Author's Note: I'm sorry this Chapter took me so long... I had quite a bit of trouble gathering my thoughts together, as well as the fact that I was being dragged out of the house constantly this weekend. This chapter would not be up if our plans had followed out... we're supposed to go to Barnes and Noble, but I knew I had to post Chapter Four first.. I don't see why I shall be this delayed in the future. I had a lot of things to consider, you see. You may or may not notice that this chapter is a bit short, and perhaps a bit off. The next Chapter shall pay off for it. I've got to tell you, the story is obviously still escalating, but it won't be long now until Katherine and our dear Ghost shall meet - truly meet, though they may not see each other . A lot of things must happen until then. You must be patient (and I thank you for your patience on waiting for this Chapter.
-hands out candies and all sorts of sweet things- I owe you lots of gratitude.)
I must Thank my reviewers for all their reviews, as always. It seems that quite a few of you want personal thank-yous! Yay!Here we go.
Carrie: You were first to comment on the 3rd Chapter! Yay! I'm glad you really really like it. The fact that it feels like published work to you makes it all the more enjoyable to write. And it makes me feel special. XD
AmandaTheVampireLove: Thanks so much for reviewing again. You must thank Erik for not biting off my hair... He deserves many more s'mores for that! -shares pack given with Erik- I have updated, though even I admit it took me a hell of a long time. You see, I had stuck not only the readers, but myself into a wonderful cliffhanger that I couldn't figure out. pouts
oMAo: Glad you like it! Anticipation is key!
Atheshar: I'm making you ask too many questions? You seem to be answering them for yourself! (You'll see.) How is it that you can do that? -ponders- Anyway, I think this chapter and the following ones will answer your biting questions. And, as always, for knowing, -hands you a rose with a white ribbon-.
Grace (E.L.): I don't think he's fixed his demeanor yet. It may take a while. Your welcome, and thank you! x)
Pleading Eyes: Yes yes, that was one of my favorite parts to write. You shall not figure out her true flaw (though one of them is clumsiness -cough-), not yet.
♥
There you go! Now onto the Chapter! -draws curtain-
KATHERINE SEEMED TO HIT...
...a fountain of inspiration. Back and forth she went, "sketching" in the foreground, from the tree trunks to the cobbled stone trail, and bushes hiding in the distance, trying to catch all the different details the sheet of paper had described, and also some she had thought of on her own.
Humming happily at her work, Katherine stepped up on the fourth step of the ladder she had earlier used to fix the canvas. Despite the fact she was not up high at all, the ladder tethered dangerously underneath the unaccustomed weight she had put on it, as well as the bucket of blue paint she had brought up with her. She looked at the canvas for a while, and decided to use a robin-colored blue for the sky surrounding the trees. Carefully, she mixed the small tube of white with the bucket of blue.
Just as she took the brush from the bucket and moved up one more step to reach better, a booming voice enveloped the air around her. Obviously, she was not alone. And the voice was coming from the other side of the canvas.
"Have you ever seen a cobbled forest trail on a summer day? For it seems that you haven't. You are doing it all wrong!" The voice pierced the quiet around them.
Katherine jolted with fright. "Who's there," she asked cautiously, "and how do you know I am doing it all wrong, as you say?"
The mysterious voice laughed. "Before I came here, I had the joy of being outdoors. I cherished those days. I cannot stand to see them painted with such vigorous, big, and thick strokes. It does not work!"
"Well," Katherine began, but suddenly the ladder shook under her. It was too old for such usage. Looking down at the step, she saw that it had gone through quite a bit of wood eating bug damage.
The voice continued to ramble on, "The cobbled road goes off to the left, do you not see? The small brush by the road is obviously too big, and the brush you are using is too thick…. And,"
Katherine could feel the ladder buckling under her. She struggled to keep the thing in balance, fighting gravity and trying to move with the ladder. In desperation, she tried to grab onto the canvas as to steady her, but instead of that, it began to fold under.
"Oh boy," she muttered.
The fuming and rambling stranger on the other side of the curtain did not seem to notice what was happening in the slightest. He did not see through the thin canvas that Katherine, a big bucket of paint, and the painted canvas itself was coming straight towards him.
"Whoa," said Katherine, trying to hold onto the ladder. It had seemed to be the best option at the time. "Whoa!"
It was only then that the Ghost of the Opera looked up from his talking.
With a crash spectacular enough to rival the very fall of the chandelier, Katherine landed someone softly on – she felt the ground around her- a person. The person who was earlier insulting her of not painting right. Somehow, both managed to find themselves blanketed in the canvas. Only the Ghost was underneath.
The Phantom pushed the girl off of him angrily, and, try as he might, he could not lift the canvas. Even though it was thin, it was heavy.
'How is that possible?' he thought for the moment. Getting to his knees, he looked to the floor to find his mask – not crushed, not broken, not scratched; but it was off of its resting-place.
He grabbed it quickly and replaced it, sitting up at the same time.
He froze for a moment, and slowly took his hand off of the mask, which did not fall off again.
Almost in horror, the Ghost looked at his hand. It was covered in blue paint. He looked at the rest of himself, at least what he could see. He was covered from head to foot in paint.
Just sitting there, he could feel his blood boiling even more viciously than before.
On the other side of the canvas, Katherine was struggling to sit up. She tried to pry herself off of the floor, but with all of the wind blown out of her at the fall, she felt like the had been turned into a pancake, meant to stick to the Stage floor for all eternity. She saw that she was covered in paint, and she could not move the canvas, which was above and around her.
"DAMN YOU!" She heard someone yell. "CURSE YOU!" Suddenly the figure moved underneath the white blanket. "I TOLD you it was all wrong!"
Katherine scrambled up and tried to lift the canvas as to see whose the voice was. It was such a deep voice… almost familiar in a way.
"There's no reason to be angry… I'm an awfully clumsy person!" She answered back.
"I think I figured that out, my dear." The voice growled. "You are lucky it did not break."
"What didn't break?" she asked, her voice quivering.
"...It's made of porcelain..." he whispered. The shook his head roughly.
"Perhaps it'd be safer if you did it complete piece by piece, on an easel," he said, "I do not understand why women don't use common sense and take precautions." He moved farther away from the center of the canvas, trying to find a way out.
"Maybe if you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't fall!" She tried to move closer to the figure. She noticed that a particular corner of the canvas was being picked at and went after it. There was light coming from that end.
"I'm sorry," said the voice, "I have a habit of lurking in the shadows.
As she ran to it, and peeked out from under it, she saw a figure with a black cape, covered in blue paint, running from the scene. The figure looked back for a moment, and she saw that it had a mask, with the most peculiar design…
"I hope you're happy," she yelled at him, "Now I have to do it all over again!"
"Practice makes perfect," he whispered, disappearing into a long corridor.
Katherine slumped, and walked out from under the canvas. She was right. She did have to do it all over again.
And yet, she did not want to start over. Instead, she wanted to follow the Ghost with the mask.
But she could not – for, at the moment the thought hadcome toher mind, the Auditorium door burst forth to reveal the two figures that had left her only half an hour before. Looks of shock and horror were plastered on their faces.
Madame Giry ran up the stairs, "What happened?" she asked, staring at Katherine, covered in blue paint, and her eyes moved to the canvas laying face down on the floor, and a mass of blue footprints that seemed to lead away from the scene. "Oh, no," She whispered, breathing sharply.
Second Author's Note: Thoughts and opinions, please? Reviews, reviews! As always. You shall not wait too long for an update. In fact, I'll write it as soon as I get back from wherever it is I'm going! Your words count, and they also mean a lot to me!
Goodnight. Cheers.