Disclaimer: I (regretfully) own nothing Phantom. Leroux, Webber, and Kay all own it…lucky stiffs.
AN: I altered this scene at the cemetery a bit to fit my own purposes; I hope that it doesn't offend anyone. Remember, there are only a few more chapters before this story is over, so please let me know how I'm doing before it's too late for me to improve! Though I'd very much like to thank all those who have left reviews, it means so much to me! Also, I'm considering writing a sequel to this fic, but I'm not sure yet. I've got a few ideas for other stories, but there might be room for a sequel.
Chapter 15: The Cemetery:
The two Daae sisters had been in a trance after returning to the de Chagny home, the joys of the evening forgotten. Christine had been escorted up to her room by Marie, who had helped her undress and tucked her in, kissing her goodnight after humming a favorite tune of theirs from childhood. Once she was alone in her room, Marie had slipped out of her costume and crawled into bed, wrapping the blue sheets around her as her eyes drifted shut, her body slightly trembling in nerves.
The next morning, Marie made a decision: she desired to return to her home in the Opera House. She could no longer stand living on the generosity of Raoul's family, and needed to be there for the preparations for Don Juan. She was ready to let Christine remain at the de Chagny residence, but after hearing Marie's choice, Christine wouldn't hear of it; she, too, missed the place she had grown up in, and nothing Marie or Raoul could say could convince her to dwell in the safety of the mansion.
Within a week, the Daae's were comfortably situated in their old rooms, returning to life there as though they had never left it. The dancers were thrilled to have Marie back as their confidant and 'older sister', and the older girls all wanted to flutter around Christine and gossip about the Phantom and his new commands regarding the new opera, Don Juan. Madame Giry did her best to distract the ballerinas from their favored topic of conversation, but they continued to whisper about it behind the back of the ballet mistress.
Marie quickly settled back into her usual rolls as caregiver to the small ballet rats and assistant to the costume mistress. She helped pick out red and black materials of silk and velvet for Spanish flamenco dresses for the dancers, assisted the ballerinas with their dramatic dances, and helped comfort the girls who did not receive a choice spot in the latest opera production. Everything appeared to be the same as it had been before, though with one significant difference…
Although Madame Giry refused to treat the Daae's situation with the Phantom as something unusual, many others acted in strange ways whenever Marie or Christine passed by. Whisperings of the Ghost's love for the young soprano filled the corners of the Populaire, talk which ceased whenever one of the Daae girls passed by. Some of the cast and crew who had been merely distant acquaintances of the girls now avoided them, fearing the wrath of the Phantom if he discovered someone near "his" soprano or her sister. The whole thing hurt both sisters, who felt as though those they trusted were abandoning them in their time of need.
"Nonsense!" Madame Giry had snapped when Christine had brought the subject up one evening, after one of the female set painters had refused to talk to her after rehearsal. "You're are being silly!"
However, Marie knew that Madame was just as disturbed as anyone else. The ballet mistress had begun to look more worried for her and Christine than she ever had before. Although Meg was also a concern of hers, the blonde girl was not the center of the Phantom's attention! For both mornings and evenings, Madame required both Marie and Christine to travel to and from their destinations either with her or with several others, for safety purposes. Marie had even been ordered to move into the Prima Donna's suite with Christine so that neither one slept alone at night. All of this the two young women bore, Marie with the mature temperament of an elder sister and Christine with a fearful expression continuously on her innocent face.
With Christine in a nearly panicked and frightened state of mind, Marie was called upon constantly to calm her down and make sure that the young singer was composed while performing onstage. During the first day, however, Marie had been utterly disgusted with what was required of the singers. Don Juan was supposed to be tall, handsome, and seductive, his hands constantly touching the lovely Gypsy girl Aminta in a delightfully sensual way. Signor Piangi was the complete opposite of what Don Juan was supposed to be, and after the first day of rehearsal, everyone could see why.
Small of stature (for a man), fat, and greasy, the lead tenor looked like he was pawing at Christine whenever they were onstage singing together. The whole seduction of Aminta looked as though an inexperienced boy was attempting to woo a woman far above him in appearance and behavior! Merely watching the spectacle made Marie want to vomit every time she watched them.
After spending weeks of watching her sister being groped by Piangi, Marie had had enough. She had spent an entire week voicing her complaints to the managers, Madame Giry, and Raoul about the whole thing, but to no avail. Despite all her protests, no one wanted to switch the lead male singers, and Marie thought that her sister was doomed to spend the entire performance with an incompetent costar putting his hands on her every day until the whole thing was over.
Incredibly, as though the Powers Above had heard her prayers, Signor Piangi was dismissed from his roll as Don Juan after Meg Giry had come racing into rehearsal, a wide smile on her lips. Following behind her was a young man with black hair and incredible blue eyes, as well as a puzzled expression on his face. Meg had introduced him as Pierre, and asked that they hear Pierre sing a small section from Don Juan. She was granted the request.
After hearing the young man sing a few lyrics from the opera, the mangers couldn't get enough of him. Piangi was immediately dismissed from his position, a sour expression on his face as he slammed the door of the Populaire behind him. Carlotta had attempted to get her lover back into Firmin and Andre's good graces, but since she was no longer an influential Opera diva, her attempts failed. Pierre became the new Opera House tenor, and the new romantic target of every ballerina, though he apparently only had eyes for Meg.
Now, watching the much more talented young man perform with Christine, Marie felt a small bit of happiness mixed with apprehension. She sincerely hoped that Erik would not be upset with the new tenor, but she doubted he would be displeased; after all, he hadn't liked Piangi at all, and had desired a new male lead in the Opera House for over five years! Still, it was probably best that Madame Giry already kept a sharp eye on Pierre, even if it was likely because he was interested in Meg…
As the Populaire's cast and crew went fearfully about their business of performing the Phantom's opera, they could not help but wonder what sort of plots were being conceived in the mind of the masked genius.
It was tradition for Marie and Christine to visit their father's gravesite whenever they were facing troubled times, or when they missed him tremendously. Thankfully, Gustave Daae had asked to be buried in Paris, France, alongside his lovely wife, and had set aside a fair amount of money to finance the transport of his body to Paris, as well as to pay for an elaborate family tomb.
Unfortunately, many problems had arisen that delayed the building of the tomb, causing both Gustave and Laurette Daae to lay in ordinary soil for well over ten years. The elaborate resting place of the Daae's had just been completed after Marie's 17th birthday, and had since become a favored place of both sisters to visit when they needed solitude from the noise of the Opera House. Today just happened to be one of those days, and with Erik possibly lurking around in the darkness, Marie deemed it a good idea to go and visit their father's resting place. The problem was avoiding both the Ghost and Raoul. Lately, the Vicompt had personally taken the responsibility of protecting his future bride and sister-in-law. He escorted Christine everywhere (jokingly declaring that no Ghost would dare tangle with the formidable Marie Daae), and slept outside the girls' room with a sword at his hip.
In Marie's opinion, it was rather silly of him to do this, considering she was sleeping in the same room with Christine, but Raoul insisted that he was protecting them both from harm and refused to give up his post to the local police. Fortunately, Raoul was a fairly sound sleeper, and the Marie could get around him most of the time if she or Christine needed something in the middle of the night.
Finally, a month before the performance of Don Juan was to be shown, Marie had had enough of being looked after. Gathering a handful of coins, she slipped past the sleeping Vicompt and out a side door, catching a carriage and depositing the money into his palms.
"The Daae gravesite, in ten minutes," she ordered. The driver, still a bit sleepy in the pre-dawn light, merely nodded as the girl vanished back inside the Populaire.
Sneaking back into the diva's dressing room, Marie went to her sister's side and shook her awake. Christine blinked her blue-gray eyes, but obediently followed Marie's hand signals to get dressed and follow her. In moments, they were in the carriage, heading towards where their parents rested.
"For goodness sakes, Christine, put up your hood!" Marie gently chided as she reached over and pulled at her sister's cloak. "You'll catch cold in this winter weather!"
Christine pouted, but put up with her sister's fussing. In truth, the younger girl rather liked having her sister's attention, and would do anything to make her happy. As the two rode ever closer to the graveyard, they made idle conversation about everything, from the opera to the ballerinas. Both were relieved to arrive at their destination, with Marie jumping out first so that she could help Christine, who was wearing the wrong sort of shoes for snow and ice.
"Now, Christine," Marie said, using her 'Older Sister' voice. "Go straight to visit Mama and Papa, but no wandering! Do you understand? I will wait here with the driver so that we can go straight back to the Populaire when you are finished."
"Aren't you coming?" Christine asked, her eyes going wide with confusion.
Marie smiled. "No, you need to see them more than I do. Just say 'hello' to them for me, and tell them how much I love and miss them."
Christine nodded and left, disappearing through the tall forest of granite gravestones and iron gates. A few moments of silence passed before Marie turned around…
And faced the Phantom of the Opera.
"Erik!" Marie gasped before a gloved hand was over her mouth.
"Do not scream, petite," he whispered, glancing towards the gate that Christine had walked through, fearing that they might be discovered. "I mean you no harm." It was true; he would never hurt her…
Marie nodded and stared at him as he removed his gloved hand. "What are you doing here? Where is our driver?" she asked, looking slightly panicked.
"There was no driver. I took his place at the Populaire," he explained, removing his hood.
Her brown eyes narrowed. "So you did this to abduct Christine?" she snapped. For a moment, he could have sworn that there was jealousy mixed with her anger. "You're here to take my sister?"
Erik threw his head back and laughed. "No, my dear," he said, reaching out and gently caressing her face. "I am merely here to…remind her of whom she owes for her talents and new position at my Opera House," he replied, smiling. He was also rather displeased that the two young women had left the safety of the Opera House, alone and unescorted, for the graveyard in the middle of winter. "But if you will excuse me…"
Before she could utter another word, he vanished amidst the graves.
Oh, how she wanted to go after him, but it was no use; if the Phantom did not want to be found, it would be useless to try and track him. Instead, Marie looked around and waited for his return. In the far distance, she heard singing, first from Christine, then from Erik.
The sound of his musical voice stabbed her like a thousand ice needles. In her mind and spirit, she wanted Erik to focus his green eyes on her and sing to her as he did to Christine. Marie could count the number of times he had sang to her on one hand; compared to that, he had likely sung more to Christine in one day than he had sung to Marie in the years he had known her…and it hurt.
"It's not fair!" she softly cried, burying her face in her hands and weeping.
Why did Christine have everything? Beauty, talent, and not one, but two men vying for her affections! How could a plain, talentless, older, foster sister compare to such a girl? Returning to the carriage to sit and wait out the situation, Marie was astonished to hear another familiar male voice ring out amongst the headstones.
"Raoul!" she cried, jumping back out of the carriage and racing for her parents' tomb.
She arrived just in time to see Erik lying on the ground, Raoul's sword pointed at his throat, Christine standing behind the young man by the steps of the Daae tomb. The Vicompt was bleeding from a wound on his left arm, but did not appear to notice it. The angry look on both men's faces spoke volumes about their emotions for the wide-eyed young woman that was the center of their world.
"No, Raoul, don't!" Christine cried as the Vicompt twitched his weapon closer to the Phantom's face. "Not like this! Please, not like this!"
Reluctantly, Raoul obeyed, pulling back from his enemy though he kept his sword on him at all times. Reaching back with his wounded hand, he protectively grasped Christine's hand when it slipped into his. Not wasting any time, he led her away from the masked man and, unknowingly, from her sister. Once the two were out of sight, Marie rushed to Erik's side.
"Are you alright?" she gasped, looking him over as she knelt beside him, checking for wounds.
He pushed her arms away as he stood up. "I'm fine," he snapped, obviously furious at his defeat by the Vicompt. "Come, we must return to the Opera House."
Hurt, Marie merely followed him as he stalked out of the graveyard.
The ride back to the Opera House was awkwardly silent. In any other circumstance, Erik would have been thrilled to go horseback riding with Marie, but as it was, he desperately wished that this ride were over.
When they had returned to the carriage, Erik had unfastened the horse and prepared for it to carry the two of them back. He would have driven her back, but he feared that people would see his face in the daylight, and a "sick" couple riding through town wouldn't likely attract unwanted attention, especially since they could go places on horseback that a carriage could not fit through. So here they were, Marie stiffly seated before him as he directed the tired mare back into Paris.
To keep her from falling, Erik had wrapped a protective arm around her, which, curiously, made her uneasy. It might have to do with her being in love with him and having to be so close to him when she felt he did not return her love…or perhaps it was due to her never been held by a man before.
'But you have held her before,' whispered a voice in the back of his mind. 'You've danced with her, held her warm body in your arms as you whirled her around the dark coldness of your home.'
From the depths of his cloak's deep hood, Erik grit his teeth and shoved the voice aside. Now was not the time to delve into memories, particularly those from much happier times. He had more important things to take care of. Unknowingly, he clutched Marie tighter to his chest as they rode through the back streets of Paris and up to the backdoor of the Populaire's stable.
Without another word, Erik slid down from the horse and reached for the precious burden that it carried on its back. As Marie reached down to rest her hands on his shoulders, Erik found a profound sense of…something as she clung to him, her body close to his as he slowly slid her towards the ground. Erik found himself reluctant to release her once her feet touched the smooth stone of the small courtyard, his hands gripping her waist as though he feared she would fall. Suddenly, Marie gave him a small, shy smile.
"I may be needed inside," she whispered, her eyes meeting his. "They must be worried about me, since I did not return earlier."
"Yes," he breathed, his green eyes piercing her brown ones.
Reluctantly, she pulled away from him, quietly walking towards the entrance to the Opera House.
"Angel," he softly called to her, catching her attention. "The opening night of my opera will be one to remember." Marie gave him a puzzled look before she slipped inside, closing the door behind her.
The mare nudged Erik's sleeve, asking for the warmth of the stable and a nice pile of grain. Sighing, Erik stroked her nose and led her inside. Let the stablehands wonder where she had come from; it did not matter. All that mattered was what was to happen in a few weeks' time…
'And oh, what great events they will be,' he thought, making his way down into his underground caverns. 'It will certainly be a night to remember, my Angel; one you will never forget.'
The echo of a dark chuckle trailed behind him, the only sign he had ever been there.
AN: Creepy, huh? Up next: Raoul's plan to capture the Phantom! Please remember to review!
