Man, am I getting backed up…oh well. Here's an update anyway!
oo0o0oo
Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap…
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter…
The sound of Tori's quick little steps mixed with the brisk tapping of the mysterious man's shoes as they walked down the passageway together without a torch, Tori holding on to the man's hand like a small girl with her parents.
She looked about, and noticed that there were many smaller doors leading off of the passageway, which didn't seem like it would end very soon.
Where is he taking me?
Her brain snapped back to reality. She was going somewhere with a stranger, someone she didn't even know! She was going to an unknown place with an unknown person!
Suddenly, everything went black; all sources of light were blocked off. They must have turned a corner.
Tori whimpered quietly, but the man held her close and put a hand gently over her mouth. A voice whispered in her ear, "Shh, I'm going to light a torch. Stay calm, you only have to walk for a little longer."
The hand released itself from her mouth and he let go of her hand. Tori looked about blindly in the dark for some hint of where the man had gone, but her question was soon answered. A torch flared up a few feet in front of her, and the man was now standing in front of a long, winding staircase.
Tori looked up at him shyly and took his hand again.
As they walked down the staircase together, she noticed that this was the first time she got to get a good look at him.
Her eyes were not fooling her about the mask; that lay over the right side of his face, white porcelain glimmering in the torchlight. (HIS right, remember that.) She was also right about his wearing all black with a black cape, and his hair slicked back. What she didn't get a good look at was the visible side of his face.
He was actually quite handsome. His face was clean shaven, and his eyes were a deep blue-green. A small smile was on his face; Tori couldn't place the origin of it. Overall, it was perfect, even with the mask covering the other half of it.
She looked backwards and found that they were three quarters of the way down. A sigh escaped her lips.
The man looked back at her curiously, the smile widening a bit. Tori's eyes widened at the sight of him looking at her and she moved her eyes down to study her steps, trying as hard as she could not to look back up at him.
Eventually they reached the bottom of the staircase, walked a few steps, and turned a corner, where a black horse stood waiting.
He's probably going to ride it-
Her thoughts were proved wrong when she walked over to the side of the horse and the man stood behind her and helped her up onto it. Tori sat on the horse as it began to walk, the man holding the reins at she side and guiding it along as he walked. Although Tori had taken horseback riding lessons, she simply positioned herself comfortably on the horse and allowed it to be guided.
"Are you comfortable?"
She looked down at the man, who was gazing at her, an expression of concern on his face.
Tori looked ahead, then back at him and nodded. All of the descent, the frightened look she had worn in her dressing room was on, but it lightened a bit with every step.
The man smiled warmly at her, and looked forward again.
There was silence between them again as they reached the edge of a lake, where a boat tied to a pole bobbed lightly in the dark water, waiting for them.
The stranger helped her into the boat and then grabbed a pole, which was leaning on the wall, untied the boat, and pushed it forward.
Tori's thoughts stirred again as she watched the water move along.
Someone said something of an underground lake…this man and I went down a staircase, so we must have moved down floors…the horse's path was on an angle...yes, we are certainly underneath the Opera House now. Doesn't the Phantom of the Opera live down here, underneath the first floor? No, Tori, no, the Phantom is just a silly little myth, he doesn't exist.
He was described as wearing a mask and all black…that's what the man behind me is wearing.
The conclusion hit her like a stone thrown by a boy. She whirled around to face the man, even more frightened then when she had first seen him.
She opened her mouth to comment, but her words ran dry. Tori had just noticed that they had hit shore.
A/N: Aah. Another bracket snapped today…on an M&M! I hate braces, they break on the most normal things, and your dentist thinks you've been chewing gum or something! Then you get this lecture from your parents about not sneaking and such, and they don't think you're telling the truth when you are.
Gotta be more careful next time…