There he stood. At the base of an immensely tall room, the Phantom glared at us with a chilling grin. Thin, cloudy rays of daylight coming from a window near the ceiling were interrupted by the Phantom's dark figure, which cast a shadow on the clay walls. Stained glass portraits hung randomly along the full height of the wall, portraits of angels in stained glass that would never see sunlight flood through them. The phantom's distorted face and thin, wiry hair deeply contrasted the beauty of these angels; and his darkly pleasured expression awoke fear in me once more as he stood with his gloved hand on the top of his scabbard.
"Welcome."
Raoul pulled my head into him, and I couldn't see anything.
"What a pleasure, you have returned my songbird to me. Did you tire of her? Did she tire of you?"
Raoul spoke no words. I heard a soft chuckle coming from the Phantom's direction.
"Or perhaps you would like to have revenge on me; after all, I did try to kill you…" his sarcastic tone sprouted hate in my heart as I fought Raoul's grip to look at the Phantom.
"We are not here to discuss your crude nature," Raoul sharply retorted. "Where is Madame Giry?"
"I will show you. Come, leave my songbird and her friend here."
My eyes shot wide in terror at the thought of leaving Raoul to be alone with the Phantom.
"Why should they stay? What might they see that only I deserve to see?"
Raoul stood strong.
"As you wish, I will take only Christine."
I could feel the cold of the Phantom's leather glove on my shoulder, and I could feel Raoul sharply pull me back.
"No! I will go with you. But as much as I distrust your word, you must promise me that no harm will come to them," Raoul bargained. My mind pounded out the word "no!" over and over. He couldn't go with the Phantom! The Phantom would surely kill him…
The dim light broke through the darkness of Raoul's shoulder as I felt him lay me down at the base of the conical room. Meg clung to my shoulder as we both sat at the far end of the room. Raoul began to rise away from me, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back down to my level.
"Raoul, don't go… he'll kill you…" I pleaded quietly.
"Do not fear for me, love; let me fear for myself. I promise you, you will see me again whether it's in heaven or back in this haunted room. Meg is here; she will comfort you if it gets to be too much. I love you," he said. His words tore me apart as I breathed them in through a swollen throat and watery eyes. For all I knew, they might as well have been the last words he ever spoke to me.
He pulled me in for a tight embrace and I dug my fingers into his back because I could not hold him close enough. Finally he pulled away and laid one last kiss on my lips. I wish he would have stayed there, resting his lips on mine, but the Phantom was getting anxious, and clearly a little jealous.
"Monsieur, it is time we leave," he said, breaking through our farewell. I gave Raoul one last tear-washed smile as I watched the Phantom grab a torch and gesture for Raoul to follow. The Phantom started into the tunnel ahead of my fiancé and soon, both were out of sight. I leaned into Meg's welcoming arms and sobbed for all I was worth.
"Oh, Christine…"
Time was miserably cruel in that slim but enormous room. Delusions flourished in front of my eyes; delusions similar to the dream I had had last night. They were delusions of death, Raoul's death… as if I were actually there, I could see the Phantom just pulling out his sword and with one swift swing of the arm- no. I won't think about it. But in the silence of that room, terror floated on the air like a deadly gas.
The tunnel entrance glared at me, tempting me with thoughts of heroism and seeing my love alive. I noticed the tips of a grate near the top of the entrance. The Phantom had left the door open for us… but what would he have in store for Meg and I should we attempt to follow? What would he have in store for Raoul?
Suddenly a shriek echoed along the walls of that room. It was Meg.
"Get away, you little creature!" she said angrily as she shooed away a rather large rat. Rats… right. I had forgotten about that pleasant addition to the Phantom's lair. Suddenly I felt something cold and wet nudging at my thigh. I shied away from it, using my arms to pull my weight away from it. On one side of the room, there was a large crack at the base, where two more rats crept out.
"Meg, over there!" I pointed to the crevice. She turned her head and froze in horror as we heard hundreds of little squeaks coming from that crack.
"Meg, we have to get out of here, now!" I urgently whispered.
"But you can't even stand, let alone walk or run…"
"Let me try!"
I pressed my left hand hard into the ground and grabbed hold of Meg's hand with my right as she rose to help me up. The voices had been quiet; I had time to regain my strength. With that renewed strength, I forced myself up as the rat population congregated at our feet. Carefully, I took a step; then another, and another. Finally Meg let go of my hand. I stumbled a little, but swung myself back up again and began to run down that dark corridor. Meg finally tore her vision off of the increasing swarm of rats and began to follow me.
Suddenly I noticed little bits of torn paper all along the tunnel. I stopped; and as Meg caught up to me, she paused as well. I picked up the first bit of paper and tried to decipher what it said. The piece that I had picked up appeared to read half of the word "Gala", in a familiar font. I strode, bent over, to the next piece, which read "Chagny". It was Raoul's invitation to the New Year's Masquerade! Oh, Raoul, he had left a trail for Meg and I to follow!
"Meg, it's Raoul's invitation! If we follow these pieces, perhaps it would take us right to him and Madame Giry!" I said excitedly. Perhaps there was hope, after all.
"Let's go, then, and hurry!" she said, a sincere smile spread across her face. She grabbed my hand and began to pull me over the trail of papers. I stumbled once or twice, and she slowed down, but I told her never to slow down. Raoul and Madame Giry deserve our best efforts!
It had been a few minutes of running, and finally we had slowed to a walk. The bits of paper were beginning to get smaller and more sparse as Raoul must have been running out of paper. The trail had led us through a tunnel that had branched off of the dark one we had been through earlier. I had not noticed an entrance, but that may be because I could not see much past Raoul's shoulder.
"What do you think we'll find?" Meg asked, breaking our eager silence.
"I don't know, Meg, but I hope for the best."
We were almost there, a corner in the tunnel revealed a familiar orange glow that promised there would be a room at the other end of the corner. We were almost there…
As we turned that final corner to meet our destination, mixed feelings arose in me. In a dark, cave-like room that had no furnishings except for the small candles that reached out from the cave walls, my Raoul and Meg's mother were found. Raoul was crouched in the corner next to the entrance, clutching his head. Madame Giry simply stood solemnly by a pool of water that must have been an offshoot of the underground lake. Dried tears stained both of their cheeks as they failed to notice our presence.
"Maman!" Meg called out. Madame Giry remained unfazed. Meg strode over to where her mother stood, and put her hand on her shoulder. Madame Giry turned her head to face her daughter, face frozen into a strange expression of fear and submission. "Maman, I am here…"
Meanwhile, I crouched down to Raoul's level. Something wasn't right. His expression was contorted in frustration as he grasped at his hair. I cupped his face in my hands, and smiled at him, beckoning some sort of reaction. His lips parted, and he tore away from me as he stood up and began to pace. I could hear his voice, though small, whisper "no…" over and over. He walked over to a wall, and crushed himself up against it, kneading the uneven rock surface into his hands. Suddenly, something struck me… where was the phantom?
I looked around, and though the phantom's presence could be felt very strongly, he was not there. What had he done to Raoul and Madame Giry that would torture them so? I watched in agony as Raoul's wide eyes failed to blink. They were glazed over; it was as though he was focusing on something else. Meg, I could tell, was having no greater luck in awakening her mother. I could hear her ask repeatedly "what's wrong, Maman?" But Madame Giry remained frozen. Her eyes, too, were wide and glazed.
With childish hope, I reached for my squirming fiancé, and held his hands in mine.
"Raoul, what has he done? What has he done to you?"
Once again, he tried to pull away from me after making clear eye contact with me. However, I aggressively pulled him back into a tight embrace. He began to gasp, and fought my embrace, but I held him tighter. Tears streamed down my cheeks at the fear of the unknown, and the regret of leaving Raoul to venture with the phantom alone.
Meg grabbed her mother's hands and once more, pleaded to know what was wrong. Finally, Madame Giry made some movement. I broke from Raoul's fighting arms, and turned to watch as Madame gracefully pulled away from her daughter and pensively strode nearer to Raoul and I. Raoul once more clutched at the rock wall, but I remained cemented in place as the strange woman that I'd always known held my gaze. Her lips parted.
Suddenly a strange song erupted from her lips. Meg watched intently as her mother's voice floated through the air. It was a very strange song… one that had been born out of a nightmare. It was eerie and resonant, mystifying and terrifying. She stopped just a few feet away from me, with one final, soft, and low note. The realization of what had happened to them choked me. I fell to my knees, and Meg ran to tend to her mother, and guided her face to face her with her hand. Her mother's gaze fell.
Meg turned to face me.
"Christine, what's happened to them?"
This was a cruel trick played out by the Phantom. A cruel trick that only recently had I experienced. The music that the Phantom plays, the Phantom uses. He uses it to further instill any emotion he likes in any person. The Phantom takes his music, and magically delivers it into someone's mind… someone like me. Someone like Raoul, or Madame Giry. On this occasion, he had chosen fear and seemingly magnified it to a level beyond understanding. I turned to face my writhing fiancé, and locking my gaze on him, I replied.
"We have to get them out of here, Meg."