When I finally woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. It was a bright, cloudless day; the storm having finally passed. I felt so sore from my activity the day before; each time I moved my legs a hot pain ripped through them. The solution was simple for me however; I just stopped moving.
I lay staring at our disgusting ceiling; there were water marks everywhere and cobwebs in the corners. I let this image slide out of focus and I wished very much that I could just lie in my bed the whole day and forget the troubling problem under the opera.
It was very strange to think someone else was down there, using my house. However, after seeing my music, I knew someone had been inside. I had not left the sheets out of order, I knew that for certain. Then the clean house made sense; who ever it was had wiped it clear of any dust which might have betrayed a foot or handprint. They had put everything in order so as not to arouse suspicion; the only mistake had been with the music.
Who ever the killer was, they could not read music. In any other situation, this would not have mattered, however in an opera house it ruled out quite a few people; anyone in the orchestra, and most of the singers. It did leave the stage crew as possible suspects; and I suppose this was the most likely conclusion. Members of the stage crew were constantly creeping around where they did not belong. One of them could have discovered a passageway.
I tried to sit up, but immediately I felt a stinging pain in my back and I resigned to my former position. My thoughts traveled back to the opera; I still felt as though I did not have the right answer. It would have taken days to clean the house the way it had been cleaned, so how had they known we were coming? And if they had known we were coming, why go to all the trouble of canceling their presence? Why not just kill CJ and me?
"I can't move," A voice groaned suddenly, and I turned to see CJ was awake,
"Neither can I," I tried to lay on my side because it hurt my neck to turn to look at her, but that hurt even more, so I gave up and looked back at the ceiling.
"I hope that is not going to be a problem," CJ said, rubbing her shoulder.
I glanced over at her again, "How does it feel this morning?"
"Better than it did last night,"
"Is that saying much?"
"No,"
I tried sitting up again, my reason being I wanted to see if her shoulder was swollen or not, and in one quick movement I sat straight up. Immediately I was frozen with pain, every muscle felt as though it was ripping apart.
"That was a mistake," I groaned as I forced myself to remain sitting, CJ was laughing at me from her bed, "I'm glad you are enjoying my agony," I retorted,
"I am a bit, thank you," CJ laughed,
The pain in my body was dulling slightly, so I turned to face CJ; another mistake; this movement sent a fresh wave of aching soreness through my body. Thankfully, this pain subsided quickly, leaving only a dull throbbing, but I was able to move.
CJ was looking at her shoulder, but from her position lying on the bed I could tell she could not really see it. I stood over her, moving the shirt I had given her so that her entire shoulder was exposed. It looked swollen and the bruising around the wound had deepened. Peering at the bullet hole itself, it was still clean.
I shook my head, "I wish I had something cold to put on your shoulder,"
"Is it really that swollen?"
"It's not so bad, but it would hurt less," I sat back on my bed. CJ slowly sat up, wincing as she did. She gingerly stood and stretched her legs and arms, before flopping back onto her bed. Rolling to her stomach she propped her head up with her good arm.
"Have you thought any more about the opera?" She asked me,
I went to rub the sleep out of my eyes when I realized my mask was still on; I must have been so tired the night before I had forgotten to remove it. I pulled it off and immediately my face felt better.
"I have," I said heavily, "But I still don't know who we are looking for,"
She shook her head slightly and laughed, "Do you hear us? We signed on to be assassins, not detectives,"
"I think we were better as assassins,"
CJ nodded, "So, what do we know?"
"About the opera?"
"Yes,"
I considered for a moment, "We know someone kidnapped five girls, and one is dead; we know someone did get down to the house after I left it last; we know who ever it was went to great lengths to disguise their presence, and that they cannot read music; and we know that who ever it was knew we were coming,"
"And none of that really helps, does it?"
"Not very much,"
CJ let her head drop from her hand back to her bed, "Is there any way this is just some guy off the street who happened to find his way into the tunnel, or is it more likely that it is a member of the opera house?"
"I don't think it could be some random person off the street; if it was I don't think they would be taking ballerinas, and it is very unlikely that anyone could find the tunnel passageways with out any knowledge of the opera,"
"So how would one go about finding that hidden tunnel?" CJ asked me,
"Well, if you explored the area down there long enough you might find something, or if someone showed you where to look,"
"Your friend told the police where to find the door, they just kept missing it," CJ said quickly,
"Yes, he is really the only other person who I know for sure could get down to my house, and he would not have told anyone else," I said slowly,
"So maybe we are looking for a police man," CJ said softly, and she stared up at me, peering directly into my eyes,
I blinked; "Maybe,"
I had thought Dumas would have come to us very soon, however the afternoon had already begun to pass before we had a visitor; and it was not at all who I expected. Le Roy came bustling into our room, a bright smile on his face and what appeared to be a picnic basket in his hand.
"Good after noon to you two!" He said brightly; my only response was a grim stare. One would never have been able to detect that he had a killer on the loose by his cheerful demeanor. He put the basket down on CJ's bed and took out two large loaves' of bread, a hunk of cheese, and a bottle of wine.
"That certainly is a lot," CJ said in an amiable voice; I knew she treated Le Roy in this pleasant manner because she did not trust him, but she did not want him to know that. However, it still bothered me.
"Only the best for you," Le Roy said, and I did not think it was fair for him to be able to say something so trite without bursting into flames.
CJ blushed and averted her eyes; by the look on her face she was trying to keep from laughing.
"Eat you two, I am afraid you are going to be in for quite a night,"
"Where is Dumas?" I asked, taking the loaf of bread CJ was passing me,
"He is busy, there was a murder he had to attend to," Le Roy said gravely, "So you will be dealing with me tonight," Wonderful, I thought,
We ate in awkward silence for some time. CJ and I exchanged occasional glances, and I avoided looking at Le Roy. CJ was almost finished with her food when Le Roy spoke again;
"CJ? I need to barrow you for a time, would you mind terribly, following me?" He made for the door,
CJ gave me a suspicious look, however she stood and followed Dumas to the door, "I will return later, Phann," He said over his shoulder as he hurriedly ushered CJ out the door,
"Good bye, Erik!" CJ called to me over her shoulder, before she disappeared through the door. Le Roy shut the door behind them with a loud bang, and I heard it lock.
I quickly ran to the door and put my ear to it, but all I could hear was retreating footsteps. I did not like this turn of events at all; CJ had gone with Le Roy and I was alone again. Even though I knew CJ had not really left me, I still felt the pang of shame that came with not being invited to go somewhere.
Turning I looked around the now empty room and realized it was the first time I had been in there with out CJ. I moved glumly back to my bed and took up the piece of bread I had been eating. I looked at it a moment, then I let it drop back to the bed. I picked up the bottle of wine instead and took a large swig.
I was picturing what Le Roy and CJ might be doing; I really had no idea what they could have been up to, but whatever it was I knew Le Roy would be charming and CJ would blush. I took another drink; I hated that she blushed and smiled coyly when he was around. I knew it was not genuine, but it still bothered me, it was something she did for him and not for me. It reminded me of the way Christine had treated Raoul…damn Raoul…
Well on my way to draining the bottle, I wondered why it irritated me so much. I had never really thought much about me feelings toward CJ; I had always thought about my feelings toward my angel Christine.
Now I thought about CJ. I felt protective of her, I hated to see her hurt or upset. I was starting to enjoy it when I could find an excuse to touch her; my uneasiness at human contact was slow to dissipate, but it was eroding. I was appreciative of the way she treated me, not as though I was a loathsome creature but as though I was just a normal man.
Christine had not treated me that way; Christine had been afraid of me, I thought as I gulped the wine. She had been terrified of me, she had pitied me but she had been repulsed by me. I thought of my ring I had taken for her, and I reached into my pocket to get it out. My hand scooped empty air, so I checked my other pocket, it was not there.
I stood and wildly searched my pockets for what I realized I would not find. I had left the ring in the pair of pants I had discarded the night before. I sank back down on my bed, my hands still in my pockets. I snorted, I knew hoping the ring would suddenly appear was about as good as hoping Christine would suddenly love me; I was searching for something that was not there.
It was strange though; that I had left the ring. I suppose I had just had other things on my mind. Looking into the bottle, I saw there was only a sip of it left, so I drained it. The room seemed to spin slightly, and there was a strange aching in my stomach and a pounding in my head. Groaning, I lay down on my bed.
I must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes the sun was almost touching the horizon. I sat up quickly and immediately regretted it. My head was still aching, and I wished I had not emptied the bottle of wine.
I was about to tell CJ so but then I realized she was not there. Odd, I thought, I would have thought she would have been back by now. Walking across the room I tried to open our door; however it was still locked. Sinking back on my bed I wondered what she was doing with Le Roy that could be taking so long.
It was just as I was pondering this that my door opened. Looking up, I saw Le Roy enter, and I waited for CJ to appear. To my disappointment, she had not followed him into the room.
"Come along, Phann, time to go," He spoke in his usual annoyingly cheery voice; however there was a hint of anxiety in it.
"Where are we going?" I asked, slipping my mask back on and standing,
"The opera house of course," Le Roy said, leading me out of the room and down the stairs, "CJ is there already,"
"How did she get there already?" I asked bewildered as we stepped into the cab, "How did she find the entrance to the lake tunnel?"
"Oh, she is just waiting in the tunnel by the road, not the one you two went down yesterday,"
"Why is she waiting there?" I asked coldly,
"You do ask a lot of questions don't you?" Le Roy said as the cab pulled away, and I stared at him, why was he dodging my questions?
"So what is she doing there?"
Le Roy paused a moment, then he smiled at me, "You seem awfully concerned about what Mademoiselle Bradshaw is doing," I shifted awkwardly, "Are you in love with her, Phann?"
"No!" I snapped back,
"Really? I mean, I could understand that, she is a lovely girl," I shook my head and looked away; I did not want to talk to him.
The rest of the ride was quiet and I was relieved when we reached the opera house. I jumped out of the cab, Le Roy behind me carrying the makings of a torch. I pulled back the grated door and suddenly a light from over my shoulder illuminated the tunnel; it was empty.
"CJ?" I called out; however there was no response,
"Maybe she is inside further?" Le Roy suggested; we both walking into the tunnel. I was becoming quite nervous now; all my senses were on alert. The darkness in the tunnel seemed more sinister than usual, the air seemed closer, and the hairs on the back of my neck were on end. And, we were nearly to the off shoot leading to the house by the lake with still no sign of CJ. We reached the secret door and stopped.
"We need to find CJ," I said,
"Perhaps she has already gone down the tunnel to the lake?"
"She could not find the entrance in the dark," I was very worried, what if she was lost somewhere? What if she was hurt?
"She did have a torch with her," Le Roy said lightly, "I was not going to leave her here in the dark,"
"Why did you leave her here at all?" I snapped angrily,
"Are you sure you are not in love with her?" Le Roy asked smiling, honestly, I wanted to kill him then and there and blame it on the murderer.
"Would you just answer me?"
Le Roy sighed, "I left her here to watch out for the killer,"
I shook my head, if the killer did use that entrance, he would certainly see CJ and either turn around or…I did not want to think about the or. Sighing, I guessed that if CJ had wondered, she the only logical place for her to go would be to this spot and try to open the door. She was not here, so I guessed that somehow she had found the door. I resolved to go down to the lake and see if she was in the house. If she was not there, I would search for her else where.
Pushing the correct points, I opened the door. Le Roy followed my inside. The door shut behind us and the sound of the locking mechanism clicking back into place sounded ominous, as it never had before. I hurried along this tunnel, nearly slipping once on the downward sloping floor. Le Roy stayed silent behind me; it occurred to me that it was strange that Le Roy was being so quiet; however my thoughts quickly turned back to CJ. Finally we reached the drop off. I instructed Le Roy to follow me to the steps and we hurriedly descended. Le Roy was oddly sure footed for never having been down here before.
The boat was in the exact spot it had been in the night before. I felt cold inside, CJ was not in the house; if she was the boat would be on the other side. However, I wanted to look anyway.
Le Roy and I got into the boat and I pushed it off from shore. Le Roy put out the torch in the lake water and picked up an oar. I paddled as fast as I could, making the boat travel in a slight arc from the stronger strokes on my side. If I had thought it had taken a long time to get across the lake the night before, than this time I felt as though it took years. I jumped out of the boat before it even really hit shore; getting my pants wet as I splashed through the water to get to the house. I was being reckless; too loud and too conspicuous, I was not even bothering to avoid the view of the darkened windows.
Pressing my ear against the wall of my room, I listened; nothing. I slipped inside, Le Roy right behind me. I pulled open the coffin; nothing. Stopping to listen again, I hear naught but the eerie lapping of waves against the shore. I pulled open the doors of each room we had been in the day before, they were all empty and untouched.
I was getting a bit frantic, I knew I was searching for something that was not there again, but I kept hoping she would appear behind the next door, smiling at me and asking me what the hell I was getting so worked up about.
I went into the kitchen and saw the glasses and the bottles I had left out untouched on the counter. One of the doors of the cabinets was open a bit and I pulled it wide. It was the wine cabinet. I stared at it, it appeared that two bottles were missing…
Before I could think about it a second longer, Le Roy cried out in a shaking voice, "Ph-Phann! I think you had better come and see this!"
I bolted in the direction of his voice; to my horror he was standing in front of the open door of the torture room. My heart dropped to my stomach, and I had to force my legs to take me forward, "I should have just told her what was in the room," I groaned as dashed toward Le Roy, "Then she would not have gone and looked inside,"
I pushed past Le Roy and entered the room, prepared to see CJ hanging from the iron tree. However, she was not there. No one was there. I rush of thoughts flooded my mind, stunning me. Before I could act on them, I was pushed fully into the room and the door slammed shut behind me.
