Chapter Three

DISCLAIMER: OK; I don't own phantom of the opera. Plain and simple

Her feet felt as if they were bleeding. Their production opened at nine the next night; and she had to be ready to dance her heart out. Iris was not nervous; she could do the routine in her sleep; she could do the routine upside down; and walking on air. Karen however was. The night prior to that day's practice; she kept stumbling over everyone and causing them to fall.

"Ms.Edalene." The Instructor bellowed. "If your going to interrupt our performance; please don't bother coming." Karen didn't know if she was to take ther verbal abuse or not; that wasn't exactly her choice to become a ballet girl; she did it because she had no where else to go. She remained silent as she tried her best to keep the routine going; to keep herself from screwing up. But; do to her excessive need to go fast; she wanted to speed up. She wanted to leave everyone else in the dust and go faster. But to much of her displeasure; she kept dancing their pace.

Clapping was heard in the audience. They all stopped and looked towards the seats; seeing only one brown-haired man wearing a suit sitting dead center.

"Bravo! Beautiful work!" He clapped and cheered. Karen's eyes widened; and her lips curled into a frown.

"Do you know that man?" Meg asked softly; Karen nodded.

"That's Raphael."

"That's Raphael? The guy who ran away with your best friend three years after his proposal?" Karen nodded bitterly. Meg however; spoke too loud; and he heard her.

"Karen?" He walked up the stairs on the side of the stage; and finally onto the stage. "Karen is that really you? Look at you! My god!" Karen crossed her arms; as Iris asked Meg what was up with that guy. "If I knew you were going to be so gorgeous I'd have stuck around!" Karen turned her body away from him.

"What do you want? Why don't you just leave?"

"That would be rude! Karen; do you still have my ring?"

"No. I threw that thing away long ago."

"Monsieur. I do not mean to be rude." The instructor broke in. "But we do have a production tomorrow; we need them to practice."

"Of course; Forgive me monsieur" Raphael returned to the audience to watch them dance. Karen hated this part of her memory catching up to her; she had wished he would stay away; with her ex-best friend. The dance lasted so long; that Karen's feet ached; she did not know if it was sweat; or blood on her ankles. When they stopped; they went strait for the baths; wanting to wash either blood or sweat off them.

"That man is handsome." Meg told Karen while they were bathing. The Opera House bath was like a public bath house; all the ballet girls used it. "Why don't you forgive him and date him again? Surely now that he's grown up a bit-"

"No. Meg; if I date him; I'll be showing weakness. I don't want him to think my life revolves around pleasing him." Meg was quiet; and then spoke to Karen about a different subject. After their bath; they went to the dormitories and readied for bed. Karen had tied her hair in a pony tail and was brushing Iris's hair; when Meg brought up a subject that most thought had been layed to rest.

"What do you think happened to the Phantom of the Opera?"

"The-what?"

"Phantom of the Opera. Almost three years ago; he captured Christine Daae through the mirror in her dressing room and tried to marry her! But Raoul got in the way and no one has seen him since."

"I think he's dead." Spoke one of the ballet girls; she had curly red hair that was dangling free; and she was taking off make up that was used more-so for clowns and not for young ballet girls.

"Why do you think that?" Karen asked. "Maybe he doesn't want to be seen."

"Well; why don't you go see for yourself? If he's dead; then bring back his skull; but if he's alive and is just hiding like a coward; come back empty handed."

"I don't know-"

"Aww. She's chicken!" Another girl giggled. The girl whom is speaking now is the other girl's best friend. "She's too scared to go down there and meet the Phantom! Face to mask!"

"I'm not scared." Karen growled at them. "Our performance is tomorrow night and I don't have any time to with all these practices we go through."

"Fine." the first girl smirked. "Be scared."

"You are just as scared of the Phantom as any of us." Meg came to her friend's rescue. "Especially after what happened three years ago."

"Are not!" They denied in unison. Then the first girl looked at Karen and smirked. "She'll go if she isn't scared."


Karen played sick the next day. Saying it was a stomachache flue she had caught during the night. A doctor was not sent; because she said that it was something she'd be able to take care of by herself. She was out of the performance; and frankly; her instructor was glad. Meg and Iris stopped by her bed before heading to the stage.

"Your not sick are you?" Meg asked once all the girls were gone. "Your going after the Phantom's skull."

"Meg; I've got a reputation to protect." Karen told her. "I can't just be a coward."

"But what if he isn't dead? What if your right and he kills you?"

"Then you take care of Iris. I'm going Meg." Karen told her. "You better get going to the production. I wish you the best of luck."

"I wish it to you as well." Meg and Iris bid her farewell and went to the stage. Karen waited a few minutes; and then changed out of her night gown and into a different dress; and threw a knapsack over her shoulder to keep the skull in. She used what Meg had said about the dressing room Mirror; and used that way to cross between the worlds. She slid the mirror open; and gazed at the long rug down the dark; dirty hallway. She closed the mirror and entered; walking a few steps; a rat scampered by and caused her to scream. The rat ran by and Karen continued on; the rat making her paranoid of the whole hallway. Water dripped from the walls; and the candles were burned out.

She made a wrong turn and started down a spiral staircase. Looking over the side; she felt herself getting dizzy. But she kept going; knowing her goal; and wanting to fulfill it. All of a sudden; the floor beneath her opened up and she fell in.

Within seconds; she hit water; and her dress bottom spread out; and remained like that. She saw a metal gate-like thing come down on her; swimming down after getting one last breath; she grabbed the faucet like wheel and turned it. It was hard; because it felt as if it was stuck. But once the gate-like thing went back up; she grabbed onto it and it brought her above the water; her dress now hugging her legs; and her gasping for air. It was at that moment she asked herself why she needed to prove anything to those girls. She had already started her quest; and she was going to finish it. She swung her legs over and let the bar go; and just barely landed on the other side of the pool of water. She then fell backwards into the water. Leaving a big splash. She hoisted herself out of the water using the land she fell off of; and coughed some water up. She shook her head like a wet dog and got some water out; but it was still dripping wet.

She made her way further into the catacombs of the opera populaire basement; nearly ready for anything it could throw at her.