Jacques's Puzzle: Well, I think about three of you got it… I don't remember I'll go back and look and put your names at the end. And the answer is: (after all of the waiting you guys went through to get it, and if you even still read this when I update!) The doors were voice activated so that every time Mariette said the word "locked" they opened. Thanks for all of your guesses! Some of them were really neat ideas
Chapter Eight: The Mysterious Man
Christine slowed down her car as she pulled into the parking lot outside of the voice building the recital was taking place in. She found a spot to park and then turned off the ignition. For a moment, she just sat still in her seat, nervously running her fingers through her hair.
She knew she had practiced a lot, and that she had the song down pretty well… but no matter how hard she practiced or how well she thought she knew the song, there was always the possibility that something could go wrong.
After another deep breath she forced herself to lean over the seat to grab her music, and then opened the car door and stepped outside.
Almost immediately, a gust of wind ruined in seconds the hairstyle that had taken her nearly an hour to fix. Christine slammed the car door shut and ran for the building, hoping that she would be able to salvage it.
When she got inside she went straight to the ladies' bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, she tried to access the damage done. The upsweep that she had worked so hard to make perfect—which was hard, considering her hair always seemed to want to rebel against any kind of restraint—was completely destroyed. Christine sighed and began to pull the bobby pins from her hair, setting them carefully on the edge of the counter.
She was halfway through when it suddenly struck her that she was being watched. Christine stiffened and glanced surreptitiously out of the corners of her eyes.
The bathroom was completely deserted except for her. Frowning, she examined it closer. The door was tightly shut, and the stalls were all empty. There weren't any windows. Shaking her head, Christine turned back to the mirror and continued taking out the hair pins. She ignored the feeling, hoping once more it was her overactive imagination, or perhaps just anxiety for the upcoming performance.
She had just taken out the last pin when a flicker of gold in the mirror caught her attention. She gazed into the reflection of the grate set into the wall, where she had seen the movement. It took her a moment to realize that she was looking straight into a pair of yellow eyes.
Christine gasped and whirled around, accidentally dashing the hairpins from the counter in her fright. She gazed straight up into the grate and saw…
Nothing. Whatever had been there… if anything at all… was gone now.
Christine turned back to the mirror, looking into it again just to be sure. The grate was blank and empty in the reflection as well. The brunette took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and collected the scattered hair pins. It was probably just a cat… she tried to convince herself. After all, it made sense. No sane human would climb into an airshaft to spy on her in the ladies' bathroom…
°†°
Jacques watched in amusement as Erik shoved the grate covering aside and climbed out of the airshaft. He must have noticed Jacques's less-than-impressed look, because he scowled. "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing, sir, of course. You said you were going to the record room to see if you could find anything else on Miss Daae's background. Did you see anything interesting on the way there?"
"What kind of interesting things?" Erik asked suspiciously.
"Oh, you know… Rats… lost jewelry… pretty brunette girls with nice voices…"
Erik's expression darkened further, and Jacques fought back a smile. He decided not to press the subject, however. Sometimes his master could get testy when he thought he was being sneaky…and then got caught anyway.
Erik finished brushing the last of the dust off of his cloak and straightened. "Come." Jacques had to bite back another grin as he watched Erik sweep away, head held at an indignant angle. He let him walk for a while before finally deciding to say something.
"Sir?"
Erik stopped and whirled around, his cloak billowing effectively. "Yes?"
Jacques cocked his head. He was using that "don't mess with me" tone. Jacques briefly considered not saying anything, and then decided against it. "The recital hall is in the other direction, sir."
There was a pause, and then Erik's eyes narrowed. "I knew that."
"Yes, sir."
"I did."
"Of course, sir."
Erik gave him one last glare, and then swept past him for the second time. After a moment, Jacques turned and followed.
°†°
Erik glanced back at Jacques, trying to figure out whether or not to be angry at him. After a moment's hesitation, he brushed it aside. It wasn't his fault Erik had been going the wrong way… but since when had Erik lost his impeccable sense of direction? He winced as he realized that his feet had inadvertently been leading him towards the bathrooms. Maybe he hadn't lost his sense of direction after all. But he wasn't about to tell Jacques that.
°†°
Christine was a few minutes late for warm-ups, but quickly got into position among her peers. Her teacher tactfully ignored her late entrance and continued with the scales. Five minutes later, they all headed into the recital hall.
Before Christine could take her seat, however, someone grabbed her arm. Already jumpy, she whirled around to find Meg standing beside her with a mischievous and excited look on her face. "Meg… you scared me to death! I'm glad you made it, but I have to go sit…"
"Did you see? Raoul made it to your recital!"
"That's great Meg—"
"But more importantly, who's the mysterious rich guy in the corner over there? He's kinda hot, don't you think? I wonder if I could…"
"Meg." Christine said exasperatedly, swatting at her friend. "I have to go sit down. I was already late to warm-ups, I can't have the teacher hold up the recital just because you want to gossip about cute guys. Now, go on and search for potential boyfriends… but please remember to listen when it's my turn," Christine joked, "I want to know how I did."
Meg rolled her eyes. "Of course I will. Not that I really have to… you'll do great. As usual. Now get going while I examine the mysterious hottie."
Christine grinned and shook her head, and then headed for her seat. Almost immediately after she sat down, the recital began. She was third to last, so during the first few songs she was almost relaxed. She took the time to find Raoul, and sent him a smile, which he returned. Christine also attempted to spot the man who had captured Meg's attention, but she couldn't see the back of the room clearly from where she was sitting. She quickly forgot about it as her turn to perform grew nearer.
Finally, the person before her finished her song and stepped down off of the platform. Christine got shakily to her feet and moved to stand before the microphone. She attempted to black out the audience, but failed. Instead, she found her eyes being dragged to the corner where Meg's 'rich guy' was.
He was tall with black hair and a long black cape. He was, indeed, very good looking. What she could see of him, anyway… What wasn't hidden by the shadows was hidden by a black leather mask that covered a good part of his face.
Christine's attention was dragged away as the music started up. Just before her entrance, she glanced at Raoul again. He grinned encouragingly at her, and she began to sing…
°†°
"Wow Christine! I think that was one of the best recitals you've done!" Meg congratulated her.
Christine blushed. "Well… I just saw Raoul in the audience and… I don't know… I just wanted to do a good job. For him." Her blush deepened as Meg raised an eyebrow. "Well he always liked my voice when we were little, and I wanted to show him how much it's matured!"
"Right…anyway, did you see—"
"Brava, mademoiselle." A soft voice said right behind them. Christine jumped again, then turned with a smile to see the man that undoubtedly was going to be Meg's next topic, his servant standing at his side. Meg let out a little squeal.
"Thank you, sir—" Christine broke off as she met his eyes. Slowly, the blood drained from her face. There was a pause, and then she grabbed Meg's wrist. "But now we must be going. I—um, have some homework to do and… well…goodbye." She half dragged Meg from the room, not stopping until they were outside.
"What's wrong with you?" Meg exclaimed, "He was so sexy! And he wanted to talk to you!"
But Christine didn't even hear her. Even now, she could feel his eyes on her. Golden eyes… like a cat…
Hey everyone! Wow…it's been almost a year since I updated this one! Anyway, I decided to keep working on this one and set Crimson Rose aside (for now… and only after one more update. That will be the end of act one). I'll pick Crimson Rose back up on summer vacation. Until then, I'm going to write this one… simply because I have inspiration to write this one, and not Crimson Rose. Who knows, I might even update more! lol. And I don't blame you if you abandoned this one, believe me.
Oh, one more note… I changed my author name. If you didn't notice. It's now sunset.rising. Thanks for all of your support, guys :)
Hilary
