Chapter Seven

Search Warrant

Carefully, Heather made her way behind the stage. There were several stagehands still working on props for the show. She cleared her throat to let them know she was there. "Excuse me?" she said.

The biggest of the three men turned around and looked her over. "Yes, Mademoiselle?" he asked smiling.

"I was wondering if any of you fine gentlemen knew where the entrance to the room of mirrors is?" Heather pleasantly asked. She smiled back at him.

The man smiled even wider, showing off his icky teeth. He put his arm around her shoulders. "Anything for you, my dear."

Heather smiled, trying not to grimace. Carefully she maneuvered out of his hold. "Lead the way." He led her through the workmen's quarters to a small dressing room. Inside the closet there was a small door.

"This is the only entrance that I know of. Found it last year. Just keep the panel open while you're in, and then close it when you're ready to leave. Come and find me when you're done," he winked at her.

Heather just smiled and nodded. Turning, she crawled into the tiny space. As soon as she heard the man leave, she sighed in relief and made a face. "Ewww…" Cautiously she crept into the room, her eyes darting everywhere nervously. "Please don't let anything happen." Heather repeated to herself over and over again. Stopping a couple yards in, Heather tugged off her skirt. She was wearing the breeches underneath; she liked them so much better. They were much more comfortable. "There, much easier to move now."

"I didn't think you would like the costumes. You were always more of a jeans girl." Joe said as he materialized out of nowhere. Heather jumped backwards.

"Stay away from me!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Have you not learned anything from this little adventure?" he asked before he reached out and snatched her. Heather tried to scream, but she knew it was useless. No one was there to hear her anyway. Seconds later, Joe carried her out through another hidden door that led to the vaults, and consequently, the Phantom's lair.

About an hour later everyone except Heather was present at the arranged meeting spot. The others waited around for another twenty minutes before they began to worry about her. Just as Paige was about to say something, Clay interrupted as he walked up to them. "I looked everywhere for you guys, where have you been?" He stopped when he saw their worried glances. "What?" he looked around, "Where's Heather?" he demanded.

"We don't know," answered Alyssa quietly. "She hasn't returned from the mirror room yet. I have a bad feeling about this, I knew someone should have gone with her instead of letting her go alone."

Clay looked at the floor guiltily, "I should have been here with her. Then this wouldn't have happened."

"That is not true. But, we have no time for talking. We have to find the mirror room to find her." Paige said.

Meanwhile, in the Phantom's lair, Heather lay on Erik's bed once again, only this time under completely different circumstances. She groaned and opened her eyes, her head was throbbing. And she was staring Joe in the face.

Startled, Heather quickly pulled back. She scrambled out of the bed as fast as she could. Heather felt her head. There was a big bump beginning to form on her forehead. "What did you do to me you sicko!" she exclaimed.

Joe looked very offended on the uncovered side of his face. "Heather, my love, I would never do anything to harm you. Ever."

"Oh, so you just decided that hitting me on the head, knocking me out, and bringing me down here to do who knows what to me, doesn't count as anything?" she said viciously.

He took the accusation harshly. Pain filled his face, almost making Heather regret everything she had said and done to him. She was about to reach for his hand when she withdrew her hand. No! I can't let him get to me. I love Clay, not him. I love Clay! He's doing this on purpose, I have to ignore it! she thought to herself frantically. Determinedly she walked to the other side of the cave-like room she didn't want to be anywhere near him.

Joe stood up. Walking slowly, he began to make his way over to her. He took off his mask. "Stay away from me Joe! I mean it! Stay away!" Joe just ignored her and kept walking towards her. Before she could do anything, Heather realized too late that she had been backed into a corner with no escape. Scared, Heather searched for anything that would stop him or that would help her, Joe smiled, "It's no use, and you're mine now." He grabbed her wrists and held them over her head, pinning her to the wall.

Heather struggled against him as she tried to get loose. Joe was right, it was no use. His whole body was pressed up against hers, she couldn't move. Slowly he began kissing her neck, making his way up to her mouth to engage it in a bruising kiss. Holding her hands with one hand, Joe fumbled with her shirt buttons.

Clay and the others stepped into the mirror room after finding the same workman to lead them to the entrance. They had just walked in when Alyssa spotted something lying in a heap on the floor. She picked it up and gasped. "I found her skirt!" she told the others. "She probably took it off so that she could move about better. She liked the breeches better than the skirt." Scot scooped up something off the floor not too far away from the skirt.

"Look at this. It's a candleholder. What do you want to bet that he knocked her out with it." Scot said referring to Joe.

"We've got to find them!" exclaimed Clay. He began searching the big room. The others also fanned out to help. Before long, Scot found a secret door in one of the mirrors. While he tried to pry it open, Paige found another door a couple feet away.

"Uh, oh. This could be a problem." Alyssa stated. A couple more minutes and Scot managed to slide the door half open.

"How about we split?" Scot suggested. "Paige and I will take this one, and you and Alyssa can take that one."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Cautiously Paige and Scot started down the secret steps to a hidden chamber below. Clay and Alyssa walked boldly through the tunnel, only stopping to shoo away rats from their path.

Heather struggled, but Joe had a firm hold on her. She tried to move her face away from him. But his lips continued to find hers. Slowly, bit-by-bit, Heather stopped struggling. She was no match for him. Joe chuckled, "That's my girl. You know you're mine." He kissed her jaw line, down her neck and back up to her lips. Heather's face showed her disgust, but he ignored them. Once he had her shirt unbuttoned, he tried to take it off her. Only then did he realize she had on another shirt under it. He growled in frustration.

Paige and Scot stopped a little ways from the bottom of the steps. Someone was down here. And not just one person. There was at least two. The couple slowly made their way down the last steps to stop at the bottom. Paige held a candle out in front of her. "Hello?" she jumped when she heard a muffled reply. Letting the candle shine over every inch of the chamber, Paige and Scot were startled to see four people tied up. Paige let out a sigh of relief. "We found them!" then she frowned, "Wait a minute, where's Erik?"

Clay and Alyssa came to the end of their tunnel. Alyssa looked back, it was a long way back to the mirror. Puzzled, they looked around. Shouldn't there be another door, or mirror, or something? "Great, a dead end." Clay muttered. He kicked the wall in frustration. Alyssa looked at him in sympathy.

"Hey, don't worry, we'll find her," she reassured him, trying to smile. Just as they were about to turn and leave, a small clicking sound could be heard. Alyssa looked at the wall in amazement. "You must have kicked a hidden button or something!" quietly the door opened to reveal the lair. They stepped in just in time to hear a noise from an adjoining room. They silently crept along the wall. Alyssa peeked in and gasped.

"What?" demanded Clay.

"He's trying to make her…" she was at a loss for words, "you know."

Clay saw red. He whipped around the corner before Alyssa could do anything to stop him. He almost stopped when he saw the scene before him, but he charged at Joe. Joe never even knew what hit him. Heather collapsed to the floor as the weight was suddenly lifted off of her.

While Clay and Joe fought, Alyssa rushed in and helped Heather up. "Clay, come on!" she yelled to him. Giving Joe one last punch, Clay jumped up and ran over to the girls. Scooping Heather up into his arms, Clay led the way out of the lair. Somehow Alyssa managed to get the same mechanism to shut the concealed door before Joe could reach them. It closed just in time. She could him curse on the other side. Quickly they went down the tunnel and reentered the mirror room. They could hear Joe catching up behind them.

Alyssa beckoned Clay to the secret door Paige and Scot had gone to explore. As soon as he was on the steps, Alyssa followed him and shut the door behind her. They rushed down the steps.

Paige and Scot untied the prisoners. "Where's Erik?" Paige had asked when she noticed he wasn't with them.

"What do you mean where is he? He's the monster that kidnapped us and put us down here in the first place!" Raoul exploded as soon as he was free.

Paige was about to answer when she froze. Someone was coming down the steps, quickly, too. Before they could have the chance to hide, the person came into view. Paige sighed in relief when she saw that it was only Clay and Alyssa. Then they saw that he was carrying Heather, who clung to his shirt.

Joe entered the mirror room seconds after Alyssa had slid the door shut. He looked around, expecting to his escapees hiding somewhere. But, he saw nothing. Then he noticed the panel into the dressing room was open. They had escaped, for now.

Clay kneeled down and gently set Heather on the floor. Then he sat down beside her. She didn't let go of him. He slightly rocked back and forth as she cried into his chest. He tried his best to calm her.

Alyssa and Paige took the opportunity to usher everyone into another room that led off of the main chamber. Walking in, the girls and Christine gasped in shock. There, beaten and bloody, was the Phantom of the Opera!

"Erik!" Christine gasped as she ran to his side. She quickly untied his hands from behind him and helped into a sitting position. Gently she began to check his wounds.

Clay cupped Heather's cheek in his hand, but she avoided his gaze, tears still leaking from her eyes. He tried to make eye contact with her. He ran his thumb along her jaw line. "Hey," he said softly. She continued to look elsewhere. "Look at me," he said firmly. Reluctantly she did, her eyes welling with tears.

"I'm sorry!" she whispered before breaking into sobs once again. Clay pulled her to him and rubbed her back.

Alyssa and Paige stared at Erik in astonishment. So the Phantom really did look like Gerard Butler! "Wow! They could be twins!" Paige exclaimed, hearts in her eyes. Suddenly she giggled. Scot and Alyssa looked at her, confused. "I just had this weird thought that maybe Gerard is a reincarnation of Erik," she explained.

Alyssa shook her head, "You're weird, you know that?"

Scot looked at his girlfriend with raised eyebrows. He smiled, "You're impossible."

Paige just laughed, "Hey, it could happen."

Once Paige was able to tear her eyes away from the hot Phantom, Paige leaned over and whispered, "What happened to Heather?"

"Joe tried to force her into sex." Alyssa replied truthfully.

Scot and Paige exchanged looks of horror. "Oh my gosh!" Paige exclaimed. "Is she okay?"

Alyssa nodded, "We got there just in time, he almost had her shirt off. I'm so glad she was wearing two shirts today."

Raoul looked at Christine sourly as she tended to the Phantom. He didn't like it. She wasn't supposed to be running to that monster. He was evil, the whole reason they were in this mess to begin with. She should be running to him instead.

Carlotta sat stiffly at a chair in the corner, her nose in the air. At the moment she was too mad to say or do anything. She didn't pay attention to what was going on around her. "I should not be treated this way. I am a respectable person and I demand to be treated as so. And why are you in my clothes?" she demanded

Meg agreed, "Yes, why are you dressed like me?" she asked Alyssa in confusion.

Raoul turned his angry face to Scot, "And why are those people out there dressed as Christine and I?"

Paige and Alyssa looked at each other, should they tell them the truth or not? What could they possibly say that would sound real? Alyssa opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't think of anything. Luckily, she didn't have to say anything, because Heather and Clay appeared in the doorway.

"You are here because someone has been impersonating Erik." Heather told them. She gave Paige, Scot, and Alyssa a weak smile. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

Paige and the others got the hint and continued. "We've been brought in to impersonate you to capture him."

"Our 'Erik's' name is Joe, he is the one who kidnapped you and brought you here. Not, the real Erik, as you think." Alyssa added.

"It's true," Erik informed them hoarsely. He winced as he tried to sit up. Christine put her arm behind his back, and in his weak state, was able to help him up. "He would beat me for information."

Christine looked at Erik in sympathy. As did Meg, Alyssa, and the others. "Paige, can you do anything to help him?" Heather asked as she put emphasis on the help part. Paige got the drift and nodded.