Chapter Three

Charlotte entered the meal room, Joshua holding her hand and hiding behind her. Many of the ballerinas were already there, some sitting down, others standing and talking. They all looked up as she entered, looking her up and down. She was one of the new dancers and therefore she had expected this treatment.

Then they looked behind her and saw her brother and they all gasped softly, instantly realising he wasn't like "them". She said nothing for a moment, simply moving over to two vacant seats. Her brother sat down before Charlotte greeted the other girls. 'Hello, my name is Charotte Durand, I just arrived today,' she nodded to them. 'This is my brother Joshua,'

Joshua looked up, hearing his name and grinned. He loved attention.

There was a general mutter around the room of greeting before they all turned back to their cliches, leaving Charlotte and Joshua by themselves.

She sighed softly and sat down, happy to keep her brother as company when she hard a voice behind her say hello. She turned and saw a young woman, younger then Charlotte was. At 23, she often felt old among ballet dancers who were often 16 or 17. This girl had a slight build and a blonde bob haircut.

'Hello,' Charlotte smiled at her.

'I'm Meg. Meg Giry,' she smiled at her. "Welcome to the Opera Populaire. Don't worry about the other girls, they don't like anyone except themselves,' she giggled.

Charlotte laughed. 'Not unlike alot of performers,' she said. 'Giry? Are you related to...'

'Yes, she is my mother,' Meg sat beside her. 'Which means she expects twice as much from me, in half the time,' she smiled. 'This is your brother? My mother spoke of him last night,' she shook the boys hand. 'Welcome Joshua,'

He shook her hand and grinned at her.

Charlotte smiled. 'Yes, I have been caring for him for a little over 2 years,' she told Meg. giving Joshua a smile.

Meg nodded. She wanted to ask more but her curiosity had often caused her more problems then the answers were worth. 'I'm sure you shall like it here,' she smiled. 'Don't worry about the other girls, I shall be your friend if you would like,'

'I would like that very much,' Charlotte smiled at Meg. She seemed quite nice and she would like to make friends here, especially if they accepted her brother. That was very important to her.

Meg nodded as the cook rang the bell to indicate lunch was ready and everyone stood to collect their meals.

After lunch Charlotte headed back to her room to change int her rehersal clothes. 'Now Joshua, you have to stay here,' Charlotte told him gently. She had given him some paper to draw on. 'I shall be back in a few hours,' she told him gently. 'Can you do that for me?' she asked him.

Joshua nodded but sent her a mischevious grin.

'I hope so,' she gave him a hug and kiss on top of the head before she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Erik made his way up from his underground lair in the hope to take some scraps from the kitchen. He had very little food left and was in no mood to travel into town. He never stole, he would leave some money in place of the scraps.

He moved down the dark walkways, arriving at the mirror he still used. Most of the others had been boarded up but this was a old storage room, where he had gotten his swan bed from and no one had discovered this mirror entrance. It was the easiest entrance he had to the kitchen.

Erik approached the mirror and paused when he saw someone sitting on the floor. He frowned, holding his breath for a moment. The person wasn't facing him and Erik thought it was a boy, judging by the hair. The room had been converted into a bedroom,a bed in the corner and cupboard to the side.

Who was living here? He couldn't risk using this now, he had no idea who the boy was. He backed away from the mirror and disappeared down the hallways. He would use another entrance into the opera house.

Erik took some bread, cheese and some salad. He also took a 1/2 a bottle of red wine which had been thrown away. Why would they waste so much?

Shaking his head, he tossed down down coins before he placed the food into his sack, holding the bottle in his other hand, and headed back to the trapdoor he had come from. However he paused, hearing some music from the auditorium. Remembering the company was to have a rehersal today, he changed his course of direction and came to pause in Box 5. Perhaps he could make some notes, pass them on to Madame Giry.

The shadows swallowed him, making him almost invisible, however he could see the stage from here.

He watched as Madame Giry hurried the dancing girls into their lines. He shook his head slightly. The ballet dancers, they seemed to have no real discipline. They'd giggle and gossip like school girls. They never took their performance seriously.

His eyes scanned the stage, spotting a young girl who stood outside the circle of girls slightly. He could tell she was concentrating fiercely, barely looking at the group around her. She was busy stretching her legs, leaning against a practice bar for support. Her leotard did little to hide her lithe figure. Her hair was pulled into a bun, a hair style which seemed far too severe for the delicateness of her body. He hadn't seen her before. Obviously one of the new chorus girls.

He found himself staring and pulled his eyes away from her, concentrating on the other girls, mentally noting their mistakes. However soon he found himself once against staring at the petite girl who was learning the new dance. She made some mistakes but corrected herself each time gracefully.

Did the angelic voice which had floated down to him the previous day belong to this girl? He noted there were 3 news faces he didn't recogonise but she was the only one who seemed to call to him.

With a shake of his head, he turned to leave. He didn't have time to watch the rehersal, he needed to get back to his music.

He didn't notice Joshua standing down the hall, he had come out to look around after getting bored in the bedroom. The young boy watched silently as the masked man disappeared down the hall quickly before he himself returned to his bedroom.