Thank you to Lost Schizophrenic and watrfairie for your reviews. It's nice to know people other than my friends are reading it. Not that I don't love their support. I totally do. Especially Paige and Travis who like myself are Phantom of the Opera fans and Andrew, who has never seen or read PotO.
waterfairie: to answer your question, I would say she is probably around 15 or 16 years of age, considering the time.
Now you should all be happy, you now know the decision Marissa made. Will it be a good one though, or a bad one?
Chapter 5: Answers
"Marissa!" Dorine exclaimed, shocked. "Don't even think that! You were amazing, really."
Marissa looked at Dorine with doubt forming in her eyes. "I don't know, Rine..." She let her voice trail off.
Dorine stood there, not knowing what to say. This didn't sound at all like the Marissa she knew. "You know, Riss," she said hoping what she was going to say made some form of sense. "Everyone has to start somewhere. Remember, Christine for example."
Marissa smiled for the first time since Lucinda made her comments. "You're right! Christine was a chorus giirl and she turned out to be an amazing singer!"
"See Rissa, it's in your blood." Dorine said, glad Marissa was seeing her point.
Marissa frowned again, though. "Dorine, Christine had a teacher."
Dorine nodded, "That she did, a crazy teacher, an insane one, but a good one. Riss, you were taught by your father who was taught by his father, lading all the way back to Christine."
"True," Marissa said, "very true."
Marissa lie in her room, following the managers' instructions to "relax before the show." She thought about Lucinda as she lay there. She had done nothing to Lucinda, yet everytime they run into one another, Lucinda has something snotty to say, as though she feels she is better than Marissa, the "chorus girl."
She thought maybe it was that Lucinda was jealous. but that didn't make sense. After all, as late as she came to work for the opera house, there was no way she would have been asked to play the part.
What then, could it be, Marissa thought. Lucinda wasn't very pretty, maybe she was in her own way, but it wasn't considered beautiful. She had red hair that curled everywhere. Marissa, on the other hand had the dark silky black curly hair and beautiful green eyes. She also had a very beautiful milky white complexion. Marissa didn't think, though, that appearance was something to be jealous of.
She sat up, she suddenly had an idea of what it might be. She lay out her costume on her bed, in case she needed to come back for a quick change, then set off for Mme. Giry's room.
When she arrived outside of the room she was seeking, she lightly rapped on the door. "Yes?" she heard Mme. Giry's voice from within. "Who is it?"
"It's Marissa de Chageny," Marissa said timidly. "I just came by to ask you some questions, but they aren't terribly important and I can ask you later if you're busy." Marissa didn't know what she was thinking coming by before the opera. She knew Mme. Giry was probably very busy right now.
"Come in, child," Mme. Giry said in a softer tone. "I'm really not busy, I was just resting a bit."
Marissa started to open the door, then paused. "Only if you're sure you have time for my silly questions." she called back.
"Yes, Marissa, I'm sure." Mme. Giry said, opening the door.
Marissa watched the door open and Mme. Giry ushered her inside. "Sit, child," she said, "and tell me what brings you here."
Marissa sat down slowly on one chair, as Mme. Giry sat in another. "Well, ever since Lucinda came to the opera house she housed a disliking for me. I have been turning it over in my mind and I can't seem to find the reason why. Then I remembered you telling me about Carlotta, her relative. She would have been here about the same time as Christine, right?"
"Yes, dear," Mme. Giry answered, immediately realizing what she was asking. "She was here at exactly the same time as Christine."
Marissa began to believe that she was on the right track. "Well if she was the prima donna at the same time Christine proved to be a star..." she trailed off a bit, thinking of how to phrase the rest of her question, "how did that turn out?"
"Well." Mme. Giry said, "I'm sure you have heard stories of the Opera Ghost, correct?"
"Yes, I heard that he taught Christine to sing."
"That, he did," Mme. Giry confirmed. "Well, there were a lot of accidents happening at the time. The new managers came and she threw one of her famous fits."
"What had happened?"
"Well, the first one was due to the new managers paying more attention to the dancers, especially Christine. The second was because as she was singing, one of the accidents I mentioned previously occured."
"Caused by the Phantome?" Marissa asked.
"None other," Mme Giry continuted. "She went on saying that she would not perform until accidents stopped happening."
"That was the night of the Gala performance, wasn't it?"
"Yes, it was."
"What did they do?"
"My great-great grandmother knew that Christine had been receiving lessons, she suggested she sing."
"And she did?"
"They listened to her sing and liked it, so then they had her perform that night. After that more accidents happened if the Opera Ghosts demands were not met, many of them included Christine starring.
"So is that why Carlotta hated Christine?"
"If there is any reason, that would probably be it."
"Would that at all explain why Lucinda doesn't like me though?"
"It could, but then again, she seems to like no one but herself."
"I see that too, but her dislike for me seems almost unnatural."
"It could be possible that she's singling you out because you are related to Christine, but we can't know for sure."
"Would Bianca know if the family has held the grudge this long?"
"She might. She would know better than I do."
"Well thank you, Mme. Giry, you have really helped."
"Anytime you need me, I'm here."
"Thanks again." Marissa said as she left. She walked back to her room planning to contact Bianca as soon as she could to see iif she was up for a visitor.
As she walked back to her room, she thought about the accidents that the Phantom caused if his demands were not met. The accident he caused to get Christine to perform in the first place. Just then, a chilling thought struck her. What exactly was it that caused Bianca to break her leg?
Notes: Yes, I am stopping chapter 5 there. It might be a while before I update my story, please be patient. I have a big research paper coming up and I'm already behind because of missing school last week. I will update as I can, but if it takes me a while, I'm sorry. I also need to decide where my story is heading from here before I can go much father.
