kristinekat13: I know Erik wouldn't be Erik without his deformities... and that's all I'm saying... only this and nothing more... quoth the authoress, nevermore! (hehehe! Edgar Allan Poe rocks!)
Notes and Such: I know that as of now, this story really isn't all that humorous for something with a secondary genre of humor, but I assure you, once the plot is set in motion, it WILL get funnier, I just hate to completely marr Erik's character, and it's very difficult to write a humor story with a main character who's all brooding and angsty... very difficult indeed.
I must apologize once again for the amount of time between updates. I'm afraid I have no excuse this time, either. I have the next few chapter s written out, now, so updates should come much sooner from now on. Please don't hurt me!
Ah yes, and now that I've finished reading the book for the second time, I think I'll be basing a lot more of my story on that, instead of on the movie, like I'd originally planned.
Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter, even though I took forever to post it! And thanks in advance to all those who review next chapter. You guys are the best!
Chapter Three: The Guests
Carmen slept for what must have been at least six hours, but Erik got bored after five minutes staring at the ceiling and wondering that he was doing here, in some foreign place in a foreign time... He felt horribly vulnerable here, without an opera house full of people absolutely petrified of him, without his secret abode, deep beneath the stage he haunted, and most of all, without the sense of power and security he felt in being absolutely assured that he knew EVERYTHING going on around him.
But until his hostess woke up, there wasn't much he could do about his situation, so he resigned to searching Carmen's bookcase for an interesting read. She had rather excellent taste in literature, he decided, upon realizing that most of her collection was comprised mostly of the timeless classics he'd been living off of for most of his life. He almost started reading 'The Phantom of the Opera', by Gaston Leroux, undoubtedly the book Carmen knew him from, but realized after reading the first page that it was about the events concerning Miss Daae... a wound that was, for now, too raw to reopen. He replaced the book on the shelf and continued his search for something he hadn't read... With some amusement, he pulled three books, clearly there for reasons of sentiment, which had been authored an illustrated by a young Carmen Lenoir... 'A Home for a Guinea Pig', 'My Family', and 'Norman and his Mother' (which appeared to feature two manatees). It took him less than ten minutes to read them, but they certainly served as entertainment as he had himself a good laugh at Carmen's expense. This only lasted so long, however, as he was soon searching for something else, preferably something a bit longer, when he noticed that one book was turned with the spine facing towards the back of the book shelf, as though whoever had put it there had not wanted to be reminded of it's presence. Of course, Erik had to read it.
The book turned out to be authored by a man called Steven king, and Erik found himself entranced by the pure scariness of it. Of course, a man who'd lived in the catacombs of a Parisian operahouse for most of his life was hardly one to be daunted by ghost stories, but it still proved to be an interesting read, one that kept him entertained until Carmen finally awoke that afternoon.
" Have a nice sleep?" he asked, not looking up from the book.
"Oh. You're reading that, are you? Well, I suppose it wouldn't bother you as it does me."
" I was wondering why it was turned backwards..."
Carmen yawned and rubbed the weariness from her eyes. " I don't like horror stories, but looking at it tempts me to read it." she explained. " Is it any good?"
" Yes."
" Would you like something to eat?"
" I'm fine, but if you're hungry, by all means, I don't mind."
Suddenly, the door burst open, causing them both to start. And two women burst in, one tall with straight, waist-length, black hair, the other short with curly auburn hair that went a few inches below her shoulders. " Helloo Poisson d'Avril!", they sang.
" Ava, Jessica!" cried Carmen happily, " I thought you two weren't coming until tomorrow.
" Yes, well we got bored so we came early." said the taller one.
Meanwhile, Erik was trying his hardest to disappear behind the book, but to no avail.
" Well, Erik, this is Ava," Carmen motioned towards the girl who had spoken before, " And Jessica." she motioned towards the other. "And this is Erik."she said to the others.
Erik tried even harder to disappear, not particularly relishing the idea of trying to prove himself to two more skeptics.
" So, Erik, were you just at, like, a freakishly early Halloween party or something?" Ava asked, looking very much like she was trying to hold an imaginary monacle in place.
" I'm afraid not.", Erik sighed. Well, Carmen's friends may not have saved his life, but he was fairly certain that he was going to be seeing a lot of these two in the future, so perhaps it would be best for him to reveal his identity to them, as he wished not to have to make up foolish excuses and false pasts and such...
" Then why are you dressed like Zorro?"
Carmen looked at her friends, got up, and closed the door (making certain it was locked). " Jess, Ava, do you promise not to laugh at me when I tell you this?"
They both nodded. Clearly, this was important.
" Okay, we have no idea how any of this happened, but somehow Erik ended up in my bathroom this morning, having come all the way from nineteenth century France." Carmen whispered.
" Are you trying to say that Erik really is Zorro?" Jessica asked.
" Zorro is neither from France, nor the nineteenth century." Carmen said flatly. " Erik is the Phantom of the Opera."
" You're mad!"
" I believe that's exactly what Carmen said when I tried to tell her the same thing." Erik said matter-of-factly.
"Fine." Jessica said, crossing her arms. "Where's Christine's ring?"
Erik blanched. Must they ask for the one piece of evidence he could not offer them? " I'm afraid I don't have it." he said, " I gave it back to Christine until I am to be buried."
" Ha!" cried Jessica. " She gives it to you before she leaves with Raoul! You should have it!"
" Actually," Carmen, began, pulling the original novel from it's place on the bookshelf, "The movie messed that part up. Read this." She found the part in the book where Erik had shown up on the Persian's front steps and told him of the terms of Christine's release, where he stated that he'd given Christine back her ring and said she was to bury it with him when he died.
" Well, you could just be obsessed with the book." Ava pointed out.
" Can't you just trust my word?" Erik sighed.
" And mine." Carmen added.
There was silence as the two thought it over. " Show us what's behind the mask, and then we'll believe you." Ava said.
Erik gulped. Revealing himself to a woman whom he trusted and was indebted to was one thing, but to two women that he barely knew? Was it really worth it? One look at Carmen told him what he needed to do. Slowly, he lifted the mask from his face and looked up at the two skeptics.
Their reaction was fairly predictable, although not as bad as Erik had expected. They both jumped back in surprise, but neither of them emitted a scream, fled in terror, or dropped dead. Of course, neither had Carmen.
I know this chapter was fairly short, but later ones will be longer, and more interesting. I promise I'll move on with the plot in the next chapter. This was the last chapter that ends in this particular day, as well. The sun'll come out, tomorrow, a day which shall come in the next chapter, fear not!
I can't think of any good random facts right now... Oh wait! I got one... nope. Lost it. Bah humbug!