XVII

Antoinette was relieved when no notes arrived the next day. She had been worried that her off handed comment would bring his wrath down on the opera house, it had happened before. Especially when he had been younger Erik would often take things the wrong way, though his creativity was not quite as developed at that point.

"Maman!" Meg called, hopping over on one foot, "Lulu stone my slipper."

"Meg!" Christine called, hurrying up behind her, waving the ballet slipper, "I got it back."

Antoinette smiled as the two girls ran back down the hall together. It was strange, but since the night before Christine seemed to have cheered up somewhat. That morning she had actually smiled and laughed when Meg tripped on her shoe.

"Madame Giry," Monsieur Lefevre called, "good morning."

"Good morning Monsieur, how are you this morning?"

"Very well, very well. My, little Miss Daae seems much happier this morning, how has she been?"

"Well, she misses her father but that is to be expected."

"Of course, I'm glad to see how well she is doing though. For a while it seemed like she would…well, another performance tonight hmm?"

"Oui, how exciting."

He gave a small wry laugh, "Indeed."

"Was there something you wanted Monsieur?"

"Nothing in particular. Well, I have paper work to do now, good day Madame Giry."

"Good day."

She shook her head as he left; the poor man was often under a lot of stress and would sometimes come to talk with her or Monsieur Reyer. It was difficult to run a theatre when there was a constant shadow looming in the back waiting to change everything.

"Madame!" a ballerina called, "rehearsal is about to start!"

"I will be right there."


Christine and Meg giggled as they watched the rehearsal take place. The stage was overly crowded with all the dancers and performers on stage. One of the chorus members ran into a prop tree and tripped another one.

"Please!" Monsieur Reyer exclaimed, "We'll start again, from the top people."

"We'll be dancers one day," Meg whispered, "and then we'll be on stage, just like them."

"Running into things?" Christine asked as the stagehands attempted to fix the tree.

"No, we'll be better, we'll be the bestest dancers ever!" Meg giggled, and then she stood up and spun in a circle.

"No!" Monsieur Reyer exclaimed, "Madame Giry tell your dancers to take a break."

"As you wish Monsieur," she replied curtly.

"Very good, let me see. Ah yes, Brigitte perhaps we could rehearse the aria hmm?"

Meg sighed heavily as the soprano stepped forward; it was no fun to watch someone sing by him or herself.

"Aww, come on Christine lets go."

"Oh, alright," Christine sighed, "do you think I could be a singer when I'm all grown up Meg?"

"I dunno, if you wanna be I guess…tag!"

"Meg!" Christine squealed and started to chase her friend, "come back!"


Antoinette sighed heavily, the performance was to start in twenty minutes and Monsieur Reyer and Monsieur Lefevre were rushing about trying to make sure everything was in order. Of course it wouldn't be, there would be something amiss or out of place. Someone who would not be seated where they liked or would be seated beside someone they disliked. It was inevitable, just like the dancers would be late getting into costume or someone's costume would not be finished.

"Madame I can't find my shoe," a dancer squeaked.

"There are extras, you know where they are. Or check the dressing room hmm?"

"But-"

"Go, I am busy. I must get the young ones in bed and cannot be hassled by this. Go and be quick, you still have to warm up no?"

The girl hurried off and Antoinette made her way towards the dressing room. As she passed the chapel Christine came out, humming softly and skipping.

"It is time for bed Christine," Antoinette scolded gently.

"Oh! Sorry Madame, I was just…going to bed now."

"Go on then," Antoinette said gently.

Christine went dashing off ahead of her and Antoinette followed. All the girls were in the dormitory when she got up to it and when they saw her they all climbed into bed and turned off the lights. Antoinette smiled and quickly returned to the stage where mayhem had no doubt started.


Erik couldn't help but leave the chapel in a good mood, something he wasn't entirely used to. She was young and lacked discipline and an attention span, but she was also eager and willing to please. He would have forgotten about the performance if it weren't opening night. Norma was to be performed and the Opera Ghost never missed opening night.

Box five was, as usual, in perfect order, everything cleaned to perfection. Terrorizing people certainly did pay off at times. Even the performance wasn't horrible, though Brigitte did not have the perfect voice for the role she still performed it well and managed the aria without much difficulty.

The end of the performance proved to pose a difficult trek back to the lair. The hallways and corridors backstage were packed and even the small corridors to the side were occupied. They were favoured places for couples meeting after the show. It was surprising how many of the rich young men appreciated the dancers.

He had nearly made it to one of the entrances to the inner passages of the theatre when he had to duck into a shadowy corridor. The voices of Monsieur Lefevre and Antoinette drifted down the hall. He could feel anger bubble in his gut at the sound of her voice.

"A wonderful performance," Monsieur Lefevre beamed at Antoinette, "don't you agree?"

"Oui, definitely one of the better ones."

"The ghost should be pleased," he said under his breath.

"I hope so, but he is a strange man and you can never tell what he will think."

Erik frowned and very nearly snarled 'I'm not strange' at her. Monsieur Lefevre gave a nervous chuckle and hurried off to find the richest patrons and speak with them. Erik resisted the urge to grab Antoinette's arm, instead he settled to surge out of the corridor. He heard her give a small gasp of surprise and turned.

"Erik," she more mouthed it then said it. He glared at her and then swept off towards the entrance of the passageway, cloak billowing behind him.

"Madame Giry!" Monsieur Reyer called, "Mon dieu, are you alright?"

"Fine Monsieur Reyer," she replied, attempting to keep her voice steady, "what is it?"

"Just wanted to congratulate you on a fine performance."

"You as well Monsieur."

Erik flung the cloak to the floor and knocked over a candelabrum. It fell to the ground with a loud clatter and the candles snuffed out. He gave a low growl and tore a pile of papers from the desk, sending them floating through the air. He hated her and everything she had said.

"I am normal!" he raged, knocking over another one of the candelabras, "God damn it, why can't anyone see that?"

It took only a few minutes for him to have the entire place in shambles. Most of the candelabras on the floor along with hundreds of papers and meaningless trinkets. He sat on the organ bench panting and observing the mess, scores of music ruined by dripping wax and floating in the lake. With a resigned groan he began to clean up the mess, it always felt good to tear apart a room, it was putting it back together that took the real effort.

"Forget it," he growled, throwing a pile of music to the ground again.

He made his way to the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, he was too tired too successfully clean up the mess he had made. He didn't even bother removing the jacket or cravat before falling asleep, once again it seemed to be too much effort.


Yay! Another chapter up, everyone rejoice. MadameGiryMiranda, thank you for the compliments I'm glad you like the way I portray the character and you are right, Mme Giry rocks! InuLvr7, to answer your question it will go up until the night of Hannibal and it isn't a prequel to "Time to Heal" that story's history comes from Kay's "Phantom" so it wouldn't work out. Lotte Rose 37, glad you liked the meeting and the values and morals I gave Erik...gah I just wrote a lot. Well read review and continue to enjoy!