Disclaimer: I tried to lure the Phantom out of his home and into mine, but he's refused…so far...
AN: As promised, more Erik in this chapter…big time! I can't tell you what happens, so you'll just have to read it, now, won't you? (Grins evilly) Oh, and instead of the wig, I'm giving Erik real dark hair instead of light brown that's in the final scenes in the movie. Review!
Chapter 4: Revelations:
Another two years went by, and the Daae sisters celebrated their 4th year at the Opera Populaire with little trouble at all. Christine had adapted very well to life at the Opera House, and Marie was very proud of her. Her little sister was fitting in marvelously in the corps de ballet, and the other girls in her class loved to have her there…well, most of them anyway.
Little red-haired, green-eyed Hayley Moore from America wasn't too pleased with Christine for reasons beyond comprehension, and had done her best to play numerous (though harmless) pranks on the poor girl. The two were in the same dance level, but Hayley had joined only two years ago when her family had moved to Paris from New York City. She was a talented girl, though, and she got along with every other dancer in her class except Christine. Despite the fact that Christine had never done anything to her, Hayley seemed to have an unnatural grudge against the curly-haired brunette.
Oddly enough, Hayley had no squabbles about trying to become acquainted with Marie, and had begged the older girl to be her friend. Marie wanted to be friends with the fiery red-haired girl, but Hayley's unusual dislike of Christine had forced Marie to give her an ultimatum: she would only be friends with Hayley if the girl did her best to be polite to Christine. Since Hayley could only spend so much time being polite to someone she hated, Marie did her best to give both of them equal amounts of her day, and divided her attentions between the two girls. However, Christine was the central focus of her life, and Hayley had to give in whenever Marie needed to focus on her sister's needs first.
Despite the dislike Hayley had for Christine, the friendship between her and Marie was a good one. Marie knew that Hayley herself didn't fully understand her dislike for the older girl's sister; it happened to be one of those rare situations where a person could not stop themselves from disliking someone at first sight. It boggled everyone's mind, but once the situation was explained to Christine, the curly-haired girl did her best to stay out of Hayley's way, and vice versa. It worked out for everyone, and things were much happier with that arrangement.
But there were certain times of the year when both Hayley and Christine could put aside their differences, if only for a mere hour or two. Once was during Christmas, and the other was Marie's birthday, which was a widely known tradition amongst the younger dancers. Every year, the ballet rats in Christine's class, as well as those in the younger levels, all gathered together to throw a tremendous party for the girl who they considered an older sister.
Throughout the last four years, Marie Daae had become a central figure in the lives of the younger dancers. She helped the newest girls adjust to being away from their parents by offering them shoulders to cry on, and became a confidant to all their secrets. As Madame Giry's assistant, Marie also offered advice on dance positions, practice outfits, and how to help deal with their unpleasant "monthly visitor." Also, whenever there was a problem that the girls considered too embarrassing to approach the ballet mistress with, Marie was usually the first one to hear about it and offer a solution. She had practically become invaluable to the girls, and the greatest pleasure they could ever get was from giving Marie a party to celebrate her day of birth.
Today was one such occasion, and the girls were all scrambling about, decorating one of the back rooms to have their party in. Since the girls never wanted to give just any ordinary party, it was always a surprise party that was held a week or so before Marie's actual birthday. By now, most of the girls felt that she would have expected their annual parties, but that was never the case; every time they threw her a party, the sheer joy and surprise on her face told how she never expected such a wonderful thing each year.
This year's festivity, however, was too important to be a surprise party, for this was the year that, at 16-years-old, Marie became a young woman in the eyes of society.
The younger dancers were sitting on cushions on the floor in a large back room, Madame Giry overseeing the entire event just to be sure that things did not get…overexcited. Food and drinks had been passed around, and the gifts (some neatly wrapped while others were merely thrust into canvas bags) were all sitting around Marie's feet, waiting to be opened. The birthday girl herself was beaming, her eyes filled with tears at the happiness she felt. It never failed to amaze her that the girls managed to put this all together behind closed doors. How they managed to get the food and drinks in here was beyond Marie's comprehension, but since Madame Giry was there as well, the older woman might just have talked the cooks into making something extra for the occasion.
Glancing around the room, Marie noticed that some of the girls around Christine's age were looking around the room nervously, flinching backwards from the darker corners of the large space and doing their best not to sit too close to the walls. She knew what they were thinking about, and it made her want to roll her eyes in exasperation at their childishness. Honestly, if it wasn't one thing or another that caused the girls to have nightmares, the predominant thing that struck the most fear into the hearts of all ballet rats was the Opera Ghost.
The elder girls especially feared that he would take them from their beds or try to kill them in their sleep. Ever since the night of her 14th birthday, the older girls were convinced that the Opera Ghost had caused the candles to go out in the room in an attempt to show his anger. Marie refused to believe it, considering how drafty that part of the Populaire was and wind-extinguished candles did not mean that a ghost was responsible.
'Silly girls,' she thought, trying not to snicker. 'I've been here for over four years and I still haven't seen evidence that this place is haunted by an Opera Ghost!'
Finished with her food, Marie looked around and saw that nearly everyone was finished as well. Deciding that she couldn't wait any longer, Marie reached out and swiped the first gift she could get her fingers on, untying the blue ribbon that held the pale canvas material in place. A few girls noticed what she was doing and began squealing for her to open their gifts first. Marie only laughed.
"All in good time, girls, all in good time!" she cried as more and more gifts were thrust towards her hands.
The gifts were surprisingly more mature than in previous years. There were the usual chocolates, hard candy, hair ribbons, lace and such, but there were also fairly expensive threads for making handkerchiefs, embroidery for clothing, and even a plain hat for her to stitch her own designs to! It was all very thoughtful, but the one thing she loved the most was the small set of fairy tale books that Hayley had given her. The little redhead knew of Marie's love for reading, and had given her something she had not had the money to purchase herself.
"Read us a story, Marie!" cried a little girl from the first level of ballet. The other little girls all called out their agreements while the older ones groaned.
"I'll read to you as soon as we get to your dormitory," Marie replied, smiling at the younger children.
It was their turn to groan, but their disappointment did not last long. Madame Giry quickly had Marie take the smaller girls to their room to read to them as the older girls cleaned up. Once she had led the little girls back to their dorm, they seated themselves in a circle around a chair, eager for the storytelling to begin. Marie took her place in the chair and opened up one of the books to find what it had in store for them that evening. She quickly scanned down the list: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty…her eyes stopped in the middle of the list.
'Perfect!' she thought before beginning of the tale.
Silently moving though the hidden passageways of the Populaire, the Ghost made he way through his Opera House. To ease his boredom, the Phantom had decided to check on Marie Daae's annual birthday celebration. Every year there was a party, and every year he watched the spectacle from behind the walls, spying on the gifts that were given and sneaking food when no one was watching. Occasionally, to make things interesting, he would cause a tiny breeze of wind to go down the neck of the nearest dancer, causing her to shiver and look around in a small state of fear. They all looked around in fear whenever the unexpected (or unexplained) happened…all except one…
It angered him, knowing that there was even a small handful of people within the Opera House that did not fear his presence. Even Madame Giry somewhat feared him; her obedience of him stemmed from the idea that, if she did not obey him, he would harm her beloved daughter, Meg. After the Daae's had moved to Paris, however, she soon grew even more fearful, thinking that he might cause them harm since Marie showed no signs of fear or respect towards him. And Madame was right to fear for the eldest Daae child; it tore him up to know that, while his presence terrified everyone else, the single person who refused to believe in him was a girl of but 16 years old!
In the depths of his mind, though, the Phantom knew that her lack of faith in him as both Christine's Angel of Music and the Opera Ghost was from the lack of sightings. The girl was always hidden in some back room with the costume mistresses, sewing the newest creations for the latest opera. How was she to see him if she was always out of sight whenever he did his best to frighten the managers and performers? And he had no spare time on his hands to single her out and terrorize her when she was alone; besides, where was the fun in frightening someone because you had to?
He growled. Hopefully some of the pranks he had planned to act out at Mademoiselle Daae's party today would finally convince her of his presence in the Opera House!
Unfortunately, the party had just ended before he arrived, and the guest of honor had already left. From what he could gather from the gossip floating around the room, Marie had gone to the dormitories with the tiny ballet rats to read them a story. He was annoyed that he had missed his chance to convince her of his presence, but decided to follow her to the dormitory for 'story time.' Besides, he had never been read to in his life, and this just might prove interesting…
Taking a peek into the large room, he saw a rather adorable sight. The tiniest of the ballet rats were gathered in a half-circle around Marie, their attention focused on the story she was reading aloud. He could barely hear what she spoke, so, moving ever so softly, he slipped to the wall behind her and listened carefully. What he heard fall from her lips both surprised and angered him.
"And so as the Beast lay dying, Beauty lay over his body and whispered the one thing that she had never been able to say before that day," Marie was saying. "She whispered, 'I love you,' and in a brilliant flash of light, the evil spell was broken. They were soon married, and lived happily ever after in the castle in the magical forest."
The little girls watched in awe as Marie closed the book and smiled down at them. The little ones waited, somehow knowing that there was more to come.
"And the moral of the story is to never judge others because of their appearance," the young woman said, looking each girl in the eye. "For it is not what is on the outside that matters, but what is lying within a person's heart that matters the most. Those fair in face could have a terrible heart beating beneath their breast, and those with the face of a monster might have the heart and soul of an angel." The girls all nodded solemnly as Marie stood up and gave them a bright smile.
"And I believe that it is time for little girls to be going to bed," stated a firm, female voice from the doorway. The girls all turned and groaned when they saw Madame Giry. "No groaning," she ordered. "Off to bed. I have much planned for you tomorrow, and you cannot dance if you are exhausted!"
The little ones rushed to obey as she helped to get them undressed for bed. Marie merely stood in the middle of the room, laughing as she put the book aside and began to turn down the covers on the beds.
Meanwhile, the Phantom felt the need to throttle someone. How dare the girl presume to give a moral lesson on looks, especially when all of the world's societies were based on beauty and appearance? He put a hand to his face, on the mask that served as a thin barrier, separating him from the rest of the world. It was his curse, to remain different and outcast from those around him. Suddenly, he gazed at the woman who stood only a few feet from him.
What would she possibly know about looking different? Over the past years, he had watched as Marie Daae had grown into an attractive young woman. Her hair was no longer plain and straight, but instead fell in waves down her back, the front locks pulled back and secured by a bright blue ribbon. Her eyes were the same chocolate color as her hair, and the faint golden tinge in her skin was enhanced by the dark colors of her hair and eyes. Her figure, though smaller than average and wider of hips than the ballet rats, suited her well. Marie was not as tall or graceful as those that she helped to dance, but she was far from lacking in good looks!
'She knows nothing about suffering from lack of a face, or of being a monster,' he thought, gold-flecked, green eyes narrowing in anger. 'I'll show her what a monster really is, and that I truly do haunt the Opera House!'
Twirling around, he followed her as she left the dormitory, a plan forming in the back of his mind.
It was about time for her to be going to bed, but Marie decided to take a small walk around the Opera Populaire. She knew that it was risky, particularly since some of the stagehands were known for whisking away unsuspecting girls to their bedrooms, willing or not, but the sugar from today's birthday cake was making her a bit edgy. She was certain a walk would help settle down her nerves, and if she kept to the darker parts of the halls, she could hide and easily escape detection.
Quickly hiding herself whenever she heard someone approaching, Marie was able to make her way to the boxes where the upper class sat during performances. Madame Giry would have a fit if she knew where the eldest of her three 'girls' was, but tonight would be one of the rare times where Marie could see the stage from the front, and not the back. She would love to be able to actually see a performance at the Populaire, but that would only happen if she were to pay for a ticket. That, of course, would never happen, so she decided to sneak a glance while alone and unwatched.
As she made her way through the theater, Marie decided to investigate what was referred to as The Ghost's Box. Everyone in the Opera House knew that this was Box 5, but none went in there unless it was to quickly clean it and make sure that everything was in proper order. Tonight, Marie wanted to see what, exactly, was so special about Box 5 that would make a pretend (or at least, imagined) Ghost want to reserve it only for himself. Whether or not she found something was insignificant; it was the thrill of the adventure that she sought, and she had every intention to at least sit in it and pretend that she was a wealthy young woman who could attend the theater in a beautiful new gown and gloves.
Slipping though the curtained doorway, Marie took a sharp breath. The interior spoke for itself of why Box 5 was so coveted. The dark wood of the chairs was enhanced by the gold-embroidered, red velvet cushions that blended in perfectly with the red drapes and carpeting. It was all wonderfully elegant, and as Marie took a seat in one of the chairs, she had a magnificent view of the stage. Anyone sitting within the wall of Box 5 would be gifted with the finest view of the opera being performed before their eyes!
Marie sighed as she looked down at the stage. 'What I wouldn't give to see a performance from here, and not from behind the stage!' she thought, not seeing the looming shadow behind her.
The Phantom had watched with eagerness as she approached Box 5. He could not have chosen a better place to frighten the girl! She had walked into a place that was practically a second home to him, and would now be at his mercy. Oh, he would not hurt her, but he could at least frighten her as much as he did with the ballet rats, and that would be enough.
He watched carefully as she slipped inside, carefully studying her face as her expression changed from curious to awe. The longing that the Ghost saw flutter across her features showed that she yearned to witness an opera from this very box, to see the wonders that her work helped to create and to experience the magic that a simple, well-orchestrated performance could do to the senses.
But he would not give her that chance. Instead, he slipped up behind her just as she rose from her chair and turned around to unknowingly face him.
As she stood and reached into a pocket for some of her birthday candy, Marie smiled. Several of the girls had pressed a dozen small bags of the stuff into her hands, and she had put one of them into her pocket to have for later this evening. She wanted to have a piece while sitting in Box 5, but she knew that would be a bad idea. There was the chance of her dropping her candy and soiling the carpet or the chairs, and if that should happen, there would be hell to pay, both to the managers and to Madame Giry (whom Marie feared more than anyone).
Tucking her candy away once more, Marie turned around and found herself nose-to-chest with a very tall man. Even from where she was standing, she could see that he was well-dressed. Black coat, cravat, gold vest, white shirt, all of it blended together in a way that basically screamed elegance. Glancing up, her eyes glided over a handsome chin and nose that was half covered by a white porcelain mask.
But it wasn't the mask that caught her attention. Her eyes moved right past it and focused on his eyes, her breath catching in her throat. Green orbs flecked with gold stared down at her, anger causing both colors to seemingly flicker from an internal flame. They were the most beautiful eyes that she had ever seen, and despite them being full of anger, she couldn't help but stare into them.
"You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen," she whispered aloud.
The anger burning within the mysterious man's eyes suddenly vanished, only to be replaced with surprise. He blinked at her, his mouth dropping open slightly as though to speak, but no words fell from his lips. Instead, he backed away and stared back at her, giving Marie an excellent chance to think through the situation she was in.
'I'm in Box 5 with a man in a mask,' she thought, finally wrapping her mind around what was happening. 'Wait, doesn't the Ghost wear a mask?'
According to the tales floating around the Opera House, the Ghost did, indeed, wear a mask and moved like a shadow. After all, she hadn't heard him enter the Box, now, did she? If he entered like a normal person, the noise from the curtain forming the door would have made at least called some sort of attention. Since she had heard nothing in the absolute stillness of the theater, he must have come in though one of those famous trapdoors that he was so fond of.
'But why does he wear a mask?'
Marie couldn't help thinking that question. The supposed Opera Ghost looked like any ordinary man, but perhaps the mask was to frighten people, like the tricks he played on unsuspecting ballerinas? She snuck a closer look at the masked side of his face. It only covered a little less than half of the right side of his face, the rest of which looked incredibly handsome and appealing. Why would a handsome man cover his face like this? Looking into his eyes, she saw that the eyehole of the mask showed a little of the skin surrounding his eye. The skin looked slightly puffy and red, very different from the olive skin the rest of his face bore.
'His face must be deformed,' Marie thought, somewhat surprised. 'If he's even slightly different, of course he would wear a mask!' His eyes narrowed, indicating that he had caught her staring at his mask as she drew a sad conclusion. 'He's an outcast.'
A surge of emotion caused her to bite back tears of sympathy. Feeling a sorry for the poor man who probably had not a friend in the world, Marie reached into her dress pocket.
The Phantom knew that Marie had been staring at his face since he had stepped in front of her. But when she had commented about the beauty of his eyes, he could only pull back in surprise. He knew that there was nothing beautiful about him, but to have a young woman merely say something kind about him was like getting hit by lightning: it stopped his heart in his chest and sent a burning heat through his body that he didn't know he could feel.
Not knowing how to react, he had pulled back to the doorway, staring at her as she stared at him. He saw her eyes flicker towards his mask, and the anger that had disappeared at her compliment came rushing back. She was no doubt judging him from his looks. Soon she would see that he was, in fact, a monster, and that a fairy story was just that: a story.
His anger was once again replaced by shock when she reached into a pocket and withdrew a small bag. The Ghost expected her to throw it at him, to distract or fend him off, but was unprepared for her to offer it to him as one would a gift. Automatically reacting without thought, he reached out and accepted the small blue package.
"It's peppermint candy," she said, giving him a kind smile. "It's quite good. I hope that you enjoy it."
Not knowing what to do or say, the Phantom turned and fled though a hidden door in a hasty exit. He needed to return home and think about what had just happened during his encounter with Marie Daae.
AN: Did you like their first meeting? Please review and let me know what you thought! Thanks!
