Chapter 15: A new home and a new visitor
Erik gazed around at his new house with a sense of satisfaction. It suited him, he thought, quite perfectly. The rather large house was about a twenty minute carriage or horseback ride from Paris and the opera house. It was tucked behind a sinister group of oak trees and his closest neighbor was about half a mile away. Erik hadn't met the man yet, but he assumed that he would probably come and introduce himself soon, as was the custom of the French nobility. And Erik was quite sure that the man was an aristocrat, as there was a family crest on the front gates of the house. And as much as it would pain Erik to be polite, he would be forced to, for the police were still looking for him and it would be unwise to arouse any suspicion.
He shifted comfortably in his chair, glad to be back in his regular black attire. He had once again been forced into a diguise in order to purchase his house . It had of course, been entirely different from his Moncharmin diguise so that no one would be curious if they recognized his picture from the paper. It had taken a few weeks to secure a deal with the realtors, but all in all it had gone rather smoothly. He had purchased the house under the name Louis Anderson, not wanting the realtors to have any inkling of who he really was. He laughed slightly . The money that he had procured from the managers, especially Monsieur Levfreve, had certainly been put to use. Perhaps Madame Giry had been right to suggest that he find a house. And though he was angered slightly at her for her strong feelings for the de Chagnys and the Pages, he still trusted her, even if only it was a small bit.
He then stood up slowly, deciding to take a walk around his grounds so as to familiarize himself with them. It was the opportune moment, seeing as twilight was falling and the sun, which Erik did not really care for, was not shining so brightly. As he opened the large oaken front door however, Erik's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the calling card that had been left on his doormat. He had apparently been too deep in thought to have heard the knock on the door. He turned reluctantly back inside to put on his disguise, seeing as the man would arrive in a few minutes. He walked slowly up the stairs in a seemingly ghostlike fashion, towards his sleeping chamber, which greatly resmbled his lair at the opera house, save that the organ was downstairs. He replaced his black shirt for a white one, and he removed his black cloak and replaced it with a grey one. Then he removed his mask, looking with disgust for a moment at the face he so loathed, then replaced it with the bandages that he had used previously. He then placed on his new, lighter brown wig, which was slightly shorter than the Moncharmin one.
He smirked slightly at his reflection. The transformation was indeed complete. He made his way back down the stairs and just minutes later the doorbell rang, and Erik walked casually towards the door, plastering a somewhat smirkish smile on his face. He opened the door to find a a youngish looking man standing before him. He was probably in his early forties, but he still had a youthful look about him. He was muscular about the shoulders and was quite tall. He had short, shaggy auburn hair and hazel- green eyes. He bowed slightly to Erik, a friendly smile on his face.
"Bonjour monsieur, I am Lucien Olivie, your new neighbor. And your name is Louis Anderson, I believe?" he asked cordially, in a deep voice.
"Yes," said Erik in a voice of forced politeness, "That is my name. Won't you come inside?"
Lucien nodded and closed the large door behind him as Erik led him into the finely furnished living room. Lucien took a seat on the couch as Erik took a seat in the winged armchair opposite him. Erik brought out some tea out of courtesy, and poured some into two cups.
"I am pleased to meet you monsieur," said Lucien in a kind and friendly tone. "It shall be nice to have someone at least a bit nearby. I myself only moved into this area a few weeks ago. Where is it that you are from?"
"I am from France originally," said Erik slowly, putting out the lines that he had rehearsed in his head. "But I have been in England for several years now."
"Ah, England is a lovely place. I have been there several times. In fact I have been gone from Paris for a year, traveling around the world." said Lucien, taking a sip of his tea.
Erik didn't answer for a moment. Despite himself he was intrigued ever so slightly by that. This man did not seem like your typical aristocrat. "That had always been an ambition of mine." said Erik, "I should think that it would be a great learning experience."
"Yes, it really is," said Lucien. He was really starting to like this man, mysterious though he seemed to be.
There was a lull in the conversation for a moment, until Lucien spotted a newspaper on the coffee table that had an article about the police's continued search for the Phantom of the Opera. "They still haven't caught that man? I'm surprised, they seemed quite intent on it, even after Raoul and Christine and the rest of the opera lot have protested against it. It will only anger this suppossed 'phantom' more..." said Lucien, mumbling slightly and trailing off into his thoughts.
"Raoul and Christine?" asked Erik, keeping his voice casual. How did this man know them?
"Oh yes, pardon me. They are the Vicomte and Vicomtess de Chagny. Do you know them?" asked Lucien, taking a sip of his tea.
"I have only seen their names in connection with this. Do you know them well?" asked Erik, trying to keep any inkling of curiosity out of his voice.
"Quite well," answered Lucien, "Raoul and Christine are my best friends. I have known them since we were children, and Raoul and I have gone to school together for years."said Lucien, smiling slightly.
Erik kept a normal look on his face, but inside he felt quite shocked. He took a sip of his tea so as to give him a moment to regain his voice and thoughts. He lived only half a mile away from the Vicomte's best friend? After a moment he regained his thoughts, and after a few more minutes of small talk, Lucien had to go prepare, coincidentally, for a week long stay at the de Chagny manor for which he was leaving tommorow. As Erik bid the younger man farewell, and he closed the door, a smirk spread across his disguised features. Having this man living so close by could certainly work to his advantage. Certainly Lucien had asked how he came to have the bandages on his face, but there had been no other occurences to indicate that Lucien had any clue as to who he was. He couldn't really, seeing as he had never even seen Erik before, only heard about him. Erik could find out what the de Chagnys were up to, without Lucien ever suspecting who he really was. Erik had given him no reason to suspect anything. As soft laugh escaped his lips as he went up the stairs. But as it did, Madame Giry's pleas to leave the de Chagnys and the Pages alone rang in his ears. But simply knowing what they were up to wasn't going against her wishes, was it? And besides, he had not promised to that particular request...
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A/N: So yay, a new character and a new house! I hope that you like Lucien, as you'll be seeing a lot of him, as he is Raoul and Christine's childhood friend. I hope that you like this chapter. So until next update, which will be in a few days, see ya later and please review! And as always, yay RC! Next Chapter: Chapter 16: Friendly visits and decisions
I am the Angel of Music- I am so glad that you are going to continue, I really look forward to your feedback and support on this story! And though this is an RC story, I am sure that you also will be happy with the ending. As I said there will be happy endings for everyone. Thanks so much for your support!