Chapter 31- The Unwilling Rematch

All through the following week Catherine Beaumont seemed to be getting more and more excited and happy about something. When she was at the Opera House, she seemed to be perfectly happy and jolly but this seemed rather peculiar due to the attack by the 'Opera Ghost' a fortnight ago.

Christine had just finished having her breakfast. Much to her annoyance, as well as Zurie's who was sitting next to her, Catherine had decided to sit right opposite them.

"Is it just me or was she staring at us all through breakfast?" Asked Zurie, in a would-be calm voice that did not cover up her nervousness.

"You thought so too? She is really starting to give me the creeps…" Christine then looked over her shoulder to make sure that nobody was listening. "… maybe she's going to…"

"Ah! Miss Daae." Christine and Zurie both looked up to see Richard Firmin approaching them. "I was hoping to catch you after breakfast."

"Bonjour Monsieur Firmin." She said politely, wondering what on earth he could want.

"Erm… I hope you don't mind but…" He turned to Zurie. "…I need to speak to Miss Daae alone, ok?"

Zurie said nothing, just gave them both a small nod and turned to leave. Christine looked at Firmin Curiously.

"Christine… I need to ask you a favour… for the Masquerade Ball." Christine was expecting this, even though the ball wasn't until August, and it was now early May the managers seemed to be obsessing about it as much as they did with a new production.

"Yes… please continue." Firmin seemed rather nervous.

"Well… since you are our official leading lady, myself and André thought that it might be a good idea if you… and someone… did a dance to close off the evening." Firmin now started to fidget, as though he thought that he had asked too much.

"Someone?" Christine could not think who the managers would have in mind.

"Yes…someone." He paused, thinking. "We will leave that choice up to you if you like. If you cannot think of anyone then we will decide if you wish…"

"Ok." She said plainly, considering the request.

"So… Will you do it?"

Christine was still thinking. She had hoped that the ball was just going to be a bit of fun, but if she had to rehearse a dance for it…

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Said Firmin, very fast. "It's just we thought…"

"Of course I will." Cut in Christine, Firmin looked absolutely delighted.

"Splendid! Well, thank you very much Miss Daae, find someone soon so you can get practicing, won't you?"

"Yes Monsieur Firmin." Firmin bowed his leave, and Christine thought over what she had just agreed to.

A closing dance… well, that should not be too difficult, after all, I was once in the ballet…

-

Catherine held her coat tight around her as the wind hit her. She was heading to what seemed to be the darkest part of Paris there was.

Well… I suppose I should have expected something like this… She thought to herself, as a pack of rats came scuttling past her feet.

She turned left down an alleyway, shivering as the cold wind continued to beat against her face. She stopped in front of a very old and rotten looking door. Just above the frame she could make out the words 'Agatha's Apothecary'.

She knocked lightly on the door. There was no answer and so she raised her hand to knock again, but before she could, an old, croaky voice called out…

"Enter…" Catherine reached out for the handle, then realised that there wasn't one.

"How?" She called to her through the door.

"Just push my dear… just push…." Catherine pushed lightly against the door, which swung open, creaking on its rusty hinges.

She entered the surprisingly brightly lit room and then coughed as she breathed in the putrid smell that was about the place.

"Have a seat my dear…" Said the old woman who Catherine assumed was Agatha. She stumbled over to the nearest chair, still coughing. "A most peculiar order…" Muttered Agatha, Catherine then came back to her senses as her coughing ceased.

"Can it be done?" She asked, impatiently.

"Oh, it can be done certainly!" Agatha had a very evil glint in her eye. "…but I'm afraid it will not come cheap, the sorts of ingredients needed are very…"

"How much?" Cut in Catherine pulling out a money bag from her inside coat pocket. Agatha looked at it longingly, reaching out a long weedy finger, which Catherine slapped away from the bag

"2000 francs." Croaked Agatha, Catherine laughed.

"I don't think so, 1000."

"2000 francs and no less." Catherine could see that Agatha was not going to be beaten down easily.

"1500."

"2100, the extra one-hundred francs is for arguing over price, I suggest you take that offer before I raise it more." Catherine was now getting very annoyed with her. Accepting defeat she counted out 2100 francs, and handed them over to Agatha.

"How long will it take?" Catherine's impatience was getting the better of her again.

Agatha was fiddling with a vial of green liquid. "A couple of hours… then at least another hour to mature…"

Three hours… that shouldn't be too long.

"Are you going to come back to collect it? Or stay and watch?"

Catherine could not think of anything to do for three hours, so replied. "I'll stay and watch. I'm sure that it will be fascinating!" The last part of her sentence was said in such a sarcastic tone of voice that Catherine was surprised Agatha did not get annoyed with her.

"Very good." Whispered Agatha, whilst tipping the contents of the vial into a crucible, and heating it on a flame.

-

"A closing dance…?" Asked Erik, he was currently half way through a line of the score on his 'Don Juan Triumphant'.

"Yes, and they are leaving it up to me to decide who I dance with." Erik didn't seem as surprised at this as Christine was. He did not think that the managers would have enough brains to decide. "So, are you going to do the dance with me?"

Erik nearly spilled the bottle of ink he was dipping his quill into. "You know I can't…"

"Why not?" Asked Christine. "It is a masquerade ball after all and so nobody will see your face, or know that it is 'The Phantom of the Opera'."

Erik could see Christine's point but still he thought that it would be too risky for him to make a public appearance. "Give me some time to think about it…"

"Ok, I'll see you later, won't I? Or will you be too busy with your composing?" Christine would understand if he would prefer to be left alone.

"Well, I am aiming to get this finished before the ball… and it will require lots of attention…"

"Alright, I will see you when I see you then." She kissed him on the cheek, and made her way to the boat, accompanied by Porsche, with the sound of Erik's Don Juan playing in the background.

It sounded as if he had finished 'Point of no Return', because he was now playing a very angry tune, which had the occasional odd sounding note in it, whenever one was played, there was always a pause, probably to correct the mistake on the score.

It was surprising how far up the passage you could go and still hear the piano clearly, when she reached the top of the stairs however, the sound died, almost instantly.

Christine wondered what she was going to do now. Up until then she had usually spent most of her time either rehearsing for productions, or with Erik, but since she could do neither, she felt lost. She thought for a moment that she would go and see Meg, then realised that she would probably be with Byron.

With no alternative in mind, she decided that now would be the time to have a nap. She did not feel overly tired, but perhaps the sleep would do her some good.

-

"Five more minutes, my dear… then it will have completely matured." Catherine looked very excited at these words.

"Excellent…" Agatha continued to clear up all of the vials she had used. By the time she had finished, she picked up the now finished silver concoction. Catherine took it from her almost immediately, and turned to leave.

"Just a moment my dear…" Called out Agatha. Catherine turned round to face her. "… The potion must be absorbed through the skin. It cannot be drunk, as that will have no effect." She paused for a moment to let Catherine take this in. "It will be more effective if the flesh is pierced first."

Catherine nodded, then turned and left. She hurried back as fast as she could to the Populaire, sniggering. The only problem she faced would be to find Christine… if she was with Erik there was no way of getting to her, after all she had no idea where Erik lived, though she assumed that it was somewhere in the Opera House, or at least near it.

She entered the Opera house; the most logical place to start would be Christine's room, though she doubted that she would be there. It was easy for her to find her way round now. She had been there long enough to know where everywhere was.

She finally reached Christine's door. She tried the handle, but the door was locked.

Could she be in there? She knocked on the door, and to her great surprise, Christine's voice called out.

"Who is it?" Catherine thought it would be common sense not to answer, as she would never let her in if she knew who it was.

Catherine waited, if there was no answer then she would open the door to investigate. However the door stayed closed. Catherine knocked again.

"Yes?" Catherine again stayed silent, waiting for the door to open, but again it didn't.

She had a sudden idea, putting on a very hoarse voice, she whispered as loud as she could. "Help…me…"

She sounded so different from her original self that she was sure it would work. Hearing footsteps approach the door, Catherine quickly pulled out a pocket knife which she had carried with her everywhere since the event that happened on the roof, then the door opened, and she struck…

-

"Right… nearly finished this song…" Erik muttered to himself, while scratching away at the score in front of him. "…and…"

'Meow'. Erik looked down to see Porsche at his heels. She seemed to be very agitated about something, and was trying to signal to Erik what this was.

"Is it Christine?" He asked the cat. She nodded and then bolted out of the door as quickly as possible with Erik right behind her.

They made their way up the passage back to Christine's room. Erik had expected to see her on the way, but instead found her in her room. At a glance, he thought that she was merely sleeping, but a closer look told him that she was unconscious. Erik let out a gasp. On her right arm was a deep gash, which smelled horrible.

Not wasting any time, he took her in his arms and made his way as quickly as he could back down to his home. Christine was still breathing, but he did not know what was wrong with her and therefore he did not know if she would survive.

Finally reaching the dock of his lair, he quickly took her to the guest room and laid her down. Her breathing had not altered, which was one piece of good news for Erik. He examined her to try and find out what was wrong with her, but from what he could see, apart from the fact she had a cut on her right arm, and that she was unconscious, she was in perfect health.

Erik cleaned the wound and was about to wrap it in a bandage, then he thought that it would be better if he put salt on it first, it would stop infection. Making his way to the kitchen, he went to get some salt, but then saw that there wasn't any. Panicking completely, he looked around for some, pulling items out of the shelves.

He had just spotted some, and was about to reach for it when…

SLASH! Erik felt a searing pain across his back, and whirled around as fast as he could. To his complete and utter horror, he saw Christine standing there with a sword in her hand, poised and ready to strike.

"Christine?" She did not answer, but instead made a lunge straight for him, which he only just about managed to dodge. Erik ran to the other side of the room, staring at her. Her face was strangely blank. "Christine… stop!"

She ran towards him again, trying to lunge straight for his heart. Erik dodged it again, and then ran straight for the armoury. He entered it and was closely followed by Christine. He ran to the opposite end of the room and took down one sword, then turned around as quickly as possible to block an incoming attack of Christine's.

He pushed her sword away from him as hard as he could; the pain in his back was making him feel very weak. Christine fell to the floor at the force of his push. Erik took his opportunity and went to take the sword out of her hands, but she kicked him square in the chest just before he could reach her.

The kick winded Erik. Gasping for breath he took a swing at her hand. He did not want to seriously injure her. He just wanted to disarm her. Christine parried the attack, then swung an uppercut with her sword so violently that it knocked Erik's sword out of his hands.

Christine raised her sword ready to deliver a killing blow. Erik clicked his fingers and the lights went out. Moving out of the way he headed for his sword and then he heard a click. The lights went back on and he had only just managed to pick the sword up in time before Christine tried yet again to stab him.

Erik moved to the wall and took down another sword, with the sword in his right hand he blocked an incoming attack, and with the sword in his left hand he took a swipe at Christine's sword hand.

The back of Christine's hand was cut, yet she did not cry out in pain, she just continued to try and stab Erik.

What is going on! Thought Erik, something had to be wrong with Christine for her to be acting like this. She would not just attack him like that…

Without warning, Christine threw her sword at Erik as hard as she could. It caught him on his right arm and he dropped the sword that he was holding. He still had one left however.

Christine went to get another sword, which gave Erik a moment or two to recover. Christine's face was still blank, as if she was in a trance.

Christine lunged towards him again, and Erik vanished in a puff of smoke. Christine looked round to see where he went. Erik had gone into the music room. He had to stay away from Christine for as long as possible and work out how to snap her out of this trance.

All of a sudden a door near Erik swung open and hit him on the side of the head. Christine rushed in still trying to stab him in the heart. Erik fell to the floor due to the blow to the side of the head. Christine yet again prepared for a killing blow but then Porsche came out of nowhere and pounced at her sword hand, sinking her teeth in deep, and causing her to drop the sword.

Getting very aggravated, but still with her face completely blank, Christine threw Porsche off of her hand, and the cat was thrown against the wall and knocked unconscious. Erik in the meantime had moved into the kitchen with Christine hot on his heels.

Erik grabbed a handful of salt that he was going to use on the wound, and threw it into Christine's eyes, momentarily blinding her. For a split second, her facial expression turned to one of pain, and Erik thought that he had snapped her out of her trance. He was wrong however, as she then swung at his head as if trying to sever it.

Erik ducked out of the way. He still had one sword in his hand which he could use to defend himself, but the pain in his back and in his arm were building up so much he was surprised that he hadn't passed out.

Erik ran into the bedroom and locked the door behind him. Unfortunately for him there was no secret passageway out of there and so he would have to just hope that Christine could not get in and that she would recover and return to her normal state.

Unfortunately, she did not seem to be recovering and she hacked away at the door with her sword. Erik could see no way around it. He would have to knock her unconscious. The door then burst open and Christine ran in. Erik jumped out of the way of an attack and Christine whirled around to strike again.

Erik parried the attack, but Christine then seized the quilt on the bed and threw it into the air so that they could not see one another. Christine thrust her sword through the quilt and pierced Erik's left arm before it fell to the floor.

The pain that Erik was feeling was unbearable. He sank to the floor at Christine's feet and waited. Looking up, he saw Christine raise the sword high above her head, ready to strike…