This is my latest fanfic for "Phantom of the Opera". It's based on both the books by Leroux and Kay, but also on the movie from 2004. I hope you like it. Please R&R! Atrice
Part 1 - Lucille
"Miss, are you ready to go?" the maiden asked, and soon the young girl came down the stairs, holding the banisters. Luckily she knew the house, how many steps to get down the stairs.
"I am ready… Coretta, do I like fine?" the girl asked, and her maiden took a closer look at the young miss. She wore a brown and blue dress, her golden hair in a ponytail with a blue ribbon. She was very pretty, really.
"You do look fine, soon I'm no longer needed. How's the new corset?" the maiden took the miss' hand, and led her outside.
"It's a bit stiff, but I'll be fine. Do you think he'll like me?" the girl smiled, as the maiden helped her into the carriage, and they began to drive.
"I am sure he will! He did before, didn't he? And this dress really suits you." The maiden smiled back, and soon they arrived to the large mansion outside Paris.
"I just wish I could see him…" the girl sighed, as they left the carriage again.
"Maybe you can ask him, if you may?" said the maiden, took her miss' hand again and led her up the stairs. Coretta was both maid, and one of the girls best friends. She helped her with everything, because she needed to be helped. 18 years old, and soon she would be able to do many more things herself. Especially if she got married.
They rang on the doorbell, and a butler opened the door.
"Good evening… you have been expected, miss Lucille." The butler said and they were both led inside. Lucille felt it was a big house, she could hear the sound of their footsteps echo against the ceiling high above them. They had mantles on the floor though, soft and lovely ones. "This is the salon, if you wait here, the young master will arrive soon." The butler said, and left the girls alone.
"It's a really big house, Lucille! Really pretty, he must be more rich than your parents first expected." Her maiden explained, and Lucille nodded.
"I can feel it… it's so… large and loaded." They sat quiet for awhile and waited. They heard footsteps out in the hall, and soon a young man entered. He was dressed in a fine, black suit, and his light brown hair was in a ponytail.
"Sorry it took so long. Come, Lucille, and let me see you." He said, and she stood up from the sofa. The maiden helped her towards the young man.
"Do you like what you see… mounsieur Artus?" Lucille asked, and looked in the direction where he stood.
"I like it very much…" he said and took her hand, and together they went to the dining room to eat.
Later in the evening, they sat in the salon again. She had felt warm, and he had opened every window in the hall. The fresh air from the garden, made everything seem really balanced. Artus really liked the girl, and would like to marry her. So kind and gentle, she had never seen the ugly and bad things in the world, and she had been loved by the parents she would never see. But he could feel the love she had within, and hoped she would give it to him. Artus asked her if she had any special talents. Lucille said she had been taking singing lessons, and were getting better. He asked her to sing for him, and so she did. She sang a very sad song, about a lonely boy whom nobody had ever loved. He would have to live alone forever, and enjoy the loneliness. Her voice was so sweet, so tender and sincere, that the song brought tears into his eyes.
"Did you like my voice?" she asked afterwards, because he was all quiet. He took her hand and led it to his face – she felt the tears on his chins, and that he smiled.
"I liked it very much, and would like to hear it again. It was a very beautiful song…" he said, and she nodded.
"I heard it one evening, me and Coretta took a walk. I think we were near the operahouse, and she said it was like the voice came from the sewers. But the song was filled with such sadness and beauty, that I had to remember it." Lucille explained, and Artus nodded. A voice from the sewers near the Operahouse in Paris – a shiver went through his bones for a moment, for who could it be, other than that Phantom in the Operahouse; they said it still haunted the place, even after the fire.