The opera house was silent, but that was not unusual. Madeleine had become used to the silence, but no matter how hard she tried, it could never comfort her. Dreams of the beautiful operas and arias haunted her in the all too vivid dreams she was plagued with, and made her wish that the fateful fire had never taken place. Madeleine had lived in the opera house for a few weeks now, and almost every night, as she lay in a dreamy state in her bed, the faint music from some organ resonated to her ears. The songs were filled with love, devastation, loneliness, and when she could no longer resist the curiosity which so naturally filled her, she began her dangerous exploration of the unseen parts of the Opera Populaire.
Standing up from her old bed, Madeleine smoothed the white ballerina's dress she wore. It was left over from the infamous opera where Christine Daae took La Carlotta's place. Gently she dusted some dirt from the bodice and leaned down to tie the ribbons on her pointe shoes. Ever since she had cut her foot on the glass, the pointe shoes had been on her feet. She tied her hair into a loose bun with a thin, blue ribbon and left the dormitory.
For over an hour, she wandered through the many hallways of the opera house, passing old dressing rooms and prop closets, but she had no luck in finding some kind of passageway or trap door which led to le Monsieur le Phantom's mysterious lair.
"This is harder than I thought it would be," Madeleine sighed, looking around hopelessly. Just as she was about to give up, a misplaced draft caught her attention. The air which blew lightly across her body smelled damp, and appeared to come from the dressing room she conveniently stood before. Slowly, she opened the door and paused at the person before her. It was her reflection in the full size mirror of Christine Daae's dressing room that made her pause, but there were no window's in this room to create a draft. The draft grew stronger, and after investigating the room for a moment, she approached the mirror. She ran her fingers across the ornate golden frame and paused as they fell into a mysterious gap between the frame and the mirror. The damp smell of the draft grew stronger as she pulled on the mirror, creating the secret passageway she had been searching for all day.
She smiled in triumph, and continued her exploration through the newly found passageway.
The rough, stone floor beneath her was riddled with small puddles, and as her adventure down the mysterious corridor continued, she was unpleasantly surprised by rats. They would run away the very moment they saw her, but still, she yelped and gasped in fright. Madeleine had never been too fond of the small creatures.
The hallway led to a mysterious flight of stairs which appeared to go on forever. Below her, water dripped down and landed in some body of water. Cautiously, she began her walk down the stairs. Her legs shook in nervousness as she paused at a landing to look for some sort of light or hallway at the bottom, but there was no luck. The faint sound of the organ grew louder as she continued her exploration.
The stairs were silent, and her pointe shoes made small tapping noises as the wood in the toe met the hard stone floor. Madeleine paused and looked back to the entrance of the stairwell. She was halfway down. She smiled in pride and continued down to the next landing. Suddenly, the floor opened beneath her.
"Ah!" she screamed, trying to grasp onto the floor above her, but her fingers slipped and she fell under the water. She surfaced and gasped in panic as an iron grate slid over the opening above her and slowly began to lower.
"Help! Someone, please!" Madeleine shouted, crying in panic. "Monsieur, please!" There was no answer, however, and her only reply was the echo of her desperate voice. "Monsieur, please!" she cried. The grate was pushing her down into the water, and just before she submerged, she peered up to the dim light which came from the open trap door above her.
She was completely submerged when the iron grate stopped moving. The water was silent and still as she held on, her grip loosening as she cried for more air. Colored spots began to cloud her eyes, and slowly, her consciousness abandoned her. A loud bang echoed through the water and the iron grate began to rise back up. She gripped the metal as hard as she could, letting it carry her slowly up to the top, where a hand waited for her.
"Come on, you need to help me," the mysterious rescuer said as he pulled her up and onto the cold, stone floor. Madeleine collapsed onto her side, gasping for air. "Are you alright?"
"Monsieur?" she asked, looking up at her rescuer.
"Yes?" he replied, shutting the trap door and resetting his trap. He looked up at her nonchalantly as she wiped water from her eyes and squeezed out her hair. "Well? Are you mute?"
"No, Monsieur," she replied quickly, "Thank you."
"Yes…well…you'd better return to your dormitory. It's not safe down here," he replied, sliding on his black gloves and adjusting his mask. His thick cape was spread perfectly on the floor behind him as he knelt, engulfing the lower half of his body in shadow.
"It's so lonely up there…" Madeleine sighed sadly.
"And you believe that it is no lonelier down here in these dungeons?" The Phantom replied, a hint of venom coating his words.
"It is, but if we stay separate…Monsieur, all I am asking is for some company," she begged. "I cannot take this silence for much longer." The Phantom laughed, his deep, melodic voice echoing down the empty corridors below.
"You shall survive only if you will yourself to, Madame," the Monsieur began, but she cut him off defensively.
"Monsieur," she interrupted, "I am no longer a Madame. My husband rid himself of me not too long ago. I'm sure you remember that day." Her voice was also coated with angry venom.
"Yes, I remember, Mademoiselle," the Monsieur continued, "You are welcome to leave any time you would like." He nodded, his final words spoken, and turned away from her to walk back down to his lair. Madeleine stood in amazement at his slight outburst and watched as he disappeared behind a pillar not far from where she sat.
"Monsieur, wait!" she called. Quickly, she ran down to where he had disappeared, but all she found was a small out cove covered in shadow. He had vanished into thin air, but Madeleine knew his tricks. "Monsieur, I know you are still here, I can feel it." His laughter echoed around her tauntingly.
"I am everywhere; doesn't it seem as though that is true sometimes?" he taunted from some mysterious place. "Why did you even consider wandering down my dangerous staircase?"
"You were playing your organ, I could hear you, but I could not tell where it was coming from." Madeleine answered. "I was curious, as is my nature."
"I can see that," the Phantom answered, followed by a quiet chuckle. She balled her fists in aggravation. "Have I made you angry, Mademoiselle?"
"No," Madeleine answered.
"Well, Mademoiselle, I believe that it would be best if you return to the upper floors of this opera house."
"I no longer care about what is best for me!" Madeleine argued. "There is no one left in this world that cares about what is best for me."
"I would not be too sure about that," the Phantom replied, "there must be at least one…"
"Who?" Madeleine asked, pausing for a moment. The silence engulfed them as her thoughts ran wild through her head. Slowly, she stepped forward, reaching her hand out into the shadows. With another step, her hand brushed against something soft, and was definitely not a stone wall. She drew back and gasped as a shadow flew past her, grasping her hand.
"Do you really wish to see the dungeons of my opera house?" the shadow asked, flashing his white mask. Madeleine nodded, her eyes lighting up the darkness around her. "Then you must keep up with me; can you do that?"
"Yes."
"Then follow me, stay to the side, and keep your hand at the level of your eye…" The Phantom challenged, a wicked and dangerous smile spreading across his unmasked cheek. His blue eyes glowed with the excitement of his challenge, and suddenly, he began his run down the stairway.