(A/N This chapter further explores 'the chapel', which is taken from the play and the movie... as well as taking a quick tribute to our sexy Gerry, who we can admit is very good at 'Point of No Return', which this chapter is the beginning of.)

"Alright. That's it. No more caffeine for you."

"Why? You know you love it." Rio couldn't stop twitching, while Boston was decidedly depressed. No one, not even Jess, would listen to her complaints about hearing noises in chapels.

"No, I can honestly say I don't." She groaned.

Rio pouted in a strangely hyper fashion. "Hey, at least I didn't get up at two o'clock in the morning just to watch some stupid American movie."

"Not a stupid American movie." Boston sniffed pettily. "Gerard Butler as Dracula, that's what it was. And you didn't seem to mind when you came out and joined me, eh?"

"It was horribly made and there was no plot!"

"You were drooling! Drooling, Rio!"

"If I was drooling, it was because I was asleep."

"Sure. You were wide awake. Eyes wide open."

"I'm not attracted to men with pointy teeth and red eyes."

"Yes you are."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Liar."

"Mean one."

"I'm mean! I also come bearing coffee." Jess said brightly (Boston groaned as Rio reached for Jess's cup), joining the pair on the floor of the stage. "What are we talking about?"

"Trying to decide if Gerard Butler is hot or not as Dracula." Boston answered as Rio opened her mouth in protest.

"Gerard Butler?" Jess frowned. "The guy who's the movie phantom? He's hot... but I've never seen him as Dracula..." She seemed interested at the prospect.

"It's amazing." Boston assured her. "Rio was impregnated."

"I was not!" Rio gasped, slapping her hard on the knee.

"You were moaning!"

"Was not!"

"Okay, okay, break it up." Brianne walked up, her face an ominous thundercloud. "Do any of you three happen to know anything yet?"

"No, of course not." Boston said firmly, followed by Rio's vigorous nod and Jess's all-too-happy smile.

What the director/producer of the production was referring to was the 'accident' that had occurred early in the practice. Since the season had begun, things had been going wrong left and right. More often than not it was bad planning or a prank of some sort, but occasionally something happened that was never explained. Two days after Boston had gone hysterical over the 'thump' in the chapel things had started to get worse, and a little more violent as opposed to innocent pranks.

This had her more than a little worried. Now she was the one getting superstitious.

"How many times do I have to say it was just a random accident?" Rio told Boston as she looked around nervously, if comically. "Sets fall over all the time."

"We were lucky no one was on stage." Jess mused, sipping her coffee thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but the paint was still wet." Brianne said darkly. "Whoever did it's going to be very, very sorry when I find him. Or… her?"

"What if we were phantomed?" Jess raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to teach the phantom a lesson?"

The older woman snorted. "I'll beat him around the ears until he's purple."

"I wonder what he'd look like purple..." Rio stared off into the distance vapidly.

"I wonder what he'd look like period." Boston added, mostly in seriousness. Jess and Rio laughed, although both looked interested by the idea.

Brianne sighed. "Apparently no one's going to pay any attention to me right now, so I'll go get something out of someone else." With that, she stalked off in the direction of another group sitting around onstage..

"So... we're stuck here until someone figures out what's going on?" Jess asked, making herself comfortable on the not-entirely-soft wooden stage.

"Well, Brio doesn't want us to start until she can figure at least one thing out." Rio explained.

"What's that?"

"I don't know." She blinked, looking entirely absent of thought. "What were we talking about?"

Boston rolled her eyes. "You know what? I say we go back to that chapel."

"Why?" Jess shivered and hugged her cup. "That place was creepy."

"It can be as creepy as it wants, but I want to go back."

"You're crazy." Rio said, however hypocritically. "It's dark and dusty, and for all we know some crazed lunatic from the streets of Paris is terrorizing the place."

"We'll take Aaron or something." Boston whirled around, looking for the angelic-voiced 'Erik' of the cast. "He's a big strong man, no?"

"Yes, I am." Aaron walked up with an exaggerated strut. "What's up?"

"She wants to go back to that chapel I told you about." Jess explained, pointing to her head in a 'crazy' gesture. "I told her we were going to get phantomed, kidnapped, or raped in the process, so she decided to take you along."

"No, thank you." He sat down with a groan. "I say we stay here. I'm not turning into that ex-set. There's some twisted gangster running around."

"I don't think it's a gangster..." Boston murmured, looking up at the old chandelier. The very one Carlotta was singing to bring down… she thought.

"Oh Lord, Bos!" Rio snapped, suddenly sober. "I thought I was obsessed and/or crazy, and you're seriously suggesting that a one hundred and fifty year old phantom is destroying our sets!" Her expression softened, and returned to its previously caffeine-induced haze. "Well... that would be nice..."

"Oh, shut up." Jess hit them both on their knees. "I'm beginning to think your college tuition would have been better spent on therapy."

"Maybe it would." Boston mumbled.

"Who's complaining?" Rio added cheerfully.

"That's it." Boston grabbed Rio by the arm and stood up, twisting said arm considerably. "I don't care. We're going, with or without your phobias."

"I'm not afraid of being phantomed." She firmly planted her bottom on the stage. "I'm afraid of Eric."

"Why? He's... er… alluring."

"Are we talking about the same Eric?"

Boston raised an eyebrow, then laughed. "Apparently not."

Rio shuddered. "That man scares me. You'd think they'd find a less stupid, sadistic fellow for a Raoul. Isn't he supposed to be the kind, lovable refuge of Christine? I find it hard to treat him that way."

"Do we really know he's sadistic?" Boston said, getting the better of her friend and pulling her across the stage, ignoring Jess's half-mocking protests. "I mean, he probably doesn't even know what a naked woman looks like. Don't laugh, I'm serious!"

Rio snorted. "Just because he's stupid and stuck up doesn't mean he doesn't get girls. A lot of the chorus girls would do anything for a date with him."

"Yes, well, those are the girls who went after Aaron even after they found out he was married with... three? Three children. I dunno."

"Two. They move really fast, so it's easy to make that mistake."

"What's so funny?" Brianne asked darkly as the pair came around the curtain, laughed uproariously.

"Oh... life, director dear." Rio giggled. "Life."

She rolled her eyes to the sky in a fashion weirdly like Boston's. "Why are my two leading women crazy? Why, God, why?"

"Because God likes a little fun in life." Boston said, hugging the older woman, who recoiled like she was some sort of frightening phantom. "Hey... I'm not a snake or something... I won't bite. Most days."

"Go away." She grumbled, turning to her ballet girls. "Go practice. Find Aaron. Or sing Angel of Music. You know you need to. Just do something else."

"Yes ma'am." Rio took her friend's hand and skipped off in a way that was probably even more annoying to the woman.

"You know, I think we really do stretch her nerves a bit too much." Boston remarked. "Maybe we should try being just a bit more sane."

"Why? It's fun."

"You're cruel."

"Rio!" Rio sighed and Boston's heart sank.

"Yes, Eric?" She turned around, fixing him with her best death glare.

"Do you have a moment?" He asked, oblivious to her lack of enthusiasm for all things him.

"No, actually. I'm booked." She beamed so sarcastically it would have been insulting to anyone more intelligent. "Appointment for later?"

"Alright. This afternoon?" He asked hopefully.

"We'll see. Have a nice day!" Rio and Boston hurried away, not really caring where to.

"That man..." Rio narrowed her eyes and shook her fist angrily at the air behind her. "One day, he's going to kill me or something. Or I'll frame him so everyone will think he's killed me. Either one. But either one, I'd sue and win and be happy."

"You're a good person. Also not so smart." Boston added, upon realizing it would be very hard to sue one's killer.

"I know. Where are we going?"

"The chapel, stupid. I'm going crazier."

"We're gonna die. Both of us." Rio said with perfect carelessness.

"I have no objection to being punjabed. It's better than some ways to die."

"Do you know anyone who's been punjabed?"

"No."

"Well then, you don't know..."

"Do you? Here it is!" She turned down the hallway she and Jess had taken before. It looked a little more ominous than before, but then, she could easily credit that to her growing insanity.

"Ew." Rio inched away. "Creepy-dusty."

"Deal. Your lungs aren't that delicate, are they?"

"Yes." She offered little resistance as her friend pulled her down the hall.

"Be quiet."

"Why?" She retorted. "Afraid you really will get punjabed?"

"Not afraid." The other said cheerfully. Her smile then disappeared. "Look!"

Rio peered at the spot in the dust she pointed too. "Huh. Jess has big feet."

"Those aren't Jess' shoes." Boston said firmly. "Jess doesn't wear old-fashioned fancy men's shoes."

"Wouldn't put it past her." She muttered darkly, her attention momentarily taken by a stuffed monkey with a slightly rotted left eye.

Boston slapped her lightly. "I'm trying to be serious. Rio, there could be some psycho back here, you know."

"True. Or there could be a mysterious musical genius."

"I doubt it."

"Why? You'd love it as much as I would."

"Yeah..." I would scream, cry, then stare at him in awe and adoration, that's what I'd do... she thought. But I'd probably then decide I was completely insane.

"You're lost, aren't you?" Rio said accusingly, after a couple of squabbles, some side-tracking, and periods of awkward silence. "Please tell me you're lost and we're really not purposefully going this far."

"I'm not lost." Boston assured her. "Not lost at all. Go back if you want to, but I'm going to find that chapel..."

"Oh, sure you are. What are you, a bloodhound?" Despite her whining she continued to trudge alongside her friend. "I, personally, am uncomfortable with being two small girls alone in a half-broken-down opera house where we just spotted a crazy man's dressed-up footprints in the dust!"

She said all this in one breath, causing Boston to laugh rather than to take her seriously. She was a little unstable at the moment, convinced that not only had she heard noises, but saw footprints that weren't there, and, maybe, even imagined old chapels.

"It's not funny! We could very well get hurt, you know!"

"Curiousity may have killed the cat, but I'm a ram, so..."

"A what?"

"An Aries. A ram."

"... Just shut up." Another awkward silence prevailed after that particularly odd interaction.

"Hey, a staircase!" Boston stopped dead and pointed to the winding stone thing.

"Whoop-dee-doo. We already passed six or seven." Rio grabbed her arm. "Let's go back. Please?"

"No, it's right here." Boston literally dragged her companion up the stairs, pausing at the top. "This is it, alright."

Rio brushed herself off and looked around. Her footsteps echoed ominously "Hey, cool." She examined the candles, the old stained-glass window, the faded tapestry on the wall, and even the stones that made up the floor.

"See, I told you it was worth it." Boston was then fixated by the candle Jess had lit on their last visit. It wasn't lit anymore, but the candle was considerably shorter. The cover which would have been used to put it out had been moved from its place at the stand's side to lying next to said candle.

"Not worth it." Rio was saying. "Just cool."

"Someone is back here." Boston picked up the stopper. "Someone moved this."

"It's probably just some old hobo." Her friend assured her. She was staring at the tapestry. "Which isn't all the comforting, really, but... who cares. Let's go. Now."

She said that last bit quite suddenly, just as Boston thought the same thing. Neither of them heard nor saw anything unusual: it was more a feeling of cold in the room.

It's just a draft... Boston assured herself, planting her feet on the ground as Rio desperately tugged on her elbow. For some reason she couldn't tear herself away from the quiet place.

"Let's go." She said again, almost panicking. "You're crazy to have wanted to come back here. It's creepy."

Boston looked at the candle again, then, with a shudder, took off down the stairs with Rio on her trail.

The two reached the end of the hallway, panting.

"What changed your mind?" Rio asked, the first to regain her breath.

"Did you hear something?" The other asked breathlessly.

"No. I think you're hearing impaired, that's what." She sighed and straightened. "Let's get back to the stage. I dunno how long we were back there, but someone's bound to be worried."

Boston looked back one more time, at the to-and-from footprints of herself, Jess, and Rio, then, the man's footprints that went only down the hallway, not back.