Chapter Ten

Diana watched as her brother and Jonathan became closer, a deep bud of friendship seemed to have taken root between them. Every day they became more enthusiastic… and as happy as she was that they were friends, a deep sorrow formed within her as she saw them together. Since Jonathan had become manager, she had watched as Erik had been forced to retreat deeper into the shadows…

He was almost never able to be with her above ground anymore, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to get below to him. She missed waking up in the morning and seeing him asleep next to her. The feel of his arms around her, the scent of his cologne… why did things have to change? "…Diana? Are you all right?" Diana whirled around and grabbed him in a hug. "Erik! You shouldn't be here! What if someone sees you!" Erik's eyes grew cold, a slight snarl turned his lip. "I have no fear of those around us, it's you I'm worried about." She shook her head in confusion, why should he be worried about her? Did she have to hide underground? "You've been very quiet recently, Diana, one with a voice such as yours shouldn't be silent…" Erik's eyes grew wide as Diana covered his mouth, her lips demanding his.

When she pulled out of the kiss, her cheeks were moist with tears. "You have no reason to worry about me, and my voice is shamed by yours, you're the one who shouldn't have to be silent…" Her eyes looked fearfully about them, searching the shadows for any who might be hiding within. The feel of his arms around her had been sorely missed, and both her body and mind craved it like a drug. With difficulty, she made herself release him. "You must go now! Before someone sees you!" His eyes narrowed, unaware of the conflict taking place within his lover. "Will you come to me tonight? Refuse, and I will come up and find you. You worry me Diana…" Diana nodded, her eyes shifting around to cover the hall.

With a sigh, Erik bowed and faded into the shadows. Diana turned and fled down the hallway to where the rest of the cast was practicing. Several heads turned her direction as she passed, a few whispered words passed between them.

Peter shook his head, "There is no way that prop is still safe to use, I can see the termites from here!" Jonathan nodded, wrinkling his nose at the smell of rotten cloth and wood. "You were right, we should have inspected this mess earlier… gods what a stench!" Peter laughed and threw a rotted pillow at him. Jonathan blinked and barely managed to duck. The pillow hit the nearby wall, and exploded in a shower of moth eaten cloth and feathers. "I almost got you!" Jonathan reached behind his back, his hand settling on a cushion. "Oh Peter, catch!" A moment later he was on the ground laughing, pointing at Peter who looked like a sack of flour had been dropped on him.

"Phwahahahahahahahhahaa! You look hysterical! Hehehahahaha!" Peter spat out a feather and shook himself of, "Thanks a lot… now I look like some kind of demented spook…" To his annoyance this earned him another bout of laughter! "Hahahah! Peter Grey the demented spook! Hahah!" Peter groaned and looked at himself in the mirror, "I'm either the demented spook, or the phantom of the opera!" Jonathan shrugged helplessly, his entire body shaking. "Heh, would it help if I said I'm sorry? Heheheh!" Peter smiled and shook his head. "You really are a piece of work Jonathan."

Both laughing, they continued the examination, unaware of the form in the shadows watching them. "It seems that we'll have to order some new props to replace the rotten ones, how many are there?" Peter back tracked his steps. "One two three four… eighteen nineteen twenty… it looks like there's about thirty two of them." Jonathan nodded and wrote it down. "I think I see why Andrea and Firmin never got around to this, it's going to be expensive!" Peter shook his head, "It's no wonder we have so many accidents, not because of any ghost, but because of rotted props!" Jonathan smiled quietly, "You don't believe in the ghost Peter?"

Peter shook his head, smiling he turned back to his friend. "Do you believe in the phantom?" He blinked with surprise when Jonathan nodded, "Are you being serious? Let's be mature about this Jonathan! Who honestly believes in ghosts!" Jonathan smiled, "I never said that I believe in ghosts, but I do believe in the man who calls himself one." The form in the shadow faded and disappeared. "He is here Peter," Jonathan's voice was not much more than a whisper. "I saw him, and so did you. Don't ever deny it!"

"What do you think Kirsty? Should I wear this one? Or this one? Or neither!" Kirsty smiled, a wicked gleam in her eye. "Well… I hope that you plan to wear something Diana! Or you might give him the wrong idea…!" She laughed at Diana's indignant cry and danced out of range. "Kirsty! Have some decency please!" Diana returned to looking threw her things, she had no idea if this was going to be a music lesson, or if Erik had something else planned. She sighed, there was something gnawing at the back of her mind… suddenly she blinked. "Oh! I don't believe this!" With renewed vigor she disappeared into her closet. Kirsty shook her head, "What is it? What's going on now?" Diana looked up, "Kirsty, I've told you how I feel about Erik haven't I?" Kirsty nodded, a smile spreading over her face. "Let's see, how many times have you told me that you love him with every corporal part of your being? Let me think, oh yes! Only once or twice." Diana laughed, her eyes twinkling. "Well, since you know this fact, let me tell you something else. Today is a special day; it's the anniversary of the day my lessons began! And I forgot!"

Kirsty nodded, understanding the problem. "So maybe we should go shopping and get you a new dress! We've still got hours left before the sun sets!" Diana smiled and pulled her head out of the closet. "You know what Kirtsy, I think that's a perfect idea! We could both use some new clothes." Kirsty pulled Diana to her feet and lost her balance. Both tumbled into the pile of dresses on the floor. "Kirsty, do you get the feeling we've done this before…" Kirsty nodded and pulled her foot out of a sleeve.

The city of Paris was abuzz at this hour, carriages and pedestrians were everywhere one looked. The scene was as hectic as they get. And amongst this chaos, the smells of the bakery and the sounds of the city consumed the senses. Kirsty led Diana down a side street to one of the gown shops, both were giddy with their excitement. "Well, how do I look in this one?" Kirsty walked around her and studied the dress. "You look good, but not as good as I look in this one!" Diana shook her head and laughed, throwing the dress of over her head to try on another one.

When the sun began to set, they returned to the opera house in triumph. The sound of their shoes hitting the steps the only sound they heard. "So where do you think he will take you?" Diana froze, for a moment she had forgotten that Kirsty didn't know the 'Entire' truth. Kirsty looked at her expectantly, "Well…I don't know, I guess it will be a surprise." The sound of footsteps behind them caused them to look over. Erik stood in the shadows, his black opera cape hiding all but his face from view. Kirsty drew back with a gasp, her eyes focused on his mask. "Run Diana! It's the Phantom of the Opera!" Kirsty grabbed for Diana's hand but Diana ignored her. The Ghost advanced and all of Kirsty's senses screamed at her to run, but she would be darned if she let the phantom take her friend!

"Relax mademoiselle Lefebvre, I mean neither you nor Diana any harm." Kirsty's eyes grew wide with shock, "I know… your voice… my God. Erik..?" she continued to move backward, her eyes wide with shock. "No… you can't be the ghost! Because if you're the ghost than Diana…" Diana bowed her head. Kirsty stuttered wordlessly, then found her tongue. "Diana's been lying to me this entire time…" Erik sighed, he had in no way wished to make a scene. "Kirsty, you must understand! How could I have told you the whole truth! I tried to tell you as much as I could!" Diana reached out to embrace her friend but was pushed away, Diana locked eyes with her friend pleadingly." If Erik was found out he would be killed!" Kirsty glared at her, "You could have told me the truth! I thought we were friends!" Diana shook her head, "We are friends! I wanted to tell you!" Kirsty turned her back to them; Erik moved from the shadows and took his place at Diana's side. "Please Kirsty, you must tell no one about this! If you care for me at all…"

Kirsty whirled around, her eyes Blazing. "Do you even realize what he is Diana? He's a murderer! I can name three people who are dead because of him!" Erik hissed, a sharp intake leading to anger, and sighed, then nodded. his eyes gleamed in the shadows. "…I make no move to deny it, I am far from 'pure'." The word was a bit forced, and more than a little spiteful."However I do care for Diana, and it is for her sake that I ask you to keep this secret." Kirsty sat down into a nearby chair and tried to take this entire thing in. "I'm sorry that I had to lie to you Kirsty, I really am." Kirsty seemed to remember something, for here eyes opened wide and she made as if to scream. Instantly Erik was over her, his eyes meeting hers, one black gloved hand over her mouth. "Shhh… hush, I won't hurt you, but I cannot allow you to shout." Her eyes were frantic, but she held still. He relaxed a little, "…I'm going, to take my hand away. When I do, you will not scream. Agreed?" she nodded, mouth going slack. "Very good, alright." He stepped away. Kirsty drew back, and stared at Erik with horror renewed.

"Oh Diana… have you seen his face..?" A low moan formed in Erik's throat, Diana reached for his hand, hoping it would comfort him. "He has the face of a dead man! And, and the soul of a murderer! How can you possibly care for him!"

Diana smiled sadly and walked toward her friend "He doesn't have the soul of a murderer Kirsty, if you got to know him you would see…" Once again, Kirsty drew back, her eyes wide. "His soul is beautiful." Kirsty shook her head in disbelief. Suddenly her eyes became rebellious, "And what if I refuse to keep your dark secret! What will you do then!" An uneasy silence filled the room, it was broken by the sound of Diana weeping. Kirsty watched in shock as the ghost took her friend within his arms, his eyes filled with concern. Kirsty rose from her seat and approached cautiously. When the phantom made no move to stop her, she took Diana's hand. "I didn't mean it Diana, if I must I'll keep your secret. Though I don't understand, and probably don't have any real choice at all. That's what friends do. But from now on, you tell me everything, kay?"

Diana nodded, clasping kirsty's hand tightly. "I knew you would understand… I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner… Forgive me."

"I have a sinking feeling that this is not going well…" I gave Daroga a disbelieving look, from where we are sitting in box five, the scene taking place bellow us is painfully clear. "A sinking feeling you say? How mean you that?" The sarcasm in my voice was a tad sharper than I had meant it to be. Daroga chuckled and watched the stagehands tossing bucketfuls of water… really just back into the growing puddle of water. I sighed, "If this keeps up the entire first to twelfth rows will be underwater!" Daroga nodded, "Well, let's look at the bright side! At least the stage is getting washed!"

From my aggravated snort he seemed to guess my temperament, our attention returned to the scene bellow us. " When they give up, will you be able to repair the damage?" I failed to keep from chuckling. "Just wait, they're going to blame this blunder on me. I seem to do so much around here." We locked eyes and I chuckled, "I'm still not sure how they managed this one…" A muffled curse signaled that they had discovered the broken pump. "Holy mother of… Look at what the Phantom did this time!" Daroga and I exchanged amused glances.

"Can we actually fix this? The pumps jammed tight!" Several of the stagehands attempted to turn the crank to (off), they only succeeded in getting themselves soaked. "This is unbelievable! If we don't turn this stupid thing off we'll submerge the entire theater!" Peter grabbed the wheel and pulled hard. With a rusty groan it rotated backwards, to the (off ) setting. Several of the stagehands cheered. Others went of to get more buckets to remove the water from the theaters interior. Peter watched as the majority of the water receded through the floor and back through the pump to the lake.

"Well done Peter!" Peter smiled and picked up a bucket. The doors at the front of the theater opened and the rest of the cast poured in. "Peter! What happened here! It looks like a flood!" Peter shrugged, "As far as I can tell Diana, the pump that allows us to drain the underground lake so that we can use the water up here ruptured!" Several of the other stagehands laughed. "Ruptured isn't the word! The bloomin thing exploded!" Peter nodded, "We've got it turned off now, but we're going to need a repairman to come in and fix it."

Several of the other performers helped to drain the water off the carpet, which already smelled like rotting cloth. "Well, we're not going to be able to sell any ground seats for a while!" Peter nodded to Diana and handed her a bucket. A small chuckle from behind them drew everyone's attention. Jonathan stood with a small smile playing over his face. "That's quite alright." Diana shook her head. "How can it be all right? We'll have to cancel next week's night performance!" Jonathan smiled. "No, we won't, we will have a box only performance since the floor will remain damp. I'm sure we can get something to handle the smell."

Diana smiled, "A box only Performance? It will be expensive…" Jonathan laughed, his eyes burning with inner vision. "Yes, it may be expensive, but I'll make it worth the money." Peter shook his head, "So what's going to make it worth all that money? What have you got up your sleeve? …What are you going to hide in those boxes?" Jonathan grinned. "Nothing like that Peter, don't be absurd! Simply, to pull in enough for all the repairs that we need to make, all the box seats must be sold." A horrified gasp echoed around the room, Diana and Kirsty exchanged worried looks. Madam Giry drew in a deep breath, "Surely your not intending to sell Box Five, monsieur...?"A kind of possessed look sparkled in the back of Jonathans dark eyes. "Yes, I intend to rent out the Phantom's box."

A frightened bout of whispering filled the large room, Diana looked at Jonathan, fear shining in her face. Jonathan turned his face towards box five, and raised his voice to the heavens. "I know you don't recognize me Opera Ghost! Thought you should! Since I was here nigh the chandelier you dropped killed my Family!" there was pain in all their eyes, but there was rage in Jonathans voice. "I will avenge them Phantom! My younger sister! My old mother! Even if I must spend the rest of my life, hunting you down!" To their horror, a mad laughter answered Jonathan's challenge, the sound seemed to be coming from every direction! As Jonathan would whirl about to face it, it would come at him from a different place, always the ghost was out of sight.

"I'm here! I'm here Monsieur!"

From the back pocket Jonathan pulled a musket. The Phantom's laughter turned more sinister. "You will pay for what you've done Phantom! You have nowhere to run to! No one will help you!" The choir drew back with a shriek as Erik's form flashed for a moment between the rafters. The

Phantom's laughter swelled as he neared the center of the auditorium, then ceased suddenly above their heads. An eerie silence wafted over them, no one dared to breathe. "…You forget where you are monsieur, you are in my world now." For some reason, the sudden dark calmness that the phantoms voice gave of… was far more terrifying than his laughter. His voice grew quieter still, just a whisper. "So if you wish to wage war against me… be prepared to fight to the death."