Don't worry...I haven't abandoned "Innocence & Passion." But I'm working off a different computer these days...I'll update that story as soon as I switch back.
This idea has been a wandering child in the back of my mind for a bit. It's 98 based off the ALW musical/film, but there'll be some of the usual Leroux and, maybe, Kay, tidbits tossed in here and there...just because.
Usual disclaimers...I don't own the characters (except for a few minor ones I've added in), but I'm sure you knew that.
Reviews are welcome, as always.
Chapter One - A Passage of Shadows
Meg Giry took a single deep breath and let it out.
The great mirror was open, a passage of shadows lay beyond it.
Had Christine gone this way? Alone? With someone?
Meg shook her head; she could not imagine her sweet, timid friend venturing into such a narrow, dark place. Not even in the company of someone well liked, well trusted.
Only a quarter of an hour earlier, Meg had encountered the Vicomte de Chagny on the stairs near the singers' dressing rooms. Christine's childhood sweetheart had walked passed Meg, a look of puzzled anger on his handsome face.
He'd passed Meg without noticing, but stopped when he saw her Maman on the landing below.
"Madame Giry, you must tell me…where has Christine gone? She meant to go to dinner with me, but when I returned for her, she had locked me out of her dressing room."
The ballet mistress regarded the Vicomte calmly, shrugging back her braid as she answered him.
"Monsieur, it has been many years since you last saw Mademoiselle Daae. Perhaps she is no longer the little girl you knew."
Her poised reticence was not reassuring to the young Vicomte.
"Madame, I heard a voice in her room, a man's voice."
"And what if you did, Monsieur? It is not for you to worry about. She may choose the company she keeps."
Meg stepped into the passage, hearing the shush of her slippers on the dusty floor.
Maman, she thought, will have my head if I ruin another pair of slippers.
She kept to the center of the corridor, wondering how long it was…were there other tunnels opening off it…would she find her way back?
She heard a sound behind her; someone else had come through the mirror, too.
Moving closer to the wall, she felt for and found a opening, an deep niche of some sort. She retreated into it, holding still as she recognized the crisp footsteps.
It was Maman.
As she pressed back against the cold stone, Meg felt the thick, soft drape of cobwebs against her clothes, her hair, her skin.
What is Maman doing here…did she follow me? Or does she know this place?
Shrinking deeper into the alcove, Meg saw her mother pass, a small lamp shielded by her hand.
Then, seemingly satisfied that the passage was empty, Madame Giry turned and left.
Meg heard the mirror slid shut. She emerged from her hiding place and shivered a little as she tried to sweep the cobwebs from her clothes and body.
The passage turned and Meg stumbled, finding stairs that descended deeper into the silence.
I should go back…mon Dieu, who knows what might be down there?
One hand skimming the stone wall, she went on until she found herself standing on the edge of the underground lake.
