Disclaimer: I swore I would never do something like this, and really, I shouldn't be with all the unfinished fanfics and original fictions I have floating around the Internet, but I just couldn't resist sheepish grin don't hurt me. I don't own any "Phantom" stuff, or the Majestic Theatre, etc., etc., and so on and so forth. I only own what you don't recognize.
The Phantom of the Majestic
Broadway's Majestic Theatre had truly earned its name. The outer façade may not have been much to look at, but then, none of them were. The inside was beautiful, with its golden sculptures of angels and demons, sweeping balconies and mezzanines, elegantly old-fashioned curtains, and exquisite gilded seats with their coverings of deep red velvet. However, the grand theatre had become the victim of neglect over the years, and had to be shut down for repairs. Despite all warnings and threats, neighborhood kids continued to sneak inside on a dare, telling each other that the old theatre was haunted, and that was why the repairs were slow in coming. If they came at all!
The favourite and most chilling tale was a new-age "Phantom of the Opera" story, as that had been the longest-running production in that theatre, and it was supposed to start up again immediately after the repairs were completed. Kids who went in often came running out, babbling garbled notions about hearing a dark voice, or maniacal laughter echoing through the theatre, telling them to get out. No one had ever managed to stay inside for the whole hour they were dared to. The older kids scoffed and teased, claiming that those who had gone in had only imagined the voices because they had expected to hear them, and yet they themselves never went in. Their younger siblings dared them, but they declared that a dare from a "minor" didn't count. There was no honor in it for them if they went in on a child's dare. And the country kids who came to tour the city, well, they just tore them to pieces. They went out of their way to make sure that the voices were heard. And yet, they never seemed to be near the theatre when their own brothers and sisters came out screaming that the "Majestic Ghost" had spoken to them, demanding they leave. One girl even swore she saw what looked like a noose or a lasso dangling above the stage. She didn't get close enough to see, and she didn't stay long enough to care. All the older kids denied having hung a lasso there, even amongst themselves. But so it went on, and it probably would have continued to go on until the Majestic was repaired, if it hadn't been for one country girl with the attitude of a city kid.