Salutations! Don Juan Triumphant! It's the chapter everyone's been waiting for. What if the incident had never happened? I hope no one would be too disappointed. (Spoiler: I'm not killing Piangia, there's no reason to, I'll arrange for her to be removed. Mwahaha!) Enjoy! Oh, this is NOT the last chapter. I was also thinking of writing a sequel.
Chapter 10
Opening night was an exciting time for everyone in the theater. The managers worried about the ticket sales, the set makers fixed and re-fixed their sets, the actors practiced their parts again, and costume makers make final touches. And of course, the Opera Ghost was busy.
Belle prepared for the big performance. She put on her costume and fixed her mask. "Let the audience in...Let my opera begin..." Once she was finished, she made her way for the back stage.
Backstage, everyone was working on each of their parts that made the opera run smoothly. No one noticed Belle as she made her way through the crowd of stagehands and workers. No one except Charles.
When Charles seen Belle, he ran up to her and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" He pulled her behind a backdrop where they couldn't be seen. Charles double-checked. When he was sure, he bent down and kissed Belle, their masks bumping together. She kissed him back. "Oh Belle..." He began groping for her skin under her clothes.
Belle did the same. Then she stopped and pulled away. She heard the first strains of the opera. "Charles, I mean Don Juan, you have to go." He looked heartbroken. "We will finish this later..." With that she walked away, one finger to her lips to signal him to not say word.
Charles got into position behind the curtain. As he hears the final lines of the chorus he pushes it away and steps onto the stage. "Passarino, faithful friend, once again recite the plan."
"Your young guest believes I'm you-I, the master, you, the man."
"When you met, you wore my cloak, she could not have seen your face. She believes she dines with me in her master's borrowed place! Furtively , well scoff and quaff, stealing what, in truth, is mine. When it's late and modesty starts to mellow, with the wine...
"You come home! I use your voice-slam the door like crack of doom!"
"I'll shall cry, 'Come hide with me! Where, oh, where? Of course-my room!"
"Poor thing hasn't got a chance!"
"Here's my hat, my cloak and sword. Conquest is assured, if I do not forget myself and laugh..." Charles laughed. He watches as Amnita steps out.
La Piangia walked onto the stage, holding her mask. "No thoughts within her head, but thoughts of joy! No dreams within her heart, but dreams of love..." She put on the mask and walked behind a curtain.
Belle stepped behind and scared Piangia. "Boo!"
Piangia fell over in a dead faint.
Charles leaned over to the actor who played Passarino. "Passarino- go away! For the trap is set and waits for its prey..." The actor leaves Charles alone on stage.
Belle steps on stage in her Amnita costume. She smiles at Charles as he begins to sing.
"You have come here in pursuit of you deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish, which til now has been silent, silent...I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge-" Charles and Belle walked towards each other. "-in your mind you've already succumbed to me, dropped all defenses, completely succumbed to me-now you are here with me: no second thoughts, you've decided, decided...Past the point of no return-no backward glances: our games of make-believe are at an end...Past all thought of 'if' or 'when'-no use resisting: abandon thought and let the dream descend..." They were right up to each other when Charles grabbed Belle by the waist and held he close. With his free hand he ran it bellow her neck. Belle closed her eyes and fell into his grasp. "What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks its door? What sweet seduction lies before us? Past the point of no return, the final threshold-what warm unspoken secrets will we learn beyond the point of no return..." He let go of Belle.
She walked away a short distance, then turned to look at Charles. She smiled. "You have brought me to that moment where words run dry, to that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence...I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why...In my mind I've already imagined our bodies entwining, defenseless and silent-Now I am here with you: no second thoughts, I've decided, decided..." They looked at each other and started for the spiral stairs the connected with a balcony. Belle starts up the stairs on her side, Charles started up the ones on his side. "Past the point of no return-no going back now: our passion-play has now, at last, begun...Past all thought of right or wrong-one final question: how long should we two wait before we're one...?" When they reach the balcony, they walk towards each other. "When will the blood begin to race, the sleeping bud burst into bloom? When will the flames at last consume us...?" Charles reaches for Belle as they stand face to face. They sing together as he embraces her. "Past the point of no return, the final threshold-the bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn...We've passed the point of no return..." Charles held and caressed Belle. Just as before, Belle fell into his grasp and let out a quiet moan. She sang very quiet.
"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime...Lead me , save me from my solitude...Say you want me with you here beside you...Anywhere you go, let me go too-Charles, that's all I ask of you..." She reached up and kissed Charles. Both were oblivious to the riotous applause that greeted their performance. The curtain closed as the applause. Belle and Charles continued to kiss.
One of the stagehands yelled up to them. "Hey, show's over!"
Charles let Belle go and looked down and around. Everyone was staring up at them. Both Belle and Charles blushed under their stares.
No one had noticed La Piangia when she stepped out from behind the curtain holding her head. "What appened?" She looked up at Charles and Belle. "Her! It's the Opera Ghost!" All the people gasped and looked up.
Belle grabbed Charles and kissed him. "See you in the lair later," she whispered. And in a puff of red smoke, she was gone.
Charles looked stunned. A smile spread across his face as he thought of what she had said.
"Charles, are you alright?" He looked down to see Matt smiling at him.
"Yes, I'm alright." He made his way down the stairs and to where his friend was standing.
Matt patted Charles on the back. "You were amazing, Charles. And she was...well, did you hear the crowd?"
"No, not really."
"I'm surprised and not surprised. That performance you and the Phantom put on was very...and can't say." He smiled and directed his friend away from the stage. "Rachel and I are going out to dinner, would you like to join us?"
Charles stopped and looked at Matt. "You and Rachel?"
Matt shrugged his shoulders. "Yes. She talked to me last night. When she told me about what she seen, I blushed."
Charles' face reddened. "She told you about...?"
"Well, not in great detail, just the summary. You and her were on the stage? Charles, there are just some things you can't do on the stage, no matter how good an actor you are..." He laughed and started to run away.
Charles humphed and turned away. "I'm afraid I'll have to take a rain-check on dinner. I have a previous engagement." As he walked away, Matt called after him.
"From what I've seen, I have enough details."
Charles continued to walk away. He reached the prima donna's dressing room and opened the door. Inside, he abandoned his mask and overcoat onto the couch and wandered over to the mirror. He found the switch to open it. The mirror slid away and revealed the tunnel...
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When Belle reached her lair, she stopped and started to jump up and down, laughing. "He loves me! He actually loves me..." She stopped jumping. "I better get ready!" She giggled and threw her clothes off. Running to the bedroom, the alcove with the swan bed, she opened her closet and pulled out something she made and never thought she would get to wear. Belle didn't know what you would call it, but it was sure to be loved by Charles. Wearing her outfit and nothing else, she sat down at her organ. She started composing a new song. "And I touched, and I felt you, and I heard those ravishing refrains...the music of your pulse, the singing in your veins...And I held you, and I touched you, and embraced you, and I felt you,and with every breath and every sigh...I felt no longer scared, I felt no longer shy...At last, our feelings bend, beneath a moonless sky..." She was so busy, she didn't notice someone was behind her...
"Hello, my Angel of Music..."
Belle jumped. "You...you scared me!" She turned around and looked at Charles who was laughing.
"It's amazing..."
She glared at him playfully. "What is so amazing?"
His smile broadened. "Well, the fact that the great Opera Ghost was caught off-guard." He laughed.
Belle hugged him. "It was a little bit funny." She stood up and kissed him.
Charles looked down and gasped. "What are you wearing?"
"Do you like it?"
Charles blushed. Belle was wearing a robe of sheer material. Underneath,pieces of material covered her breasts and below her stomach. Everything else he could see.
Belle gave him a puzzled look. "Don't you like it?" She started walking towards the alcove. "I thought you might like to..." She stopped when she felt his hands on her back.
"I love it, but not as much as I love you..." He turned her around and kissed her. "You're still wearing your mask."
"Yes, I thought I should leave..." She gasped when he took it off and threw it away. "Why..." she tried to cover her face.
He took her hand away and kissed the deformed side of her face. "You don't need to wear a mask around me..." He kissed her and started to push her towards the swan bed...
I'm so sorry. Cliffhanger! The next chapter will be, well, a beneath-a-moonless-sky moment, if you know what I mean, I promise. So, about the sequel. Belle is going to continue to haunt the Opera Populaire, and things get interesting with everyone (relationships, marriages, children). I was going to call it 'My Love for You will Never Die'. Tell me what you think, and send ideas. R&R! I hope I lived up to everyone's expectations of this chapter.