A/N: Here it goes... review please!
Chapter 1: Back? Not Now
" And five and six, seven , eight!" Madame Gerie yelled. She was getting frustrated. The front line was drifting sideways during the middle of our ballet in act 1. My feet ached from the strenuous practice and there were at least 2 blisters on each of my feet. But I ws loving the atmosphere before show. Madame Gerie was especially nervous. This was, after all, the first show after the opening of the Opera Populaire.
" Girls! Follow the line! It is not that hard!" She snapped. She turned to the orchestra director.
" Masseur, please bring it down a half step, again girls!" It took us three hours for perfection. Back in the dressing room, the chorus girls were tired and irritable.
" Tomorrow is the show, but how are we supposed to be perfect if they kill us at dress rehearsal!" Christiania complained, pulling tape off of her toes. I smiled.
" That's the idea, Christiania, they don't want our heads too big." I said. It was common knowledge that this was true, but no one wanted to believe it.
" I know, Meg Gerie is the only one we should care about, blah blah blah, we're just the small part that everyone overlooks!" Lydia exclaimed sarcastically. Rosiana sighed.
" And we're killing our feet for this small part! Look at that!" She showed the girls her bruised toenail that had turned black.
" Remind me why we do this?" he asked sarcastically. I sighed.
" Because we love the opera and we had a dream." I said absent-mindedly. There was silence around the small, wood paneled room. Everyone knew that to be true. Each of them wouldn't give this up if they had the chance.
Madame Gerie had secured me a room in the Opera Populaire. It was a nice room in the part of the opera house that hadn't got burned during the chandelier disaster. It had purple floral wall paper, a nice comfortable bed, and a large vanity mirror. The night of my first night sleeping there was sort of eerie. Not only did I miss my mother, but I kept thinking about Christine Daae and how she was almost killed by an opera phantom. I tucked my white blanket over my head when is started to here things. I knew that it was probably Meg Gerie practicing in her room, but I was filling my head with images of a man with half a face bearing down upon me. Needless to say, I slept about an hour that night. The next morning, when Rosiana and Christiana came up to eat their breakfast in my room, they looked at me with surprise.
" Are you Ok, Ariana? Do You need Madame Gerie to get the medic?" Rosiana put her hand on my forehead. I shook my head and picked up one of the pieces of toast the had brought me.
" No, I just didn't sleep, I think Meg was practicing late last night." Rosiana and Christiana looked at each other.
" Uh, Ariana, Meg was in the room next to me, she was asleep by nine." I shook my head.
" It was someone of you downstairs singing." I took another bite.
" Ariana, I think I might get the medic, last night was the first night in the longest time that no one stayed up past 10." Rosina rose to leave. I pulled her back down.
" No, No! I'm fine, I must have been dreaming." My two best friends both gave me searching looks.
" So, are you guys nervous about tonight?"...
" Messieurs and Madames! Welcome to the reopening of the Opera Populaire!" Pablo Jaen, the lead tenor of the opera started.
" We would like to thank the government in Paris for there allowances and the Vicont Dishani and his beautiful wife, Christine for their generous donations to the re-opening of this grand house." He raised his hand up to the 5th box and bowed at a beautiful woman with long brow curly hair and a tall man with long light brown hair.
" Now, let the opera begin!" The curtains drew and the show started. My part was in the second act, so I stood in the wing with Rosiana. When the dream scene began, I piqued out with the rest of the chorus girls. I envied Meg Gerie greatly as I watched her sing her second act solo while we danced in the background. She was so lucky to have a mother in Madame Gerie. I had never, once, sang in public. I usually just sang when I was alone.
The show was a success, other then the 3rd act's premature dropping of the fake snow, which no one noticed anyway. I volunteered to help with the decoration disassembling. It was worth 3 days of board, so it was worth it. It was about eleven when we were wrapping up and I found it. I picked up my bag and underneath it, was a envelope, one with a large seal. I examined it for a moment. It was freshly made, the wax was still slightly warm to the touch.
" Madame Gerie, does this go in meg's prop box or the general one?" I asked, handing it t her. She turned and took the envelope from my hand. Her expression a split second after it was incredibly confusing. First she gave a small smile and then a look of utmost horror. Pablo walked on to the abandoned stage where we stood just in time. Madame Gerie fell to the ground. Pablo was able to break a bit of her fall. She was taking her breathe in short, breathy gasps.
" Go get the Vicont! And his wife!" She ordered Pablo. He set her down on the stage lightly and ran off through the wing, yelling. She put both of her hands over her eyes.
"Back, Why now!" She yelled into the stoney silence of the opera house. I stood in shock, not sure what to do or say. What was she so upset about? What did she mean?
A/N: Thank you for reading, plz keep reading!