The Opera House descended into chaos. There were some casualties from the Chandelier's fall, some members of the audience members rushed to help them while others fled the building, screaming. The atmosphere on stage was no better and to add to the panic the lights had gone out, descending the whole stage into darkness. This gave Erik the opportunity to grab Catherine by the arm and drag her towards the left-hand side of the stage. They didn't get too far before Carriere approached them and tried pulling Catherine from Erik's grip. Erik fought him for a moment then with a growl of frustration he pushed Carriere away from them and continued pulling Catherine along.
Carriere fell against a set wall and collapsed to the floor.
Erik placed his cloak over Catherine's head to hide her from view as he led her down some stairs and the two disappeared.
"Catherine! Catherine" cried out Phillippe as he pushed his way through people.
"Cathy, where are you!?" cried out Christine as she followed close behind him.
Phillippe saw Carriere being helped to him feet. He grabbed Christine by the hand and dragged her towards the older gentleman.
"Where is she?" he asked Carriere as he helped him stand up a bit more.
"Please Monsieur, where is my sister!?" asked Christine in a frantic tone.
"I don't know" said Carriere, feeling slightly winded from the fall.
Phillippe and Christine turned away from him.
"Catherine!?"
"Cathy!?"
They cried out and ran off to look elsewhere.
XXX
The casualties were freed from beneath the Chandelier and were carefully taken out of the room.
XXX
"Inspector!" called out a policeman backstage as he pushed his way through members of the company, towards Inspector Ledoux who had just arrived backstage.
The policeman saluted him.
"Inspector we've got him" he said in a triumphant tone.
"Where is he?" asked the Inspector.
The policeman turned to stand beside the Inspector and with his left hand he pointed in the direction he came from.
"Over there" he said.
But it wasn't the Phantom at all. It was the actor who played Mephisto in the Opera.
"I am not the Phantom. I am Mephisto" he said to the policeman who were detaining him.
Other members of the company tried freeing him from the policemen's grasp.
Ledoux was seething with frustration at his men's stupidity. He turned to the policeman beside him, grabbed the front of his hat, pulled it down over his eyes and then stormed away.
XXX
After searching around the stage and backstage, Phillippe and Christine ran up the stairs towards Catherine's dressing room, hoping she would be there.
"Catherine!?"
"Cathy!?"
They cried out.
As they ran up the stairs, they caught a glimpse of Catherine and Erik further up the stairs and this urged them to run up faster.
XXX
Erik pulled Catherine into her dressing room and quickly shut and locked the doors. Catherine was exhausted from running up the stairs, her head was so sweaty that when she tilted her head back the wig she was wearing fell off, before she could pick it back up Erik had walked around in front of her, pushed a secret button on the wall which then opened a secret passageway through the full length mirror. He grabbed Catherine by the wrist and pulled her through. The mirror closed behind them almost instantly.
XXX
Phillippe and Christine finally reached the level Catherine's dressing room was on, two policemen followed behind them.
"Catherine!?"
"Cathy!?"
They called out.
When they got to her dressing room door, they found the doors were locked. Phillippe then barged into them as hard as he could and immediately the doors opened but when he and Christine entered, they found the room was empty.
The policemen stood in the threshold.
"We saw them come in" said Phillippe when he turned around to face them.
"Let's take a look" one of them said and the two began searching the room for clues.
XXX
With the audience gone and no further incidents had occurred things began to calm down a little for the members of the company.
XXX
In the first basement, Erik ran as he pulled Catherine along, looking back every now and then to make sure they weren't being followed.
"Please where are you taking me!?" cried Catherine as she tried to keep up with his pace but was struggling because she was exhausted.
Erik said nothing and kept pulling her along.
XXX
Some members of the company had gathered outside Catherine's dressing room to see what was going on, Carriere was amongst them. Jean-Claude came up the stairs and went to approach Carriere, but when he saw Jean- Claude he began to walk away.
"I need to talk to you" said Jean Claude as Carriere walked past him.
"Not now! Not now!" said Carriere as he held his right hand up gesturing Jean-Claude he did not wish to speak.
"Gerard! Gerard! The Phantom has taken Catherine down below!" said Jean-Claude as he followed behind him.
Carriere turns around abruptly.
"Nonsense, he never allows anyone below" he said, denying Jean-Claude's words.
He turns back around and walked away, down the stairs.
XXX
Erik and Catherine continued going down into the lower levels of the Opera House basement. Erik had slowed his pace down since he was now sure no one was following them.
Catherine's hair had since come loose from her bun after all of the running.
XXX
Outside, the paramedics had arrived and were escorting the casualties to hospital. As they carried people down on stretchers the police had to move the other patrons aside to let them pass.
XXX
Inside, the stagehands were setting up ropes and pulleys to lift the Chandelier and take it away from repairs. Cholet had returned from helping people outside and was in shock and disbelief from what had happened earlier.
Inspector Ledoux entered the room and approached him.
"I'll be ruined" said Cholet with a tone of despair. He rested his right hand on the Inspector's shoulder to balance himself because he feared he might faint.
"No one thought the Phantom would do this" said Ledoux.
Cholet then plopped himself down on one of the theatre seats.
"Ruined. Completely ruined. Ruined" sniffled Cholet.
Ledoux was worried Cholet would pass out. He tried tapping him on the hand to break him out of his trance like state, but it didn't help. He then reached into his inside coat pocket and pulled out a tiny vial of smelling salts. He held it under Cholet's nose.
When he took a whiff of it Cholet coughed and spluttered which helped him break out of his trance.
XXX
Erik and Catherine finally made it to the lowest level of the Opera House. At the entry way, Erik turned and offered Catherine his hand to help her walk down the rest of the way safely. Catherine took him by the hand without any hesitation and when she saw the room, she froze feeling amazed at what she was seen. It was like a fantasy land, there were carousel horses posed majestically, red velvet curtains hung from the ceiling and there was a lagoon with a gondola floating in it. It had an Egyptian design to it and had what looked like a goat's head carved at the front of it.
Erik walked around in front of Catherine then took her left hand gently and led her down the steps, when they reached the bottom, he then led her towards the gondola. He lets go of Catherine's hand then reaches down to pick up a long wooden rowing pole with his right hand and with his left he pulled the gondola closer to the shore and with his head h gestured for Catherine to climb in. Catherine carefully stepped onto the gondola and sat down on the seat at the rear, Erik jumps in and with the pole he pushes the gondola away from the shore and starts rowing down a tunnel.
Catherine surveyed her surroundings anxiously with her arms around the shoulders to comfort her and because there was also a chill in the air.
XXX
"We are telling you she was in here" said Phillippe in a frustrated tone.
He was speaking to Inspector Ledoux, outside of the Catherine's dressing room. His left arm was around Christine who was crying with worry for her sister's safety.
"Did you actually see her coming in?" asked Ledoux.
"Yes, we did. For goodness sakes, Ledoux. It is obvious. That masked fiend had kidnapped her!" exclaimed Phillippe as he pointed back into the dressing room
"Well it is not obvious to me" said Ledoux, denying Phillippe's claim.
"Them I'll go down in the vaults after her myself" said Phillippe, frustratingly as he turned his head to the right, no longer able to bare to look at the Inspector.
Christine gasped as she looked up and Phillippe then clung onto his coat.
"No Phillippe, it could be dangerous down there" she said in a frantic tone.
"I agree with Mademoiselle. Monsieur if you do. I assure you; you will not come back alive" said Ledoux.
Phillippe was beyond frustrated at this point because he wanted Catherine back safe and unharmed with her and him and Christine. But he knew Ledoux was right, so he dropped the idea for now. He looked at Christine with a small smile to reassure her and pulled her close to his side to comfort her. She smiled up at him a little but was stilled worried for her sister and prayed she was ok.
XXX
Erik and Catherine had been riding in the gondola for a short period of time. They came to a corner and Erik carefully maneuverer around the corner and continued rowing straight ahead. The gentle rocking motion of the boat and the exhaustion from running had finally caught up with Catherine, she was beginning to drift off to sleep.
Soon, they had come to an embankment. There was a staircase with a wooden bannister leading up to a doorway and to the left side of the doorway there were three archway styled windows, each with a flower shaped carving with three petals above each one. Erik jumped out of the gondola and tied it off on a metal ring on the dock. When he turned around to Catherine, he saw her eyes were getting heavy and he didn't want to make her walk the rest of the way. Carefully, he picked her up, her head rested on his right shoulder, her right arm draped around his neck and her left one rested on her lap.
He carried her carefully, manoeuvres his way in between a cabinet and a bed then gently placed Catherine down on the bed. The feeling of being put down roused Catherine. She put her right hand down on the mattress and looked up at Erik, feeling a little scared of her new surroundings.
"It's alright, it's alright" said Erik as he sat down beside her and held her hand to comfort her.
"You are with me now" he said, reassuring her more.
Catherine relaxed a little as she looked up at him and gave a small smile.
Erik began to sing a little tune in the syllable 'La'. His voice was so soft and angelic it was making Catherine drift off to sleep again. Once Catherine's eyes completely closed, Erik kept singing as he placed Catherine's hand down beside her, got up and tip toed around the bed, closed the white curtains that were around the bed and quietly left the room.