A/N: Thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers so far! There is more action, adventure and humor to come, so stay tuned!
Chapter 5: The Capture of Meg
The next morning came too soon. Meg woke up with a headache and a stomachache. She also felt groggy and disorientated. There was a gentle knock on the door.
"Come in," Meg said sleepily. It was her father.
"Meg, wake up. You'll be late for dance class," Raoul said, rushing over to her. When he saw her pale face, he frowned.
"What is it –Achoo!" Meg had sneezed into her hands.
"God bless you, Meg," Raoul said. He suddenly noticed her pale face. "Forget what I just said about dance class. You're staying in bed today. I'll go find Madame Giry and tell her you won't be coming," he kissed her forehead and exited the room. Meg tried to go back to sleep, but she didn't feel like sleeping. She kept getting visitors through the day: Madame Giry, Raphael (her father had let them visit for fifteen minutes), Monsieur Firmin, Monsieur Andre, Rose (she had stopped coming to dance class for some strange reason), older Meg (she had come with Raphael) and Erik. All of her visitors brought her gifts, most of them flowers or fruit. Meg had been asleep when Erik had come in to visit. He had left her a glass of clear liquid and a note reading:
To Little Lottie,
May this potion cure you of your illness, for this is Elixir.
Feel better soon,
From
Erik (aka Angel of Music, Phantom of the Opera and OG)
After about an hour's worth of sleeping, Meg noticed the glass of clear liquid. Lifting the glass to her lips, she breathed in the odor of the liquid. Just then, her father walked in and noticed Meg was awake. He went to her bedside and sat down beside her. Meg looked sleepily at him.
"Meg, are you feeling okay?" he asked, tears coming to his eyes. Meg knew that her mother had died of fever, and Raoul was thinking that Meg would die, as well.
"I. . .I. . .I think I'm okay," Meg answered, yawning. She drew her quilt nearer to her. Raoul smiled and took off his coat and placed it around her shoulders. Noticing the Elixir next to Meg on the bedside table, he asked her where it had come from.
"My Angel of Music," Meg answered, weakly. Raoul felt her forehead –it was warm, but not too warm. He kissed it and left Meg alone. Meg drank half of the elixir and fell back asleep. On his way out the door, Raoul ran into a man wearing a long black traveling cloak, a black poet's shirt, black pants and black boots. A black wide-brimmed hat covered his face.
"Pardon me, Monsieur. I didn't see you there," Raoul apologized. The man smiled at him and went on his way. Making sure that Raoul was out of sight, the man opened the door to Meg's bedroom. He made his way towards Meg's sleeping figure and placed a hand over her mouth. This woke Meg up from her deep sleep.
"Wha. . .who're you?" she asked, groggily. The man placed a hand over his mouth and picked Meg up like a rag doll. Meg kicked the man and screamed, but the man told her to be quiet.
"Papa! Angel! Raphael! Monsieur Andre! Monsieur Firmin! Anyone help!" Meg yelled as the man carried her towards a black carriage waiting just outside the Opera House. Two big black horses neighed as they approached.
"De Chany Castle," the man told the driver, getting himself and Meg into the carriage. The driver nodded and kissed to the horses, who picked up a fast-paced trot. The man removed his hat and Meg saw that he was Count De Chany, Raoul's older brother. Meg let out a scream.
"No one can hear you, my dear," the Count told her.
"Someone will rescue me," Meg told him angrily.
"Not unless they sell the Paris Opera House to me," the Count informed her.
"What do you want with me?" Meg asked.
"I'm holding you hostage until those stupid fools at the Opera House sell me the Opera Populaire," the Count said.
"Why do you want the Opera House so badly?" Meg inquired. The Count got angry with this question and slapped Meg clear across the face. Her head hit the door and she was knocked unconscious.
Back at the Opera Populaire, Raoul, Andre, Firmin and Raphael were frantically looking for Meg. They looked everywhere: the stage where the other dancers were practicing, dressing rooms, the stables and even Erik's labyrinth. They couldn't find her anywhere.
"I have a message here for Monsieur De Chany," Madame Giry told the group of frantic men. Raoul snatched the letter from Madame Giry and read it out loud:
"Sell me the Opera House or never see your daughter again
Count Jean De Chany"
Raoul looked at the letter and back to the group of terror-stricken faces.
"I must go after her. Firmin, have Claude get my carriage ready, but tell him to harness up Augustine. Raphael, you and I are going to save Meg from my brother," if Firmin or Raphael had any objections, they didn't show it.
"What am I supposed to do, Vicount?" asked Monsieur Andre.
"I want you to stay here with Madame Giry in case they return," Raoul told him. Andre nodded his head in agreement.
"Your carriage is ready, Vicount," Monsieur Firmin said three minutes later.
"Good. I'll be right there. Come with me, Raphael," obediently, Raphael followed Raoul without hesitation. Five minutes later, both were settled in the carriage, Raoul up front and Raphael in back.
"Ha!" Raoul yelled and snapped the whip across Augustine's hindquarters. Augustine gave a sharp squeal and burst into a canter. Raphael looked at the scenery rushing past them.
"M—monsieur, h—h—how d—do y—you k—know w—where th—they w—w—went?" Raphael asked, bouncing in the back seat.
"I know my brother, they went to his castle," Raoul told him, turning around. A mile up ahead, Raphael could see pointy turrets aiming for the sky.
"I—is th—that th—the c—c—castle?" Raphael inquired, still bouncing from the back. Raoul nodded his head and asked Augustine to go faster. Sweat was beginning to show on her chestnut coat.
Twenty minutes later, they pulled up in the driveway of De Chany Castle. A stable boy rushed from the stable to take Augustine to a stall and get her dried off and food. Raoul handed the boy two francs and got out of the carriage. Raphael followed right behind him, looking around.
"Come quickly and stay close," Raoul warned.
"Yes, Raoul," Raphael said. Raoul led them inside, taking a nearby torch from its bracket and held it an arm's length in front of him.
"I don't hear Meg," Raoul whispered to Raphael.
"Why are we whispering?" Raphael whispered back. Raoul rolled his eyes at the boy.
"So that the guards won't hear us," Raoul hissed.
"Oh. Okay," Raphael whispered again. Suddenly, a scream pierced the silence around them.
"What in the name of all that is good was that?" Raoul questioned Raphael.
"Don't look at me. I don't scream like that," Raphael told him. The scream sounded again.
"Hold on. . .I know that scream," Raphael informed Raoul.
"You do?" Raoul asked, surprised.
"Yeah. That's Meg's scream," Raphael told him.
"Where is it coming from do you think?" Raoul asked intently. The scream sounded again.
"Sounds like the dungeon," Raphael told Raoul. So off to the dungeon they went, not speaking for a few minutes.
In the dungeon, Meg was handcuffed to the wall, screaming as loud as she could to anyone who would hear. The Count had departed from the dungeon to go to dinner. He gave Meg a kiss and left the room.
"Ugh. I have Count germs on me," she told herself hoarsely. She looked down at what she was wearing: a pale blue floor length skirt, a white poet's shirt and a pair of leather boots. Her long brunette hair was tied with a dark blue ribbon in a ponytail. She suddenly heard voices shouting her name. No, Meg. It's all in your head she told herself, but the voices grew louder. She recognized them as her father and Raphael.
"I'm down here!" she called out.
"Meg!" Raoul called out.
"Where are you?" Raphael's voice called out as well.
"In here!" Meg called back to them. She suddenly heard four pairs of footsteps approaching her.
"Thank God you're all right," Raphael told her, embracing her in a tight hug. He noticed Meg's handcuffed hands and frowned.
"Monsieur Vicount, we have a problem," he told Raoul. Raoul abruptly pulled his sword from its hilt.
"Papa, what are you doing?" Meg asked Raoul.
"Setting you free. Watch out," with one swing, he freed Meg of her handcuffs. She threw her arms around Raoul and Raphael's necks. Raphael looked at Meg's clothes and cocked his head sideways.
"What?" Meg insisted.
"Those aren't the clothes you were wearing today, are they?" he asked.
"Yes they are," Meg demanded.
"No they're not," Raphael said.
"Yes they are," Meg repeated.
"Children, stop it. Raphael, those are the clothes she was wearing," Raoul told him.
"Okay, Monsieur Vicount. Let's get out of here. This dungeon is giving me the creeps," Raphael told Raoul and Meg.
"Good idea," Meg and Raoul said in unison. They made their way up the stairs and to the stable without making a sound. The stable boy had Augustine hitched on the carriage and helped Meg into the back seat. Raphael sat next to her and put his arm around her. Raoul flicked the whip and told Augustine to trot. When the castle was out of sight, Meg rested her head on Raphael's shoulder. She was tired from the excitement that had happened that day.