Juan Triumphant from the instrument and tucked them under her arm. Turning, she was surprised to see Madame Giry standing in the doorway. The ballet mistress hardly ever came to the ensemble room, unless it was to deliver a message to Reyer. Her presence made Lisette feel rather uncomfortable.

"Madame Giry," Lisette said.

The ballet mistress quickly closed the doors behind her. "Is there anyone else here?"

"No, it's just me," Lisette replied, glancing around. She kept expecting to see Erik lurking in one of the curtains near the window, but there was no one, only shadows.

Madame Giry came to the piano. Her expression worried Lisette, for rather than having pursed lips and stone cold eyes, there were worry lines across her forehead and her eyes were wide in fear. "Do you know what is to happen tonight?" she asked.

Lisette shook her head. "All I've been told is that we're performing Faust as usual."

"La Carlotta has returned," Madame Giry said. "And Christine has returned as well. But Monsieurs Richard and Moncharmin have given the role of Siebel back to her and La Carlotta is to reprise her role as Marguerite!"

Lisette felt the color drain from her face. If Christine was back, that meant that Erik had returned as well. She knew Erik would not allow Carlotta to perform in the lead that Christine had made her debut. Was he even aware of this terrible scheme?

"My god," Lisette said, almost inaudibly.

"And what's more," Madame Giry continued, "The managers will be sitting in Box Five tonight!"

Lisette stood at this last bit of information. "Are they mad?" she asked. "Didn't they see what happened just a few nights ago?"

"Apparently they want to catch Er—the Opera Ghost themselves."

Lisette ignored the almost-slip of Erik's name. "There's no point. The Opera Ghost would be a fool to play into their hands."

"I agree," Madame Giry said. "But I have a suspicion that he has a trick up his sleeve tonight. And one that will affect more than just La Carlotta and the new managers. I will do my best to persuade them to sit elsewhere, but I am not confident it'll be much use. If I were you, I would certainly keep my eye out for anything amiss this evening."

"Thank you," Lisette said, sitting helplessly at the piano. Madame Giry nodded once, before swiftly leaving the room. Her quick movements made Lisette wonder exactly how much time the ballet mistress spent with Erik due to the way her movements were just like his.

Her heart seemed to be sinking lower and lower in her chest. She still hadn't seen Erik since her conversation with the count. As far as she knew, he had all but given up on her with Christine being his new prodigee. She had been playing Don Juan Triumphant earlier in a desperate attempt to draw Erik to the ensemble room. In the past, she'd only need to play a few measures before Erik's ventriloquist voice was in her ear, making some critique of her playing. However, Lisette had played through most of the second act when Madame Giry had appeared. Either Erik no longer had an interest in her playing or had not truly returned after all.

As she sat in the orchestra stalls later that evening, it was clear that her heart was not in her playing. She continuously made mistakes (which were easy to do thanks to the return of Carlotta's inconsistent singing). At times, Lisette even purposefully left out difficult passages she didn't feel like playing. What was the point of putting forth her best effort when it would only be criticized later by the prima donna? She knew it was risky to be so passive, but she could tell Reyer was in a foul mood as well from the way he swung his baton to and fro.

They had arrived at a particularly difficult duet between Faust and Marguerite. Lisette clenched her fists as the first note was played by the orchestra, preparing herself for Carlotta's wails.

"Like a spell does the evening bind me! And a deep languid charm I feel without alarm with its melody enwind me and all my heart subdues… CO-ACK!"

Lisette had not actually heard the strange sound come from Carlotta. She was so used to the strange sounds that came from Carlotta's throat that she barely thought anything of it. However, it was the burst of laughter that came from the house and the look of horror on Reyer's face that caught her attention. This was a tragic opera, and never before had she heard an audience laugh in the midst of this production.

Several orchestra members, including Armel, were doing their best to hide the laughter that dared escaped their lips. Lisette glanced up at Box Five, where Richard and Moncharmin sat with pale faces, their mouths aghast to what had just occurred. It only took a moment for Richard to recover, learning over the balcony to hiss at Carlotta, "Well, go on!"

Although she could not see Carlotta from where she sat in the stalls, she watched Reyer indicate to the orchestra to start at the beginning of the duet once more.

"I feel without alarm CO-ACK!
With its melody enwind meCO-ACK!
And all my heartCO-ACK!"

Lisette couldn't help but let her hands fly to her mouth at the production of these strange sounds. It was evident by now this would be the end of the performance, as Reyer was now using his score to fan himself to prevent him from fainting. By now, the house was in a total uproar. Some were laughing, some were jeering, and there was an occasional voice demanding their money back. She caught Armel's eye, who was standing on his chair to see the prima donna in her moment of humiliation. Lisette did the same, ignoring the cry of protest from the percussionist as she knocked over his cymbal stand as she stood on the organ bench.

Christine was in her trousers role as Siebel, her hair carefully pinned back to make her look less girlish. Her eyes were searching among the audience until she found what she was looking for. Lisette followed her gaze and saw the vicomte and his brother in one of the boxes closest to the stage. The vicomte was nearly beside himself, reaching out for Christine while his brother did his best to hold him back.

Carlotta had a look of horror on her ace which starkly contrasted with her costume of a country dress and the long, blonde braids of her wig. She was helplessly clinging to Piangi, which only added to the humor of the situation. When Lisette glanced towards Box Five she half-expected to see Erik. Instead, the managers remained in their seats, their faces covered by their hands from the embarrassment.

The vicomte managed to break from his brother's arms and was getting ready to climb over the box's balcony onto the stage. Lisette was about to return to her seat at the organ when a booming, familiar voice seemed to drain the very blood from her body.

"She is singing to bring down the chandelier!"

In one moment, a deadly silence filled the performance hall. Everyone from the house, onstage, backstage, and in the orchestra stalls raised their eyes to the ceiling. The performance hall's chandelier, a mass of gold and crystal, sat perfectly still. However, a terrible cry rose from Lisette's lips as well as those around her as the chandelier began to delicately swing from side to side before being released from its perch. The chandelier plunged from the ceiling as Lisette watched with horror-stricken eyes. It was during the time that she realized two things. The first was that the voice beckoning the chandelier had been Erik. The second was that the chandelier was headed directly towards the orchestra stalls!

She watched the chandelier drop lower and lower, clipping the edges of the seats just in front of her.

"Get down!" Reyer screamed. "Get down, men! Head for the exit!"

"Lisette!" she heard Armel cry.

Realizing she was still standing on the bench of the organ, she quickly jumped down. However, in the chaos to leave, one of the bassists had knocked into her, sending her tumbling to the floor. She felt a sharp rap on one of the music stands as she tumbled into a mass of chairs followed by a searing pain in the back of her head. She let out a cry when her hand touched her head and revealed it to be covered in blood.

"Lisette!"

Her vision was becoming fuzzy. Who was calling her name?

As she glanced up, she saw the ominous shadow of the chandelier fall over the orchestra stalls. With an ear splitting crash, the chandelier struck the edge of the stage before collapsing into the orchestra stalls. Lisette let out a scream as shards of crystal came pelting down and the many candles of the chandelier became displaced, spreading fire around her. She glanced to the organ, where the pages of Don Juan Triumphant were stored in the bench. She did her best to stand, ignoring the pain in the back of her head that was now spreading to her face, arms, and legs. Half-crawling and half-walking, she brought herself to the bench and wrenched it open, trying to ignore the flames that were following her. She quickly snatched up the pages of the score, shoving it into the bosom of her dress. However, the orchestra stalls were now beginning to fill with smoke and she couldn't see her way to the exit. She felt her throat begin to tighten at the seriousness of the situation and tried to keep steady as the room started to spin.

"Lisette!"

Just as she was about to fall to the floor, a pair of arms caught her.

"I've got you!" she heard the voice say. "Hold on, I'm going to get you out of here!"

All she was able to do was cough as she felt herself being lifted. When she was taken from the stalls, she was shocked to see audience members still in the performance hall, trampling over one another to get to the doors. Flames from the orchestra stalls were now licking at the main curtain, steadily climbing to the wooden sets backstage. It was at this moment that Lisette felt everything go dark.

When she came to, she was lying on the pavement outside the steps of the Palais Garnier. Emergency personnel were everywhere and she felt a pair of delicate hands wrapping a bandage around her head. She tried to glance from side to side, but the nurse reprimanded her to stay still. It was at this moment that Lisette glanced at her arms and let out a gut-wrenching scream.

Shards of crystal were lodges in her arms, creating angry cuts from her hands all the way to her shoulders. Someone had removed the sleeves of her dress and when she glanced down, she saw the lower half of her skirt had been removed as well. Her stockings were an angry red, a dark contrast from their normal white, as she realized her legs had suffered the same fate.

"There's shards in her face," the nurse said to a nearby doctor. "We need to get her to the hospital."

This statement was too much for Lisette. The thought of the scar on her face that would now be marred with even more injuries was too much. She started to scream once more, lashing out violently, ignoring the searing pain in her ligaments.

"Lisette, Lisette!"

At once, Philippe was at her side, taking her hands in his. "Lisette, you're alright!"

"I'm not!" Lisette cried, turning so he couldn't see her face. "I'm ruined. Ruined!"

"This man carried you to safety," the nurse said, doing her best to restrain her as she continued to kick. Lisette was caught off-guard by this fact and stared at the count, wide-eyed.

"You would have done the same," he said.

"Your brother!" Lisette gasped. "Sorelli! Meg—"

"All well and accounted for," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder to still her. The nurse looked at him gratefully as she began to pull shards of crystal from Lisette's face, causing her to gasp in pain every time one was removed.

"The orchestra stalls took the most damage," Philippe said, clutching her hand in his as she let out another cry of pain. "Everyone else was able to make it out safely. Lisette, your friend…"

"Armel!" Lisette cried, remembering he had been standing on his chair just as she had been when the incident happened. "Where's Armel?"

"Lisette," the count said, glancing at the nurse for support. "Lisette, Armel is dead."


I'll be the first to say it... Erik has screwed up big time! Believe it or not, we still aren't even halfway through Leroux's novel at this point! I look forward to continue writing and uploading, but please be sure to leave me some feedback in your reviews! It is so helpful as I continue to write and develop these characters!