Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera. Only original stuff is mine.
AN: Okay, bad news: I'm going on vacation next week, so there won't be any update. However, I will post the week after, so don't hate me. Also, I'm going to speed things up a bit, most because I know that people want Erik and Aria to get back together ASAP. Plus, I have another Phantom story in my head, and I want to get started on that one soon. Enjoy the chapter, and please review!
Chapter 24: Of Dreams Come True:
I swear that my father was trying to drive me mad on purpose. If I heard the words, "Aria, stay here until someone can come and fetch you" once more, I would scream.
Since I had seen Erik in the chapel over a week ago, my father had taken my safety to new heights. I was not allowed to go anywhere, or do anything, without another person present. Whenever I left my room, I was followed by a maid of some sort, or by Meg or Madame Giry. However, since the performance of Carmen was fast approaching, Meg and Madame could not often be spared, so I was frequently left with some serving girl I didn't know.
Even worse was that my father had sealed up the secret mirror entrance that led into my room. The Fop Count had kept his word and spoken of the secret doorway to my father, so I'd had the horrid experience of sitting by and watching men seal up the hidden passageway with bricks and cement. Now there would be no way for Erik to look in on me, and it was so frustrating that I just wanted to scream in order to make myself feel better.
Presently, I was waiting for a serving maid to finish with my hair for the day. I could have easily done it myself, but Papa absolutely insisted that my hair be perfect today. The reason for all of this primping was due to the fact that we were going out for lunch and some shopping with (of all people) the Count and Countess de Chagny. Since the absolute last thing I wanted to do was spend the day with them, I was dreading the moment that I would have to actually leave my rooms.
A knock on the door brought my thoughts back to my surroundings, and the maid pulled away from my hair. I watched as she went to the door and opened it, my ears straining to hear what was being said there. The maid whispered frantically for my visitor for a few moments, and the person at the door whispered something back. Through the reflection in the mirror, I saw the maid hesitate just the tiniest bit before opening the door wider and admitting the visitor.
"Madame Giry to see you, Mademoiselle," the serving girl announced with a curtsey.
"Thank you, Adele," Madame declared. "You may go and tell Monsieur Roland Craven that I am taking his daughter into my own hands today. I have need of her opinion on something that cannot wait. They will have to postpone their outing with the de Chagnys until another day."
I watched in amusement as the maid curtseyed and fled, almost as if she feared what the ballet mistress would do to her if she stayed. Once the door closed and latched behind the fleeing maid, Madame turned towards me and smiled.
"I hope you do not mind my small lie," she said as the corners of her eyes crinkled in amusement. "When I had heard that you were to go out with Christine and Raoul, I felt it best if I prevented such a thing from occurring. For your own good, of course."
I smiled back at here while my hands reached up and pulled a few pins loose from my hair. The maid had put it up in a tight knot to keep it perfectly sculpted, and it was hurting my head. "I thank you kindly, Madame, but I'm afraid you've left me with a problem of what to do with myself, now that you've quite cleared my schedule for me. I'm positive that you have dance rehearsals to keep you busy this afternoon, but I, on the other hand, have nothing."
Madame tsked as she walked over to me, her hands going straight for my hair and the pins. In minutes, her skilled fingers were pulling out hairpins and moving them into different places as she rearranged the chignon that the maid had put my hair up in.
"Actually," she said as she worked, "I am afraid that you are wrong about my having things to do today. The rehearsal schedules have been arranged so that part of the opera will be done today without dancers, and part will be done tomorrow with dancers. Your father and uncle have also expressed a wish that my girls have a little time to rest their weary legs."
"And this means what for me, exactly?" I asked as Madame continued to do her work.
"It means that you and I will be able to have a few hours of peace and quiet this afternoon," she said as she pulled my hair up into a loose bun and secured it with a few well-placed, but non-painful, pins.
"Hmm," I said, pressing my finger to my lips as though in thought. "Will tea and a good luncheon in one of our rooms be part of this alleged 'peace-and-quiet?'?" I teased while looking at her in my vanity mirror.
The small smile that Madame gave me was all the answer I needed.
Papa was not at all pleased with Madame's demand for my presence, but even he didn't want to anger the ballet mistress so close to opening night. Everyone knew that to anger Madame this close to the opening performance was to beg for disaster, so I was set free for the day while my father attempted to make friends with the de Chagnys on his own, leaving me free to have lunch and tea with Madame.
"I honestly do not understand why you dislike Christine so much, Aria," Madame said over luncheon. "Of course, I know that you must have your reasons, but she is a good, sweet girl, and she has never done anything to you or your family. Is there something I should know about regarding my foster daughter?"
I kept my mouth shut and my eyes on my tea cup while thinking of how to best answer her question. Obviously, I couldn't tell Madame Giry that I hated Christine for what she had done to Erik, a man feared by everyone in the Opera House and possibly all of Paris. Also, Christine had the mentality of a child, and I wanted to be friends with people who were so much more than that. I wanted friends who could discuss deeper, more mature things, like books, music, and art.
"I mean no offence, Madame, when I say that the Countess does not possess an understanding of the conversation topics I wish to discuss with others," I said, keeping my tone as pleasant and polite as possible. "I am sure that she is a perfectly good person, it is simply that she has nothing to say that would catch and hold my attention for very long."
To my surprise, Madame Giry nodded as though she agreed with me. "Yes, Christine does have a rather limited view of the world," she said, taking a drink of tea. "I partially blame myself for that part of her character. I was so busy providing a life for the three of us that I did not take care of her and Meg as I should have."
She sighed and shook her head. "I was so busy trying to keep us housed, clothed, and fed that I did not see that they were not developing or becoming truly educated the way most girls were. I had hoped that growing up with a dorm full of other young women would help them, but it did not."
I gave her a sympathetic smile and reached out to touch her arm. "A dorm full of young girls is no replacement for a mother," I said, my voice soft and full of pity. "Still, you cannot blame yourself for how they are. If not for you, the three of you would have starved or been homeless. Besides, Meg and Christine are gentle, sweet young women, they just need to broaden their minds a bit and see things in different perspectives."
The two of us exchanged soft, understanding smiles and continued to our lunch. Madame told me how the dancers were coming along, who needed work, and what their costumes would be like. Our talk moved on to how well the production was going thus far, and the progress being made towards opening night. We talked for hours, and before we knew it, it was mid-afternoon, and Madame had to return to her dancers to give a surprise inspection and lesson. At that point, I politely excused myself to return to my quarters. Madame saw me to her door and bid me a kind farewell.
Walking back to my room, I decided that Madame Giry might just be the one to help me with my situation with Erik.
Giving the dancers one last lecture about hard work, Madame Giry dismissed her ballerinas for the night. She watched in satisfaction as the girls slowly headed off, too tired to do much more than eat dinner, go to their dorm, put on their nightgowns, brush their hair, and go to bed. There would be no parties or drinking this night, so hard had the dance mistress worked her charges. Tonight there would be sleep and peace in the dormitories, thank goodness.
As Meg vanished into the dorms, Antoinette immediately headed for one particular supply room in the basement, her senses alert for anyone following her or anyone that might see her pass by. When she was sure she was not being followed, Madame reached her destination with a sense of relief, and entered, taking a seat on a crate to wait, embracing the near pitch-black darkness of the room as it closed in around her. This was the Populaire's wine cellar, and he never ceased to come here after a fresh shipment had arrived, always coming in the night when everyone was asleep or too lost in their own alcohol bottles to leave their rooms.
She was right. An hour after she had settled to wait, a part of the wall slid open, and in slid a shadowed figure dressed completely in black from his cloak down to his shoes. In one hand was a small lantern, carefully shaded so that it only gave off just enough light to see by. The shadowy figure glided over to a crate and was just reaching inside for a bottle of wine when Madame noisily cleared her throat. The figure turned, and the faint light of the lantern showed the outline of a mask against the right side of his face. Looking at him, Madame wondered what it was that Aria could love in the terrifying figure of the Phantom.
'But then, perhaps it is not my place to judge how they feel about one another,' she thought as the Opera Ghost drifted closer to her, stopping when his face hovered mere inches above her own.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting, Madame Giry?" the Ghost asked, his voice soft, but so cold and dangerous that it sent shivers up her spine.
By now Antoinette knew it would be wise to hurry up and speak before he decided to use his Punjab noose. "I come on behalf of Mademoiselle Craven," she declared in a rushed voice.
He stopped, the angered look in his eyes turning to surprise. "Aria?" he breathed, his voice full of hope at the thought of hearing about his love. "You come here from Aria?"
"Actually, she does not know I am here," Madame confessed, praying that her next words would keep her safe a bit longer. "But I have news of her and her well-being."
The Phantom stepped back, turning the light up just the slightest bit while setting his lamp down on a crate. The light it created was not great, but was enough to show the outline of his form, including his mask. The sight again sent shivers down Madame's spine, and she had to struggle to keep herself from fleeing the room in terror.
"What news do you have of her?" he whispered, and Madame had no doubt that his green eyes were focused on her through the darkness.
"She is frustrated, sad, angry, and annoyed," Antoinette told him bluntly. "She's miserable."
"Really? Why is that, exactly?" Although she could not see the Ghost's face, she was sure that he was interested in what she had to say.
"Because she misses you," Madame replied, all the while praying that he wouldn't make poor Meg an orphan this night.
The Ghost shifted, the edges of his cloak swaying as he moved. "And how would you know she misses me, for I highly doubt that she has told you anything of significant importance."
"I know this because I have been keeping an eye on her," she truthfully replied. "Not under orders from her father, but because I-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence, for the next moment found her pinned against a stone wall dangling by the gloved hand of the Phantom. The tips of her toes pressed urgently against the floor as she frantically tried to keep herself from dying right then and there. Antoinette didn't need to look at the Ghost's face to know that he was angry.
"What do you know?" he hissed, his grip tightening slightly. "Who have you spoken of this to?"
"No one," she managed to gasp. The hand at her throat loosened so that she could speak and breathe a little easier. "I discovered your feelings for one another when you met Aria in the chapel! I heard your voice speak to her, and knew that you were the only man who could enter the chapel unseen. I also looked through the keyhole and saw you kiss her."
The hand released her, allowing her to stand on her own two feet. "If you know of my love for Aria, then why have you not told her father?" he demanded from the shadows. "I know you betrayed the way to my home to the de Chagnys, so why have you not betrayed our love as well?"
"Because I did not know I was taking your beloved from you when I sent Christine and Raoul down there!" Madame snapped impatiently. "I thought you were holding another innocent girl prisoner in your home, and that the de Chagnys were the only ones who could get her back. That's why I gave them the directions, not to rob you of the only woman who could love you in spite of your…flaws."
For a moment, silence followed right before Madame spoke again. "If you will let me, I would like the chance to rectify my mistake in sending Christine and Raoul down to the caves."
"How?" Now he sounded intrigued. "What can you do that I cannot?"
She smiled at him. "Listen closely and I will tell you."
The day after my tea with Madame Giry, I found myself a prisoner once more. I refused to go out with the de Chagnys, and my punishment was to be kept in my rooms until my father came to fetch me after the rehearsals for Carmen were over. Since that would not be until late this afternoon, I was doomed to be bored and lonely for most of the day. Of course, I would rather be stuck in my rooms than be with Christine and Raoul, which was why I was presently alone and lost in my thoughts.
During my time alone, I had managed to deduce the reason my father wanted me to be friends with the Countess. I believed that he desired a friendship between the two of us because he wanted me to be more elegant and ladylike than the woman I had grown up to be. I'd had no true maternal figure in my life since I had been a child, and the frequent visits of my aunts and grandmother could hardly make up for the steady presence of a mother. In Christine, my father saw a beautiful, sweet, charming young woman who would make a good mother to a child, and believed that I could benefit from her in some way. However, I was a true grandchild of Caroline Craven, and had more independent, intelligent thought in one finger than Christine had in her entire body. No, a friendship with the Countess was definitely out of the question.
Lost my thoughts, I didn't notice the other presence in the room until a hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my scream. Looking out the corner of my eye, I saw Madame Giry, and relaxed, though I was still angry at her frightening me. When she saw that I wouldn't scream, she released me.
"Madame Giry!" I gasped, my hand over my chest as I tried to calm myself. "What are you-"
She pressed a finger to her lips to indicate silence, to which I quickly complied. Without saying a word, she offered me a hand, which I accepted. In an instant, she had pulled me to my feet and out the of my suite. I tried to protest, as I feared that we would be seen leaving my room, but Madame quickly looked outside my door and, after finding no sign of a watchful guard or servant, urgently tugged at my hand, indicating that I had no choice but to follow her down the hall.
We walked through a few darkened hallways, stopping occasionally to see if we were being followed, which I believed we weren't. Then, all of a sudden, she pulled me around a corner, pulled down on a certain candleholder on the wall, and hauled me through a secret door into a secret passageway. We had done this just in time, for a pair of frantic footsteps raced past where we had been in the hall.
Impressed with Madame's plan and course of action, I forgot all about resisting her and instead let her take me wherever she wanted me to go. We walked through several twists and turns until I was thoroughly lost until, finally, after what felt like an eternity, Madame halted and turned towards me, her finger again pressed to her lips for silence. I nodded and watched as she slid another door open, revealing to me the inside of an opera house box seat.
I hesitated, fearing that someone would see me entering, but when I saw that the curtains had been pulled so that the interior was blocked off from view, I relaxed, putting my fate entirely in Madame's hands. She smiled as she gently pushed me inside and slowly pulled the doorway closed, making no sound whatsoever.
Left alone in the box, I sat down and looked around. Red velvet covered practically everything, and gold paint and embroidery decorated the red in rich and elegant designs. Even the floor was covered in velvet, which explained how I did not hear the man behind me until he had covered my mouth with a gloved hand. However, the touch was gentle, meant only to silence and not harm. Startled for the second time today, I turned my head, wondering who else was part of Madame's plan.
I did not expect to see a white half-mask hovering inches away from my face. It was Erik!
AN: Cliffhanger! Evil, I know, but please review…it makes me write faster (wink, wink). Thanks!