Opera Ghost
Chapter Twenty Two

Even though Dan was holding her hand as tight as possible, Jessalyn's fingers were still ice cold in his grip. Their feet seemed to be moving at light speed through the streets of Paris, but even the heat of their movement failed to warm her hands. She clung to him, which made it more difficult and awkward for Dan to lead them down any selection streets and alleys. He didn't mind it though. There weren't many people out at this hour, but the ones they did encounter on the street looked at them strangely as they rushed by. Dan however didn't want to slow down. He didn't even want to look behind them. Dan was afraid that if he even glanced over his shoulder, he would see him. Like right out of a horror film, he would be just yards away, already caught up to them. He would be gaining. He would be there if Dan turned around, ready to snatch Jess away.

For the first time in his life, Dan was actually frightened. He was frightened of something he had once dreamed about, that was the most shocking thing about it.

"This can't be real," he whispered under his breath as it formed into fog in the chilly December air. He kept repeating the phrase over and over again in his head.

"Dan, please stop." Jess sputtered. Her feet stalled behind her like a rag doll, finally forcing Dan to slow down to a steady walk. They stopped at an entrance to a Metro station.

"I think the trains stop running at one am or something like that. We can rest there just for a little while," Dan insisted, still supporting Jess on his shoulder as they made their way down the stairs. The tunnel was bright and it hurt Dan's eyes to adjust to the change in light so quickly. Jessalyn's teeth were chattering wildly and she was still shaking. Dan knew that most of her shakiness was caused by fear, not the temperature.

He guided them to a bench in the middle of the platform. They sat there quietly for a moment. The station was practically deserted this night and Daniel wondered how crowded it would be tomorrow, on New Years Eve. Dan rubbed a hand from Jess's arm to her shoulder, hoping to warm her up. He had just started to realize how close they were to each other as she laid one of her hands on his lap in gratitude. After he thought she had settled down for the moment, Dan asked her the question that was burning in his mind.

"Jess, please don't tell what just happened…who I just saw is not what I think it is?"

She paused and sighed. "Welcome to my world," she whispered. "No Dan, unfortunately you aren't seeing things. This all might seem crazy, but rest assured it's all real."

"Then…he…that was…that was really…?" he stuttered.

Jess nodded. "Yep, that was the Opera Ghost. The Phantom himself," she said, her voice starting to crack with tears.

Dan shook his head. "But how?"

"I'm afraid," Jess said simply before continuing, "he never died Dan. He just became a real ghost. He's been waiting all this time for me…for Christine to come back to him."

"But how can that be possible? And how do you know all this?" he asked, rubbing his hands together, for they too were starting to grow cold.

"He told me. He…Erik told me everything." Dan looked at her in disbelief. How much did she know? How had she discovered him? So many questions were answered. He looked around the empty platform. Well, he had all night to get his answers. But it scared him about how much had happen to Jess that he had no clue about. Perhaps this was that looming fear she had seen in her eyes. The things she had told him that was "dreams" that disturbed her were actually real.

She had lied to him.

"Since when…did you find out he was alive?" he asked.

"I didn't know it was him at first. But I'll tell you everything I remember. That day when we saw the men with the stretcher and the corpse the first week we came. The man they said 'fell on his knife'. He didn't. Erik killed him, but I didn't know it was him. That man he killed tried to attack me when I was in the hall after a shower. I ran away up to the stage and he pinned me and…." She had started to cry again. Dan hated to see her cry. He saw her tears fall on her cheeks and it was so cold that they looked like they would freeze to her face. So he reacted but taking his hand and kneading the flesh of her face with his fingers.

"I'll be all right. Erik saved me. He pulled that man off me and I…saw as he ran him through with a knife. I passed out and woke up in my room. A dark stranger who I couldn't see had carried me there and tended my wounds. He wouldn't tell me his name, but it was Erik. I only found out his true identity on the night after Tony, you, and I went down into the cellars for the first time. While you were asleep, I heard something behind the mirror. I thought I had heard it before, but I thought back then I was only imaging things. Dan, my room must have belonged to Christine Daae."

"What makes you think that?"

"Dan, the mirror opens. It opens into a passage way that leads into the cellars," she explained watching his eyes open wide in shock.

"You're joking," he gasped.

"I wish I were. I'll show you when we get back. I followed it down into the third cellar. There was a stack of paintings we hadn't seen before, and one of them looked like me. It was a portrait of Christine Daae and she looked just like me, I swear to God. Only she was prettier and her hair was blonder but she looked just like me." Dan had noticed that Jess didn't have anything but her sweatshirt around her torso. He had started to wear one of his jackets around the opera because of the cold. He still had it on. "I somehow fell into the torture chamber. I blacked out again and then I woke up in a strange bed. It was like everything was right out of a dream. Then…there he was. He appeared out of thin air almost."

"Well what did he look like?" Dan inquired.

"Just like you saw him on the stage. Tall, really skinny and his eyes…" she trailed off, sounding a little frustrated. Dan slipped off his jacket and went to put it around her shoulders. She looked up at him surprised when the extra garment came in contact with her.

"He looked too real to be a ghost," he commented, letting the rest of his coat fall over her. He reached down into her lap to help her zip it up to her chest. How can she say she's not pretty? "Please go on."

"I didn't believe my eyes; but he knew all about me and what had happened. That's when I found out that he was the one who had rescued me. I didn't think it was real, but Dan, he was obsessed. He thought I was Christine, and he was determined to keep me there with him. Believe me I had to do some pretty fast talking to make him let me go. So that's where I was the morning I said I was sightseeing. I'm sorry that I lied and I'm not sure why I did it. I just didn't know what Erik would do if anyone found out what I knew. Now I know." She turned to him and grabbed one of his hands. She let her fingers intertwine with his. "The night of the masquerade ball, that was him I danced with. He was the one I was talking to on the roof. He told me things, what had really happened back then, that you can't find. In all your books and movies Dan you can't find the secrets he told me." The tears started to flow again as she poured out the truth.

"Jess…you can stop. You don't have to…"

"No I have to tell you the truth," she insisted. "Erik was the one, the time we were in the lake, who capsized your raft and tried to drag you away. He only let you go, because I caught up to him and…" She stopped for a moment wiping away one of her tears. "He's insanely jealous of you. He came for me again that night when you were still recovering. I had to go with him. I thought if I was with him that he wouldn't try to hurt you. I was thinking of you the whole time, I promise. Even though…" she trailed off biting her lip. "Then he told me everything. Christine and Raoul got married after the story ended, which I'm sure you guessed. They tried to have children and Christine died from it. Erik was heartbroken. He tried to kill himself, but then he discovered that nothing would work. He had simply become a ghost. Yes, he has the same mortal form, as it were, but he doesn't eat or drink or even breathe."

"Wow…" Dan said in a low whisper. "Jess did he ever…hurt you?"

She shook her head. "No. But when I'm near him I forget what he really is. It seems that the more I'm with him the more human he becomes. It makes me very nervous…but there's more. Apparently Erik found out that the managers were planning to fire Christine anyway. But they backed down, which apparently infuriated Carlotta and she planned to take matters into her own hands. She was planning to poison Christine the last night she sang Faust. She intended to kill her. So that's the real reason Erik kidnapped her. To save my life." She stopped again "I mean her life." And then suddenly flung her arms around his neck. Dan reacted holding her tight like a child, feeling her body shaking under his hands.

"Dan, I'm so sorry," she cried. "I wanted to tell you, and then when I tried to tell you the truth, look what happened! I almost got you killed! I'm sorry… I never wanted any of this to happen," she sobbed into his shoulder for a long moment. Dan stroked her hair trying to comfort her. He could now see how torn up she was inside. What this secret had done to her! God he had been such an idiot. Jess sniffled and then it seemed to hit her, what she had done and she back out of his embrace swiftly, as if she was ashamed. She stared out into the darkness of the tunnel, her eyes dazed and glassy. Her hands quivered in front of her lap and her lips trembled in hesitation. "His face," she said. Then her trembling hands came back to her face. "His face is… was…"

"Stop Jess." Dan grabbed her hands and turned her to face him. "Just don't… This is my fault. I should have known. I should have made you tell me this." Again he used his hands to brush away her tears. "Don't cry…I can't stand to see you cry, Jess." Dan felt that he would almost cry himself. A strong wind whistled through the empty tunnel and Dan could see in the distance light switching off. Soon they would have to leave. "I hate him," he said.

"What Dan?"

"This person I thought was real. This great figure I admired. I hate him now," Dan said bitterly.

"Don't say that Dan," Jess protested. "It's not his fault…"

"Not his fault," he snapped cutting her off.

She squeezed his forearm. "It's nobody's fault," she told him. She tried to pull off his coat, but he stopped her, insisting that she keep it on. "We should get going."

"But where are we going to go?" Dan asked, walking after her, slipping his hand into hers.

"I'm not sure," she said heading towards the stairs. "We can find a park or something," she replied depressed.

"But what about Tony? Jess, we can't spend the night on a park bench. It's cold as hell outside. Let's just go back." Dan tried to reason.

"I would like to do that, but we can't."

"Why not?"

She turned back to him. "You don't get it, Dan. Erik is insanely jealous of you. He'll try to kill you again. Now let's just get out of here. I can stand the cold if you can." Dan wouldn't let got of her hand, he wouldn't let her leave.

"No one is kicking us out of here yet. Besides Jess, I'm not going to let you run away from this." He embraced her tightly, letting his hand run up and down her shoulders. "I won't let you give into him, but I won't let you run away from it either. Understand. We can fight this…together..." He managed to coax her back to sitting on the bench.

"I just don't know if I'm strong enough though, Dan. What happens if I can't fight him…If I give in? What happens if I fail?" she asked. Dan could only get a hint of how serious this was and had no real clue of what effect Erik had on her.

"Then I'll be there. I'll catch you when you fall. You did the same for me." Jess held their hands up in the air one more time. Now she looked really tired as she stared at them in curiosity. Dan realized he had never properly thanked Jess for saving his life in the lake, since he didn't know until now that she had done it.

"Jess, I…" he started.

"You know what's funny?" She stopped him with her own train of thought "When I was in high school I had a major crush on this one guy. He was popular, in the marching band, and a senior. I was just a freshman though and thought he'd never notice me. I found out he liked ghost hunting and had all these books of ghost stories from around our state. Do you know what his name was?" she asked but Dan didn't give an answer. "I think his name was Erik. Erik…Miller or something like that. Why do I end up falling for guys who are always chasing after ghosts?" she trailed off sleepily.

Dan perked up. Falling? He was quite for a moment; just letting her head fall on his shoulder. "Jess are you falling for me?" he asked gently

Jess had already fallen asleep.

Dan and Jess made their way back to the opera house as soon as the sun came up. They had both fallen asleep in the Metro station and miraculously woke up without first being kicked out. They decided to leave the station though and walk some more. Thankfully the temperature outside had become much milder in the early morning hours, far warmer than it had been last night by about 20 degrees or more. They found a café whose owner was starting to open up shop early. Using the only money Dan had found stuffed in his pocket, they bought two cups of coffee and were allowed to sit outside the café on a metal table.

By the time they got back and Tony saw them, he was completely shocked. "God, you two look like you've been through hell!"

"We have," Dan replied as they stumbled into the room. He let Jess have his bed and she welcomed the offer by falling into it and holding on the pillows close to her.

"Where have you guys been?" Tony asked taking a bottle of water that was sitting on the floor and giving it to Dan. He took a long grateful drink, ignoring the fact that the water inside was really cold.

"Outside wandering around Paris at night. A couple regular hobos," he offered.

"What the hell for?" Tony questioned, crossing his arms and slamming himself down on his bed. Dan smiled.

"That's why we need to talk."