(A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update! … was preoccupied watching Phantom… Anyway, I hope you all like this next part! Please R and R! Btw, for those of you who forgot, Jacques is Erik's head servant…)
Chapter Three: Carmelita's Discovery
Jacques sat down at his computer, instantly logging on to the internet. He did a legal search for Christine Daae first, but came up with hardly anything. Instead, he quickly hacked into a few of her files.
Jacques scanned the information, looking for anything that might be important. He mentally wrote down anything of interest, and then looked for her school file.
When he came up with that, he noted the classes she took, and the events that were coming up. He wasn't quite sure what Erik was looking for, so he rooted up a few pictures of her and her friends.
There was a petite blonde girl in most of the school pictures with her, and in one of the captions he found her name—Meg Giry. Jacques debated on hacking into that file as well, but decided against it. He had probably found enough at the moment.
xxxxx
Erik looked up from his latest note to Carmelita as someone knocked on the door. He frowned for a moment before saying, "Come in."
He almost smiled when he saw Jacques. "Anything?"
"Of course. What are you looking for?"
"Shut the door behind you, Mariette has been snooping. I don't want her to get into this one, too."
"She found out about Carmelita?"
"Yes, well, that didn't come as too much of a surprise… After all, they finally put it into the newspaper. Who knew they'd make a fuss about such a horrible singer? Ah, well, now… What did you find on Christine?"
"Are you looking for anything in specific?"
"What classes is she taking?"
"History of Art, History of Music, Voice, Dance—"
"That's enough. Yes, I thought it'd be along those lines. Did you come up with any of her friends or family?"
"Her father died of cancer last year, and her mother died of childbirth when Christine was born. She isn't too much in contact with any other relatives, except for the grandmother that she visits from time to time. Her closest friend is a girl named Meg Giry, who she shares an apartment with."
"Anything else you'll think I'll find of interest?"
Jacques thought for a moment. "She has a voice recital next Saturday in her school auditorium."
Erik sat up slightly. "Really? What time?"
"Three in the afternoon."
There was a moment of silence as Erik seemed to debate something. Finally, he said, "Thank you Jacques. How would you like to attend a voice recital next Saturday?"
Jacques smiled. "Very much so, sir."
"Good… I think I might even be able to come along. Who knows? This might even be fun…"
xxxxx
When Christine woke up the next morning, she looked at the clock and realized that if she didn't hurry, she'd be late for her first class. She sighed—it seemed as if she was always running behind lately.
Christine quickly got ready, slipping into her clothes and running a brush over her teeth and hair. She didn't bother with the make-up, there was no time. Meg had already left around an hour ago for her two-hour History of Dance class. Christine was glad she had decided against taking that class—Meg complained constantly about it. Of course, that was probably because her mother taught it. However, her mother also taught dance, and Meg barely whined about that one.
Christine's first class was Art. They had been working on advanced still life paintings, which was actually relatively easy. However, their instructor was a stickler for detail, and was extremely picky.
Christine arrived at Art a minute late, and saw Mr. Denning mark something down in his book. She ran a hand through her hair and sat down at her desk. This was not a good way to start the day.
Art class moved painfully slowly that day, seeming like ten hours instead of simply two. Mr. Denning found a million things wrong with her painting, and by the end of class she couldn't wait to leave. Usually, Christine enjoyed Art, but the teacher made it nearly unbearable.
Christine checked the time as she drove down the street. It was 9:30...four hours until her next class, which was Dance with Mme. Giry. Christine smiled. She remembered when Meg was younger, she used to brag about how her mother was actually from France, but over time she had grown to hate it.
"She talks in French when she gets mad at me!" She remembered Meg exclaiming one time, "I can't understand a word of it!"
Christine shook her head. You'd think her friend would have taken French in high school! However, Meg wasn't too good with languages, and had decided against it.
Christine sighed. Now, what to do with her free time? She knew what she should be doing—she had a huge exam in a couple of days in History of Music—but she winced even at the thought of studying on such a nice day.
Finally she decided to take a walk. When you lived in New York City, there was always someplace to go—however, her favorites were by far Central Park and Time Square. Christine decided to walk around Broadway and parked her car in the parking lot for her college. She went to Columbia University, which was actually right on Broadway, and therefore she didn't have far to walk.
Christine walked down the street, looking at the different musicals performed. How she wanted to be on Broadway someday! She didn't have very good chances, however, she reflected. Meg always scolded her for "putting herself down," but Christine always reasoned it was just not getting her hopes up.
She was examining the posters for one of the latest musicals when suddenly there was a high-pitched scream.
Christine whirled around to see where it came from, and quickly spotted a growing crowd gathering around the entranceway to the building. There, the scream had turned into loud wails, and she almost immediately realized who it was.
Carmelita.
The Spanish accent was unforgettable. What was the famous Broadway star doing out in the streets?
It didn't take long for the story to get around, and Christine soon heard that the man who now called himself the "Phantom" had struck again. Carmelita had decided that she wouldn't let his threats scare her, and had returned to the theater.
She had found that morning, however, that her costume had been completely destroyed. Undaunted, she had continued throughout the day, ordering a new costume to be made. Things had only gotten worse, however, when she found that almost everything she owned had been sabotaged. Her stage makeup was ruined, her jewelry was broken, and her music had gone missing.
The last straw had been when she found in her dressing room, a message painted in what looked like dried blood on her mirror. It read:
Leave now or Die.
Carmelita, figuring the so-called "blood" was just some kind of stage makeup, traced the drips of blood back to its source to reassure herself.
The trail of blood led to her closet. Upon opening it, Carmelita had found the small dog she kept there dead on the floor, its throat slit.
(A/N: Uggh, GAG! Okay, CALM down everyone! It wasn't Erik's orders! I promise you, he's not too happy when he finds out! …well, he's not upset… but it wasn't his orders to kill the dog, he just hired someone to 'scare' Carmelita while he worked on other things! Yes, that was slightly gross…I know. Believe me.)
Hilary
