Everything and Nothing
Notes- Thanks to musicismylife, Midnight Tango, Dernhelm, Kat097, ShapeintheShadows, Usorokoaemo, Tango1 and ReganX for your lovely reviews. I'm glad you're all enjoying this!
Chapter Seven: Plans In Motion
I stepped back from my handiwork and smiled in satisfaction at what I saw.
It had taken me a while to come up with a finalized plan, but really, some of those old cliches are as true as they can get. Simple is sometimes the best route to take. The plan, therefore, was as simple as I could make it.
After all, these were little girls I was going off to scare. I didn't want to frighten them all the way out of the Opera Populaire, or I'd lose my one and only student. All I needed was... well, this, and then my privacy would be guaranteed. And I was fairly certain that Christine wouldn't be too frightened of this...
I heard a chime ring, and went to pick up my costume. Glancing at the clock, I realized that it was far past the young girl's bedtimes- far past anyone's bedtimes in the Opera Populaire. Surely by now, the only people awake would be myself and the two young girls.
Slipping into my costume and picking up my torch (as yet unlit), I made my way out onto my boat, preparing myself for what was to come.
The girls were already nervous when I found them, and they hadn't even started yet.
They stood close together in a corridor that led to a set of stairs that allowed the stagehands to go directly beneath the stage during the productions, cluthing each other's hands. Meg held a little lantern in one hand, squinting into the darkness, while Christine focused solely on the light and on crushing little Giry's hand as best she could.
"All right," little Giry said. "Here we go. Ready?"
"No," Christine replied shakily.
Did I mention that she was a brilliant little thing?
"Come on, Christine," Giry whined. "You promised you'd go through this with me."
"But it's so dark," Christine said, peeking into their surroundings warily.
"That's why I brought the light," Meg said, exasperated. "Come on, it shouldn't take too long, and I'm here with you. Besides, if we see the Ghost, think of how jealous the other girls will be!"
"I'm jealous of them," Christine muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Good. So let's go." Meg turned towards the stairs, and proceeded to lead a reluctant Christine down towards my domain.
I waited until they got onto the stairs. Then I slipped into a passageway that would send me a little ways ahead of them. This was going to be interesting...
Sure enough, I was a few seconds ahead of Christine and little Meg. I sent up a blessing for my pupil again, as she was making it hard for Giry to walk faster than at a snail's pace. It gave me plenty of time to prepare myself for the first part of the plan.
I started by murmuring into the silence. What I murmured, even I am not entirely certain; it was mostly just babbling, with only a slightly threatening lilt to the tone.
But it caught the girls' attention nonetheless.
"Do you hear that?" Christine asked, eyes wide. She dug in her heels and squeezed at Meg's hand when the other young girl didn't respond at first. When little Giry turned, looking mildly irritated, my pupil repeated her question, sounding slightly more panicked.
Meg had a slightly different reaction. "It's the ghost! See, I told you it wouldn't take long! Come on!" she replied enthusiastically.
I stopped murmuring and waited a bit. The two soon started walking, though Christine walked a little behind Giry as though using her friend as a shield.
After a few moments, I picked up a cane- an old prop from a production done years ago- and proceeded with the plan.
"Christine, stop that."
"Stop what?"
"That!"
"I'm not doing anything." Christine said, sounding puzzled.
"You're poking me."
"I am not."
"You are too. On my right side."
"But I'm on your left side."
"Stop it."
Christine sighed.
Then, "EEK! Meg, that's not funny!"
Meg stopped. "What's not funny?"
"Telling me not to poke you and then you poking me!"
"What? I'm not poking you! I'm in front of you!"
Not to mention both of your hands are full, my dear, I thought, retreating into another passageway to commence with the next bit of the plan.
"But... if you're not poking me..." Christine stopped again.
Meg turned to look at her, a priceless expression growing on her face. "And if you weren't poking me," she continued.
"Then.."
The two stared at each other for a long moment.
I chose that moment to blow their lantern out.
Both shrieked in surprise, and there was a crash- I guessed the lantern had been dropped, because little Giry suddenly started wailing about her foot. I couldn't see much but outlines at the moment, so all I could visibly discern was that Christine was trying to drag little Giry back the way they had come.
Oh no, my dear, you haven't seen the show yet, I thought with a mischievous grin spreading across my own face.
It was time for the real bit of the show to begin.
"Who dares enter my domain?" I boomed, casting my voice about in the passage so that it was impossible to tell where it was coming from.
Both girls gasped. It was almost comical how loudly they did it; almost as though we were in an Opera.
"Well?" I demanded.
"It's the Ghost!" Christine squeaked.
"I know that," little Giry hissed at her.
"What do we do!"
"Hope he doesn't try and eat us!"
I grinned. "Are you boys or are you girls? The Opera Ghost demands a prompt answer!"
"Uh- uh- um... what!" Meg asked.
"Meg, let's go! Please!" Christine begged.
"We're girls!" little Giry said loudly. "Christine, stop yanking on me. Ow, my foot.."
"Girls! I think you're lying to me. Girls are too smart to wander into my domain. Boys, however.." I let loose as evil a cackle as I could manage. It faltered slightly when I almost went into a coughing fit, but it seemed to frighten them properly.
"Yeek! Meeeeg!" Christine whined.
"We're girls! We're not lying!" Meg said. "Christine, OW! You're stepping on my foot!"
"You know, I don't like it when little boys lie to me," I said in a scolding tone, slipping my torch out from under my costume and readying to light it. "Do you know what I do to little boys?"
"We're girls! Really! We are!" Christine squeaked. "Please, let us go! We didn't mean-"
"Christine, shut up! Monsieur Ghost-"
"I like to EAT LITTLE BOYS!" I roared, just as my torch was set on fire.
The light flared up as I dropped it to the ground, cackling again.
The girl's eyes were larger than any child's ball I'd seen. Their mouths were just as wide open.
They stared.
I cackled some more.
They continued to stare.
I stepped forward.
They began to scream, Christine only slightly louder than Meg.
The funny thing was, they just stood there. Screaming. And they didn't move, even with me cackling and waving my arms around.
At least, not until I took another step forward and said, "Mm, boys who smell like little girls. You should taste delicious!"
Christine bolted for safety. Meg followed right behind.
It took a while for me to get myself under control afterwards, wiping tears of mirth from my face with the edge of my costume.
Then I went to see where they'd gone and if all was all right.
"-and then he started for us!" Meg exclaimed.
The other girls in the dorm room oohed and aahed appreciatively as I took a seat in one of my favorite hiding spots.
Christine and little Giry sat on a bed in the center of the room, with the rest of the young girls surrounding them. Christine was very pale from her experience, and as far as I could tell, she had yet to let go of little Giry's hand. I think said hand was turning blue from lack of circulation.
"What did he look like?" one of the girls asked, looking quite awed.
"He was all white," Christine whispered.
"Like pale?" another girl prompted.
"No, pure white! Like our sheets!" little Giry said, pointing at their bedsheets.
They all looked.
"Actually, they're kinda yellow-y," someone observed.
"Well, he was white like our sheets USED to be," Meg said.
"Oooh," the girls chorused.
"What else?" the first girl asked.
"He was all flowy; you could only see his arms, no legs," little Giry continued.
"And he had a black tophat on," Christine supplied.
"A tophat? Really!" one of the girls asked. "So he does dress in evening clohes.."
The girls oohed and aaahed again.
I couldn't help but laugh.
All the girls in the room jerked, and I immediately clamped my hand over my own mouth, mentally cursing at my stupidity. Wonderful, they'd heard me. Now what...?
"Is that the ghost?" one of the younger girls asked fearfully.
"Go look," Meg told her.
"But-"
"Go on! You said it first, so you get to look," another girl said sternly.
The little one gulped- she couldn't have been more than six- but obeyed, creeping over to the door slowly.
Upon reaching it, it took her at least a full minute to touch the doorknob.
Then she gasped.
"Meg! Your mama's coming! Everyone, in bed! Quick!"
They all hurried off to bed as I heard Madame Giry's footsteps echo in the hallway outside the door.
Taking this as my cue to leave, I headed down to my home.
Then I laughed- for the second time not only this night, but in my life- until tears came to my eyes.