I want to send out a special thanks to all the reviewers who have been so helpful and supportive: skittlesgirl99, newbornphanatic, People Person I'm Not, MegGirybff, blackribbonredroses...and to all the readers as well. I am going to give Belle a happy ending. There's a reference to Kay's Phantom. See if you can find it!

Chapter 8

Madame Giry motioned for Rachel to sit in a chair. After she had settled in, Madame Giry began to tell Rachel her story...

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I was very young, training as a ballerina at the opera house. There was traveling fair in the city. Gypsies. A group of the other ballet girls had invited me to go with them. I remember distinctly how horrible it was. There were tents everywhere, with banners advertizing each one's contents. Magicians, fortune tellers, contortionists, human oddities. All the other girls were enjoying themselves. I couldn't get past how much this place reminded me of a kind of hell. Then one tent stood out from the others. The banner said 'The Devil's Child'. A nasty gypsy man beckoned us in. Inside, there was a cage. In the cage, a girl was laying down on the dirt ground with a burlap sack on her head. She was so young and her body was covered with whip marks. The gypsy man opened the cage and invited viewers a chance to come inside where they could view her up close. Each one was given some rope. The man said they were free to whip the girl as well. Some threw down the rope and left while others enjoyed it too much. I remember hearing one of the viewers closest to me say that the attraction used to be more dignified. The girl would make flowers sing. One of the ones who were whipping the girl ripped the burlap sack off her head. Some of the women around me screamed and fainted. The other girls ran out of the tent. All I could do was look at her with pity. The girl looked at me then away, ashamed. She picked up the sack and replaced it over her head. Her blue eyes were icy, but haunted with an unending sadness. Everyone laughed and continued to whip her. Eventually people got bored and left. They paid the gypsy man and walked away, unfazed by the horror they had committed. I lingered on. When the man was bent down picking up strewn money, the child reached for a rope. She walked up behind him and wrapped the rope around the mans' fat throat, choking him. In a matter of seconds, he was dead. The girl threw the rope away and looked up at me. I heard people coming so I beckoned the girl to come with me. I took her were no one would find her, beneath the opera house. When we reached the towering building, I guided her down to the catacombs...

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"...and that is where she has stayed and has grown. She has known nothing else of life since then, except this opera house. It was her playground and now her artistic domain...She is a genius! She's an architect and designer, she's a composer and a magician...A genius, mademoiselle." Madame Giry was on the brink of tears.

Rachel reached out and put her hand on Madame Giry's. "But, clearly, Madame Giry...genius has turned to madness."

"After what I told you, can you blame her? You have lived a pampered lifestyle, what would know of suffering such as hers?" She spat at Rachel.

Rachel recoiled at the accusation. "But-but, Madame, she's a murderer! Buquet..."

"If you had knew Buquet you would be glad he's dead! He would prey on young ballet girls, peep into their rooms. A pervert, mademoiselle!"

Rachel sat and thought, shocked.

Madame Giry sighed and looked at her. "Viscountess, can you really feel no pity for this woman? The life she has lived...the things she has seen. You've seen the good side of humankind. She has seen the distorted, ugly side. All she wants is unconditional love from someone, is that too much to ask?"

Rachel started to cry. "Isn't that what every woman wants? Normal women don't kill and kidnap for that love."

"Is she a normal woman?"

"Doe she even have a name? Or was she so born for the position of the Phantom that's her name?"

"Belle."

"What?"

"Her name, it's Belle. I always thought she was cruelly named. But I want to think she was named that for her soul."

Rachel began to view Belle in a new light. "I-I-I don't know what to say..."

Madame Giry stood up and went to open the door. "Well, I have told you what you asked. So, if there is nothing else, it has been a long night. Goodnight, mademoiselle."

Rachel got up and walked out the door. She stopped and looked at Madame Giry with a sad look. "Goodnight, Madame. I'm sorry for bringing such bad memories back to your mind. That was not my intention." She walked out and closed the door behind her.

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When Belle reached her lair, she plopped down in front of her organ and threw her face down onto the keys. "I'm beat. Well, that went better than expected. I thought I was going to have to use my sword a little more. I'm still a little worried about that Rachel. I might have to have a talk with her." She stood up and walked over to the swan bed. Slowly, she took off her costume. Belt, jacket, boots, tights. She left her dress on and began to work on her Amnita costume. She began to think about Don Juan...Don Juan is very famous for bedding lots of women. This composition entailed Don Juan wanting this one girl, Amnita. Amnita is also famous. What he doesn't know is that when he sends out his servant to find a girl under a facade, the servant finds Amnita in disguise as a masked peasant. Then Don Juan and Amnita have a duet that is very sensual and breathtaking...Belle made sure her costume was exactly like Piangia's. Except Piangia was bigger than her. It had a floor length gold skirt with a black lace wrap around the waist. A black bodice that was topped with white lace off-the-shoulder sleeves. It was a very sensual outfit and perfect for the part. A black mask and a red rose in her hair accompanied the outfit. She hated thinking of Piangia in it. Don Juan's costume was a black suit with a ruffled white shirt underneath, also with a black mask. Charles was going to look amazing in it. "I hope he thinks that of me. I worked really hard on that song." She pouted to herself. "It will be an unforgettable night..."

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Charles was greatly unnerved after the masquerade. As he lay on his bed he talked to himself quietly. "That Phantom really is...I can't even describe her. But that costume really looked good on her..." He thought about her outfit. It was well-fitted as her other dress was. It didn't show as much skin, though. Too bad...

"Charles, if you want the Opera Ghost, I really like Rachel, and it wouldn't hurt my pride to look after her for you if you want the Phantom."

Charles turned to look at Matt smiling at him. "Were you listening to me?"

"Yes, and even I thought she looked good in that costume. What was she going for, some red devil or something..."

"What were you saying about Rachel?"

"Oh, well I think she's very pretty and intelligent, but so is she...well half of her is."

"Do you mean something by that?" Charles shot a glare at Matt.

"I'm being honest. I do like the Viscountess a little from little I've seen of her. I'd like to get to know her better."

"You really mean that? I thought I loved Rachel, but after I met her, that changed. I didn't have those feelings."

"But I thought you two were going to get married?"

"Yes, I agreed to marry Rachel, but it was a way to escape her. But now that I think about it, I don't think I would have been happy. If you like her and treat her properly, it wouldn't bother me if you courted the Viscountess."

Matt smiled and rolled away from Charles on his bed. "Goodnight, Mademoiselle Phantom's lover." He giggled.

"Goodnight, future Viscount."

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When Rachel got home, she collapsed onto her bed and sobbed into her pillows. She didn't bother to change out of her costume. She felt like such a terrible person. But Belle, she was still getting used to the name, was still a murderer. And she was trying to take Charles away from her. "I still...well, do I still love him?" Rachel thought for a second. Now that she thought about it, she didn't think about him as much like that. "But I'm going to marry him...should I? If I don't love him, what would make me so sure our marriage wouldn't fail eventually?" She started to sob again. "But I want unconditional love just as much as Belle! Maybe not as much because I've always been loved. By my friends and family. Belle never had any of that. "She does have more in common with Charles than I do. All I have with him is a childhood friendship. They share music, which says a lot. Maybe it would be best if they were together..." She cried herself to sleep.

Alright! I hope you liked how I presented your idea, newbornphanatic. See how I'm arranging things so that everyone has a happy ending? I will be glad if everyone likes this chapter. ^^ Oh, how do you think I should do the graveyard scene with the way things are playing out?