Disclaimer: All original Phantom of the Opera related things belong to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gaston Leroux.
Chapter Three: Uncertainties
Upon awakening, Matilda was trying to remember if it was a dream or not. "Angèle!" she said, turning to her companion, who had just woken up as well. "He came! In the night. I'm telling you, he was here." But as she spoke, her tone had not fear, but excitement.
Angèle, on the other hand was petrified. "He was here!" she said on the verge of hysterics, "In our room! Last night!" She began pacing, a bad habit she had when she was nervous. "I have to go," she said quickly.
All through rehearsal that day she was jumpy and kept looking into the rafters or the shadows every time something got knocked over or someone tripped and fell. She eventually took her flute and locked herself in her roomed and refused to be consoled. She sat there on her bed in the dark, pretending to be ill and sleeping.
"Angèle," Matilda said, entering the room. "Why are you pretending? It's obvious you're not ill. It's okay. When he came, he told me he was sorry. And that there was nothing to fear," she sat on the edge of the bed in an attempt to comfort her, "Why are you trying to hide from someone when there is no reason to fear them?"
"How do you know that he's not lying? He is much stronger than us. He threw you to the ground without even straining himself! He can appear and disappear without us ever seeing him and he can get into our rooms or wherever we are! We are not safe anywhere in this Opera house!" Angèle was almost yelling now, "No matter where we go, he'll find us. No matter what good intentions you or I have when talking to him we always seem to anger him! And this doesn't upset you?"
Matilda looked down. She had considered this, but obviously not thoroughly enough. She looked up for him, but was unsuccessful, and didn't think she would see him anyway.
"I don't know, I just trust him. There's just something about him," she looked away from the angered Angèle.
(Sung to "The Mirror")
"As I've said,
I mean you no harm.
If you wish,
I'll leave you be.
Just remember one thing
Young ones,
I am here,
I'll save you.
I will be here
To guide and guard you,
For I am,
The Phantom of the Opera..."
The voice seemed to come out of darkness. It was placed before them as a choice, and depending on how they chose, depended on how they lived.
Angèle just sat on her bed quietly and shaking, from fear and perhaps suppressed anger. Then she spoke, "You ask me to trust you when you invaded my privacy and vented your anger on us. You ask me to trust you when you hide behind a mask!" she yelled at no particular spot in the room.
The day passed. Angèle had finally come out of her room after the affair with the Phantom and Matilda. The two of them didn't really talk for the rest of the day, having different opinions on their new-found guardian. Everyone in the opera was aware of their strange behavior, since the two would usually be inseparable.
Matilda was solemn that day as well, which was very unusual. After their rehearsal was done, many people asked her if something was wrong, but she denied being solemn, saying she was just tired. Many people had also asked Angèle was the matter was, but she also denied their claims. When all was over and people had stopped approaching her, Matilda took a lantern and entered the basement in an attempt to find the mirror door to see the Phantom Angel. (Yes, Phantom Angel; since he is both and she decided to combine the two "names".)
As she finally found, and entered his domain, she found him at the organ, not playing, but writing. He turned to her, his masked side facing her first. "I see you've made the choice to trust me," he said and turned back to his papers. Matilda took a step forward, and as she did, he got up and walked towards her, "You've chosen wisely."
In the weeks that followed Angèle wandered around, uncertain of any decisions that she made, minor or otherwise. She did not want to trust him, after seeing how everything she said just seemed to make him angry. But, she also worried about the consequences of refusing him. Already knowing what Matilda's answer had been, she saw less and less of her. However, she hoped by not revealing him, she could keep in the Ghost's favor enough that he would not harm her. As a result, she told no one of him and even if she had, who would believe her? But as much as she feared and hated the side of him she had seen so often lately, she longed to hear his angelic voice again. And then there was the mystery of his face. What did he look like behind that mask? Phantom or Angel? It was a difficult question to answer. He seemed to be a bit of both. Finally, she could not take it anymore and decided that she would go and see if he was any different than before, or she would leave the Opera. She decided on the first option, seeing as how she could always leave after.
So, Angèle waited until after practice and skillfully avoided Matilda as everyone exited. She realized that she was getting good at avoiding people and suppressed a small laugh at the irony of it.
"Well," she sighed as she thought to herself, "I have had plenty of practice at it lately."
Once she was sure everyone was gone, she snuck down into the cellars and tried to find her way to the Phantom the same way they had last time. She found the mirror and went through and continued down the passages. But soon encountered a problem. All the passages seemed to have changed since the last time she was there. Or maybe there had been multiple passages all along and they hadn't noticed them before... It was possible... on the way in they were being led, entranced by the Phantom's voice and on the way out they had been trying to leave as fast as they could. After who knows how long she was wandering around, lost in the tunnels, she finally admitted to herself that she was completely and utterly lost. She tried to retrace her steps and found that she only got more confused.
"This must have been part of why no one could ever find him..." she thought despairingly, "And why some who wandered down here never came back."
Angèle leaned against one of the walls and allowed herself to slide to the ground and sat there. She decided to rest before continuing on... it was hopeless enough as it was, but being tired would only make finding her way out even harder.
In her resting, she heard something familiar. And although she hadn't heard it properly for some time, she easily recognized that as Matilda's voice. Immediately sitting up, she used Matilda's voice to find her way, until Angèle stood before the entrance once more. Taking a deep breath, still not sure if she should enter, Angèle carefully pushed the mirror open. The mirror swung nicely and smoothly, without making a sound. Peering in, Angèle saw something she thought she'd never see.
As she stood there, before her Matilda was sitting directly next to him, both on the organ's bench. She sang as he played, and after a little he joined in. As they sang, Angèle took advantage of it to come in a little more in an attempt to be unnoticed. Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned, and he immediately stopped playing. Matilda looked at him, a little confused, but they both turned around. The Phantom had a grin on his face, while Matilda looked down and away.
"I knew you would come eventually," he said in his deep voice.
For some reason, his grin unnerved her rather than comforted her. She mentally kicked herself for thinking that she could just walk in on the Phantom unnoticed.
"How does he always know I'm there? And how does he get around without being seen?" she thought. Maybe there was something she could learn from him. Well, it looked like there wasn't any way out of this confrontation, so she just stood there, sort of blankly, wondering what she was going to do. She decided to let him make the first move so as to avoid making him angry again. She wanted to be able to talk civilly with him for at least five minutes before one of them got angry.
"Well," she thought to herself, "Maybe five minutes is aiming a little high. I'd be happy to settle for three."
"It seems your curiosity got the better of you, didn't it?" he said in a slightly delighted tone, getting up off the bench. Matilda remained, looking away. "I am glad you are here though. I haven't heard you sing in quite some time. Why not sing for me?" he said, cocking his head to the side. Angèle stood, frozen. "I really shouldn't have gotten myself into this," she thought. Finally Matilda got up. She went for his arm, and Angèle flinched. But to her surprise, even though Matilda turned him around slightly with a pull on his arm, he showed no anger. "It seems Matilda has softened him some. At least as far as I can see," Angèle thought.
With Matilda's silent request, he took a step back, but his expression stiffened. "But getting down to business, why have you come? I thought you wanted nothing to do with a man who you could not prove to have good intentions."
"Crap," Angèle thought, "That was really smart. So, now that you're here, what are you going to do?"
She looked them over some more and then spoke, "I have no way of proving your intentions. For all I know you could be a bit of a Don Juan. And I have no intention of singing for you again, you invaded my privacy. One of the few things I hold dear to me. But, I was thinking of leaving the Opera House... permanently. But, before I left I wanted to thank you for returning my flute to me, one of the other things that I hold dear."
"Angèle! No," Matilda said, running to her friend, leaving the Phantom behind. He had a surprised expression on, not expecting Matilda to leave his side so freely. "Angèle, why would you leave the Opera House? You love this place, I know you. Please, don't leave! We can work this out, I swear not to run off so much and to hang out with you more often," the Phantom was now even more surprised by her comment. Memories of five years ago swept into his mind, giving him a solemn face.
Realizing what she had said, she turned to her teacher, whose back was facing them as he went through the curtain into his personal chambers. And although he was in there, the curtain remained pushed back slightly. Inside he picked up the figure Matilda had seen on their first time seeing him. She had never found out who or what it was, not wanting to intrude into his room. Not to mention that he had said that she is to never enter there unless said otherwise.
"I... um... Phantom...," she put an arm out at if to reach him, but pulled back. Her nervousness worried Angèle. Finally Matilda went over to the organ's bench, and using it as a desk, wrote something on a piece of blank parchment. She folded it and left it on the bench, walking back over to Angèle.
"C'mon, we should get back to the main floor. Sorry for not talking to you more often within the past couple of weeks," as they walked, she explained all that had happened with her lessons and why she had stopped talking to her. Finally they reached the main stage and went back up to their dorm room to talk.
