"Is this seat good?" Alyssa asked the other four people who were with her. Several nods and yeses answered her. Leading the way through the row, she picked a seat somewhere in the middle. The others sat down after her. Scot sat beside her, Paige sitting down next to him. Then Heather, and then Clay on the other end. They were at the movie theater to see Phantom of the Opera. The guys had been a little reluctant to come, but Heather and Paige had wanted to see it really bad, so they agreed to come. Alyssa had decided to come with them.
The five friends laughed and joked around till the previews started. They never noticed that the only other people in the theater were a couple strangers sitting a few rows behind them. During the previews the strangers began to chant softly, so that nobody could hear them. After about five minutes, they stopped and sat back to watch the movie.
During the movie, Heather rested her head on Clay's shoulder. She was happy that he had agreed to come with her. They hadn't been able to go on a real date for a couple of weeks. Her, Paige, and Alyssa had been too busy with some demons that had come through a portal. Paige hadn't been able to do anything with Scot either.
Heather and Paige hummed along to the songs, having been listening nonstop to the soundtrack since they had seen the movie the first time a few weeks ago, with Heather's mom. They laughed when it came to the part when Carlotta came back to the opera house. The man in the rafters mooned her.
Sometime around the time in the movie when Meg found the Phantom's mask, Alyssa noticed that they were the only ones in the theater. But she didn't think anything of it since it was the end of the movie. Besides, she didn't want to interrupt Heather and Paige's crying fest.
Clay handed Heather his napkin, which he had grabbed before coming in. She took it gratefully. Wiping her eyes she sniffed. She looked at Paige, who was crying, too. Heather laughed silently, and Paige had made fun of her the first time for crying!
Just then the end of the movie was there. They sat in their seats a couple extra minutes so that Heather and Paige could wipe their eyes. Suddenly Heather disappeared. "Heather!" Clay exclaimed frantically, looking around.
Then Paige disappeared also. "Paige?" Scot panicked. Beside him Alyssa disappeared. The two boys looked at each other with wide eyes before they too also faded into air.
When they reappeared, they landed on the floor of a small room that looked like a dressing room. Clay landed beside Heather on the floor. Rolling onto his back, he stood up. Then he bent over and helped Heather up. She groaned, holding her head. "Whatever idiot did that, they just gave me a headache!" she complained. The others stood up.
Just then the door to the room opened to reveal two men who looked a lot like Andre and Firmin from the movie! "Ah, our guests have arrived!" the taller of the two said. The shorter one nodded and smiled. "Welcome to the Opera Populair!" he exclaimed.
The friends just gaped at them in shock. Then Heather felt a tug in her clothes. Looking down, she gasped in shock. Her clothes had completely changed! And so had everybody else's!
Heather wore a floor length dress in two pieces. The top bodice was pulled snuggly against her waist, and lace edged the square collar. The dress was a light purple, violet color. Her hair framed her face in dark ringlets. Her makeup was done to perfection and looked just right on her.
Paige was dressed almost the same way. Only her dress was a dark green. Her hair was in a confusing, complicated hairdo. Her makeup was also done to perfection.
Alyssa looked down at her outfit and was surprised to find that she was wearing ballerina toe shoes. Her dress was a gauzy white with a pink top. It poofed out slightly, and came to just above her knees. Her hair was done in a loose bun, with several loose strands. She was wearing light makeup.
The boys, however, were dressed in suits. Clay was wearing a white shirt and black pants with black boots. He greatly resembled Raoul, only with brown hair. Scot, on the other hand, was dressed in a complete suit. He kept adjusting his bow tie.
The two men at the door smiled coldly at them. The tall one began to talk, "Welcome, now you will be assigned your parts. Heather, you will be playing Christine Daae."
Heather stared at him, "No way! I can't sing that well! Heck, I can't even sing! Why isn't Paige playing Christine?" she exclaimed.
"Because she has been given the part of Carlotta. The Phantom wants you to play Christine. Now, Alyssa, you will be Meg Giry. Clay will be playing Raoul. Scot, you have been assigned several small parts."
The two men nodded at the group before turning to leave. "The Phantom will be here shortly to see you, and Heather, sing something, you will find it very surprising." The man who resembled Andre told her.
"Wait! Who is the Phantom?" Heather called out as the door shut on them. No answer came back to her. Heather sighed in frustration at the closed door. The others shifted uncomfortably, the room being so small. Suddenly Heather had an idea. Softly she began to sing.
"Angel of Music, guide and guardian, grant to me your glory! Angel of Music, hide no longer! Come to me strange angel!" She became louder as she sang. Surprise was written all over her face, as it was on everybody's. They all jumped when a man's voice answered Heather.
"I am your Angel of Music. Come to me Angel of Music. I am your Angel of Music, come to me Angel of Music!"
Heather looked around the room. Her face turned white. "I know that voice!" she said. She backed up till she was standing beside Clay. She pressed up against him. He put his arm around her waist. He had never seen her scared before.
Suddenly a man appeared out of nowhere. He stood in front of Heather and Clay. "Indeed you do. Hello Heather," the man said. The man was dressed in the Phantom's all black clothing, and the white mask that covered half of his face. He twirled a red rose in his black-gloved fingers.
"Joe," was all she could manage.
Paige and Alyssa paled when they heard her. "Uh oh." Paige muttered under her breath. "This is not good." Alyssa nodded in silent agreement.
Joe held the rose out to Heather, "A flower for the star of the show," he told her. Heather stared at the flower before hesitantly taking it. "What do you want?" she asked him.
Joe smiled at her, "Why I thought you would know by now, Heather!" he said. He grabbed her arm. "You!"
Just then Paige remembered her powers. She wavered her hand to freeze him so that Heather could free herself, but nothing happened. Joe also laughed at her. "Your powers are useless here!" he gloated. "They will not work!"
Turning back to Heather he hissed at her "You belong to me! No one else!"
Heather stared back at him defiantly, "You wish!" she growled, drawing back her free hand she slammed it into his stomach. It had the effect she had been hoping for. He immediately threw her back as he doubled over in pain. She stumbled back a couple of steps to Clay. A dark bruise was already beginning to form around her wrist.
Angrily Joe straightened up. "You'll pay for that girl!" Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Heather held her wrist, until Clay gently took it in his hand and inspected it "I think it's twisted." Paige walked over to them. "Give it to me," she instructed. Heather grudgingly gave it to her. "But he said our powers won't work."
Paige smiled at her, "But, he didn't say anything about gifts." She closed her eyes as she concentrated for a moment. When she opened them, the bruise was gone. "See!" she said.
"Who was that?" asked Clay in concern.
Heather sighed, "I was hoping I would never have to tell you this, but I guess I have no choice now. That was Joe. He's a warlock. When I first gained my powers, all of them, I dated him. I had no idea he was sent to kill me. But, somewhere along the way he fell in love with me. In some sort of an evil, twisted way. He's tried to make me love him several other times," she explained to him. "He hasn't bothered me since I started dating you, so I figured he'd finally figured out that I don't love him. I should have known he was planning something. This is all my fault!"
Clay wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "This isn't your fault. None of it is. Nobody else would have known either," he soothed her. "We'll find a way to get home, it'll be okay."
Heather took a deep breath. "Okay." She turned to the others, who had moved to the other side of the room so that they weren't eavesdropping. They looked up when she started to talk.
"I know that they've put some sort of spell on us, I can feel it. I'm pretty sure that when we start acting, it'll turn us into out characters for the most part. So, I'm going to give everybody jobs. Paige, since you will be playing Carlotta, you won't be talking to me, so send me notes by Alyssa, Scot, or Clay when you find out something. Scot, you will be in charge of going out and getting us things that we need, I'll make you a list of some stuff. Clay and Alyssa, you will be messengers and informants. I want to know everything that you hear and see. Anything will help. Got it?" she asked.
Everybody nodded his or her approval and understanding. One by one they left the room, until Heather and Clay were the only ones left. Clay stopped Heather from leaving. "Are you okay?" he asked her. Heather nodded, "Yeah, I think. I'm just upset a little, I guess. Nothing big," she answered him. "I'll be fine."
Clay nodded before he bent down a little and kissed her on the cheek. "If he does anything to you that isn't part of the movie, tell me. Okay?" Heather nodded, and then she too left.
An hour later everyone met on stage for the opening scene. Except for Clay of course. Heather gasped when she say Alyssa, her hair was blond! "Wow!" she said as Alyssa walked over to her. She looked at Heather, "Can you believe it? It must be part of the spell or something. It did that a couple minutes after I left you guys," Alyssa explained.
As Paige began to sing, Heather and Alyssa took their spots in the background. As they danced Heather smiled. This is fun! It feels as if I'm flying! she thought to herself. Looking at Alyssa, Heather could tell she thought the same thing.
Just then Monsieur Lefevre came unto the stage leading Andre, Firmin, and Raoul. Monsieur Lefevre introduced them as the new owners of the opera house. Then they introduced Raoul as their patron. He gave his quick speech and then left by walking past Heather and Alyssa. As he walked past them he slipped Heather a piece of paper. She quickly palmed it and hid it in her costume. Alyssa checked to make sure that nobody had seen. It was clear.
Heather became more and more nervous as it got closer to her cue to sing. She hoped that Paige would remember to stand up farther. Thankfully she did. When the curtain dropped it didn't even touch her. However, she fell to make it look realistic. Everything went as planned. As Heather's cue came, she took a deep breath before stepping forward. Alyssa patted her arm as she walked past.
Opening her mouth, Heather began to sing. "Think of me, think of me fondly…" softly at first and then louder as she became more confident in herself. She stepped forward a couple more steps. Clay watched proudly from off stage. As the music swelled, he suddenly found himself in one of the box seats, watching as Heather continued the song, the extravagant dress she was now wearing making her even more beautiful.
As she hit the high note at the end of the song, Clay was already on his way to her dressing room so that he could meet her there. He pushed his way through the crowd that was in front of the big door. "Ah, Viscount, I think we've made quite a discovery in Miss Daae, maybe we could present her to you?" said Firmin, giving Clay a weird smile.
"No thank you gentleman," Clay answered as he took the flowers that Firmin was holding. "Thank you!" he said smiling. Then he opened the door and slipped inside. Heather sat at her dressing table combing her hair. Her head moved slightly to the side when the door closed, she had been waiting for him. They ran through their parts quickly. But, when the time came for Raoul to leave, Clay refused to go. "No, I don't want him to touch you!" he said as Heather tried to convince him to leave as he was supposed to.
"Please Clay!" Heather begged him. He looked into her eyes and saw the fear and pleading in them. He sighed and slumped his shoulders, giving in. she sighed in relief, "Don't worry, he won't harm me, I'll be fine," she reassured him. He nodded before turning and walking to the door. Opening it he looked back at her. The uncertainty in her eyes scared him a little. She was always so certain about things, never scared. But now she was, she was just acting brave for everyone. She nodded and he turned and left, shutting it behind him. She changed into her nightgown.
Even though she was expecting it, Heather still jumped when Joe's voice suddenly filled the air. "Insolent boy, this slave of fashion, basking in your glory! Ignorant fool, this brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!"
Heather ran to the door, but she was compelled to answer him. "Angel I hear you, speak I listen, stay by my side guide me. Angel, my soul was weak, forgive me, enter at last master!"
"Flattering child, you shall know me, see why in shadow I hide. I look at your face in the mirror, I am there inside!"
Heather gasped as she looked at the mirror. It seemed to become lighter and a man's figure could be seen outlined behind it. The mask was exceptionally clear. "Angel of Music, guide and guardian, grant to me your Glory! Angel of Music hide no longer, come to me strange Angel!" Heather felt as if she was in a trance.
"Come to me Angel of Music, I am your Angel of Music. Come to me Angel of Music, I am your Angel of Music!" Joe sang. Heather 's feet started moving, as if she had not control over them. She didn't want to go, but she did. The mirror slid open to reveal Joe. Heather was captivated, she never heard Clay banging on the door as she put her hand in Joe's.
Then, Heather's favorite part of the movie, the tunnels. The music became very loud as it changed and the Phantom began to lead her. She thought it was cool how the statues moved to allow them through.
"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came. This voice which calls to me, and speaks my name. And do I dream again, for now I find, the Phantom of the Opera is there inside my mind!" Heather sang. The Phantom picked it up from there and sang his part as they came to a horse waiting for them at the bottom of the steps. Heather looked back; she could no longer see the mirror.
"And though you turn from me, to glance behind…" he continued. The Phantom led the horse to the water's edge. A boat was there, rocking gently like a cradle on the small waves of the tunnel. As the Phantom rowed the boat they sang together, their voices blending beautifully. Heather began to panic a little. The next parts were really high. Too high for her, spell or no spell. Taking a deep breath, Heather opened her mouth and sang. She hit the high notes endlessly. They were perfect. When she was done, Heather grinned. Wow! That was so cool! I think I like this spell. She thought to herself. Just then the Phantom stepped out of the boat and onto the floor of his lair. Heather held her breath, not quite sure of what he was going to do.
Instead of doing anything though, Joe continued with the movie as planned. The surprise was yet to come. Heather took his hand that he offered to her and he helped her out of the boat. He sang to her, and she listened, in a daze of sorts at the emotion in his voice. She let him touch her. His hands were all over her waist and chest. Never inappropriately, but still there. Then he led her to the mannequin. Pulling back the curtain, he surprised heather. There was no mannequin; in its place was a mirror. In it was Heather's reflection, staring at her and smiling, dressed in the beautiful wedding dress. Heather gasped and took a step backwards. The reflection smiled and lifted the veil onto her head. Heather fainted. The Phantom caught her before she could hit the ground. Finishing his song he carried her to his bed and gently laid her down and closed the curtain surrounding it.
Alyssa unlocked Heather's door and slipped into the room. She immediately headed for the mirror. Slipping her fingers into the crack, she slid it open and looked inside. Not seeing anyone she stepped in and checked again. Alyssa proceeded a couple more steps inside before she was stopped by a few mice who ran across her path. She was about to go on when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She jumped and whirled around.
"Come Meg," said Madame Giry, addressing who she thought to be her daughter. Then she turned around and led the way out of the tunnel.
When Heather woke up, she could hear Joe playing the piano. Walking out of the room, she saw him mindlessly playing a simple pattern of notes over and over again. As she finished her singing part he quit. Heather walked over to him, as she caressed his face, she ripped off the mask. Joe leapt out of his seat and turned on her, rage on his face, yelling at her. Frightened, Heather stumbled backwards, and fell. He went around her, singing to her. "Oh Heather," he sighed. Heather tearfully gave him the mask with trembling hands. He took it and turned from her to replace it onto his face. Then he turned around, "Come, we must leave now, your friends will be missing you." Without another word, he turned on his heel and led her away.