Chapter 15
After Erik had wandered the opera house aimlessly for almost an hour, he was still having trouble allowing himself to believe that he was the man that Meg loved. For his entire life, Erik had been convinced that he was a monster, a hideous evil monster. He believed that he was cursed to spend his days void of human contact in the shadows and cellars of the opera.
Erik had always accepted that fact that if he were to achieve any form of companionship in his lifetime that it would be through tricky or force. No one would ever choose to spend any amount time with a beast of their own volition. But now it seemed that everything that he had thought to be true about his life was false. He had not tricked Meg into caring about him, and he had not tried to force her to stay with him in his dark lair beneath the opera.
He found himself in extremely unfamiliar territory. Erik knew how to frighten and deceive people into getting what he wanted. He knew how to demand that people obey his wishes, but he was unsure as to how he would face the woman who had admitted that she loved him. How could he possibly adequately express to her how she made him feel? How could he make her understand that he did not love Christine after he had sworn to her that he always would?
Now that Erik knew he had a chance to keep Meg in his life, he found himself consumed with an emotion he had not felt since he was a child…fear. Suddenly, he was terrified of losing his chance to be with Meg by doing something that would make her stop caring for him. He was afraid that she would change her mind when she realized that being with him meant a life of darkness in the cold stone labyrinth under the opera.
His mind kept creating reasons why Meg should not love him, and why she would not want to stay with him. His thoughts began to control him. Erik decided that the only way to clear his mind was to see the woman who held his soul in the palm if her hand once more. Watching Meg dance always gave him a blissful peaceful feeling, and now watching her and knowing that she loved him would be even more thrilling.
Meg would be at least halfway through afternoon rehearsals, and he could catch the second half from his hideaway far up in the shadowy rafters of the theatre.
When Eric had just begun to approach the balcony level of the theatre, he thought it strange that he heard no orchestra music filling the great room.
Perhaps they are taking a break, he thought.
Erik stealthily hid behind the long velvet curtains that hung near the entrance of one of the boxes. He peered down to the stage below, and saw a few dancers and vocalists standing around whispering things he could not quite make out. Meg was no where in sight. The orchestra's music and instruments were in the pit, but few of the orchestra members were even in the theatre.
Erik noticed Madam Badeau pacing back and forth in the corner of the stage left; her usual stern demeanor had been replaced with a look of disconcertion and worry. From the side entrance of the theatre Meg's friend Darcel came bounding up to her.
"She's not in her room or in costuming," he said panting as he tried to catch his breath.
A moment after Darcel came in, two girls dashed up to the stage straight to Madam Badeau as well. Erik recognized one of the girls, Marion, who was another friend of Meg's.
"We looked through all the dormitories, even in the empty rooms, and we still could not find her Madam," Marion whimpered in a shaky voice, "this just is not like her, I know something must be wrong."
Erik began to feel sick, and his head started spinning. He hoped that it was not Meg that they were searching for, but he knew somehow in the pit of his stomach that it was.
"We must all remain calm," Madam Badeau said, "becoming upset will not help us find Meg."
Erik felt as if he couldn't breathe when he heard Madam Badeau say Meg's name. How could she be missing? He had just been with her a little over an hour ago. He had watched her run from his sight towards the theatre.
"But Madam, Meg hates to miss rehearsals. She would never skip practice entirely without telling anyone," Darcel added.
Just then the back doors of the theatre opened and three older gentlemen entered.
"Please tell me you have found some sign of her gentlemen," Madam Badeau pleaded.
"I'm sorry Madam," said the tallest of the three, "We looked all around the theatre, we asked people in the street, and we even checked the roof, but we couldn't find a trace of her anywhere."
She had never even made it to rehearsals. Erik's head started to pound, and he got an acute pain in his chest. He knew that Darcel was right. Even if Meg had been upset with him, she would never miss a rehearsal without letting someone know. Something was wrong, very wrong.
Erik knew that he had to find her. The thought of anything happening to Meg was more agony than he could endure. For a moment he felt helpless, and he was unsure where to even begin looking. He couldn't imagine who would want to do anything Meg, but only seconds later he knew exactly where to begin his search.
Felecia was taking off her pink ballet slippers in her modestly decorated room, when without warning she felt an abrupt sharp pain on the front of her neck from the cold steel of a blade. She felt a powerful hand grasp the hair on the back of head tightly. She could feel the sensation of her own warm blood trickling down her neck onto her collar bone.
"Where is she," a terrifying deep voice hissed in her ear, but Felecia was too stunned with fear to respond.
"Where is she," the voice said again pushing the blade deeper into her tender flesh.
"Wha… what? Where is who?" she stuttered.
"Tell me where Meg is, you little tramp, or I will slice your throat and leave you here to bleed to death! Where is she?"
"She's… she's at the inn," Felecia managed to get out, "Please… don't hurt me."
"What inn, and how do you know she is there?" demanded the voice.
Felecia did not say anything for a moment, and then she felt the metal pierce her skin even further.
"I am going to enjoy killing you," the angry voice said in her ear.
"Wait, no, please, please,….it is the Le Havre Inn, Silvain, Silvain Sordeau has her."
"Why, what does he want with her?" Erik asked as he tilted the blade into Felecia's throat even harder.
"We paid…..Silana and I…..we paid him….. to take her, and scare her, and….."
"Enough!" the voice thundered. "That's enough! I want you to get your filthy little friend and leave this Opera house and then this city. I swear that if I ever see either of you ever again I will make you beg for me slit your scrawny little necks. Do you understand me?"
Felecia just nodded. She was in to much pain to speak. She felt the relief as the blade was released from her throat, and then she heard the door of her room slam shut. She wanted to lay on the floor and weep, but she was too frightened. She quickly began to scurry about the room packing all of her belongings.
