Chapter 29- Alone No More
"And one...two...three...four...five...six...and point those toes!" It was yet another boring lesson with Madame Giry, even though there was no new production coming up, the ballet girls had to keep on form for the remaining performances of 'Faust'. "...and seven...eight...nine... legs straight!"
The lesson itself was not as bad as it could have been. Madame Giry had not made any more threats about the 'Phantom' coming to get them, and overall, she had not made too much criticism about their dancing abilities. Usually she would criticise every little thing she could think of. They all knew of course that she was doing this in their best interest, but they couldn't help but be annoyed with her when she pointed out things such as 'Stop breathing so heavily!'
"All right class, that is enough." The ballet girls sighed at the sound of these words, and went off to get changed.
"Is it just me... or does Madame Giry seem to be a little... stressed about something?" Asked one of the ballet girls.
"Yes... I mean she hasn't been as harsh to us as she usually is..." Said a girl called Clarissa.
Zurie had just finished getting changed. She too had noticed the change in Madame Giry's mood towards all of them. It seemed like she had her mind focused on something that definitely wasn't their ballet. Zurie did not much care for this however, she was worried about her own mother, if the 'Opera Ghost' had attacked her like that...
"What's up with you Zurie?" Zurie snapped back to reality. She had not noticed that most of the girls in the room had been staring at her.
"What?...Oh, nothing..." This did not seem to pass their test.
"Oh come on. Tell us. After all we are your friends."
Zurie tried to think up and excuse. Looking at the time, she saw that she had a singing lesson with Christine in just under fifteen minutes.
"I'll tell you later, I've got to go for a..."
"Singing lesson." Chorused all of the other girls. It was obvious to Zurie that they were all very jealous of her learning to sing from Christine Daae.
"Yeah..." She said weakly, and with that, she turned and left, heading for Christine's room.
Zurie couldn't understand why, but she had the strange feeling she was being watched. She hated it when she felt like this, because more often than not she turned out to be right. All of a sudden, she stopped dead. She could have sworn that she had just heard footsteps... but looking around, she saw nobody, just the empty corridor that she had walked down.
"Hello?" She called. There was no answer.
Must be my imagination... She tried not to think about it any more. She started to walk to Christine's room again, but almost immediately stopped. There was no mistaking it. She had definitely heard footsteps that were not her own and she still could see nobody else in the corridor.
Zurie took a deep breath, shook her head as if trying to get something out of her hair and then walked very quickly to Christine's room, determined not to stop, no matter what she heard. Once there, she knocked on the door three times, and waited. A few seconds later, Christine opened the door to let her in.
"Hello Zurie." She said merrily and then she noticed that Zurie was chalk white. "What's wrong?"
"Ummm, nothing..." She replied, then unable to stop herself, said. "...do you ever get that feeling where you're so sure you are being watched?"
This startled Christine. "All the time..." She walked over to the mirror, and appeared to be sorting out her hair, but really she was trying to look beyond it, without success. "...there is something I need to talk to you about Zurie..."
"I can still have singing lessons can't I?" She said in a very worried voice, fearing the worst.
"Yes of course we can. That isn't what I was going to say." Replied Christine with a reassuring smile. "It's about..." She paused, looking around the room, then walked up to the door and locked it and then whispered. "... your step-mother."
Zurie looked angry at these words. "I already know what happened to her. It was the 'Phantom', wasn't it?"
Christine had expected this. She had expected that Ivan would have told her about what had happened.
"Yes, it was..." She began. "...but."
"That evil man!" Growled Zurie, cutting her off. "...If I ever."
"Zurie listen to me!" Shouted Christine, this time cutting her off. Zurie fell silent almost instantly. "You remember when I talked to you about your mother, and I asked what she did before she met your father?" Zurie nodded. "Well the truth is that I already know what she did before she met him."
Zurie's expression changed from curiosity to shock.
"How?" She asked in a very shaky whisper.
"Your mother had been together with somebody in the past..." She whispered. "... and they had a son, your step-brother."
Zurie's eyes went wide with shock, not daring to believe what she was hearing. "How do you know that it's true... How do you know that anyway...how do you?"
"Because I've met him... and so have you... sort of." She ended, rather weakly.
Christine waited with baited breath for Zurie to say something, but she just stood there, silent, not even blinking. After a few moments she started to pace, running her fingers through her hair in frustration.
"Who...?" She whispered, so quietly that Christine did not hear her.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Who is it?" Zurie was racking her brains to think who she had met who could possibly be her step brother. However she could think of no-one.
"Me." Came a voice from the far side of the room.
Zurie whirled around, and looking at the space just in front of the mirror, she saw a man, in an evening suit, complete with a cape, and a white half mask on the side of his face. Zurie was rooted to the spot in fear, she could think of only one person who was reputed to wear a white half mask, and he was the last person she wanted to meet.
Zurie opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her throat had gone completely dry. She did not know what to say even if she had been able to speak. After about ten seconds she gave out a sound like a mouse that had just been trodden on.
"The...the..." She had turned a ghostly white, and started to sway on the spot. Christine put her hands on her shoulders to try and steady her. "...phantom?"
Erik nodded. He was surprised that she had not screamed in terror, or even fainted. He had been right that night in the dormitory when he thought that she had a lot of courage.
"My name's Erik, nice to meet you..." Zurie was still rooted to the spot.
This cannot be right. She thought to herself. She did not want to risk opening her mouth again. She was afraid that she might be sick.
"I...I don't know what to say." She whispered, looking at the floor.
"Then don't say anything." Said Christine, "Just...relax."
These last two words seemed to bring Zurie back to reality. How could she possibly relax at a time like this? She had just been told that she was related to the man that had attacked her step-mother... his mother...
"I think there are some things that you need to know about your step-mother, Zurie." Began Erik, Zurie looked up into his eyes, as if trying to read his mind.
"Like what?" She spat at him.
"The reason that I attacked her." He said coolly. Zurie now looked curious, but still very angry. "That is, if you want to know?"
"Of course I want to know." She said, but not angrily, as Erik had thought she would, more curiously.
"It was for revenge."
"Revenge! For what?" Zurie could not think of anything her step-mother could have done to have deserved what he had done to her.
"Oh do use your common sense." Said Erik impatiently. "Why do you think she has never mentioned me to you?"
Zurie opened her mouth to argue this point and then stopped. Why had she never mentioned him before?
"As I thought." He said, walking a few steps closer to her. "It is because she has enough sense not to go shouting about selling her only child to the circus..."
Zurie gasped. "She what?"
Erik gave a very evil smile at this. "Not the sweet mother that you thought she was now, eh?"
"You are lying!" She shouted at him, "Why would she sell you to the circus if you are her son? Which I doubt that you are!"
Erik looked a bit sullen at this. "Because of this." He pointed to his mask.
"What's under that?" She asked with a quiver in her voice.
"You don't want to know..." He replied, scratching the side of his face.
"I think I do. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."
Erik could see that she was not going to drop the subject easily and so he reached up to remove his mask.
"Do your best not to scream..." He whispered and then removed the mask from his face.
Zurie seemed to be a very unpredictable person, because instead of screaming, fainting or at the very least shouting, she simply blinked, and said nothing.
"Aren't you… afraid?" Asked Erik, sounding very surprised at Zurie's calmness.
Zurie gave a small chuckle. "No, why should I be?"
Erik stared at her, she had been told that she was related to the 'Opera Ghost' and shown what was beneath his mask, and she seemed to be the most calm person in the world about it. On the rare occasion that anybody did see his face beneath the mask, they would usually have screamed. It was amazing, in Erik's opinion, how such a young girl could take it so well.
"Ummm, well… because."
"It's infected?" Zurie asked, still completely calm.
Christine had been very silent all the way through the conversation that the two of them were having. She, like Erik, had not expected Zurie to take any of this news very well at all. There were a few minutes silence, until Christine finally said…
"So, what about our singing lesson?" Both Erik and Zurie laughed at this, as if they had known each other for years.
"I think that Zurie has been through enough for now." Said Erik, replacing the mask onto his face. "There is just one last thing that I have got to say before I leave."
Zurie looked intently at him. "Which is?"
"Be very careful when around your step mother." Replied Erik, very seriously, "She has already admitted to Christine that she has no more love for you than she did for me."
This news did not seem to surprise Zurie at all, but she still looked a little hurt at the sound of it being told to her. She gave a small nod to Erik and then turned to face Christine.
"So, this time tomorrow?" Christine gave her a warm smile.
"Yes." Then her face turned serious, "Zurie… whatever happens, no matter what anybody says to you or asks you, promise me that you will not tell anyone about this."
Zurie nodded. "I promise, I'll see you tomorrow Christine." She walked over to the door, and was just about to open it before turning to Erik, "Bye Erik." And with that, she opened the door and left.
Christine looked over at Erik who looked as though he was on the verge of laughter. His mouth kept twitching into a smile and his eyes were bright with happiness.
"Are you Ok Erik?" Asked Christine, Erik started to chuckle.
"Of all the ways I expected her to react…" He trailed off, staring blankly into the mirror. Christine understood what he meant without him finishing however.
"I know…" She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head in against his chest.
Looking up into his eyes, she saw that they were sparkling, and silent tears had begun to run down his face. Christine didn't say anything, just reached up and wiped the tears away, knowing that he was happy to have somebody he could call family.
-
Zurie went back to her dormitory. She had planned to go back to her parent's house that night, but thought better of it after what she had just been told. She did not have any reason to believe that Christine or Erik would be lying to her about her step-mother. In fact the more she thought about it, the more it made sense, and the more stupid she felt for not realising it sooner.
Fortunately for Zurie, everybody was asleep when she entered her dorm which meant that she could get up early in the morning and sneak out to avoid any awkward questions.
A step brother…who's the Phantom. This was the last thing that Zurie could remember thinking before drifting off into a very uneasy sleep.
Erik, who had been listening to see if she was going to say anything to any of the ballet girls, turned and headed back down towards his home, where Christine was waiting for him.
Things are really going to start to heat up now, Erik, better watch you step… With his mother on the rampage it was only a matter of time before she either did something either very cunning, brave, or stupid, or maybe all three of those at the same time.
Erik was more worried about Christine's safety than his however. If that witch did anything to harm Christine like Carlotta tried to then he would have to get rid of her no matter what.
-
"… so it's settled then, that is definitely what we need to give our performers a bit of a morale boost." Said Firmin, taking a sip of tea, and looking over at his colleague.
"I think you mean a break, not a morale boost." Replied André, while adding a lump of sugar to
his cup of coffee.
"Same thing." Snarled Firmin, waving this comment aside like a rotten apple.
The two managers sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking their tea and coffee and watching the sun rise. There was a knock on the door, and as the two of them had expected, the Patrons walked in.
"Good morning." They both said, looking rather nervous due to the episode that Catherine had had during the previous week. She seemed to finally be getting over this however. In fact, she looked rather cheerful.
"Good morning!" She replied, in a very bright tone which startled everyone present in the room. "Hope we didn't come at a bad time. What were you just talking about?"
Both Firmin and André were feeling quite unnerved by Catherine's sudden mood-swing.
"Umm, just discussing what production we were going to do next." Stuttered Firmin, while André nodded in agreement.
"Oh please, do tell!" André was now getting so nervous from her sweet tone that his hands were shaking, and he was starting to spill his coffee everywhere.
"Well…" He said, wincing as a drop of coffee hit his hand, "… the thing is it isn't actually a production, more a sort of… party."
Catherine's smile grew very wide making her look somewhat intimidating as well as delighted. "That sounds lovely!"
Firmin and André both looked at each other, both thinking the same thing.
She has completely lost her marbles…
"Oh please do tell me what is happening at this 'Party'…" She used such a peculiar tone of voice that it made it sound as if she cared of nothing else in the world except their conversation.
"Ok, I give in… why are you in such a good mood?" Asked André, a note of annoyance in his voice.
"Oh… No real reason, it's just it's such a nice day…" The weather then decided to change quickly, making the day gloomy, it then started to rain. "The birds are chirping…" There was a clap of thunder, and Firmin could have sworn he heard a bird shriek in terror. "The children are playing…" Ivan peered out the window to see a few children run indoors out of the storm. "And there is nothing not to be happy about!" There was a flash of lighting which then momentarily blinded all four of them.
"Ok, we chose the wrong person for a patron. This woman seems to be jinxed." Whispered Firmin to André, who chuckled.
"Tea!" Boomed Catherine happily, "Oh, I could do with some. I haven't had anything to drink yet."
She poured herself a cup of tea, added some milk, and drank the whole cup in one go. "Ah, that is lovely! So, what is happening at this party?"
"Tell us what has happened to you and we will tell you." Replied André.
"No real reason, it's just it is such a nice…"
"YOU'VE SAID!" Shouted Firmin. "Now can you stop telling us that rubbish and tell us what you are so cheerful about." He finished, lowering his voice considerably.
"I'm just so happy I could sing! I don't need a reason!" She still sounded as though she had just been made queen of France, and Firmin and André could tell that they were not going to get anywhere, and resigned themselves to telling her about the party. A few minutes later, Catherine was beaming more than ever.
"… So it's really just a sort of ball."
"Oh it does sound lovely!" Firmin couldn't understand why, but every time she said the word 'lovely', she said it in such a sweet tone that it for some reason gave him the creeps. "Oh dear lord look at the time! We have been talking for nearly two hours!"
André looked over at the clock, she was right, it was nearly lunch time.
"Yes well, I am quite hungry and so we had better go for some food my dear." Said Ivan, looking very apologetically at the two of them, "We will see you later, messieurs."
With that they left, leaving the two managers stunned, both too shocked to say anything…
