Well so far so good - here's chapter two! as always i own none of the characters I'm just taking them out to play :) I hope you are enjoying this. I'd love to hear what you think!


Chapter 2

One night at dinner Raoul mentioned he had business to attend to else where for the week. He clearly explained what it was, but I had lost interest in his business affairs. An idea had been brewing in the back of my mind for a while now and I realized that this would be my chance to make it happen. That's when I asked him. "Raoul? Since you will be gone all week, may I take one of the carriages and go into Paris? I would love to see Meg and Madam Giry again. Please Raoul?"

Raoul protested at first, exclaiming that there would still be too much chaos around the opera house. But I assured him that I would stay far away from there. I hated lying to him, but under no circumstances would I stay away from my former beloved home.

I left two days later, carrying just enough to last my time there. I told the driver to get us to Paris as quickly as possible, so we left early in the morning, and arrived very late in the night. I set myself up in Raoul's flat and soon retired, I had a very busy day planned.

The next morning I called at Meg's flat, where she lived with her mother and was greeted very warmly with Meg's bouncing curls as she drug me inside with her and pressed a cup of tea into my hands. It was just barely cool enough outside for the tea to be a welcome surprise. The tree branches that scrapped against the window just had their first little green leaves sprouting.

Meg was delightful. I had missed her so much. She prattled on about everything she had been doing the past month. She talked about the new dance classes she was taking and the job she had just gotten working as a waitress at a little café. She got a glow in her eyes when she started talking about one of the men who came into the café and would only sit in her section and flirted with her. Apparently they were to have dinner in a couple of days. I was excited for her. I wished I had as much to say as she did, but I answered all of her questions though. That's when the conversation turned around to the last night I had seen her, the opening night of Don Juan. She asked me questions about what had happened to me while I was down there, and though some of the answers were difficult to re-tell I went through the whole story for her. So of course I had to ask her what had happened after I had left. I had no idea she had been with the group to go down after me.

"I read what the papers said – Was he," I felt a little lump in my throat, " Was he already – dead – when you got there?"

"Oh Christine!" Meg gushed, reaching out and grabbing my hands, " The papers only wrote that because they were trying to keep people calm. No one likes the idea of a madman running free."

"You mean – he escaped?"

"Well – you see it's tricky. I was the one who found him. He was sitting on his chair underneath his cloak. So I grabbed the cloak and pulled it off of him," Meg sounded very pleased with her bravery, "But he wasn't there! He had completely disappeared. He was all gone."

I simply didn't know what to say. I clasped my hand to my mouth to hide my gaping mouth.

"Well not all gone. Hold on. I have something for you." Meg moved to the dresser on the far side of the little room. After riffling through some of her clothes there she turned around and told me to close me eyes. Confused, I obliged. In a moment I felt something cool and smooth being pressed into my hands. It felt familiar. I opened my eyes quickly, sure that my hands were surely deceiving me.

But I was right. Here in my hands was the white mask I so vividly remembered covering half of the face of my angel. My hands shook a little as I caressed the surface. I could almost imagine caressing his face.

"Oh Meg," I cried and I pulled her into a tight hug. I could barely whisper a thank you to her, but I know she heard it.

I left Meg's much better for wear.