Chapter Eight

Leah was afraid of him? No, that would not do. His angel loved him, she did not fear him! He smiled to himself. He had been so close to her, he could smell the scent on her skin. He wished he could have reached out and touched her. Her skin would be so soft, and so warm. He was longing for that warmth, having dwelt so long in the cold. The Phantom grinned, he knew what was wrong! She had been so overwhelmed by her love that she was afraid of it. Well that would be no problem. He could help her get accustomed to carrying such a great deal of passion. And then she could bring warmth to his cold existence, his icy home. He would never be cold again.


Days fell into another routine, as they usually did. They would not begin preparations for the ballet for some time yet, so all those working in the Opera House did what they always did when not working on a performance. General maintenance was given by the stagehands, the auditorium along with all the seats were given a thorough cleaning, the chorus lines were given linens and clothing to repair and wash, their dormitories to be cleaned, and they had to continue daily general practice. Carlotta, as usual, did nothing.

Leah's nerves were beginning to fray. Though she did not have the stress of a performance building up on her, many other things were affecting her state of mind.

Carlotta. Carlotta was determined to break Leah's spirit. Every time she came within sight of the Prima Donna, Carlotta would have some demanding chore to be done, or errand to run. The woman was more hateful then ever, ordering her about like a slave, demanding the impossible so she could yell when it was not done and insulting her with practically every second word she spoke. Leah took to sneaking around the hallways, always hoping the Soprano was in an opposite part of the Opera from her.

Victor. For some reason, Victor kept hounding her, intent on getting back into her good books. Finally one day she had snapped at him.

"Come on Leah," he was saying to her for the twelfth time at least, in Leah's opinion. "Let us get away from this place for a while, let me take you out for dinner, just the two of us. I know of this lovely little place not far from here."

"No thank you Victor," she said, keeping her eyes on her needlework.

"Just think of it, you and I, surrounded by candles and music, away from all this work and drudgery," Victor slid closer to her.

"No thank you. Victor." Leah's voice was tight and she was holding back her anger.

"Please? Carlotta will not know."

Those were the magic words.

"Carlotta?" Leah all but yelled. "I bet she planned this. It would suit her greatly if you were to take me out somewhere and claim I slept with you. Why don't you and Carlotta go burn in hell for all I care and just leave me alone!"

Victor had taken a step back at her outburst. "Carlotta has nothing to do with me," he said nervously.

Leah looked back down to her sewing. "Carlotta has everything to do with you," she said quietly.

"Leah, we used to be friends, what happened?"

"You revealed who you truly are. Carlotta's pet." She sighed and began to unpick the line of stitches she had just sewn. "Go away Victor, leave me be. Just go away."

Jim was not helping things all that much either. They continued to spend time together, mostly while they were working on other things. They did not speak very much, and thought Leah knew him better than when he had sent her the letter, she still did not know him very well. Before going to sleep, Leah would sometimes lie there and think, trying to figure out exactly what she felt for him. There was a great deal of attraction, there was friendship, for he was a kind man, but mostly it was confusion. They never spoke of the letter or its contents and Leah began to wonder if he regretted telling her what he did.

Leah walked into her room one night, tired after a long day of cleaning everything in Carlotta's wardrobe. Then doing it again because it was not good enough. She was flexing her sore hands as she closed the door and turned to find her nightgown. Something on her vanity table stopped her though. She walked forward slowly. It was a white box, tied with a dark red ribbon.

Leah hesitated, sure she knew who it was from. There was a note on top and she picked it up by a corner. The spiky black writing confirmed what she had already known.

"Leah my sweet, your fair beauty has stolen the heart from my chest. It is now yours, wrapped up in a pretty bow for your taking – B."

She looked at the box and almost gagged. Blood was soaking through one of the bottom corners and she pushed it into the garbage bin without opening it, not wanting to know what kind of animal he killed to give her its heart.

This was only one of many things the Phantom sent her. Every few days she came to expect an appalling gift or simply a note. Sometimes what he wrote scared her more than what he sent. And what frightened her more was that she did not know how he was getting into her room. She locked the door every night and she did not see him since the play, but he constantly reminded her of his presence. He wrote as if he was in love with her, but his words frightened her.

Leah cried herself to sleep most nights, not able to cope with everything building up like this. She did not sleep well at night and began to grow thinner. Angie urged her to eat, worried, but Leah had no appetite most days.

She spent most of her free time alone on the roof, her thick cloak wrapped around her, keeping out the cold. She sat and stared off into the distance, seeing nothing and keeping her mind empty. To think was to remember, and Leah did not want to remember anything lately.


Late one afternoon, Leah dragged herself back to her lonely dressing room. They had an intense practice that day and she was looking forward to getting out of her damp tights and into her nightgown. She did not want to be in the crowded kitchens, she wanted nothing more than to go to sleep until the next morning.

Leah dressed in a small nightshirt and thin pants, pulling on a robe overtop. She had decided that a bath might soothe away her aches and she might as well use the elaborate tub since she had it to herself.

Somebody knocked at her door and Leah frowned. She had not had any visitors for quite some time and thought it was probably Angie set on coaxing her down to supper. She opened the door and saw Jim instead. He frowned slightly, seeing her robe.

"Are you not going to eat tonight?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "I just want to have a bath. I am sore everywhere. Madame Giry was hard on us today," she said quietly.

"Come out to dinner with me," he offered. "You need to leave this building, if only for a few hours."

"Really?" she asked and he nodded. His offer sounded perfect at the moment, supper outside of the House she never left seemed to be just the thing she needed. "Alright," she agreed. "I just have to get dressed."

He smiled at her, relieved. "You do that. I will go get a carriage ready, and come back to get you in a few moments."

Leah closed the door behind him and smiled, feeling better than she had in a long time.

"Going somewhere my sweet?" Asked a voice from behind her, chilling her to the bone.

She turned around carefully. Barton was standing in the middle of her room, exactly as he had the first night. His tux was replaced by an everyday suit under a dark cloak.

Leah took a step back, towards the door and he pounced. He hit the door just as she pushed herself away from it. She ran over to her vanity and heard a loud click as the door was locked.

She turned again to see the Phantom grinning cruelly at her. "The only place you are going is with me."


Jim walked back down the hallway towards Leah's room, smiling a little. He had known something had been bothering the dancer, but she had not offered any information and he did not want to pry. He was not sure what to do, but thought that taking her away for part of the night might do some good.

He knocked on the door and waited. It did not open and he did not hear her call out. He knocked again and put his ear to the door and heard scuffling, loud boots on the wooden floor. He frowned. Surely that was not Leah?

"The only place you are going is with me."

The statement floated through the door. Jim did not recognize the voice, but the malice in it worried him. He tried the door handle. It was locked. "Leah? He called out. "Are you alright?"

He heard the same voice laugh and Jim's worry turned to anger.

"You think to harm me with that?" The voice scorned.

"Come closer to me and you will regret it." Leah's voice was tight with fear.

Jim started to bang on the door with his fist.


"You think to harm me with that?" The Phantom scorned. Leah had picked up a letter opener and was pointing it at him, her hand shaking.

"Come closer to me and you will regret it," Leah warned him. They circled each other, Leah wary, Barton amused.

Leah heard banging on the door, but it was far away and she quickly forgot about it. She could not afford to let herself be distracted around this man. He was a wolf in human form.

As if reading her thoughts, the Phantom leaped forward and Leah dodged out of his reach, hurrying to the other side of the room.

"Come now, my dear," he said. "I grow weary of this. Put down your blade and come to me. You know that you feel as I do. Stop denying your heart and come to me."

"You stay away from me," she said, thrusting her weapon at him though he was far from her reach. "I will not hesitate to use this."


Jim stood on the other side of the locked door, helpless. Leah was alone in her room with some sort of madman, and he was not able to help her.

"I will not hesitate to use this," he heard her say and silently cheered her on.

He heard the sound of running footsteps, loud boots coming towards the door. There was a pause and the male voice cried out in pain and rage.

He heard Leah laugh shakily. "I warned you," she said.

He heard the boots stomp over to where her voice was coming from. The sound of flesh striking flesh was heard and something metal skittered across the floor. "Hey!" Leah cried. "You bast-"

He heard a muffled thump and Leah's voice was cut off mid-cry.

He heard nothing else.

Jim yelled for help and began trying to break down the door.