Ch.8: Missing

Meg sat indolently at a long forgotten desk of her mother's, absently drawing pictures in the ghostly film of dust. She had been assigned to clean out storage room after playing a rather cruel joke on Jammes. The other ballerinas had tittered endlessly when she was pulled out of the studio by the ear. Although her teacher was in fact her mother, there was no leniency. My lord, and the rat wasn't even that big, she thought as the amount of work seemed to double right before her eyes.

Meg was about to take a break when a tiny hand yanked at the hem of her dress. Much to her surprise, little Delight stood there, primly brushing dust from her faded blue frock. The five year old was tapping her foot in annoyance. " Hello, dear!" Meg trilled just a bit too happily, " shouldn't you be with your, erm, father?" The girl let out an indignant sigh. " He's acting foolish right now, not that it's any of your concern. I'm looking for Christine. Any idea where she is?" Meg's false smile flickered for a moment at these sharp words, but it snapped back in a moment.

" She isn't here. She's…out." Meg felt very uncomfortable. She knew Christine was this girls' mother, but it wasn't to be told. It was incredibly depressing to keep such a secret from such a visibly needy creature.

Delight sat down on the filthy floor, an alien upset look in her eye. " D-do you know where I can find her? I miss her terribly." Meg felt like crying. She sat down beside her and awkwardly tried to comfort her. " She's shopping for some things for supper."

Delight then stood up at once and scrambled out the door, hugging Meg's legs before doing so. Meg was at a loss for words for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. She decided to keep their meeting under her hat, just for the sake of all their sanity.

Of course, the neighborhood had been absolutely humming with gossip ever since the debacle at the ball. Some of the rumors ranged from the wildly outlandish to the nearly true, much to the amusement of Gabriel de Fassine.

At the current moment, she was strolling down the street in her Sunday best, arm in arm with some lucky fool who seemed shocked just to be enjoying her company. Once again, nobody had traced the tale back to her, so it was pure leisure to sit back and watch the train wreck continue. What was done was done, and there was not a fiber of remorse in her entire being. That's what made being a snake fun.

As she strutted down one of the fancier areas of town, Gabriel noted that the de Chagney residence was coming up fast. She suppressed a chortle when she saw other couples stopping to stare at their house. What's more, there seemed to be loud bouts of drunken singing floating out the windows. Her beau made a snide comment, but she took no note of it, already wrapped up in the uproar she'd caused. This is too much! She hooted inwardly.

" No, you're my best friend, and there's nothing to do about it." Raoul slurred, letting out a series of comical hiccups in between each word. The bottles of whiskey Russell had brought were long gone, so the pair had cracked open the ancient liquor cabinet that stood collecting dust in the study. Both were quite drunk and very ruddy in the face.

" Ah, shaddap and sing that song again. It's h-hilarious!" Russell roared gleefully, failing to stifle a window-rattling belch. Raoul jabbed a finger at one of the five Russells he was seeing and began, " I- I can't remember it right now. My god, am I smashed, and it's not even evening yet!" Russell took another swig, thoughtfully mulling over the liquid. " Hey, it's not me who has to be worried about a public image." At this, Raoul pounded his bottle down with a strident thump. He suddenly felt ashamed of himself. What would his mother say? What would Philippe think? What would Christine do?

Russell sensed a problem and let his tankard pound to the table also. " Worried? And you consider yourself a man. You're an embarrassment." His words grew steadily sharper, each syllable holding more bite. " Your wife runs off with a ghost and your reputation is shattered. Why are you sorry? You should be angry! Be angry, you damn bunny rabbit!"

Come to think of it, he was angry. No, angry was an understatement. He was livid. He was suddenly trembling with adrenaline, teeth bared like a wolf. Never before had he felt like this, crazed with anger. " You're right, Russ. Dead right. Somebody has to pay for this." Russell clapped his hands mockingly.

" Good thinking. How about that tramp of yours? We could send her bolting out of France like the devil was at her heels."

Raoul frowned. " Don't talk about her like that. I could never hurt her." His companion rolled his bloodshot eyes. Words weren't necessary for this. " Alright, no revenge for Miss Daae. Hmm. What about, whassisname, Erik?" Raoul perked up, brow furrowed in heavy thought. It made sense. Who better to pin the blame on? The words alone were pure music. " Erik. Erik. That bastard, he's the one who needs to pay!" There was that nasty little voice in the back of his head that kept saying, Catch and kill the Phantom? Fat chance. The idea was sublime in its perfection. All it would take was a little coaxing on his behalf.

Erik brooded silently, steamed over the hurtful things Cecile had said. " She's right. It's all my fault." He kept repeating that phrase until the words had lost their meaning. He only wished there were some way to help her, to restore her flattened reputation and place in society. She couldn't hide at the opera house forever.

After what seemed like weeks, Erik picked himself up and slumped into the main chamber, only to find it empty. " Delli?" her name echoed around the cavern eerily. To his indescribable horror, the boat had vanished. She was gone!

" Oh, my god," his daughter didn't even know how to swim. The girl could have drowned hours ago.

Not hesitating, he jumped into the water and waded as fast as possible to the opposite banks, desperately searching for Delight. She was not there, but the boat was neatly tethered and the oar discarded in the lake. He breathed a sigh of relief, but the fear for her came back when he remembered that there was an entire world out there that could do so much worse to a lone five-year old girl. She had to be found. But first, there were other people who had to know of her absence.