A New Start Chapter 5- The Rose and the note

It was a joyous evening in the de Chagny household. Andre and Firmin had personally come by earlierto tell Marie Claire that she had recieved one ofthe leading roles in the upcoming production. They had chosen to do Hannibal, because it had been such a hit before.

"You will make an exquisite Elissa, my dear Marie Claire." said Andre.

Marie's blue eyes lit up. She had gotten the role of Elissa? She couldn't believe it!

"I'm quite sure you will be the next opera star, just like your mother, "said Firmin, smiling. " Your mother has been the most popular opera satr for the last twenty years. I've never seen an opera singer's fame last that long before, but perhaps it runs in the family."

"Thank you so much for coming by to tell me the news, monsieurs." said Marie curtsying politley to Andre and Firmin.

Marie then ran over to her parents and hugged them both.

"Congratulations dear, " said Christine, her eyes sparkling with excitement, "I cannot wait to see you perform."

"I couldn't have done it without your tutoring mama." said Marie, smiling brightly.

"And neither can I, " said Raoul, standing up and spinning his daughter around. Marie laughed and laughed until she was sore. "Congratulations my girl." said Raoul, finally putting Marie Claire down.

"Thank you everyone." said Marie, "I must go tell Felix!"

She then ran up the stairs to tell her brother while her parents chatted with Andre and Firmin.

And now a few hours later, the family sat by the glowing fire, quite full from their celebratory dinner, each thinking their own thoughts. Except for Felix who had fallen asleep playing with his toys. As she wartched Christine carry Felix up to bed, she began to think of the voice that she had heard after she had finished singing today. Could it have been the Phantom? And what did it mean? Marie Claire gave a little sigh. She decided to tell her parents about the voice and fleetingly wondered if Christine had heard it to. Little did she know that the voice was standing right outside the living room window.

Erik was once again standing outside the window, looking in at the happy family. He gazed at Marie Claire. How beautiful and clear her voice was. It was perfect for his music, just as her mother's had been. If he tutored Marie as he had tutored Marie Claire as he had tutored Christine, he could get the two things he wanted most: to enrich Marie Claire's voice to use it for his music, and to get revenge on her parents. Erik sighed, confused. As much as he wanted to control this anger, as much as he wanted to take to heart the compassion that he had learned after he had let Chrisitine and Raoul go, he couldn't. The old anger and the old violence had flared in his soul once again, after all these years of keeping it down.

"You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked of you." he whispered. And with a swish of his cloak, he was gone.

"Um, Mama, Papa, may I tell you something?" asked Marie Claire quietly, bringing everyone out of their reveries.

Christine and Raoul looked over at their daughter, concerned. She had been laughing and smiling only a few minutes before. Now her voice seemed filled with worry, like she was hiding something.

"What is it sweetie?" asked Christine, though she thought she already knew the answer.

Marie looked up at her parents, her pretty face paling.

"Today after I finished singing, I heard a voice speaking to me. But when I looked around there was no one there. And I heard it again, just now. It sounded as though it were coming from outside, but I don't see anyone out there."

Suddenly the three of them heard the soft swish of a cloak. They all jumped up from their seats. Raoul and Christine began to run towards the door, and Marie followed.

"May I go with you?" she asked.

"No, dear you must stay here." said Raoul, "It could be dangerous."

Marie did as she was told, though she didn't want to. Raoul and Christine ran outside into the cold night air. But when they stepped onto the porch, there was no one there. It was a normal, peaceful, starry night. But as Christine looked down, she saw something that sent chills down her spine. There on the porch lay a bright red rose with a black ribbon tied onto the stem, and a note with the seal of a skull. Raoul looked down, curious as to what Christine was staring at. His gaze widened as his eyes fell on the rose and the note.

"Christine, sweetie, are you alright?" asked Raoul as he gently put his arms around his wife's shaking shoulders.

Two glistening tears fell out of Christine's eyes as she spoke.

"I just hate not knowing what's going to happen," she said softly, as he wrapped her arms around Raoul in a warm embrace. "I just don't want Marie Claire to get involved in this.

Raoul hugged his wife tighter as the night wind blew through their hair.

"I don't want that to happen either, she 's our little girl, and I want this to be a great experience for her." said Raoul, his eyes misting over, "I can't say that Erik won't come. I can't say that nothing will happen. But I can promise that I will be here for you and Marie no matter what happens."

Christine smiled up at her beloved husband through tearful eyes.

"I know you will, that's the one thing I know I can always trust in.We must tell Marie about this, and we have to make sure that Felix dosen't hear it, he's far to young." she said.

Raoul smiled at the thought of his son.

"He's to young indeed. But I think we will have to wait until morning to tell Marie about this."

"Why?" asked Christine.

"Because she's fallen asleep on the couch." said Raoul, looking through the window.
"Too much excitement for one day I suppose."

So the two went inside and Raoul carried Marie up to bed. Then he and Christine went into their bedroom, to open the note.