1The Return of the Phantom 9: Masquerade

A week has passed since opening night. It is now the last night of the performance. There is to be a Masquerade follow the opera. Chelle has decided that she would go to the masquerade and look for the man that has sent her the note and if no one shows then she will meet up with Derrick. Since her date with Derrick she has tired to avoid him because she was afraid that ifshe is around him that she might fall in love.

Chelle is now in her dressing room after the performance. Jeni is there also so that they can get ready together. Jeni wears a lavender long A-line ball gown and has her hair tied back in a French twist bun. Chelle decides to wear a two piece navy blue strapless dress which ties up in the back. Chelle pulls her hair up in loose curls on the top of her head. "So Chelle, are you going to the masquerade with Derrick?"

"I'm not sure; I was going to try to see if the mysterious guy leaving all the notes shows up. He sent me a note about a week ago saying that he will be waiting for me by the grand stair case."

"So you don't believe that Erik is the one sending you the notes anymore?"

"Of course I believe it. I just want to make sure" but Chelle really didn't know what to believe. There is no reasonable explanation on how the notes could have appeared out of no where, but at the same time she knew that the Opera Ghost has been dead and inactive for many years.

Chelle and Jeni finish getting ready for the masquerade. It is now 8:45pm and the masquerade starts at 9:00. They head down to the grand stair case at the entrance of the opera house. The place is decorated in gold, silver, and white ribbons and streamers everywhere. There are people everywhere waiting for the masquerade to start. Chelle and Jeni stand to the right of the stair case. Chelle looks around everywhere but does not see a man in a dark blues suit and cape and a full black mask.

It is now 9:00 Monsieur Leroux is making his way down the stair case, "Welcome everyone. I thank you all for coming it is going to a fabulous night. I will not make you wait any longer. Let the masquerade began." Right as he is saying this, the song Masquerade from POTO is starting to play. Everyone starts to dance.

Jeni sees the other ballet girls and runs over and introduces Chelle to all of them. They are all very nice and bubbling with life. They decide to all go find people to dance with. Chelle is about to go with them, after all; she did come here to dance.

She starts to follow the girls, but then she hears a familiar singing voice. "I am you angel of music, come to your angel of music." She looks over in the direction of the voice. It is coming from the grand stairs case. There on the middle of the grand stairs case is a man wearing a dark blue suit, a full black mask and a long flowing cape. Chelle walks toward the man and he sees her, but he then turns around and starts up the grand stair case. Chelle decides to follow him. He leads her up the grand stair case and down a long dark hall Chelle never seen before. Every so often he turns to her as if he was making sure she was still following him. The whole time he is singing "I am you angel of music, come to your angel of music." It is the most beautiful voice she've ever heard; it's as if it is the voice of an angel.

They have come to the end of the hall; there at the end of the hall is a single door. The man opens the door and walks in. Chelle starts to get a little scared and wonders if she should head back to the masquerade, but she hears his voice and she is drawn to it. She walks into the room; when she enters there is no one there but her. She looks around and see a table in the center of the room. There are four items on this table: a wedding vial, a wedding dress, a note, and what looks like an old book. Chelle goes over to the table to get a closer look at the items. The vial and wedding dress look like they are from the late 1800s. The front of the note say My dear Christine in blood red ink; she notices that it is the same hand writing of all the notes she has received since she came to the Opera house. Chelle looks at the last item; it is an opera. It seems to an original copy. She opens the first page with great care; there on the first page is the words Don Juan Triumphant it is written in blood red ink and the same hand writing.
"How can this be? What does this all mean? That opera is centuries old and yet it is written in the same hand writing as the notes I been getting since I came to this place."

Chelle is now scared and don't know what to think. She decides to get out of this room and back to the masquerade. She turns around to go out the door, but standing there in the door way is the man with a full black mask and a long cape. He is very tall and has short brown almost black hair; he was very handsome from what Chelle could see. With out a word he walks over to the table and picks up the vial. He then walks up behind chelle and places the vial on her head, "I knew you would return to your angel."

"Who are you", she asks in fear and wanting answers, "and what do you want with me?"

"Have you forgotten your angel?" He then wraps his arm around her waist and whispers in her ear, "I gave you my music. Help me make the music of the night."

Chelle is now very scared and not sure what to do or think. She can only say one word, "Erik".

He turns her around to face him, and he can see the fear in her eye, "So you remember."

"Who are you and why are doing this? Is this some sort of joke?" Chelle starts to cry out of fear and confusion.

He wipes away her tear, "Don't cry my child; I do not want to hurt you. I've waited so long for you to return to me. You must love me." He then wraps his arms around her and pulls her in close to him. He leans in to kiss her, and they hear the door open. They turn toward the door and see Derrick standing there.

Derrick eyes widen "What is this?"