Disclaimer: I don't own the Phantom of the Opera but Autumn is mine.

Wow! Two chapters in one week! I'm surprised…but this isn't my favorite chapter. I feel that lately my writing isn't where it needs to be and I'm not talking about my formerly missing Hellboy notebook (yep. I finally found it! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! Woot! WOOT!) I have more good news: My friend Sparky is back! Woot! (No Neko's still gone. Remember I kept on getting her confused cause her nickname was Sparky and my webmaster's penname was Sparky and the character in the story she's putting on the web is named Sparky so Now she's Neko and the webmaster is still Sparky and so is the character and…Whew! Just to sum it up: My Webmaster, Sparky, is home.) Neko is still gone so everything isn't quite right in the world but it's close enough. Anyhoo, if you have any suggestions to make this story better don't hesitate to review. Thanks! BTW if you haven't read the book this chapter won't make much sense. (It's a good book! READ IT!) Enjoy!
"Box 5, this box, was known as the ghost's box," young Giry explained. "It got its name from the famous phantom of the opera that was said to have haunted this theater. There are several accounts when the ghost spoke the certain people, including my mother." M. Leroux turned from the view of the once grand theater, now a shadow of its former glory.

"Your mother?" he asked. Giry nodded.

"Yes. All the time," She replied. "She was in charge of this box and would give the ghost his program every performance." MM. Giry then fell silent letting the new information sink in. M. Leroux remained quiet for a short time then…

"Wonderful!" He exclaimed. "Genius!" Both MM. Giry and M. Lepew (1), as the crane-like man was called, stared in astonishment.

"Outstanding!" He announced again. "I knew Opera Populaire had a wonderful reputation but I had no idea what made it so amazing! No wonder this opera house was so popular!" Inside the hollow marble, I grinned. It had been a good plan to bring M. Leroux to my box, using the tales of ghosts to scare him away from the investment. Fortunately for me, MM. Giry's plan had gone in the exact opposite direction it was meant to go. Now was the time for the ghost to speak once again. The was no doubt in my mind Madame Giry had spoke of our short meetings to her daughter but I could tell from MM. Giry's actions that she only viewed them as frightful legends…stories. Now was the time to make them real. Throwing my voice, I spoke softly in her ear.

"Your mother was ever loyal to the ghost," I whispered "…but will you carry on her legacy?" The girl's eyes widened and she searched for the origin of the voice, my voice while the men, unaware of the presence among them, carried on their conversation, M. Lepew badgering M. Leroux who ignored him entirely. M. Giry glanced at the two men and backed away, out of the box but closer to the specter than she had yet been.

"Who are you?" she murmured, careful to make sure her words weren't heard by M. Leroux or Lepew.

"You know who," I answered. " I am the one who gave your friend her voice…the one who held her captive… the same one…who rewards his helpers handsomely. Do you remember your mother's tip?" Again she scanned the area then slowly nodded.

"The reward will be the same for you," I began. "Perhaps more, but first…" I dangled the treat waiting for her reply. Her features softened.

"I could buy the medicine for mother." She murmured to herself.

"And more," I said. She glanced up momentarily at the men, one of which was red-faced as he lost his temper. The other continued to act indifferent. For a moment she remained silent and then…

"What are your requests?"

Losing interest in the two pairs of boots (2) I had just found I tossed them as far as I could, seeing if I could hit the back wall…I didn't. Sighing I plopped down hugging my knees. This was becoming old very quickly. When was Eric getting back? I stood up and scanned the room once more holding the lantern high before climbing up the next set of stairs. On that floor there was again nothing but old sets and props. Boring. I scanned the room to see if there was anything interesting…and there was! On the far side of the room was yet another staircase but this one led to a door. Another basement or something else? Abruptly a weight fell on my chest. If it did lead to the actual theater I'd really be going against Eric's instructions… Should I? Again I glanced around at the drab darkness…Suddenly without thinking I rushed over and swung open the door (3)…As I did the faint smell of smoke rolled over me. I gaped at the dust and soot that lay everywhere. I then slid one foot over threshold and leaned out, clutching the sides of the doorframe. The room was vast and so…empty. Everything seemed to be burnt and covered with aged greasy charcoal. Even illuminated by the shafts of light falling through holes in the old roof, the darkness of it all loomed like a bad memory. The only sign of life were the few cobwebs that draped on what was left of the blackened fence-like barrier that marked the upper area, most of which had collapsed. Combined with the motes of dust in the air, it all gave the building a ghostly appearance. A bit frightened because of the eerie landscape and fear that Eric would return any minute I began to retreat back into the darkness…then I heard voices. Once again, my curiosity got the better of me and I peeked out of the half-closed door.

"It looks as if most of the fire moved backstage," a sweet female voice sighed.

"I'm not surprised," stated another voice, a male's this time. "It seems to be mostly made of wood. Is that correct?" The question was answered with silence though I have no doubt the woman was nodding her head or something like that...Footsteps sounded just outside the door and I backed away, smothering a gasp. I glanced around quickly, hopping behind a wardrobe prop as the door opened. Light spilled in and my heart began to thump. I saw a man's fat shadow on the floor. The shadow's head twisted from one side to another then disappeared altogether it's owner plodded off. The however remained open…Cautiously I peered around the corner…What I saw made my heart stop. From my hiding place behind the wardrobe I could see the trio clear as day but…they wore the same kind of clothes as Eric…They're just here for a dress rehearsal, a play. Eric must be part of it. I tried to convince myself nothing was wrong but I just couldn't believe it… Why would they be rehearsing in an old abandoned theater? There's no way. My arms began to shake so I hugged myself, sliding down the wardrobe into a sitting position. Several stupid excuses ran through my mind but thing that kept popping up was the package…Maybe it had done something, altered something...or someone…like me. Maybe I'm going crazy. It was then I noticed the voices of the others had left…I noticed because a giant shadow appeared in the doorway while his footsteps tapped…closer and closer till…Eric loomed over me, a stern frown set on his face.

(1) I've named the crane dude Pepe Lepew just for kicks! Woot! I may bring him up in later chapters just because of his nifty name.

(2) In the book I read there was a footnote that Roul's and the Persian's boots were never found. I just HAD to smile maniacally. Now you know why they were never found. Bwahahahahahahaha…Its actually not that evil, is it? Oh well!

(3) I have no idea why she did it. I had her do it to get the story moving but she had no reason. It's just a random event…I may come back and redo this part. Who knows?

E-mail Answers

Octopus1738: Thanks for the spelling tip. I couldn't find how to spell (they only spell out the whole word once in the book) so i just winged it(Did i say that right? wunged it? wingged it? Oh well). Btw it was fun to write in another language, but it's kinda a pain to translate so please keep the french and another language besides English to a minimum.

Ridel: Ha! I told you i would mention it! Ha! HaHa! HaHaHa! Ha! In other new, I'm glad you're not confused anymore. It's not fun, but whenever it does happen (and it doesn't involve my story) just smile:-) If it does involve my story you can smile...then tell me why you're confused. :-) -singing- Just put on a hap-py faaaace.

Lady Lefty: I don't like to mess with reality too much either but one point i decided to make the owner of the Opera Populaire a funny little fat man (he's the comic relief) and later on i thought, "Hey! It'd be really fun if the owner later wrote the Phantom story...but i don't want to change who the original author was." After that i found a picture of Leroux and he fit the discription perfectly and they all lived happily ever after. Plus there was the fact that he lost his father's fortune gambling and drink (in less than a year) so i to play with a different reason than the drinking, etc, etc. Dang! This thing is long! Anyhoo, I have the same trouble turning the pictures in my head into words on the page. Someday they'll invent a machine that reads thoughts so we can play a movie of our thoughts instead of typing them! Yea! Ok. I'm done now.

In the next chapter, you're gonna see quite a bit of the package (told you again Ridel!) and a whole lot of Eric's bad parenting skills! Bwahahahaha! This'll probably be the last chapter before I leave for Cancun. I'll only be gone a week and will still have plenty of time to write with the airplane flight and all that. So for my parting words: Adios amigos! Hasta luego! Aiaiaiaiaiai!