1The Return of the Phantom 13: Faust

Chelle wakes up early the next morning. She gets ready and open her door to leave. Madame Gabriel is there waiting for her. "Chelle, Monsieur Leroux wants to talk to you."

"Is everything alright? I haven,t done something wrong have I?"

"No dear, you haven,t done anything wrong", she leads chelle to Monsieur Lerouxs office. As they walk up to the door, Chelle can hear that there is somebody already in his office yelling about something. She opens the door and see Ellisa there waving a note around in the air in a very angry state of being. Chelle walks up to Monsieur Leroux avoiding Ellisa as much as possible, "You wanted to see me Monsieur?"

"Yes Chelle, I have received a note stating that this house will be cursed tonight if you do not sing the part of Marguerite. It is signed OG", he hands her the note and immediately she can tell that it is indeed from Erik.

"She is the one who is behind this. This little brat wants to take over my career!" Ellisa grabs Chelle's arm and throws her aside. "I'm warning all of you, no curse can stop me. I will sing tonight curse or no curse!" She grabs her purse and storms out the door.

"Chelle, this better not be one of your doings."

"Monsieur Leroux, you don't believe I have anything to do with this do you?"

Monsieur Leroux looks at you and laughs, "No, I dont. And even if I did I don,t blame you for wanting Ellisa out. She sings like a toad."

"A house with a curse on it. What is Erik going to do? I must talk to him." Chelle heads to her room and opens the door. Derrick is there waiting for her. "Chelle, I was looking for you. I was hoping that you would like to be my guest at the opera tonight."

"You know very well that is not possible Derrick."

"Chelle, when are you going to come back to reality?"

"I will be attending the opera with my Angel of Music in box five. You know that I have devoted myself only to him and my work."

"Erik is dead! He is a ghost a monster. You said yourself that he has the head of death."

"This is why I can't leave him. I've seen his face; it is the most horrifying face. How can I escape from that face? That face could kill; who knows what he will do to me if I ever leave. So I must stay with him; he needs me. That poor tutored and misunderstood man. If only you knew Derrick, if only you knew."

"Can't you see what he is doing to you? You are his prisoner, and yet you act as if you love this Erik."

"I do love him! I do love him."

"Fine then; be happy as the Phantom's Bride. Go marry that ghost! Is that what you want? Don't you get it you can't be with him; he is dead. He cannot make you happy. H's a ghost for heaven sake," he looks at her; he sees that she are trying to hold back tears, "I pray God open up your eyes before you land in Hell with that Erik."

Chelle tries so hard to fight back tears, but she cant. She knows that what Derrick says is true; Erik is dead, he is a ghost; she cannot be with a ghost. Deep down inside she knows that being with Erik can only end in heart break.

Chelle opens the secrete passage way behind the mirror. She throws on her long black cloak head down Erik's underground house. She can hear very sad and haunting music as she gets closer to the house. She opens the door and enter into the drawing room. Low and behold, Erik is there playing the organ. He will stop every once in awhile to write notes on an old book Chelle recognizes as the copy of Don Juan Triumphant. Chelle walks up behind Erik and start to sing along with the music. Erik suddenly stops playing and turns to her. "You should not sing of this music; it is not finished yet. When I have finished, I shall take it away with me in that coffin and never wake up again."

"You must work on it as seldom as you can. I do not want you to go away and never wake up."

"I been lurking around the Paris Opera House for centuries, my dear child. I only wish to someday be able to rest in peace. Go now, you must get ready for the opera."

Chelle goes back to her room. "Rest in peace, what does he mean by that? Will you actually go away and never come back." Chelle cannot bare the sound of that. She does not know what shewill do without her angel of music. He gave her everything; he made her song take wing, and now he is talking about going to bed and never waking up; about resting in peace. Chelle tries to push all this from her head. She decides to take a shower and go get ready for the opera.

It is now a half-hour before the curtain opens for Faust. Chelle is now getting nervous because Ellisa is performing the part of Marguerite, and she knows that Erik said that is she did that part then, they will be performing Faust in a house with a curse on it. Chelle finishes getting ready and head down to Box Five.

The curtain rises; the first act passed without incident, which is not a surprise for Chelle considering that Ellisa does not sing in this act. The second act starts Ellisa makes her entrance for the King of Thule. She flung herself into her part without restraint or modesty. Everyone loved her and her debut with Faust seemed about to bring her a new success, when suddenly a terrible thing happened.
Faust had knelt on one knee:
Let me gaze on the form below me,
While from yonder ether blue
Look how the star of eve, bright and tender,
lingers o'er me,
To love thy beauty too!'

And Margarita replied:

Oh, how strange!
Like a spell does the evening bind me!
And a deep languid charm
I feel without alarm
With its melody enwind me
And all my heart subdue.'

At that moment history repeated itself; Ellisa had croaked like a toad just like Carlotta had done. There was and uproar in the audience. Everyone was in shock; everyone but Chelle. She knew what was happening; it was Erik. He warned them that if Ellisa sang there would be a curse on the house, so she just sat there and watched. Ellisa kept singing in disbelief.

I feel without alarm...
I feel without alarm - co-ack!
With its melody enwind me - co-ack!
And all my heart sub - co-ack!'
Now the whole house broke in a loud uproar. Chelle just sat there in her seat praying to God that Erik would not go far enough to bring down the chandelier. But then she heard it; she heard his voice trumpeting over the whole house

"She is singing to-night to bring the chandelier down!"

Chelle raised her head up toward the chandelier and uttered a terrible cry. The massive, glorious chandelier was slipping down, at the call of Eriks voice. Released from its hook, it plunged from the ceiling and came smashing down into the middle of the stalls, among thousands of shouts of terror. There was one shout that covered them all those. It was the shout that came from Chelle. "Erik, no", it echoed through the house.