Chapter Five (part 1)
"You've been humming the same melody the entire way here," Raoul said as he helped Christine from the carriage. "What is it?"
She blushed. "It's nothing… Just a few notes, that's all."
Raoul looked away for a moment. "It's something he wrote, isn't it?"
"Oh, Raoul…"
He turned back to her, blue eyes flashing with sadness. "Christine, is it or no?" he asked, voice strained.
She nodded slowly. "Words… Beautiful words from so long ago."
Raoul's shoulders slumped and he looked defeated for a moment. When she did not continue he opened the door to the opera house. "What are these words?"
"Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness wakes, and stirs imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses…Helpless to resist the notes I write, for I compose the music of the night."
"That's very beautiful, Christine," her fiancé said after a long moment. "I hardly hear you sing anymore. Have I… kept you from it?"
Christine shook her head. "I don't know what has kept me from it. I always sang for Papa, then for…"
"For Erik."
"For the Angel of Music," she whispered. She looked down, cheeks red with blush. "Raoul, I need to tell you," she whispered, looking up to his eyes. "Don't be angry, please-"
"Monsieur de Changy!" M. Mifroid's voice sounded off the empty marble. "Mademoiselle Daaè. A pleasure to see you both here. I hear you may be of some help."
"We'll talk later, Christine," he whispered, then turned back to the man before him. "We'd like to do what we can. We have reason to believe that this… shah may be after Christine."
"Ah?"
"He attacked us in our box last evening," Raoul explained.
"The shah of Persia is not accustom to hearing the word no," Erik's voice boomed from some unknown location. It caused the commissioner to look about nervously, Raoul to frown, and Christine to hide a small smile behind a hand as if she were coughing. The Phantom of the Opera stepped from his place, Nadir following behind him. "And we're down one item we could have had as leverage."
"That being?" Mifroid prompted.
"He now knows I am alive," Erik answered with a shrug. "Though that matters very little at this point. What matters is that we keep Mademoiselle Daaè safe and work this out as quietly as possible, is that not true, Monsieur Mifroid?"
"Very true," the aging man said with a sigh.
"What if we were to set a trap?" Nadir asked, flipping through his notebook. He glanced up to find all eyes focused on him and he sighed heavily. "The shah wants Mademoiselle Daaè and Erik. We could set them up on stage together, pulling the shah out – heaven knows he's dipped his head below our vision by now – and causing him to make a move. He won't pass up an open chance to get them both."
"He'll know something that obvious is a trap," Raoul argued.
"But he's far to conceited to think he might be caught."
Erik shook his head. "You have a decent idea for a trap, Nadir, but Christine will not be the bait."
The former diva straitened her shoulders. "I thought I made fairly nice bait before," she commented with a huff.
Erik spared her a glance. "My dear girl," he drawled, "you were perfect bait for me, but I cannot guarantee your safety…"
"You know the passages, Erik," she argued. "If something goes awry we can escape."
"I see no other way to wrap this up quickly," Mifroid answered sadly. "If you are both – individually – willing to be used as bait, then we will set it up with the managers."
Erik glared for a moment, but then sighed. "Very well."
Andre and Firmin had been none to happy to hear that their Opera Ghost was up to something, be it for good or evil. They kept the commissioner in their office for two hours arguing back and forth over what should be done and what cost it would be. In the end Mifroid won. Christine Daaè and Erik would be on the stage the next evening with Raoul behind the curtains. Police officers would be scattered through the crowd, ready to jump into action if need be, and Nadir would watch from a location Erik did not give out. The opera to be performed was chosen for the irony in it all: Don Juan Triumphant.
A/N: Yes, I know this is short, but my mind is really short-circuiting tonight. I'm just exhausted, but here is the first half of the chapter for you!
CloudxInxCrimson: Love your name. Very cool. I'm glad someone else likes Nadir as much as I do. He's got such depth in the Susan Kay novel that you can't help but love him! I hope I updated quickly enough for you :) thanks for your absolutely lovely reviews!
Elizabeth: Thanks for the review! Here's your (first half of the) next chapter :)
Lynx Ryder: I mean for it to be fluffy and you mock it… Haha, but that's okay because when I read your comments to it it makes so much sense! Lol! Wow! That's one expensive book over there! Libraries! Great things! It's only like… 21 dollarsover here, I think. Goodness…
