Chapter Two

A/N: BEWARE OF SPOILER FOR SUSAN KAY'S "THE PAHNTOM"! Okay, it came to my attention (me being oblivious as I am did not think of this) that some people may get very confused in this story if they haven't read "The Phantom" by Susan Kay. (Go read! Go read now!) So here's the gist of what happened in Persia:

Nadir was the head of police in Persia under the Shah and the Shah's mother (the khanum) really ruled everything. She demanded that Nadir went to fetch Erik (who was in Russia) and he does. The khanum uses Erik and gives him power in the kingdom as long as he will create "amusing deaths" for her. Twisted lady, really. Anyway, things roll on as they are and finally the Shah decides that he wants Erik dead and Nadir helps him to escape by faking his death. So there's the outline of the story for anyone who hasn't read it so that you will understand my little phic. Onward!


Monsieur le commissaire Mifroid paced back and forth along the end of the grand staircase, eyeing Nadir as he did so. He had been as ecstatic as he could have been when the Persian had brought the news to him. The Phantom of the Opera, legend as he was becoming with his more-less quiet ways in the past year, was going to help track down the murderer that ran amuck through Paris. Over a year ago he would laughed aloud at the idea of this, but now he simply showed up twenty minutes before the appointed time. Now here he stood, paced, and glanced at the large clock that stood in one corner of the large room. "It's eleven o'clock."

"I know it is," Nadir responded easily from his place on the second step.

"Where is this friend of yours, monsieur?"

"Erik will be here."

"Are you so sure?"

"M. le commissaire, you do not know Erik as I do. He will come."

"Well how long should I wait, monsieur?" Mifroid demanded. "The entire night!"

"If he wishes it. You forget, this is his domain."

"Yes… so it would appear. Well he is not above the law, contrary to his belief, and as the representative of the law I will not bow to his every wish. I came as he asked and I have waited. I can do no more and will not delay my investigations any later." He turned to leave.

"M. le commissaire, are you in such a hurry to leave?" Erik's voice boomed and echoed off the empty marble floors.

Mifroid turned, eyes wide and face paled several shades when he could not find the source of the voice. "So you are the mighty opera ghost?"

"I am."

"Will you help us?"

"Perhaps, if it suits my whim," Erik said, suddenly behind the man.

Mifroid turned suddenly and stumbled back a few steps when he came face to face with the tall man that was dressed in all black. His eyes wondered up and down, from Erik's slicked back hair, to his porcelain mask, to his gentleman's clothes and his cape that swirled around him. "I need a yes or a no, monsieur."

Erik moved toward him again, sending the commissioner staggering back once more. "I say yes not for you," he said lowly, "but for Nadir and for my own revenge, do you understand?"

"Perfectly, monsieur."


"I hear there have been several unexplained murders in Paris as of late," Raoul was saying as he peered over his book.

"Have there been? I suppose we should be careful."

"The way they're described sounds distinctly like someone we've met before, though no lassos have reared their ugly heads as of yet."

Christine glared over her own book. "Just because people are murdered does not mean it is automatically Erik's doing," she hissed.

"I'm only saying…"

"Well don't!" the former opera singer cried. "Just don't, Raoul! It's been said enough in the past year!"

Raoul watched her as she threw the book down on the sofa she had been curled up on and ran from the room. His blue eyes followed her as far as they could before he rose slowly to start after her. "Christine!"

She stopped her near-run down the hallway and turned with tear-filled eyes to her fiancé. "I'm sorry, Raoul, but… Oh I'm so sorry!"

"It's all right, darling," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms. "Really it is." He tipped her chin up so that she was looking at him and wiped a tear from her eye. "The Opera House is opening again this evening with a new opera. Would you like to go?"

"Oh, Raoul, I don't know if I could bare it…"

"But it would do some good. For us both, my love."

Christine nodded. "Then I'll come with you."

Raoul grinned in his boyish like manner and produced two tickets. "Good, because I already got these and it'd be a shame if I had to return them."


"My sources say they'll be at the opera tonight," Nadir said as he flipped through his notebook.

"What box?"

"Five."

The Phantom narrowed his eyes. "All the more reason to go after these two."

Nadir chuckled and shook his head. "Remind me never to take something you've deemed yours."

Erik smiled at this as he returned to what he was doing. The former head of police dared not look. Whatever his friend was working on was not for his eyes, lest he argue with the methods to be used. He had no right now. No right at all after he'd dragged Erik into it in the first place.

"We've only a couple of hours before people begin to com," the Persian pointed out.

Erik grunted a response but did not look up. Nadir left him to his work.


People flooded into the opera house. It was a wonderful thing to see, or so Andre and Firmin had thought for the past month that the opera had been open once more. They had taken back their positions as managers, sure that the infamous opera ghost was gone for good.

"Monsieur de Changy!" Andre cried. "A pleasure to see you here, sir! And Madame-"

"Mademoiselle," Christine corrected softly. "Until the wedding."

"Still not?" Firmin chuckled. "Well, time is always needed in these things. Enjoy your show."

"I take it box five has sold?" Raoul asked as he glanced up to the two people in the box.

"Yes. The Shah of Persia is here in Paris and his mother is with him. They were given that box. You are in the one next to them, are you not?"

"Yes."

"Well then, perhaps you'll catch a glimpse."


"There they are," Erik muttered from the shadows.

"Yes, and some other old friends, it would seem," Nadir answered as he pointed down the hallway.

Erik's eyes followed the dark finger and rested on Christine, who was on the arm of her Raoul. "No… They can't be here tonight!"

Nadir shook his head quietly. "They are. We will watch them closely, my friend. No harm will come to your Christine. I promise."


"That girl…"

The khanum looked to see Christine Daaè and Raoul passing by to their box on the other side. "What of her, my son?"

The shah's eyes narrowed and a smile crossed his lips. "She will return to Persia with us. I will have her."

"Don't be a fool."

His dark eyes sparked for a moment as he stood. "I will have her," he hissed. "Or you will find yourself quite out of power, Mother."

The khanum sat back in her seat, shying away from her son. He had never shown so much force to her. "Then you shall have her," she whispered. "Whoever she is, you shall have her."


Quaxo: No! Not a wet noodle! Anything but that: cowers in the corner: Lol. Yes, a story of two of the best villains in all of Susan Kay's story. I love to hate the khanum! She's just so horrible!

Lynx Ryder: You've never heard of it? Oh you poor poor girl! I'm so very sorry! It's "The Phantom" by Susan Kay. Very VERY good book. I just finished it last night. I'm actually planning to be a little nicer to Raoul in this story… Just a little nicer, though it is E/C. Oh, and if you didn't read it, I put the explination of this part of Kay's novel at the beginning of the chapter :)

Elizabeth: Thank you very much! Hope I updated quickly enough!