Chapter 26- Family Reunion
There was no mistaking it. Even from box five Erik could recognize that the woman who was standing centre stage was indeed his mother. The woman who had given him away to the circus and had made his life hell. It sickened him to see her standing there, smiling...
"Thank you very much Monsieur André." She said loudly. The words rang through Erik's ears worse than Carlotta's singing used to. "And may I say that we are deeply honoured to be supporting the world renowned Opera Populaire."
The audience burst into applause again, as did most of the cast. Christine, however, was still looking transfixed at Erik. She had never seen him look so angry ever before. Eventually the audience settled down.
"And now..." Began Firmin. "... We must bid you farewell. We look forward to seeing you all at our next production but until then, good night."
The curtains closed again, blocking Erik from Christine's view. There was an immediate rush by the cast, orchestra and stage managers to go and meet the new patrons.
"Delighted to meet you sir, absolutely delighted." Came Larogue's voice from the direction of Ivan.
"Good to have you join the team." Came Meg's voice from the direction of Catherine.
Christine didn't feel much like meeting them. She had to go and see Erik. Whatever it was that had made him so angry couldn't possibly result in anything good. It took Christine a good few minutes to get free of the crowd but eventually she managed to make her way to the corridor leading back to her room.
Christine felt something leap up onto her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Porsche, who had a letter clutched in her mouth. She took out the letter, opened it, and began to read.
Christine
Meet me in my home... something unexpected... can't explain it to you in a letter.
Erik
The parchment it was written on had been torn in several places. As if he had pressed the quill down on it so hard that it had punctured it. Also, it was extremely difficult to read, it looked as if it had taken under ten seconds to write, like a child's scrawl.
As the letter had instructed, Christine made her way back to her room, Porsche at her side. She entered it, locked the door, and went to open the large mirror. Porsche immediately ran down the passageway as soon as it was opened. Christine stepped through, and then tried to light the torches.
It took her about five attempts before they at last ignited. Not wasting any more time, she ran down the passageway, careful to look out for wet patches on the floor. She soon reached the lift.
Taking a firm hold on the railings she kicked the mechanism into action. She was in such a rush that she wasn't even frightened of it anymore. It slowed to a halt as it reached the bottom and Christine got off at once, making her way as fast as possible to the boat.
Reaching Erik's home a short while later, Christine found Porsche waiting for her arrival. From within the lair however, Christine could hear a terrible tune being played on the pipe organ. It was so loud that she was sure that people up in the Opera House would hear it.
She made her way to the music room, Porsche at her heels, and sure enough, found Erik sitting at the Organ, bashing the keys, it seemed, with all his might.
"ERIK!" She shouted, though her voice was drowned out by the volume of the organ. "ERIK" She shouted, as loudly as she could. This made no difference however. Porsche, losing all patience with her master, strode up to the organ and jumped on the keys. To both Porsche and Christine's surprise however, this did nothing. He continued to play the horrific tune.
Christine then strode up behind him, seized his two hands, and pulled them as hard as she could away from the keys. He did not try to resume playing after that.
"Erik?" She said, softly. His breathing was very heavy and ragged, which worried Christine even more. "Erik, what's wrong?"
Without warning, he pulled his hands out of Christine's grasp and slammed down on the keys, causing Porsche to jump and hiss indignantly. Then his hands clutched the sides of the Organ for support as he began to shake uncontrollably. He leant his face over the keys, and began gasping for air.
Christine was now at a total loss for what to do. All she could do was try to calm him down. She started to massage his shoulders gently, which seemed to help him gain control of his breathing, and eventually, he stopped shaking.
"Erik what is it, what's wrong?" Erik turned his face to look at Christine's. the look in his eyes was one of both great sorrow and rage.
"...new patrons..." He whispered, tears starting to stream down his face. Christine removed his mask for him as she was sure it could not be comfortable with him in this state.
"What's wrong with them?" She asked gently. The rage seemed to be overcoming the sorrow in his eyes, which Christine noticed. She took his face in her hands and began to rub it gently and he began to look calmer.
"Not both of them..." He began."...only...her!"
Christine looked startled. She could not think why Erik would get so upset because Zurie's step-mother had become a patron.
"Do you... have something against Zurie or something?" She asked, confused.
"ZURIE!?" He shouted. "What does she have to do with it?"
Now she was at a total loss. She could not see any other reason why Erik would get so upset. Come to think of it, she never thought Erik could get this upset. He always seemed to kill somebody before he had time to get upset.
"Well, the patrons are her father and step-mother." Erik closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the floor.
"I thought my nightmare had passed." Tears were still streaming freely down his face. "Why can't I just forget?"
"Erik, you are going to have to tell me what this is all about for me to be able to help you... A problem shared is a problem halved..."
Erik opened his eyes and looked up into Christine's. He knew that she was right of course. He took a deep breath, and then said, very slowly. "Well... let's just say..." He gulped. "It's... She's... my mother..."
This hadn't been what Christine was expecting. For a moment, she didn't believe it, but then realised that Erik would not lie to her about something as serious as this. Porsche leapt up onto Erik's lap, and started to 'mew' softly, as though she had understood every word that had been said. Erik smiled down at the cat.
"Well... that's two who aren't afraid of my face..." He said quietly scratching her chin. "Off you go girl, I'll get you some food in a minute." Porsche jumped off his lap, and made her way to the kitchen.
"Erik..." Christine could not think of what to say. What was there to say? "Are you sure it's her...?"
"Positive." He replied.
For a long time they just sat there, silent, neither of them knowing what to say to the other. Erik had finally stopped crying. Telling Christine about this had indeed resulted in a weight being lifted off his shoulders.
"Come on..." He said finally. "...that fat cat must be getting hungry."
They got up and walked into the kitchen, hand in hand. Christine did not want to press the matter at hand. She felt that not mentioning it would probably be the best thing, as it would allow Erik to deal with it at his own pace.
Erik began to make the two of them some soup. However Christine could tell that his heart was only half in it. It was very cold, and when Erik constantly missed the bowl with his spoon when he tried to eat some. In fact, Porsche ended up having almost all of Erik's, which worried Christine even more.
"I'm going to go and compose some of my 'Don Juan'." He said, in a very mournful voice.
"OK." With that he got up and left, Christine thought that he looked rather weak.
She had not heard much about Catherine Destler apart from what Erik had told her. That, however, was enough for Christine to know that she would do anything for money. After all, if she would sell her own son to the circus, then marrying somebody for money must have been easy.
Christine had decided that she would go and talk to Zurie, so as to find out about how her father and 'mother' had met. She decided not to do that right now though, in case Erik needed her. She was afraid that he might have a breakdown.
'Meow' Porsche leapt up onto Christine's lap, nuzzling her head against her stomach.
Christine let out a sigh. "We are going to have to keep a close eye on him kitty..."
Porsche purred, which Christine took for an 'I agree'. It had always mystified Christine how a cat could be so intelligent. She hadn't seen many in her life, but she was willing to bet that hardly any of them acted like Porsche.
Christine could hear the sound of Erik playing the piano in the music room. She recognised the piece immediately as 'Point of No Return' and yet it wasn't played how she remembered it. Erik was not singing, there were notes that sounded wrong, and the piece just seemed so... lifeless.
Several minutes passed, until silence came. For a few moments both Christine and Porsche sat stock still, until...
CRASH
Porsche leapt off Christine at once and made her way to the music room. Christine was not far behind her. They entered the room, but Erik was not there. The stool of the piano was on its side, and the lid of the grand piano itself had closed and left a split down the middle.
Porsche had darted into the dock like area, and again Christine followed. She got there just in time to see Erik pass under the large portcullis in the boat.
"Where are you going?" She called after him.
"Where do you think...!?" He began. "... to see my mother of course!"
The portcullis closed, and Christine was left stranded in his lair with Porsche...
Or am I stranded? She thought to herself.
She looked down at the cat, who looked back up at her with blank eyes. "I need you to show me the passageway that leads to the managers' office." She said the last two words very clearly.
As expected, the cat trotted out of the room and through his lair. Christine was not expecting, however, to end up right outside the Oubliette. The cat tapped a tile at the foot of the door. Christine remembered that this was where the key was kept. Moving the tile aside however, she did not see a key, but a note.
Christine
I am sorry, but this is something that I must do on my own, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten the promise that I made to you, and I don't intend to break it.
Erik
"Any other way out?" She asked Porsche.
The cat 'Meowed' quietly, and Christine took that as a no, but that couldn't be right. Christine thought there must be at least four exits, according to what Erik had said.
He would have made sure you couldn't get out of them either... She gave a loud cry of frustration then thought desperately. She couldn't just sit there. She had to do something...
-
"Well, tonight's performance couldn't have gone better I think." Exclaimed Firmin.
"Marvellous, marvellous... Everybody really did give it their all didn't they?" Agreed André.
"I have come to several performances here before messieurs's, but none have been as grand as that one!" Chirped in Ivan Beaumont.
Catherine Beaumont was sitting at the manager's desk while the three men were chatting merrily, each holding a glass of rosé wine. She was just studying the pictures on the wall, when her eyes did a double take.
Did the eyes in that portrait just move? No, she was being silly. Portraits eyes stayed still, as they should do.
"So, what about the infamous 'Opera Ghost', who is said to live here?" Came Ivan's voice.
"Oh, a load of rubbish." Said André, then he realised what he had said. "... well, one could argue that it is not a ghost, as ghosts aren't supposed to be able to do the things that are said to be done by the 'Opera Ghost'.
Catherine snorted. "Are you telling us that this ghost does exist?"
No point lying to them... Thought Firmin.
"There is definitely somebody in the Opera house who calls himself 'The Phantom Of The Opera'..." He waited with baited breath to see how they would react to this.
To his great surprise, the two of them burst out laughing. Then he caught sight of the wine bottles and noticed that one was completely drained and the other half gone.
"You won't be laughing long mother... I promise you..." Erik whispered to himself, surveying the scene.
He raised his Punjab lasso... then paused. He had said to Christine in the letter that he was not going to kill her... but could he really keep his promise?
At that moment, the door of the managers' office flung open, and Madame Giry came in through it.
"Pardon the intrusion..." She began, but she was cut off by Ivan.
"Antoinette! My daughter has told me all about you. She says you are a great teacher!"
"Thank you Monsieur..." Then she turned to face the managers. "... messieurs, I need a word with you in private please." She gave them a very meaningful look here.
"Ah yes of course..." Began Firmin. "... We will see you tomorrow shall we, and you can take a better look round the Populaire." He said to the Beaumonts.
"Of course." Replied Catherine. "We will return at around 9 o'clock. Au reviour."
The managers bowed them out of the office and then turned to look at Madame Giry.
"What is the meaning of this Antoinette!?" Asked André in a panicked whisper.
"It was necessary messieurs, for their protection..." She answered.
"From what?" Inquired Firmin, already knowing the answer.
"The Opera Ghost."
Erik pocketed his lasso and then felt ashamed with himself. If Madame Giry did not enter at that precise moment, then he surely would have killed Catherine.
What would Christine think of me then?
Finding his voice, he finally spoke up. "Indeed... in future my managers if you are going to make any decisions like that, you will run them past me first." André and Firmin, who were so used to this disembodied voice now, did not even jump when they heard it. "Now, please leave, I need a little word with Antoinette."
They did not need to be told twice. They hurried over to the door and left. Madame Giry locked the door behind them and, when she turned round, Erik was standing in front of her.
"Why did you do that?" He asked, surprisingly calm.
Madame Giry did not answer, but instead, reached into her pocket and pulled out a sheet of parchment and then handed it to Erik.
Madame Giry.
I Hope this note reaches you in time. You must get the Patrons out of the Opera house, they are in danger, can't explain now, just get them out as quickly as possible.
Christine.
"How did you know it was me they were endangered by?" He asked curiously.
"Call it an educated guess..." Erik thought that she seemed rather mad with him for some reason. "... and I thought that I told you to keep that bloody cat away from me!"
So that's how she got it...
"I'm sorry..." He said.
"Never mind about that. What were you planning to do?" She asked looking very stern.
Erik told her everything, about how Catherine was his mother, how he had locked Christine in his lair and about how he was planning to kill that evil woman.
"But how can you be certain it is her? You haven't seen the woman for decades."
"I just know." He replied bluntly. "I will know for certain soon enough. I have a plan..."
"Erik...?" Madame Giry looked very worried at the sound of the word, 'plan'.
"Don't worry, it's nothing violent..." He said, in a very annoyed tone.
"It's not me you should be telling that." Erik couldn't help but think that she sounded a bit bossy.
"I know. I'll go back home and explain everything to Christine... Where's Porsche?" The thought of his cat had only just occurred to him.
"Gone back to Christine, I think." She looked terrified at the very thought of the cat.
With that, Erik bade her farewell, and headed back down to his lair.
-
"Did she get it?" Christine asked Porsche. The cat, to her surprise, gave a small nod. "Good, now we have to hope that she got them out in time..."
Christine and Porsche were in the music room. She was stroking Porsche absent-mindedly, when she noticed a folder on top of the piano. Picking it up, she noticed that it was Erik's 'Don Juan Triumphant'.
Should I have a look...? I mean he isn't around. She reached over to untie the binder, then stopped. Erik would show her his masterpiece when he was ready.
There was a 'thud' in the distance. It seemed that Erik had at last returned, and sure enough, a few moments later, Erik walked through the door into the music room. Christine suddenly noticed that she was still holding the folder and put it down just in time for him not to notice.
After a few moments silence, he spoke. "That was a very good plan of yours..."
"Erik... did you...?"
"No." He said, before she could finish. He felt guilty at the thought that he was going to however. "But I was about to..."
