22 Don Juan

The next day there wa a buzz througout the Opera. They would put on Don Juan Triumphant just as the Phantom of the Opera had instructed, putting Christine into the lead role. Ivy was informed of her role right away by Madame Giry, who had finally explained exactly what she was to do. She would be dancing with a young man in the center but the back of the stage. She showed Ivy the pieces of music, finding them all slightly provacative and Ivy wondered why Erik would want her of all people to dance something like this. During practice, she picked out the young man she was to dance with, considering there were few boys in the ballet.

Every day the practices got longer and harsher, Ivy was finding herself sore and unsure of what she was even doing up on stage. Did Erik really have that much faith in her dancing? And what would happen on the faithful night they would first perform the opera? She knew full well he had planned Don Juan for something, some final plea at Christine perhaps but she wasn't quite sure. That was until Madame Giry had shown her the next scene they were to rehearse.

Madame Giry had put the pages down in front of her and instantly Ivy knew them. Her eyes grew wide with the thought that her words, her feelings all down on paper were now to be put on display. "He.. he really did this? This... Madame Giry.. this is my..." she couldn't even finish the words. The anger was back in her throat, blocking her speech. Leaving rehearsal, she wasted no time returning to the lair in demands of knowing exactly what Erik was doing with her music. As she entered, she found her ghost dancing gently and humming to himself.

The scene had caught her so off guard that her anger had almost faded. He was pleased about something, spotting her over at the gate and came over to her, grabbing her hands. Silent her put his arms over her waist and drew her to him slowly. Ivy had never seen him dance, especially not quite like this. In fact she had almost thought of him unable to perhaps. A fine musician and amazing singer, but never quite that one little thing. As he drew her into his arms, her anger had seemed to fade quite completely.

But still she had to ask. "What... why did you take my song.. that wasn't for your eyes Erik." Ivy told him gently, her body moving and swaying back and forth. Not a lover's dance by any stretch of the imagination, but they were quite close. "That is what you get for not sharing it with me, Ivy. I had no idea that such words and energy could come out of... a young girl like yourself." Erik told her in the exact same tone, to which Ivy had smirked at. "I am not a young girl.. I'm the exact same age as you."

He gave her a rather cheeky smile and stopped the dancing, and then turned his face to look quite serious. "If you know then the song, then I should tell you why.. what I need from you.. You are right when you say that they are probably now looking to kill me." Ivy opened her mouth to protest, but he continued. "Which.. is why you are going to make sure that will not happen." It took a moment for her to realize exactly what he meant. "You mean.. I'm to ... stand in place so they cannot kill you... you're going to be on the stage! Erik are you mad?"

Erik grabbed her shoulders and looked at her. "It is my final chance Ivy, I will not get any more. You and I both know that. This is the last thing I ask of you and then you will have your leave of me." He spun her around so she was facing the gate once more. "Now go back up to rehearsal before they start missing you. That will not rest well on either of our heads." Ivy took a step forward and then shook her head and looked back at him one final time. Now that she knew his plan, she knew exactly what she had to do.

Her first stop was to Madame Giry, which was easy enough since rehearsals were just finishing. "Madame Giry.. I need you to do something for me, that you won't like to do but it must be done. I need you to make sure..." she leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "That he is not sneaking about and listening to what happenings might be .. happening in the Opera?" she looked at her hopefully and finally Madame Giry smiled at her. "I shall go make sure he is well taken care of." the older women turned to go find their illustrious Phantom and keep him busy, since Ivy knew that his eyes and ears were everywhere, and she needed some place safe to speak to Christine.

Finding Christine was easy, and going to a place where both of them could speak privately and truly have no one interrupting them was a little bit more then difficult. Quickly, Ivy had found out that indeed the managers had only accepted the Phantom's proposal of his Opera to lure him and use Christine as bait. It suited Ivy just fine, telling and laying out her plan that only she and the other girl were to know if this would go off without a hitch. And from that moment on, the two girls rehearsed twice as hard ready to put their scheme into play.

As the opening day of Don Juan arrived, Ivy and Christine had their plan practiced perfectly. Of course, most of this would be up to Erik for it to work, and Ivy only hoped that he would go for it and not flee the moment he had realized what was going on. Both women dressed and got into makeup and got into position as the Opera began. Everything so far was going smoothly, the chorus was perfect as well as the rest of the ballet. Even Carlotta didn't seem too bad, though it was probably because she was drowned out by the rest of the chorus. As the music set for the next act of the opera, both girls were waiting with baited breath as they took their place.

23 The Point of No Return

The woman in the black laced dress, her hair all in curls and a rose in her hair stepped out on to the stage. She knelt down and started to sing a soft but loving tune, waiting for the man in the mask to come to her once more. The other who seemed to match the girl identically gripped the man's shoulder and took his hand, beginning a slow dance of the tango that fit the music perfectly. And just like both women knew would happen, the man in the black masked stepped from behind the curtain and made his presence known.

"You have You have come here in pursuit of your deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish, which till now has been silent, silent . . ." His voice was deep and sinful as he sang to the woman who turned her face, her eyes slipping shut. The closer he got, the more sensual the song became. Ivy recognized it immediately, finally hearing her words being sung so vibrantly by the man they were meant for. "I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge - in your mind you've already succumbed to me dropped all defences completely succumbed to me." Ivy stood, her face still hidden from him as she waited for Erik to come nearly beside her.

"Now you are here with me: no second thoughts, you've decided, decided . . ." The final words echoed, and Ivy knew she must make her presence known. She turned, revealing that it was her and not Christine he was singing to. Christine danced behind them, watching them out of the corner of her eye as the two bodies moved to the music. She silently prayed for this to work, willing her body to move to this man who was not Erik, nor Raoul. Erik himself looked of course shocked and then angered and for a split second Ivy thought perhaps he would in fact turn and flee, and then she began to sing, using his startled state to move in.

She put a hand against his chest, and sang the words she would never ever forget. Those words that were brought by the dreams and fantasies she had about the man in front of her every night. "Past the point

of no return - no backward glances: the games we've played till now are at an end . . . Past all thought of "if" or "when" - no use resisting." Erik was looking at her confused, his eyes wide and his chest rising harder as he tried to catch his breath. One of Ivy's hands cupped his cheek, the other hand sliding down those muscular arms as she sang.

Erik wasn't sure what was driving him more crazy, the fact that she, Ivy of all people was singing, or that she was singing this to him and that she had made a switch he had never even forseen. And at that moment, he had no thought at all upon Christine. The two moved back across the stage, her hands stroking his chest as she sang, the two finally stopping in the middle of the stage. "Abandon thought, and let the dream descend . . ."

Slowly Erik found himself giving into the words she was singing as he slowly moved to spin her around, pinning her back against his chest. "What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks its door?

What sweet seduction lies before us?" The way Ivy had been looking at him had made him quite weak in the knees, getting a look from her he had only wished Christine would give him. His hands roamed over her hip, against the curve of her thigh as Ivy's hands slid up and over his neck. Before he could move, Ivy had spun again, crushing against his chest as she brought her leg up against his hip.

"Past the point of no return, the final threshold - what warm, unspoken secrets will we learn? Beyond the point of no return . . ." Ivy's words flooded his soul and he wanted no one else as she sang, her face against his. Her lips barely brushed his as he found himself backed up to the stair case and she moved away from him. His eyes locked firmly against hers as she moved back to the other side of the stage, and up her own staircase, promising to meet him in the middle.

Erik's voice was deep and lustful this time as he sang, his eyes full of want and never looking anywhere else. He never even thought of the men trained with pistols at his head, waiting for the moment when they would get their chance. "You have brought me to that moment where words run dry, to that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence . . . I have come here,hardly knowing the reason why . . ." And as he sang, something in Christine began to stir. She had thought that going along with this, switching her and Ivy's place and letting her finally have her chance was a good thing, but she never expected to feel this, jealousy.

The two at the staircase were so enthralled, the audience never payed attention to Christine pushing away from the man she was dancing with and following Erik slowly up the staircase. The two were at the top now, moving towards each other. "In my mind, I've already imagined our bodies entwining defenceless and silent - and now I am here with you: no second thoughts, I've decided, decided . . ." Erik sang, filling Ivy with the deepest sense of longing. She had written it for just this purpose, and only in her wildest dreams had he been singing this part to her.

Ivy was once again drawn up against him, her hands seeking out the parts of him that she had never dared to caress. His neck, his chest and arms, all of those things and places he was finally letting her touch. As she looked into his eyes, she thought perhaps that he might once realize how much she loved him. "Past the point of no return - no going back now: our passion-play has now, at last, begun . . . Past all thought of right or wrong - one final question: how long should we two wait, before we're one . . .? When will the blood begin to race the sleeping bud burst into bloom? When will the flames, at last, consume us?" He turned her again, moving her hair away from her neck.

Ivy gasped as she felt him kiss at her skin, her skin flushed with heat and desire. She could hear his own heart pounding in his chest, and felt his hands against her once more. This was going so perfectly, more perfect then she had ever dreamed it. As if they were one, they began to sing, a thrill rising in Ivy's stomach. "Past the point of no return the final threshold - the bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn . . .

We've passed the point of no return . . ." The song began to fade and Ivy felt like she was in heaven. She turned around and faced him, the lust still there but there was a lingering question behind it. Now he would be mad, she thought. Now he would never speak to her again, or perhaps something far worse. She only knew of one thing to save herself.

"Erik.. I... " The final word never left her mouth as she saw Christine behind Erik. Her face was blank, as if she were entranced though there was something else behind them much like Erik's. Though this wasn't a question. This was jealousy and anger. Spinning Erik around to face her, Christine reached up and ripped the mask away from his face. There was a moment when there was silence, and then it seemed that everyone gasped at once. And then the laughter started, and the snickering. Some in the audience shrieked in horror as Erik's face was finally revealed to all of those people he hated the most.

It did not take long for Erik to wear the mask of anger, grabbing at Christine and shoving Ivy back. Every moment before that forgotten as he cut the rope that hung the chandelier in place. The light shook, swaying almost and with one last tug, the chandelier broke free. Ivy felt hands against her, Erik shoving her back slightly so he could make his getaway. Still holding Christine in his arms, he wrapped one of the ropes around them both and dove off the makeshift staircase, into a trap door in the center of the stage.

Everyone in the audience was fleeing, trying to avoid the huge light fixture about to crush them all. Lights broke, and nearly all the lights went out only to be replaced a moment later by the roaring sound of fire. The building was on fire and Ivy was still standing there, as if in shock and unable to move. Looking up, she saw that box five was now empty, the Viscount nowhere to be found. The sight seemed to push her into actually moving down the staircase. She needed to find Raoul now, he was the only one that could save Christine. It was too late for her.