Cecily rose early, unable to sleep. The opera house was ghostlike in the hours just before dawn, most of the revelry from the night before having ended and a deep, alcohol-induced sleep overrunning the opera house. Her stomach was too tight for food, but she wanted to see the sunrise. Slipping into the pitch-black tunnel, she put her weight on her cane and felt her way with her hand.
The sun slipped above the horizon of Paris. The clouds were tinted red; storms were on their way. Cecily walked forward, the snow of a few nights before having melted and refrozen into thin sheets of ice. She grasped a gargoyle by the ear, struggling to keep her balance. The ear moved under her touch, and her cane tumbled down a set of stairs revealed behind the panel. "Forgot about that one. Ah well…" She made to retrieve it.
One step down, a black gloved hand grasped her wrist, roughly placing the cane back into her hand. "Presuming to find me again? I think not."
"Erik? Erik, please, what is wrong? I didn't…"
"Do not try to deceive me! I know you were here! And did you not like the gift I gave you at the performance?"
"What gift?" Realization dawned on her, and her eyes widened. "Oh my God! Erik, Buquet! You did not…not for me…" She gasped for breath.
"Did I not tell you I would repair the damages done you? Was he not torturous to you?"
She looked into his eyes, trying to find the kind, gentle man she knew. She could not find him. "But you killed him."
"He was an inconvenience. And if you continue your path, you may become an inconvenience to me as well."
"Then do it now."
"What?" he spat.
She jerked her wrist from his grasp and repeated. "Then do it now. If I am such an inconvenience to you, Phantom, then end it now." He said nothing, but a hint of Erik appeared in his eyes. "If not, I must go. I must say goodbye to the only friends I have left in this city, before I depart."
"Depart? For where?"
She was emboldened by his withdrawal. "Does the Phantom not know all the goings on in his opera house? Surely you know that I will be leaving Paris!"
"For what reason?"
"Because I wish to escape the inconveniences," she emphasized the word, "of being in the opera house."
She turned, and promptly fell flat on her bottom. When she stood, Erik was gone.