Returning Home


May 30th, 1871

It's been a little over a month since Christine last saw the Phantom, and a month since her talk with Raoul. Things around the De Chagny manor were normal. The wedding was cancelled and the Comtesse was pleased about that. But Christine paid no attention to her.

Christine still had her nightmares every night. Ever since she saw her angel she's been having even worse dreams. Seeing him getting angry with her, saying horrible things to her, and even becoming suicidal was not helping her situation.

Raoul kept his promise to take care of the three women until the Opera House reopened its doors to the workers and performers again. That day has come and the four of them traveled to the Opera House carrying their entire luggage.

Andre and Firmin were waiting outside the Opera House to greet all the new and former performers.

The De Chagny buggy rode up to the front of the Opera House and Raoul was the first to walk out.

"Ah, Vicomte! What a surprise." Andre said walking over to him.

"Yes, I am here to state that my parents and I are still willing to support the Opera Populaire."

"Excellent news!" Firmin proclaimed. "Thank you so very much Vicomte."

"Your welcome. It is still an honor to support such a great place."

Meg and Madame Giry walked behind him and walked over to greet Andre and Firmin.

"I'm so glad you two have decided to rejoin us!" Firmin said smiling to Meg and Madame Giry.

Christine came into their view. "Well, another surprise! Miss Daae, how are you?" Andre asked.

"I'm doing great." She smiled.

"What brings you here?" Firmin questioned.

"Oh, I was hoping to secure my job back too." She stated. Andre and Firmin looked at each other as their faces whitened to a ghostly color.

"Gentlemen, You two were never ones who believed in superstitious things. Why the sudden change?" Raoul asked realizing why they seemed nervous.

"No…of course we aren't!" Andre started. "Christine can have her part back in the ballet."

"Yes, we're sorry but we already have someone playing the lead." Firmin continued.

"Oh, it's ok. Do you mind me asking who it is?" Christine asked sweetly.

"I cannot take-ah dis anymo-ah!" A loud screeching voice was coming from the Opera House. "Bye bye! I'm really leaving this time." The accent was obviously Italian, and the voice was obviously obnoxious.

Christine and Meg looked at each other and laughed as Firmin rushed into the Opera House to calm La Carlotta down.

"Get mah doggie, bring mah doggie…bye bye!" Meg mimicked Carlotta. Christine burst out into laughter.

"It's ok. As weird and messed up as it sounds, I missed her annoying presence." Christine said to the group.

"You're right…that does sound weird." Meg laughed at her.

"You three should get ready and settle in!" Andre said suggesting them to go inside the building. Christine and Meg raced into the new, but familiar building. Christine had never felt so happy in a long time. Things were back to the way they were supposed to be – even if that meant staying in the same place as Carlotta.

Christine ran with Meg into the dormitories to find it was basically the same as it was before. Christine ran to her old bed spot and plopped down on the mattress. The room was darker and a little dirtier than the manor, but for some reason she wasn't phased by it at all.

Meg picked the bed next to Christine's and decided to lie down. "I wonder when we start practicing." Meg stated out loud.

"I don't know. What are we performing?"

"I don't know."

"So then we probably won't start practicing until we know what we're practicing for." Christine said with a laugh.

"You think you're so clever, don't you?" Meg laughed back.

"Yes I do!"

Meg picked up one of her pillows and threw it at Christine. Christine picked hers up and hit Meg over the head with it. That started a pillow fight amongst the girls. Soon Madame Giry walked in and scowled them for acting like children.

"Already? We've only been here for two minutes and you're causing havoc."

"We're sorry." Meg said.

"Yes. Of course you are. But now you two need to get unpacked."

"Yes sir." Meg said laughing. Madame Giry gave her a playful stare and then walked out of the room.

After a minute of unpacking Christine spoke up, "I'll be right back, I want to check something."

"Ok, be careful."

"I will." She said and then walked out the door. Christine wandered down the halls and into the little chapel that she would visit so many times before. It seemed untouched, not damaged by the fire.

She walked over to the little shrine she made for her father and lit a candle like she always did before. The one lonely candle was lit amongst all the others. Christine remained silent hoping to hear her Angel once more.

"Angel of Music, guide and guardian.
Grant to me you glory.
Angel of Music, please don't hate me.
Return to me, my angel.
"

Christine sang softly hoping her words would carry out to her angel. She knew he could be there listening. Silence still filled the room. The memory of her first trip to this room when she was seven flooded in her mind. She was so sad and desperate for her Angel to come to her. Now here she was 10 years later and she felt the same feeling.

Madame Giry walked into the room to find her lying down on the floor. She couldn't help but give out a little laugh. "Well, this brings back memories."

Christine sat up when she realized someone else was in the room. She turned around to face the woman she considered her mother.

"Is he ok?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him since he tried to…" Madame Giry stopped herself from saying what he tried to do out loud fearing it would upset Christine.

"Do you think he…did it again?"

"I doubt it." Madame Giry said to reassure her. "When we start the new production and there are backdrops falling mysteriously then we'll know."

Christine laughed and smiled at Madame Giry. "I guess we will. Or when we hear Carlotta croaking like a frog."

"Yeah, Erik does have a sense of humor actually."

"That's hard to imagine." Christine said.

"It's true. Once he made a fake rat, it was a doll, and threw it down on my bed one night when I was a teenager. God did that scared the living hell out of me!" Madame Giry reminisced.

"Really? Why'd he do that?" Christine laughed.

"Because he was bored." She paused. "And God knows there are many other cases of Erik being bored, especially when he was a kid!"

"What was he like?" Christine asked.

"Well at first he was very shy, didn't talk or do much. He just spent all his time working on his new home. It was amazing, seeing such a young boy build so many things in such a short amount of time. I swear he's a genius." Madame Giry took a breath and thought back. "But over time he grew to trust me. We would talk for hours, and he would even perform magic tricks for me. To this day I still don't know how he did some of those tricks. But of course he'll never tell anyone."

"Was he happy then?"

"In some ways I would say he was. But not all of the time. He seemed to be more lost than sad. And after years of being locked up in the Opera House he just got up and walked away. He left me a note saying thanks and that he would return in a couple of years, hopefully. He claimed he wanted to travel and that he wanted to give the world another shot." Madame Giry let out a sob. "The world can be so cruel though. He came back when he was 21 and he changed so much. There was this darkness that I have never seen before in him. I was so afraid! Imagine me…afraid of him!"

"Why, what was different about him?"

"Well I guess he changed in more ways than one. The first thing I noticed was he wasn't so small and innocent; he was a full grown man who was capable of anything. It should have been obvious that he wasn't going to come back as a small 12 year old boy. But that wasn't the only thing. He just had this look, I can't explain it. It seems deadly."

"A sad look?" Christine questioned.

"No. An evil look. Like the type who has innocent blood on his hands." Madame Giry paused. "And he was doing drugs! I was in shock that this boy had grown up to be like that. Then there was the lonely sad look he had like you asked. It was as if the world mocked him all over again and stabbed him in the back."

"Why were people like that to him?"

"It's a well known fact. People are just cruel."

"What happened to him before hand, I mean…how did you come to know him?"

Madame Giry stared at her realizing she never did tell Christine the story. She's told everyone else but the person who should have known all along.

"I saved him from gypsies."

"Gypsies?" Christine questioned.

"Yes. There was a traveling fair in the city. While I was training to be a ballerina my group took a field trip to the fair. The main attraction was…" Tears already had begun flowing down Madame Giry's face. Christine began to cry too, she could already tell who the main attraction was.

"The main attraction was 'The Devil's Child'. We all went to go see and when I went up to the cage I saw this little boy playing with a monkey doll." Madame Giry pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her tears. "He looked up at me, he had a bag over his head, but I could see his eyes! Those pleading eyes, begging someone to show him mercy. But no one would listen! All they wanted was to see a deformed face which they believed belonged to a demon."

Madame Giry sobbed a little and then continued, "He was too headstrong, and he refused to take of his bag for the crowd so the gypsy...he…beat him with a stick. All over his back and stomach. He showed him no mercy!" Madame Giry was now crying her eyes out and Christine was joining her. She had never known how horrible people were to him.

"The gypsy soon stopped beating the poor child and pulled off his bag revealing Erik's face to a large crowd."

Christine thought back to the night of Don Juan, and how she pulled off his mask in front of the audience.

"Oh God!" She screamed in horror. "What have I done? Oh God! No wonder he was so angry…oh, my angel." Christine cried.

"It's ok Christine…"

"No it's not! I'm the monster, how could I have done that to him? That would have brought back so many childhood memories! Oh God." Christine put her head in her hands.

"No, Christine. You're not a monster, and it's ok. You didn't know how it would truly affect him."

Christine calmed down after a few minutes and asked Madame Giry to continue her story.

"Everyone laughed at him, called him names, poked at him, pointed at him, mocked him, and threw things at him. They called him all kinds of names and bad words. And no one showed any pity, no compassion."

Christine thought back on when he dragged her to the lair. The world showed no compassion to me!

"I decided to free him. That is, after her killed the gypsy."

"He killed him?" Christine was shocked, he was so young and already he was killing people?

"Years of beatings built up anger inside of him." Madame Giry replied.

"So then you brought him here?"

"Yes. That's how he wound up here. I took him to this very room first. It was his sanctuary."

"The chapel?" Christine questioned.

"Yes, very odd how you two share a lot of things in common." Madame Giry said smiling.

"I think you're right." Christine replied.

"I'll go find Meg and finish my packing. Are you staying here?" The older woman asked.

"Yes."

"Ok then." She got up and walked up the stairs. Looking back she was relieved she told Christine. She deserved to know the truth. The rest of his story would have to wait for later.

'Christine has a lot more surprises heading her way' Madame Giry thought.