Disclaimer: I own the girls and the plot. Not the Phantom.

Review Replies: Thank you guys sooo much for all the reviews! Here is the next chapter, and if you write more individually than just 'OMG, I love it' I'll be able to answer better, but until then, here ya go!

Josie

Chapter 6 – No Going Back Now

We got back through the mirror and I slammed it shut.

"Somebody pinch me. Now." I closed my eyes and held out an arm. At once, Sam leapt up and dug her fingernails into the back of my hand. I shrieked and almost slapped her.

"I said 'pinch', but never mind!" I glared at her, and she stuck out her tongue in reply.

"Give it a rest!" Kayla moved between us. "Now, what are we going to do?"

We were all silent, none of us wanting to voice the obvious. Finally, Kendall broke the quiet:

"Well, there's no going back now, is there?"

We stared at her. That wasn't exactly what I was thinking.

"What do you mean?" Kayla asked, and I caught a hint of defiance in her voice.

"I mean," Kendall turned to eye the dirty glass, "we've been there once, and obviously we all want to go back. Now we can't say the place isn't real, because we've all seen it."

I let out a breath of relief. "Yeah, but we need to be careful next time. We've all seen the film; we all know what Erik is capable of."

"I still can't believe what we saw was real," said Kayla. "I mean, we went back through time in the space of about half a second."

"And into literature," I added. "Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, by Gaston Leroux, back in the early 1900s, I think. How do you go back in time to a place that never really existed, into the life of a man who never really existed?"

"The Opera House did and does still exist," Kayla corrected quietly. "And I've always believed the Phantom existed, too."

"'Cause you're obsessed," Sam muttered.

"Obsessed or not, that place was real," I objected. "And that means the Phantom is a real person."

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The overseeing authoress finds this the appropriate time to (as aforementioned) intercede on the reader's and the plot's behalf. Also welcome today are the authoress' two muses: Erik and Alejandro.

Erik: (glaring daggers at Alejandro)

Alejandro: (glances up and smiles seductively from beneath his fedora)

Authoress: Erik, I need inspiration. What should come next?

Erik: (unsheathing his sword to use as a pointer) Ask him.

Alejandro: (fingers the blade tip) If I am to be assisting in any way with this story, it will not permit me time to give you the proper instruction with that.

Erik: (growling) You dare say I don't know how to use my own sword?

Authoress: Now boys, play nice. Memo to all fanfiction readers: They have now become alter egos: Erik Phantom and Alejandro Zorro. Gotta love hott masked guys… Anyway, where should we start the next chapter?

Phantom: The godforsaken day they returned and jumped me.

Zorro: As long as Josie continues. She had a short chapter.

Phantom: So what?

Zorro: I am for the people, and the girl deserves a longer chapter than this.

Phantom: (fingering Punjab lasso) … Fine.

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Okay, sorry about the fluff there, but I need to fast-forward and move the plot along somehow. Besides, I loooove Zorro. In fact, I like to say that Gerard Butler is the hottest guy since Antonio Banderas (1998) to wear a mask and run around with a black cape (aforementioned in I think chapter 2). Okay, cold shower first, then the next chapter.

Phantomfreak07