Chapter 2

When Elle began blinking her rusty green eyes open she was blinded by the light, which had poured in through the windows that she forgot to close the drapes to. Yawning, she got out of her bed and looked at the time. It was only six thirty in the morning, and breakfast was not until eight. That gave her half an hour to get ready and a whole hour to do whatever she pleased.

She opened her rose stained wooden wardrobe in order to pick out a dress to wear. Her hand landed upon one of her rather favorite gowns and she took it out. The dress was a dark shade of violet, with black accents on the chest and sleeves. The dress had a built-in corset, and she loved the way that it shaped her figure. When she wore her gowns she felt like she was one of those opera stars that her mother had always talked about: Josephine, Carlotta, Estelle…

She used to dream of being like them and living the exciting life of being on stage and noticed. Now that she was older she knew that her dream was just a dream and nothing more. Her life was not meant to be exciting or star-studded, and she accepted her fate.

Elle changed into her dress and sat down at her vanity mirror to do her hair. She pulled half of the shiny dirty blonde hair up and slipped in pins to keep it up. When she was satisfied she sat there and thought of what there was to do. Her father told her that she could have a tour of the place that day, and she was eager to have one.

Her eyes wandered about the room and fell on the book that she had left open on the page that she left off. That was when she had gotten herself distracted. She told herself that she was hearing things, no one could possibly been singing there. The singers/dancers were not moving in until tomorrow, she heard her father say, and today he was expecting a visit from the new directors.

She moved over to the sofa and picked up the book, with every intention of continuing where she left off. It was surprisingly easy for her to get back into the story, and soon time was quickly passing her by. The next time she looked up from her book she saw that it was only a couple minutes until eight o'clock. She would have to get moving so she would not be late. Setting the book back down again, but this time putting a slip of paper in as a bookmark first, and she headed out the door.

Elle vaguely remembered the way she made it to the dining room the previous night, but somehow she found her way there on her own. She was on time, and as she entered through the door her parents were just sitting down.

"Good morning," she said to both of them with a small smile and then took her place at the side of the table.

"Did you sleep well last night?" her mother asked her, and then picked up her napkin and held it in front of her mouth to stifle a cough. Elle saw, but was not worried. Lately her mother had a small cough, but she was assured that it was nothing serious.

"Yes," Elle answered. "I was very tired after that long carriage ride."

"Well you won't have one of those for a while," her father stated cheerily. "And I talked to Madame Giry. She will be taking you around after we finish eating."

"Thank you again papa," she replied gratefully. "I can't wait to see the rest of this magnificent place. It must have been a wonder back when it was still running."

"We hear it was quite popular," her mother responded.

The three of them ate their meal quickly, each one ready to start their day. Her parents were going to be busy the entire day, talking to the directors and setting everything up. The construction on the entrance was just about finished, and they had to figure out how long it would take for the cast to be chosen and hired, which would have to start straight away.

Elle, on the other hand, had less important things to worry about. Actually, since she had no real responsibilities she was free to her own devices most of the time. After breakfast she met up with Madame Giry in the hall, and she began her tour.

"Where shall we begin?" Madame Giry asked out loud. "How about the theatre?"

Elle nodded, and she followed the woman down the hallway, to the right, and down a set of stairs. They passed through the foyer and then the lady opened one of the doors to the grand theatre. She let Elle enter first, and then she came in behind her.

She was dazzled by the grandeur of the room. It was the largest room she had ever seen, with rows upon rows of seats and boxes positions above the seats. The large stage in the middle was welcoming, and she could not wait to see her first play there. The ceiling was painted, and there seemed to be gold everywhere. A frame above the stage was engraved into a design, and she could not believe that this room only took two years to construct.

"Come Mademoiselle," the Madame said, turning her around and bringing her back to reality. "Let me show you the rest."

Elle was then led to the dormitories where the members of the cast were going to stay, to the practice room, and to a small chapel in the back. It was set up with three rows of candles, for people to go there and pray and light a candle for someone they had lost. The room gave her a melancholy feeling, and the draft from the stained glass window made her shudder.

When it was over she was led back to the main hall. "I must be leaving you now, I have some duties to attend to," Giry explained. "You know your way around now, but don't go wandering about where I haven't shown you."

The lady turned around and was beginning to head off, but Elle stopped her. "Madame?"

Giry turned around again and said, "Yes?"

"May I ask you what happened here? My father said there was a fire and then it was left deserted, as ruins. I hear you worked here before, so you should know."

"That is what happened to some extent," she answered, and a gloomy expression came over her face, as if she were reliving some sad experience. "And that is all that you need know. Why are you so curious?"

"No reason," Elle lied. "I was simply wondering the history of what was once a magical building. Sorry to have detained you from your work."

"It is no problem at all."

"Merci beaucoup," (thank you very much) Elle called out, thanking her for the tour as the strange woman walked off with her dark dress swooshing behind her.

"Je vous en prie," (you're welcome) she heard call back to her as a response, and then she was alone.

Now that she was finally alone she was not sure what to do. She had a whole day ahead of her, maybe not a whole day but at least most of one. It was now only a quarter after nine, and there was no one for her to talk to. No one to bother her.

She had basically the whole place to herself, and she knew just where she wanted to go. Elle retraced her footsteps back to the theatre, which was by far her favorite room in the building. She walked up the aisles and past the many rows of seats towards the stage. She felt at peace, and like she was home. The stage could be her home.

Elle shook her head of those foolish thoughts and walked the steps to get onto the stage. She stood up, and centered herself on the platform. Then she looked out at the non-existent audience, the thousands of empty seats. Lord, what it must be like to actually stand there and perform when the auditorium is full as opposed to not a soul in sight. That must be a strong feeling, and even stronger is when the audience applauds. 'Strong indeed,' Elle thought to herself as she stood there.

She moved about the stage a bit, and then picked one spot to stay at. Gathering her skirts, she sat herself down with her legs both at one side and her right palm resting on the ground. Then she closed her eyes and pictured what it would be like for her to be applauded on that stage, and have roses tossed up at her, but she was immediately snapped out of her dreaming when she heard a sound.

"Getting a feel for the stage?" a man's voice boomed from somewhere within the room. Elle's head shot up and her eyes darted around. The voice had startled her. She could not see anyone, but according to the sound, someone was there.

"I'm sorry," she replied, getting up off of the stage that she had been lying on. She was scared that she couldn't see who it was, but she figured that it must be one of the workers who were still hanging around to finish and pack up their tools. "I did not think that anyone was in here."

"Do you sing? Dance?" the voice asked again, not responding to her previous statement. The voice seemed to be coming from all over the auditorium, how could that be possible? "You obviously have some interest in the arts."

"No Monsieur," her rich voice answered timidly, looking slowly from left to right to see if she could see any movement or detect the presence of the man. "I had some lessons in both, but I was found not to have talent in either."

"I see," was the response. "Then prove it to me. Sing."

"Pardonnez-moi," (pardon me) Elle said, frightened by the order to sing and the mysterious stranger who had yet to reveal himself to her. It was if it were no man at all, but a voice like that of God's that can seem everywhere and nowhere at once. "But I must go."

She ran off the stage and kept going. Then the feeling came back again, the feeling of being followed. Was the man, or whatever it was, following after her? She felt butterflies in her stomach and was too scared to look behind her or to stop running. It was hard to run with her dress, but she kept going and did not stop until she ran straight into someone.

Hands came out to balance her, and she glanced up to see who it was that she ran into. A man stood there. He looked as if he were around her age, with light brown hair and soft blue eyes. His eyes were the first thing she saw; they reminded her of the sky on a summer day. Then she was brought back to the situation and remembered what she had been running from. She turned around quickly to see if anyone was there, but it was only him and her. Her pursuer was gone, or so it seemed.

"Mademoiselle, are you ok?" he asked. "You look as if you have seen a ghost."

"I think so," Elle replied, turning back to face him and then mumbled the second part to herself. "More like heard a ghost."

He held out his hand to receive hers. "My name is Hector, and you are?"

To be continued...

A/N: Thank you for the reviews. Please review! (I appreciate it)

Galasriniel- I'm so glad you like it! I'm not sure how this is going to turn out and the encouragement helps.

PopcornShirimp- Thank you!