Chapter 9
Oh yeah! 59 reviews! You guys are so awesome: grins stupidly:
NEW POPE NEW POPE NEW POPE! Hurrah! Hahaha, lol. Pope Benedict XVI, huh? He doesn't seem old at ALL! Which is cool. Not that I'm saying old people aren't! It's just neat that he seemed so energetic when he came out on the balcony and addressed the THOUSANDS of people crowding St. Peter's Square…I got chills when I saw everything unfold, when the seven bells started ringing, and then almost an hour after that, Joseph Ratzinger stepped out from behind the red curtains and started waving at the THOUSANDS of people in the Square…heh, and he was thinking about going into retirement…guess the Holy man upstairs had different plans for him…
THREE UPDATES IN FIVE DAYS! I wanted to get this out yesterday, but alas, school got in the way. Geometry exams- : mutters incoherently under breath:
: Tips fedora to the Lady Abyss: Merci, mademoiselle!
Erianna Abyss: I'm on your favorites list: sobs dramatically: what an honor, what an HONOR! Thank you, thank you, THANK you!
ANGEL OF MYSTERY: That's too cool that you're reading it for the first time too! I've only seen the movie…MAY THIRD MAY THIRD MAY THIRD! Totally psyched about that! I'm gonna get it the day it comes out, and lock myself in my room for the rest of the day, watching it over and over and over and over again…
Violin Rose: WE MUST BE TWINS! There can be no other explanation! Hahaha, that is too creepy! You love Snape, too! And yeah, that's what I would think, heck, that's what I DID think when I was writing it! Wowee, that's just way too awesome! Scary, but awesome!
BobMcBobBob1: You know, honestly I had every intention of emailing you back, but, RL got in the way…SEE! CHRISTINE GOT HER HEAD BACK! Yay! Jeez, I thought she sounded a little floozy when I reread the chapters up 'til then…well, not really. Isn't she a strong heroine? It seems in all the other phics I've read, the girl falls madly in love with Erik almost RIGHT AWAY! Sometimes—maybe not ALL the time, but sometimes. That's enough for me. THIS Christine isn't…yet. She's got tons more obstacles to overcome. She's my favorite character EVER in my fics…well, you know, 'cept for Erik--but we all knew that.
Nota Lone: Nyah-hah, gotcha! I totally freaked everyone out when I said I wasn't updating 'til June…ANYway, what the heck does 'chucu' mean? Just wondering…And NO, Stephen is ABSITIVELY POSOLUTELY NOT a fop! He was sorely miffed when he read that…or at least he probably WOULD have been, if he'd actually read it…NEW POPE NEW POPE NEW POPE!
CarKeys: Well thank you for reviewing my humble little story!
:coughYEAHRIGHTcoughcough: Mutters: humble story? Pshaw…
Hehe, that's almost as ridiculous as ME being humble…eh heh…
Now, I think it's safe to end this little authoress's note…
Please review when you're done reading this here chappy!
-Alianne
(I've decided that I like to be mysterious.)
THE HAUNTED MANSION Part One
The brunette squealed. "Positive! So it's settled- we go explore the house and get out of there before an hour's up! This is gonna be so awesome! We're meeting behind the music building as soon as school lets out, all right?"
"Yes, now shoo so I can get back to reading!"
The group huddled together behind one of the storage sheds near the music building right after the bell rang signaling the end of the school day. Christine was the last to show, her nose buried in her book as she walked towards the little buildings.
She didn't notice the group, didn't even notice them as she walked by, her eyes darting back and forth across the lines of the pages of Leroux's Gothic horror story. She didn't even notice that she was walking straight towards the small forest; she was so enthralled with her book.
"Where's Christine?" Anna whispered to the group, even though they were the only ones around. There were supposed to be seven in all, four girls and three guys, some of them from the drama club, and a couple were just in it for the thrill. Constance and a girl named Larissa, who was one of the seniors, were drama club members, and the redhead, Anna, and two guys weren't—they just wanted to check out the supposedly haunted mansion.
"I don't know, maybe she got scared," sneered the president of the Thespian Society.
"There she is!" Mikhail, the only male drama club member there, pointed to the copper-haired figure entering the forest.
They all ran over to her and Constance snatched the book out of Christine's hands. The redhead's eyes smoldered as she pinned the mousy blonde with a frightening glare. Constance looked a little uneasy before saying, "You were supposed to meet us behind the sheds! Not go off on your own! And what's this?"
Constance turned the book over to the cover and an evil, almost feral grin spread across her face. "Hm, the Phantom of the Opera, Christine? Learning about your soon-to-be lover? I applaud you, my dear," she drawled very sarcastically, using a finger to push her glasses higher up on her nose.
Christine was fuming, but tried her best not to let it show. She must have done a good job, because when she answered her voice was almost normal. "Just forget about it, okay? I found it in the library, and it's merely interesting, that's all. Let's go you guys; I have to get home soon, anyway." The redhead's arm darted out and snatched her book back, and she turned around and walked back into the forest. The others followed, and Anna caught up with her best friend.
"Isn't this exciting? It's actually haunted! Do you think we'll see any ghosts?" she rambled, by some chance extremely hyper. Christine took a calming breath, trying not to roll her eyes. "Yes it is, Ann, I'm thrilled," she answered back.
In all honesty, Christine wasn't. Usually, this kind of thing would get her as excited as Anna was, but all she wanted to do now was finish Leroux's book before tonight. Plus, she still didn't know how she was going to deal with her phantom stalker. That alone was enough to ruin her fun, along with Constance so politely ripping her book out of her hands like that. At least she got it back. She couldn't even read the book now, because of all the tree roots sticking out from the earth, and the plants and saplings in the way. She'd probably trip and make a fool out of herself, and she wasn't going to do that in front of her nemesis.
Constance and Larissa led the group through the trees, and they both gasped as they came into a clearing. The back of the Lavonne mansion was just as impressive as its front, ominous and beautiful. Christine looked up at the roof and saw statues placed in intervals on the rims, gargoyles, angels, gods and goddesses. It was amazing, how could this be in their quaint little Victorian neighborhood? It was so…Gothic, enchanting…out of place. But coming from the forest, it seemed almost magical, like one was expecting it to rise above the trees, its spires touching the sun. It reminded Christine of the castle in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast, the rooftop scene, when Gaston and the Beast are fighting. That kind of Gothic, that kind of enchanting…
The high schoolers gazed at the mansion in wonder unabashedly, their mouths most assuredly wide open; even the guys couldn't believe that the forest was hiding this. They didn't even notice where they were standing, they were so mesmerized.
Larissa was the first to snap out of it, but she still kept looking up at the magnificent building every few seconds, as if to make sure it was still there. The senior girl started poking around, trying to find the way in. A large pine stood proudly by a stone wall, Spanish moss hanging copiously from it, creating an almost curtain. She brushed the moss aside and came to an ivy covered alcove. She rapped on the cool stone wall, and slid her hands down the leaves until they came to a rusty door knob.
"Hey guys!" she hissed, her eyes darting to make sure no one was around. "I found it! Let's go!"
The others blinked and came out of their trances, and Constance roughly pushed Christine aside in her haste to be first. None of them paid any attention to where they had been standing, so focused on getting in that they didn't see the wall of flowers surrounding them as they ran straightforward along a white gravel path.
The redhead glared viciously at the drama club president's back, seemingly trying to burn a whole through it. However, her gaze traveled back to the enormous mansion, taking in every bit of it, her chest aching painfully at its aged magnificence. It felt like her heart would burst if she looked at it any longer, and she tore her eyes from the building, but didn't see her friends anywhere. A tiny thread of nervousness ran through her, but then she saw a pair of sneakers disappear a curtain of Spanish moss from a tree growing beside it hanging low.
Christine sighed almost inaudibly in relief, until a flash of dark red caught her eye. She turned her head and her heart leapt into her throat.
Rosebushes had surrounded the entire clearing, and she realized that they had been in a garden. But what got her was the color of the roses.
They were beautiful, flawless pale pinks, magentas, ruby reds, creamy whites, and the last…the last were such a dark, sensuous crimson that they seemed almost black in color.
Just like her rose…the rose that Erik had given her…
Many more flowers grew along the paths of the garden, all of them perfect, dazzling in color. It was unearthly beautiful, Christine thought. Even the white gravel paths were perfect; crunching deliciously underneath her flip-flops as she explored the wondrous place, all thoughts of ghost hunting flew out the window. She heard a faint gurgling, and set off to find the source of the sound. The redhead came to a large, rimless fountain that seemed to rise out of the very ground, streams of water branching off between gaps in the rosebushes into the bowels of the garden. A black marble bench was placed at a safe distance from the water.
It was like Alice in Wonderland, now all she needed was a white rabbit to come rushing by…
Christine jumped when she heard the crackling of branches opposite and squeaked as a white blur streaked across the water towards her. It settled on the marble bench and looked at her pointedly, its soft pink nose gently sniffing the air, amber eyes fixed on the girl.
She giggled at the irony of the situation and at herself as she walked slowly towards the white cat. "And to think I thought you were gonna hurt me, Miss Rabbit" she said, still giggling as she held her hand out for the feline to sniff.
The pure white cat rubbed her head against Christine's hand, and the girl sat down next to the purring animal. They stayed like that, the girl watching the water spout from the angel's lips, and the cat nuzzling her nose into her shirt.
All of a sudden, the cat shot from the redhead's gentle hold, speeding along the path. She turned around and fixed her gaze on the freshman, her tail thumping lazily on the gravel.
Christine's eyebrows furrowed. "You want me to follow you?" she asked, getting up from the black bench.
She could have sworn the cat nodded at her.
Weeeeell…this is part one of…I don't exactly know how many! Hahaha, probably two, this is important to the plot…ERIK COMES NEXT CHAPTER! Yay! I know you guys are excited about that! Will update on Monday!
And if ya want a cameo, please email me with a DETAILED description of your character!
Hey Rissa, ya like me putting you into my story? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me details, like hair color, eye color, height, alrighty? Unless you don't WANT to be in the story…:pouts: I hope you do want to be in it!
'Til then, you guys!
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