I slowly faded into consciousness, the first thing I was aware of was that two people were in the room with me.
"The poor girl, the Phantom must have gotten her, if madame Giry hadn't found her there's no telling what that Phantom would have done to her." The other voice sighed.
"And the manager wonders why we're afraid to go into box 5. 'He won't touch you' he said 'He'll leave you alone if you do your work', well we can't work when we've found men dead by the Phantom's hand, now can we?" They went on talking about the Phantom. I groaned. I really am in The Phantom of the Opera.
"Look Anne, the girl's waking up. We should get Madame Giry." They bustled out of the door and their footsteps echoed down the hall. How? How did I get here? I was singing on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall, thinking of singing for Erik and then somehow I was. How could this even be remotely possible?
Wait. Right before I passed out I saw someone dressed in black and a white mask. Erik had caught me. Not to mention he was trying the 'Angel of Music' thing on me. I opened my eyes and sat up. My bag was next to my bed, looking at it I knew no one had looked inside; whoever was looking after me had been kind enough not to go through my things. I shifted to bend down and get my medicine out of my side pocket and felt the slosh of my flask against my thigh. Every time I remembered it was there I always smiled. I popped a pill in my mouth and washed it down with a drink from my flask. I grimaced at the taste, hand sanitizer and rubbing alcohol. Footsteps approached the room I was in, fast accompanied by the clack of a cane on the ground. My God; it was Madame Giry.
"I see you are awake mademoiselle. How are you feeling." She walked towards me, Meg and Christine in tow. I almost dropped my jaw. They all looked like they had in the movie; Christine is the spitting image of Emmy Rossum with blue eyes. Meg's hair was curlier but still the same face. Madame Giry was the same as I knew she looked in the movie, eyes like ice looked at me with concern.
"I'm glad to see you're alright. My name is Meg and this is Christine. We're dancers in the chorus here at the Opera Populaire." Meg said and extended her hand, which I shook.
"Good to meet you." Christine smiled at me as I shook her hand as well.
"I'm fine, but how did I get here?" I knew Erik had brought me somewhere, but I wanted to know if he had just dumped me and left.
"I found you passed out just inside the front door and I brought you here. You are lucky that you did not hit your head when you fainted. Who are you and what are you doing here?" I had to make something up fast. I knew that these times weren't good for women and I was here for a reason, I knew it.
"My name is Danielle BellRose, I was at a concert hall when, somehow, I found myself on the stage of this place, when I went to check where I was out the front door and found that I was in Paris. I was so shocked that I passed out. I'm sorry to cause you any inconvenience." Again I was on my best behavior, trying to make Madame Giry see that I had nowhere else to go.
"That is impossible, how could one simply transport to one place from another so spontaneously?" I'm sure she thought I was making this up. They would think I was crazy and they would send me to one of the asylums we read about in history class.
"No, really!" I pulled my camera and showed it to her. She stared at it as though I was offering her a banana after a crappy joke. "This is a modern camera, from 2011, where I'm from. I'm not lying. I was in the Royal Albert Hall in London, singing on the stage before the performance when I opened my eyes, I was here." I turned the camera on and took a photo of a very surprised Madame Giry. I turned the camera around and showed it to her.
"My God, you were telling the truth." She put a hand to her chest. Meg ran to her mother, making sure she was okay. "Meg, Christine, go fetch some water and food for our guest." They looked puzzled but complied. As soon as they left the room I leaned forward and hugged Madame Giry to whisper in her ear.
"I was never lying. For an even better point I know. I know all about Erik." She stiffened. "Where I come from everyone knows who he is and his story. Erik hides a deformity with a mask and he is now the Phantom of the Opera. I would never tell anyone how to find him, but I need you to help me like you did him. Please." I begged one last time before pulling away. She gave me a hard look.
"I'll do whatever I can to help you." She took my hand and rubbed her thumb over my knuckles. I missed this kind of comfort, the kind only a mother could give. God how I missed my mom sometimes.
"Madame Giry?"
"Yes?"
"Right before I passed out, when I found myself on the stage of the theater, I heard a voice. From above. It said it was the Angel of Music, was it telling the truth? Does the Angel of Music really speak to the singers here?" She knew I was putting on an act encase the Phantom had decided to check up on me.
"Yes, the Angel of Music is here. He teaches a select few, but he is the best teacher around." She smiled at me. Christine and Meg entered the room with a plate of food and a jug of water.
"Is it true then? You really are from the future?" Meg leaned in close.
"Yup. Did you know in the year 1969 the USA sent men to the moon and they even came all the way back?" Their eyes widened. My first thought was to take advantage of their cluelessness and make up a bunch of crazy shit just to see how they'd react.
"Oh my! Who was he?" Christine leaned forward. They seemed to innocent any normal person would feel guilty of pranking them. Good thing I wasn't a normal person.
"Lance Armstrong." It was all I could do to not laugh. God forgive me for being such a liar. They had suck wonder on their faces I almost felt bad for telling them a bicyclist went to the moon. Well, more fun for me. The door opened again and the manager Monsieur Lefèvre came in.
"Ah, so our little mystery guest is awake. Why was I not informed?" He spoke directly to Madame Giry. In the movie she seemed like a second in command, I could only assume that she advised him about what to do with the Phantom. I wonder how long it is until he sells the Opera and leaves Andre and Firmin to destroy the theater?
"She only just awoke and I thought it best that she had something to eat before she fainted again." Madame Giry's voice was clipped, sounding like it was the obvious thing to do.
"Sir, I am very grateful that you've taken care of me. I'm sorry if I caused any worry." I said quickly, in case Lefèvre got mad at Madame Giry.
"You are most welcome, but you must contact your family to come get you, I'm sure they're worried by now; you've been unconscious for over two hours." He turned to leave when I called to him.
"I have nowhere else to go, I wasn't even sure where I was until a few minutes ago. I don't have any family and I don't know how I got here to begin with." I was so worried that he was going to throw me out onto the street and I'd have to sell my body to eat and find a place to stay. I had no money that could work here to begin with.
"I suppose we could add you to the chorus, but I'm not sure our audience would like to see a girl with such dark skin on stage along with all the pretty white girls." My mouth hung open. Being half black was going to get me a lot of shit in this era. It's not that I looked very black, only my skin was a light chestnut, and my lips were fuller than they would be if I was white, I didn't have my mothers proud high forehead or her graceful bone structure. Most people think I'm Brazilian with my dark brown hair falling in waves like the ocean down to my hips. I am proud of my roots and my chocolate brown eyes that reflect the African in me.
"Monsieur I'm sure you meant no offense but where I come from our dark skin is a sign of beauty. I understand it is not like that here and that girls with fair skin are beautiful but I have also considered myself a beauty." I tried not to let the anger I felt show in my voice. I wanted to slap him, how dare he say I wasn't as beautiful as the chorus girls because I was made dark?
"I do apologize but our audience wants to see girls they consider beautiful. I don't think we have a place for you here..." I felt desperation rise in my body. I'll, I'll..." I searched my head for something that I could do to make him keep me. "I'll clean box 5!" I blurted out as he turned again to leave. That stopped him dead in his tracks. "I heard some people talking about how they're afraid the Phantom will get them but I'm not! I'll go in there to clean every day and not complain." I looked up at him with pleading eyes. Those pleading eyes that both threaten and adore. I was surprised I could think of such a trivial song line at a time when my dignity hung in the balance.
"Alright, but it's your head if the Phantom is displeased with how you work. I'm not to receive another letter complaining about the upkeep of his box as long as you are in this theater, agreed?" He held out his hand to me and I took it.
"Agreed."
"Madame Giry please find accommodations for our new employee. I'm sure you can find an empty bed in the ballet dormitories." And with that he was gone. I let a sigh of relief escape my lips. I looked around and noticed that sometime during my exchange with Lefèvre Christine and Meg slipped out. Lucky. I turned to Madame Giry.
"That was doing whatever you could to help me?" I laughed a bit.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't think of anything to say to make his reconsider throwing you out. The only one who's judgement overrules Lefèvre's is the Phantom's." Madame Giry solemnly looked around and I understood that no matter where I was in this opera house, no matter how well hidden I might think I am, He could always be watching me. And right now, I was almost sure he was.
"I'm going back to the stage to look around, maybe I can find the reason I transported here to begin with." I got out of the narrow bed and put my shoes on. If I'd be working here I'd need to get new clothes fast. Madame Giry seemed to read my mind.
"Let's get you into something a little less conspicuous." She went over to a closet and pulled out a corset, a small brown dress and a white apron. I knew there was torture involved when the corset was slipped on. Damn to hell whoever thought that this was a good idea.
After being constricted to death by the torture device known to humanity as the corset and sent out in a drab brown dress I slowly made my way to the stage. No wonder women were big on swooning in this era. I stood in the same spot I appeared in and looked around. There was nothing that could cause me to go back in time into a FICTIONAL universe. The only thing I could think was 'opera is old, maybe that's why it brought me here.' I decided to sing a recent song to try and get back to my world.
"This life don't last forever (hold my hand)
So tell me what we're waiting for (hold my hand)
We're Better off being together (hold my hand)
Than being miserable alone (hold my hand)
Cause I've been there before
And you've been there before
But together we can be alright.
Cause when it gets dark and when it gets cold
We hold each other till we see the sunlight
So if you just
Hold my hand
Baby I promise that I'll do
All I can
Things will get better if you just hold my hand
Nothing can come between us if you just hold,
hold my, hold, hold my, hold, hold my hand.
(Hold my hand)
The nights are getting darker (hold my hand)
And there's no peace inside (hold my hand)
So why make our lives harder (hold my hand)
By fighting love, tonight.
Cause I've been there before
And you've been there before
But together we can be alright (alright)
Cause when it gets dark and when it gets cold
We hold each other till we see the sunlight
So if you just hold my hand
Baby I promise that I'll do (If you just, If you just)
All I can
Things will get better if you just hold my hand (yeah)
Nothing can come between us if you just hold,
hold my, hold, hold my, hold, hold my hand.
Hold my hand
I can tell you're tired of being lonely (yeah)
Take my hand don't let go baby hold me (hold me)
Come to me and let me be your one and only (hold my hand)
So I can make it alright til' the morning (hold my hand)
I can tell you're tired of being lonely (hold my hand)
Take my hand don't let go baby hold me (hold me)
Come to me and let me be your one and only (one and only)
So I can make it alright til' the morning (hold my hand)
Hold my hand
Hold my hand (yeah)
Baby I promise (hold my hand) that I'll do
All I can (hold my hand)
Things will get better (oohhhoo) if you just hold my hand (oooo)
Nothing can come between us if you just hold,
hold my, hold, hold my, hold, hold my hand.
Hold my hand
Baby I promise that I'll do
All I can (hold my hand)
Things will get better if you just hold my hand
Nothing can come between us if you just hold,
hold my, hold, hold my, hold, hold my hand.
Hold my hand."
I Had closed my eyes and prayed when the song was over I'd be standing where I was in the Royal Albert Hall. My eyes opened. No such luck. I somehow maneuvered myself into a sitting position. A ghostly voice flooded the hall.
"Brava, brava, bravissima." Erik was calling to me again. I felt a smile play at my lips.
"Is it the Angel of Music come back to haunt me?" I spoke out loud. Wherever Erik was hiding I couldn't see him.
"Have you calmed down some?" Erik asked
"Yeah, turns out I time traveled. But you can't really blame me for freaking out after you said I was talking to an angel. The only time I expected to speak to angels was when I was going to die." Which could be anytime now.
"Have you considered my offer?" Who would need to ponder that question. Anyone with operatic training would want to be taught by the Phantom.
"It'd be my honor." I said smiling up at the ceiling.
"Come to the chapel tomorrow night for your first lesson." I think he left then. Well, I had a date with a ghost.
Well, this is a nice turn of events. As ever only Danielle belongs to me, Hold My Hand belongs to Michael Jackson and the Phantom and his crew belong to Leroux and Webber.