2. Things Come to a Pass

HE had sworn that he had been dead; he couldn't feel anything at all in his body. He had been out

on the streets of Paris ever since that night weeks ago hiding underground in the catacombs until he

couldn't stand to be hungry any longer. The youths approached him as he walked out of the cafe. At

first, the youths began calling to him, asking him for change, until he refused. Then they grew angry;

they grew angrier when they saw the mask. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was

how bright the sun was shining.
I should've stayed down below. This demon does not deserve light. When he finally came to,

he saw a female face looking down at him. "Christine" He muttered. Once he grew more conscious

and rubbed his eyes, he realized that the girl before him was not her. She could definitely pass for a

relative; she had similar features to Christine, only she possessed auburn hair and a small splotch of

freckles. She was also rather innocent and too chatty for his tastes. Before he knew it, he found

himself in pain in the library of a local convent closeby.

What was her name again?he thought. Her name is Viola. Mademoiselle Viola had gone to

retrieve a doctor to look at him. He took a random brown leathered book off the shelves and began

to thumb thru it when a cheerful voice interupted his thoughts. "Can I help you Monsieur"

"I'm waiting for someone" He said quickly, glaring at her. "Mademoiselle Viola.

"Oh" A young nun stood in the hallway, smiling cheerfully. She was a novice no doubt. "Viola's

very sweet and a good worker. She is like family here to us all." She looked at the book in his

hands. "You like poetry?" He looked at the title of the book. The author's name was Whitman.

"He's very good" The nun came closer, "He's an American living in someplace called New Jersey"

All he could was nod politely while in his head he wanted to scream, Don't come any closer!

"I'm back!" He heard her familar cheery voice. "I tracked down Dr. Colville. He's the doctor who

usually takes care of the nuns-" She stopped when she saw the nun with him. With her was a tall,

dark blonde man, who looked like the Vicomte dressed in white.

"Oh Viola" The nun looked at her, "Your friend and I were just talking poetry"

"Sister Rosetta" Viola began, "I think they're looking for you over in the chapel"

"I was just on my way over there now" Rosetta gave the man a friendly nod. He kept his eyes to

the floor. Suddenly, he felt pain in his chest as he winced as the novice left.

"Viola told me what happened to you" Dr. Colville said sympathetically. He took out his

stethoscope from the black leather bag he had but down on the desk. "This is going to be cold at

first." He made the man unbutton his shirt and placed the instrument on his chest. The man jumped at

first, like a cat, but then calm down.

"Sounds all right" The doctor said. He examined the man more closely as Viola watched quietly

from the door. The man winced more as the doctor touched a certain spot. "Your ribs might be

broken" Dr. Colville said. "You'll need to rest for a week"

"Impossible" The man protested. "I have business to attend to." He also had no where to go but

back to the catacombs.

"I'm sure if you contact your associates it can wait" The doctor said. "Please Monsieur"

"I shall be fine." He said again. The last thing he intended to do was take pity from some doctor and

some dimwitted street waif. She was just staring at him with sympathy in her eyes.

I can not take her stares. He thought, I can not stand that look of sympathy she bears "Well"

Dr. Colville handed him a small brown envelope, "at least take these three times a day with water.

They are to help you with the pain. If you have cold meat or ice around your home, I suggest that

you put that against you as well to keep the swelling down." He looked to Viola and said, "There's

nothing more I can do for your friend, Mademoiselle"

"I'll see you out" Viola said as she left him alone in the room once again. The man buttoned up his

shirt and sighed. He could hear some bits of conversation between the girl and the doctor but

couldn't make out what was said. Ten minutes later, the girl returned with a smile on her face again.

"You can stay here" She said, "until you get better. Sometimes the sisters will let travelers or

boarders stay here. Do you know anything about carpentry"

He nodded.

"Oh good" Viola said with relief. "Because the organ that the sisters use for the services isn't working properly"

"Then you need a repairman" He sighed. "That has nothing to do with carpentry"

"Well actually it does" Viola said. "Because the railings on the steps are kind of old." She looked at

him. "There's a whorehouse six buildings down if you'd rather stay there. Some of the girls are all right... the woman who runs it is really nice"

"No" He sighed. All he would want is a woman who looked like Christine and once they knew the

truth about him, they would for sure turn him in to the police. "I don't have any tools through with

me"

"Don't worry" Viola smiled, "Leave everything to me"

Fini.

Author's notes: If you got this far, then good for you. I thank you very, very much. Viola and the nuns belong to the author. The Phantom and Christine belong to Laroux. However, for visual purposes, we're going to use Gerard Butler's Phantom. Hope this is better formatted than the other chapter.