A/N: So sorry it took so long to get the next chapter, but I was abducted
by this horrible creature called Life and it took me to some terrible place
called The Real World (it is an absolute HELL, and I advise you all to
avoid it at all costs) and I only just escaped. Thanks for being so
patient!
"And where were you, pray tell? Imagine my surprise at waking up to see your bed empty and have no idea where you've gone to."
"Sorry Erik, I just wasn't tired so I went upstairs for a while. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to wake you up." I replied. I had come back home silently, tied up my boat, raised the portcullis, slipped under, and headed for the bedroom. I would have gone back in and Erik would have never known I had gone out. There was just one problem. Erik was awake. Awake and a little annoyed.
"You could have left a note you know." Erik said, a little sternly.
"I didn't expect you to have a sudden case of insomnia the one night I'm out and don't tell you. Besides, when's the last time you left me a note telling me where you've gone off to in the middle of the night?" I demanded. "You wake up one night out of the four years I've been living here and have a heart attack on me when I come home, but I wake up close to every day and you're not here and there's no note left for me, but I never say anything."
Erik was silent for a moment, then grinned at me sheepishly. "I suppose you're right, as usual. I shouldn't have jumped on you like that. I'm sorry. Though maybe you should say something if something's bothering you. "
"It's all right. I forgive you. As usual." I replied with a grin. "Oh, guess who was up in the Opera House when I went up there. Guess!"
"Oh, I don't know. Christine and Raoul?" Erik guessed, obviously joking.
"Actually, yes." I responded. Erik was shocked, more so than Raoul had been when I talked back to him before.
"They were here?! In the Opera House?!" Erik cried. "I never thought they'd return after last year's events. Are you serious?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding to you?" I asked. "I wouldn't joke about them being here. Do you really think I would?"
"No. You don't look like you're kidding, but you can kid and hide it very well so I'm never sure if you're kidding or not. That's something you've got to work on, your constant kidding. One of these days something unbelievable and very important is going to happen and you'll tell me and I'll think you're joking again and won't believe you." Erik replied.
"Well I'm not kidding, and you're getting off the subject. We're not talking about my faults right now. Christine and Raoul were here." I said.
"I'm not sure I want them to be here," Erik replied slowly.
"Don't worry, they're gone now. All they came for was to say happy birthday to me and see if we could still be friends. That's all!" I said. "Oh, look at what they gave me." I added, holding out the music box. Erik took it carefully and examined it. When he opened the top, he was clearly surprised at the little mask revolving inside, but he smiled at it. I breathed a silent sigh of relief, and then jumped slightly when I felt something brush against my legs. I looked down and saw Phantom rubbing up against me. I smiled and picked him up, holding him gently to me. He purred loudly in my arms, causing Erik to look up. He smiled and petted Phantom, then looked at me.
"This is a beautiful music box. I'm guessing either you told Christine you like "Moonlight Sonata" or it was a lucky guess on her part." he said.
"No, I told her. After the masquerade. She was a bit shaken up after the grand appearance you made there, so I went and talked to her for a while. She told me that when she was afraid as a child, she would listen to a music box her father had custom made for her. It played her favourite music box tune, "Music Box Dancer". She asked if I liked music boxes and I told her I had a collection of thirteen or fourteen. She laughed and asked what my favourite song was. And I told her it was "Moonlight Sonata"." I replied.
"Ah. I see. Well, Christine was good at guessing too, so I was just wondering." Erik said.
"Well as you always tell me, 'If you don't mind your wondering, you'll wonder yourself into a world of trouble someday'." I said, imitating Erik's deep voice. I couldn't do it very well, even though I can make my voice sound pretty deep, it's still light and Erik's is heavy. But it still made him laugh to hear my attempts to mimic him. He kept petting Phantom and spoke again.
"You know, we should get a collar or something for this little fluff ball," he commented. "Just in case you lose him, whoever finds him will know he belongs to someone."
"Mm-hmm, I can see putting our address on a license for this little guy. It reads something like Phantom Duquesne
The House on the Lake Under the Opera House
The Opera Populaire, Paris, France." I said sarcastically.
"Funny. Very witty Minuet." Erik replied.
"I thought so," I said cheerfully. "Though I have been thinking that he needs something at least. Oh, I have an idea!" I walked over to a small cabinet where I keep sewing supplies. I pulled out one of the drawers and withdrew a red ribbon. I carried it and Phantom over to the table, set Phantom down on it, and tied the ribbon around his neck with a bow. He looked a little indignant, but I thought he looked adorable. Erik laughed. Phantom glared at him, then looked back at me and mewed. "Oh, stop complaining. You look cute!" I told him. Phantom looked a little unsure about that, but he simply hopped off the table and walked off with his tail in the air in a dignified huff. 'He's just a kitten, he's too young to be so proud.' I thought.
"Oh, I meant to ask you, where did you get the rose?" asked Erik. "Did Christine and Raoul give you that too?"
"Oh, no. The rose is from Josh." I replied.
"Ah, Josh. Your lover boy right?" teased Erik. "And did you kiss him and fall into his arms simpering about how lovely the rose is and how thoughtful it was of him to get it for you?"
"Oh, shut up. You're not nice." I grumbled. "And yes, as a matter of fact, I did kiss him and tell him how beautiful the rose is and it was thoughtful of him to get it, but I did NOT simper. I hate girls like that, you know I would never do that!"
"Jeez, you can't even take a joke can you? I was only kidding." Erik said, feigning hurt.
"Don't kid about Josh. You know I can take a joke, as long as it's funny and not derogatory towards me or someone I care about. Just for that, I might not tell you what happened exactly between us up there." I retorted.
"All right, I'm sorry. I won't make jokes about Josh anymore. I promise. Now what happened between you? You had better still be a virgin!" Erik said.
"Not funny. You just promised not to make any more jokes about Josh, in case you've forgotten already." I replied. "Well, I've told you that Josh wants to meet you right?"
"Yes," said Erik.
"Well, tonight, I kind of...told him that...you, as the Phantom of the Opera, are my brother." I said, a little worried about what Erik would say to that.
"You did?" Erik asked, surprised. "Well, what did he say? Was he surprised? Disbelieving? What happened?"
"He was surprised, but I told him that you aren't a monster and all of the stories have been twisted into tales of terror to scare the chorus girls and haven't got a grain of truth to them. He just said he would always love me, no matter what, and he believed me and wasn't afraid. He just wished I had told him in the first place, but he understood why I didn't." I responded. "And he'd still like to meet you, if you can believe it."
"Oh really? Well now I'd like to meet this brave young man who doesn't fear the Opera Ghost." Erik said thoughtfully.
"Don't scare him on purpose all right?" I said, "I told him to come by again tomorrow, if that works for you. Tomorrow night."
"I think I can fit a meeting with him into my busy schedule." Erik replied smiling. "Seriously, though, I have been interested in meeting him since you first told me about him. He sounds like a good match for you."
"Yes, he is." I said, maybe a little dreamily.
Erik laughed. "It's late. I'm tired and, even if you're not, I want you to go to bed," he said, "We can talk more in the morning."
"Oh all right," I said. I have to admit, I was pretty tired after all of the night's events. "Good-night, Angel."
"You haven't called me that in a long time," Erik said quietly. "I just realized...I miss you calling me Angel."
"Then I'll keep calling you Angel," I replied, a little surprised at this sudden revelation. "I didn't call you that because I thought that would make you think of Christine and then you'd get upset. If I had known that wasn't the case, I'd've kept calling you that."
"Coming from you, it's very different from when Christine called me that," Erik said. Then he smiled at me, leaned down, and kissed my cheek. "Good- night Minuet." I smiled and returned the kiss. We both went to bed and fell asleep quickly.
The next morning, I woke up to the sweet smell of
"Pancakes?" I said softly. I got up and went to the kitchen. Sure enough, there was Erik, standing at the stove, making pancakes. When I came in, he turned and smiled at me.
"Morning!" he said brightly. "Have a seat, your breakfast is almost ready."
I smiled at him and sat at the table. 'There's so much about the Opera Ghost that people would never guess. Like that he makes pancakes for his little sister!' I thought. 'But if they did know what I know, they wouldn't fear him anymore, which may or may not be a good thing.' Erik soon set a plate of fresh pancakes in front of me and a bottle of maple syrup.
"Mmmm, this smells great. Thanks Erik!" I said. Erik smiled at me, went back to the stove, got himself some breakfast, then joined me at the table. We had a nice time talking about anything we wanted to talk about. About halfway through breakfast, I noticed something surprising about Erik.
"Erik, you're not wearing your mask!" I said.
"Oh you noticed that, did you?" he replied, grinning. "You told me you didn't mind my face, didn't you? I thought I didn't have to wear my mask around you anymore."
"That's true, I just didn't expect you to feel that way so soon. I actually wouldn't have been surprised if you still wore it around me no matter what I said." I replied.
"Surprise," Erik said. I laughed, leaned across the small table, and kissed his cheek. His right cheek. He smiled at me as I sat back in my chair. He glanced up at the clock and said, "Well, I have things to do, chorus girls to scare, threatening notes to write." I laughed.
"These days, it's mostly me who does all the chorus girl-scaring." I told him.
"I know. That's why I'm going to today. I have to make sure I'm not out of practice." Erik replied. We both laughed.
"Well, I'm going out at around midday to the book shop and then the park. I'll see you at dinner then?" I asked.
"All right then." Erik said. He stood up and kissed my cheek before taking both our plates to the sink, and going to the bedroom to get his mask. He gave me another kiss before leaving. I just smiled after him for a while, watching his boat glide smoothly across the lake. When he was out of sight, I went to the bedroom and got dressed. I put on the blue dress Christine had given me last year. It had actually been hers, but she said it looked better on me, so she gave it to me. I left the house and headed out to the book shop, being that I had woken up kind of late in the day so it was noon already. Not wanting to leave Phantom alone in the house, I brought him along in a basket. I bought a new book called Black Rose before heading to the park to read it. I became so engrossed in the book that I didn't realize how late it had gotten until I noticed that it was getting harder to see my book and become conscious of the fact that the sun had almost completely set. I closed my book and hurried home, hoping Erik wasn't there yet. When I got to the house, however, his boat was already there. I slipped under the portcullis, praying that I wasn't too late. I had no idea what time it was, so I didn't know whether or not to brace myself for a scolding from Erik about being home on time. I went into the kitchen to find Erik making dinner for us. He looked up at me and smiled, a good sign. I glanced at the clock and realized that it was only 7:oo. Erik probably had just gotten home a little before I had. I relaxed. Phantom hopped out of his basket and darted over to Erik, rubbing up against his legs and purring. Erik reached down and scratched him behind his ears.
"Did you get a new book today?" he asked me.
"As a matter of fact I did," I replied. "Black Rose."
"It sounds like a Minuet kind of book," Erik commented.
"It is. You should read it some time." I said.
"Then I will. When you're done with it, of course," he replied. I smiled and went to the bedroom to change. I put on a loose white shirt, a pair of black pants, and black boots and tied my hair back in a low ponytail. I only wore dresses and my hair loose when I going out somewhere, like today, or if Erik asked me to. I headed back to the kitchen and found that dinner was ready, so I took my usual seat at the table across from Erik. I told him more about the book over dinner, which was a mild Persian dish that Erik had told me had always been one of his favourites and was mine too now. After dinner I looked up at the clock.
"We should head upstairs. No one will be in the Opera House now, and Josh will be here soon." I said.
"All right," Erik said, rising to his feet. I did the same and he smiled, walked over to me, and offered his arm. "Shall we, my lady?" he asked.
I laughed and rested my hand lightly on his arm. "We shall, good sir." I replied. We looked at each other for a second and then both of us burst out laughing. We walked to Erik's boat together and he helped me step in. I didn't really need help, but it had been a long time since he actually had to and I knew he missed helping his little sister with little things like this. Little things always meant a lot to Erik. Erik rowed easily and steadily across the lake, singing "Music of the Night". I smiled, remembering when I didn't have my own boat and I often went out on the lake with Erik. Sometimes we just went sailing around the lake aimlessly, just to be out on the lake together. We reached the other side soon and Erik gave me a hand out of the boat. We headed up the path with the least amount of traps rigged along it. We came out in Christine's old dressing room, behind the mirror, and headed out to the stage. Josh was already waiting there. He smiled when he saw me coming. Erik stayed hidden in the shadows for a moment while I went out and kissed Josh.
"Now, I believe you wanted to meet my brother?" I asked.
"That's right," replied Josh, "Is he here with you?"
"I'm here, the Phantom of the Opera!" Erik said, using his ventriloquist skills to project his voice and make it echo.
"Funny, Erik." I said, rolling my eyes. "He's over there." I added, pointing offstage where Erik stood in the shadows.
Erik laughed and came out onto the stage. "Hello Josh," he said politely.
"Hello," said Josh. I could tell he was a little uncertain about this whole situation. What would you think if you met your sweetheart's brother, and he was the fearsome Phantom of the Opera? I decided to try and break the ice a little. Before I could say anything, however, someone else interrupted.
"Hello Minuet," came a voice I hadn't heard in four years. A voice I had disowned and forgotten. A voice that had haunted my nightmares for so long. A voice I never wanted to hear again.
"We were surprised to find out you were here, after what we told you," it continued, "but maybe we shouldn't have been." There was a pause, a silence of a thousand tons that crushed me. "Won't you even say hello?" asked the voice.
I sighed, feeling defeated and resigned. Then I straightened myself. Was I going to be intimidated by him? I, the little sister of the Opera Ghost, who had run away from home to live with him for four years? Never! I am intimidated by nothing!
"Hello Satan." I said, turning to face him defiantly.
Thank you very much, everyone who reviewed! I was afraid no one would like my story, so you're reviews were really appreciated and helpful. You've given me some great ideas to keep my story going. Thanx!
"And where were you, pray tell? Imagine my surprise at waking up to see your bed empty and have no idea where you've gone to."
"Sorry Erik, I just wasn't tired so I went upstairs for a while. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to wake you up." I replied. I had come back home silently, tied up my boat, raised the portcullis, slipped under, and headed for the bedroom. I would have gone back in and Erik would have never known I had gone out. There was just one problem. Erik was awake. Awake and a little annoyed.
"You could have left a note you know." Erik said, a little sternly.
"I didn't expect you to have a sudden case of insomnia the one night I'm out and don't tell you. Besides, when's the last time you left me a note telling me where you've gone off to in the middle of the night?" I demanded. "You wake up one night out of the four years I've been living here and have a heart attack on me when I come home, but I wake up close to every day and you're not here and there's no note left for me, but I never say anything."
Erik was silent for a moment, then grinned at me sheepishly. "I suppose you're right, as usual. I shouldn't have jumped on you like that. I'm sorry. Though maybe you should say something if something's bothering you. "
"It's all right. I forgive you. As usual." I replied with a grin. "Oh, guess who was up in the Opera House when I went up there. Guess!"
"Oh, I don't know. Christine and Raoul?" Erik guessed, obviously joking.
"Actually, yes." I responded. Erik was shocked, more so than Raoul had been when I talked back to him before.
"They were here?! In the Opera House?!" Erik cried. "I never thought they'd return after last year's events. Are you serious?"
"Do I look like I'm kidding to you?" I asked. "I wouldn't joke about them being here. Do you really think I would?"
"No. You don't look like you're kidding, but you can kid and hide it very well so I'm never sure if you're kidding or not. That's something you've got to work on, your constant kidding. One of these days something unbelievable and very important is going to happen and you'll tell me and I'll think you're joking again and won't believe you." Erik replied.
"Well I'm not kidding, and you're getting off the subject. We're not talking about my faults right now. Christine and Raoul were here." I said.
"I'm not sure I want them to be here," Erik replied slowly.
"Don't worry, they're gone now. All they came for was to say happy birthday to me and see if we could still be friends. That's all!" I said. "Oh, look at what they gave me." I added, holding out the music box. Erik took it carefully and examined it. When he opened the top, he was clearly surprised at the little mask revolving inside, but he smiled at it. I breathed a silent sigh of relief, and then jumped slightly when I felt something brush against my legs. I looked down and saw Phantom rubbing up against me. I smiled and picked him up, holding him gently to me. He purred loudly in my arms, causing Erik to look up. He smiled and petted Phantom, then looked at me.
"This is a beautiful music box. I'm guessing either you told Christine you like "Moonlight Sonata" or it was a lucky guess on her part." he said.
"No, I told her. After the masquerade. She was a bit shaken up after the grand appearance you made there, so I went and talked to her for a while. She told me that when she was afraid as a child, she would listen to a music box her father had custom made for her. It played her favourite music box tune, "Music Box Dancer". She asked if I liked music boxes and I told her I had a collection of thirteen or fourteen. She laughed and asked what my favourite song was. And I told her it was "Moonlight Sonata"." I replied.
"Ah. I see. Well, Christine was good at guessing too, so I was just wondering." Erik said.
"Well as you always tell me, 'If you don't mind your wondering, you'll wonder yourself into a world of trouble someday'." I said, imitating Erik's deep voice. I couldn't do it very well, even though I can make my voice sound pretty deep, it's still light and Erik's is heavy. But it still made him laugh to hear my attempts to mimic him. He kept petting Phantom and spoke again.
"You know, we should get a collar or something for this little fluff ball," he commented. "Just in case you lose him, whoever finds him will know he belongs to someone."
"Mm-hmm, I can see putting our address on a license for this little guy. It reads something like Phantom Duquesne
The House on the Lake Under the Opera House
The Opera Populaire, Paris, France." I said sarcastically.
"Funny. Very witty Minuet." Erik replied.
"I thought so," I said cheerfully. "Though I have been thinking that he needs something at least. Oh, I have an idea!" I walked over to a small cabinet where I keep sewing supplies. I pulled out one of the drawers and withdrew a red ribbon. I carried it and Phantom over to the table, set Phantom down on it, and tied the ribbon around his neck with a bow. He looked a little indignant, but I thought he looked adorable. Erik laughed. Phantom glared at him, then looked back at me and mewed. "Oh, stop complaining. You look cute!" I told him. Phantom looked a little unsure about that, but he simply hopped off the table and walked off with his tail in the air in a dignified huff. 'He's just a kitten, he's too young to be so proud.' I thought.
"Oh, I meant to ask you, where did you get the rose?" asked Erik. "Did Christine and Raoul give you that too?"
"Oh, no. The rose is from Josh." I replied.
"Ah, Josh. Your lover boy right?" teased Erik. "And did you kiss him and fall into his arms simpering about how lovely the rose is and how thoughtful it was of him to get it for you?"
"Oh, shut up. You're not nice." I grumbled. "And yes, as a matter of fact, I did kiss him and tell him how beautiful the rose is and it was thoughtful of him to get it, but I did NOT simper. I hate girls like that, you know I would never do that!"
"Jeez, you can't even take a joke can you? I was only kidding." Erik said, feigning hurt.
"Don't kid about Josh. You know I can take a joke, as long as it's funny and not derogatory towards me or someone I care about. Just for that, I might not tell you what happened exactly between us up there." I retorted.
"All right, I'm sorry. I won't make jokes about Josh anymore. I promise. Now what happened between you? You had better still be a virgin!" Erik said.
"Not funny. You just promised not to make any more jokes about Josh, in case you've forgotten already." I replied. "Well, I've told you that Josh wants to meet you right?"
"Yes," said Erik.
"Well, tonight, I kind of...told him that...you, as the Phantom of the Opera, are my brother." I said, a little worried about what Erik would say to that.
"You did?" Erik asked, surprised. "Well, what did he say? Was he surprised? Disbelieving? What happened?"
"He was surprised, but I told him that you aren't a monster and all of the stories have been twisted into tales of terror to scare the chorus girls and haven't got a grain of truth to them. He just said he would always love me, no matter what, and he believed me and wasn't afraid. He just wished I had told him in the first place, but he understood why I didn't." I responded. "And he'd still like to meet you, if you can believe it."
"Oh really? Well now I'd like to meet this brave young man who doesn't fear the Opera Ghost." Erik said thoughtfully.
"Don't scare him on purpose all right?" I said, "I told him to come by again tomorrow, if that works for you. Tomorrow night."
"I think I can fit a meeting with him into my busy schedule." Erik replied smiling. "Seriously, though, I have been interested in meeting him since you first told me about him. He sounds like a good match for you."
"Yes, he is." I said, maybe a little dreamily.
Erik laughed. "It's late. I'm tired and, even if you're not, I want you to go to bed," he said, "We can talk more in the morning."
"Oh all right," I said. I have to admit, I was pretty tired after all of the night's events. "Good-night, Angel."
"You haven't called me that in a long time," Erik said quietly. "I just realized...I miss you calling me Angel."
"Then I'll keep calling you Angel," I replied, a little surprised at this sudden revelation. "I didn't call you that because I thought that would make you think of Christine and then you'd get upset. If I had known that wasn't the case, I'd've kept calling you that."
"Coming from you, it's very different from when Christine called me that," Erik said. Then he smiled at me, leaned down, and kissed my cheek. "Good- night Minuet." I smiled and returned the kiss. We both went to bed and fell asleep quickly.
The next morning, I woke up to the sweet smell of
"Pancakes?" I said softly. I got up and went to the kitchen. Sure enough, there was Erik, standing at the stove, making pancakes. When I came in, he turned and smiled at me.
"Morning!" he said brightly. "Have a seat, your breakfast is almost ready."
I smiled at him and sat at the table. 'There's so much about the Opera Ghost that people would never guess. Like that he makes pancakes for his little sister!' I thought. 'But if they did know what I know, they wouldn't fear him anymore, which may or may not be a good thing.' Erik soon set a plate of fresh pancakes in front of me and a bottle of maple syrup.
"Mmmm, this smells great. Thanks Erik!" I said. Erik smiled at me, went back to the stove, got himself some breakfast, then joined me at the table. We had a nice time talking about anything we wanted to talk about. About halfway through breakfast, I noticed something surprising about Erik.
"Erik, you're not wearing your mask!" I said.
"Oh you noticed that, did you?" he replied, grinning. "You told me you didn't mind my face, didn't you? I thought I didn't have to wear my mask around you anymore."
"That's true, I just didn't expect you to feel that way so soon. I actually wouldn't have been surprised if you still wore it around me no matter what I said." I replied.
"Surprise," Erik said. I laughed, leaned across the small table, and kissed his cheek. His right cheek. He smiled at me as I sat back in my chair. He glanced up at the clock and said, "Well, I have things to do, chorus girls to scare, threatening notes to write." I laughed.
"These days, it's mostly me who does all the chorus girl-scaring." I told him.
"I know. That's why I'm going to today. I have to make sure I'm not out of practice." Erik replied. We both laughed.
"Well, I'm going out at around midday to the book shop and then the park. I'll see you at dinner then?" I asked.
"All right then." Erik said. He stood up and kissed my cheek before taking both our plates to the sink, and going to the bedroom to get his mask. He gave me another kiss before leaving. I just smiled after him for a while, watching his boat glide smoothly across the lake. When he was out of sight, I went to the bedroom and got dressed. I put on the blue dress Christine had given me last year. It had actually been hers, but she said it looked better on me, so she gave it to me. I left the house and headed out to the book shop, being that I had woken up kind of late in the day so it was noon already. Not wanting to leave Phantom alone in the house, I brought him along in a basket. I bought a new book called Black Rose before heading to the park to read it. I became so engrossed in the book that I didn't realize how late it had gotten until I noticed that it was getting harder to see my book and become conscious of the fact that the sun had almost completely set. I closed my book and hurried home, hoping Erik wasn't there yet. When I got to the house, however, his boat was already there. I slipped under the portcullis, praying that I wasn't too late. I had no idea what time it was, so I didn't know whether or not to brace myself for a scolding from Erik about being home on time. I went into the kitchen to find Erik making dinner for us. He looked up at me and smiled, a good sign. I glanced at the clock and realized that it was only 7:oo. Erik probably had just gotten home a little before I had. I relaxed. Phantom hopped out of his basket and darted over to Erik, rubbing up against his legs and purring. Erik reached down and scratched him behind his ears.
"Did you get a new book today?" he asked me.
"As a matter of fact I did," I replied. "Black Rose."
"It sounds like a Minuet kind of book," Erik commented.
"It is. You should read it some time." I said.
"Then I will. When you're done with it, of course," he replied. I smiled and went to the bedroom to change. I put on a loose white shirt, a pair of black pants, and black boots and tied my hair back in a low ponytail. I only wore dresses and my hair loose when I going out somewhere, like today, or if Erik asked me to. I headed back to the kitchen and found that dinner was ready, so I took my usual seat at the table across from Erik. I told him more about the book over dinner, which was a mild Persian dish that Erik had told me had always been one of his favourites and was mine too now. After dinner I looked up at the clock.
"We should head upstairs. No one will be in the Opera House now, and Josh will be here soon." I said.
"All right," Erik said, rising to his feet. I did the same and he smiled, walked over to me, and offered his arm. "Shall we, my lady?" he asked.
I laughed and rested my hand lightly on his arm. "We shall, good sir." I replied. We looked at each other for a second and then both of us burst out laughing. We walked to Erik's boat together and he helped me step in. I didn't really need help, but it had been a long time since he actually had to and I knew he missed helping his little sister with little things like this. Little things always meant a lot to Erik. Erik rowed easily and steadily across the lake, singing "Music of the Night". I smiled, remembering when I didn't have my own boat and I often went out on the lake with Erik. Sometimes we just went sailing around the lake aimlessly, just to be out on the lake together. We reached the other side soon and Erik gave me a hand out of the boat. We headed up the path with the least amount of traps rigged along it. We came out in Christine's old dressing room, behind the mirror, and headed out to the stage. Josh was already waiting there. He smiled when he saw me coming. Erik stayed hidden in the shadows for a moment while I went out and kissed Josh.
"Now, I believe you wanted to meet my brother?" I asked.
"That's right," replied Josh, "Is he here with you?"
"I'm here, the Phantom of the Opera!" Erik said, using his ventriloquist skills to project his voice and make it echo.
"Funny, Erik." I said, rolling my eyes. "He's over there." I added, pointing offstage where Erik stood in the shadows.
Erik laughed and came out onto the stage. "Hello Josh," he said politely.
"Hello," said Josh. I could tell he was a little uncertain about this whole situation. What would you think if you met your sweetheart's brother, and he was the fearsome Phantom of the Opera? I decided to try and break the ice a little. Before I could say anything, however, someone else interrupted.
"Hello Minuet," came a voice I hadn't heard in four years. A voice I had disowned and forgotten. A voice that had haunted my nightmares for so long. A voice I never wanted to hear again.
"We were surprised to find out you were here, after what we told you," it continued, "but maybe we shouldn't have been." There was a pause, a silence of a thousand tons that crushed me. "Won't you even say hello?" asked the voice.
I sighed, feeling defeated and resigned. Then I straightened myself. Was I going to be intimidated by him? I, the little sister of the Opera Ghost, who had run away from home to live with him for four years? Never! I am intimidated by nothing!
"Hello Satan." I said, turning to face him defiantly.
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