I'd like to thank the suggestion for doing this chapter in Raoul's POV. As much as I don't like him...at all; I realized that this chapter proved to be really important in tying the story together and definitely added another huge twist that complements the direction of this story.

A/N: I must point out to those of you reading that Lorenzo has only talked to Vincenzo politely for the last ten years of his life. His social skills are off, and the only times he has ever talked to anyone (besides Vincenzo) were to people like Salvatore (from chapter one) and he talked to them as the Mascherati Morte. Like Erik he has a hard time saying what he needs to say and isn't used to being out in public during the day as a normal human being. I wanted to point this out because the next chapter he will be talking with Christine a lot and their conversations are really important because they unknowingly begin lay down the formation of a love square.

CHAPTER 8: Life's A Gamble

Raoul's POV

I got into my carriage with Meg as we made our way to the opera house. Neither of us spoke the entire way there. I was relieved she didn't ask of what happened down in the volts of the theatre. I wouldn't even know where to begin if I was forced to have to ever tell anyone, but all that man wanted in return was for Christine and I go was to not speak of what happened down below the opera. His request suited me fine considering I would never want to speak of it again to begin with. When we arrived at the Opera Populaire the air was filled with ash. Andre saw me get out of the carriage and quickly made his way up to where Meg and I were standing.

"Vicomte! Thank God you're finally here! Please talk some sense into these people!" Andre frantically cried.

I could see he was being followed by a number of reporters wherever he walked.

"Vicomte DeChangey! Please tell us will this be the end of the Opera Populaire?"

"No, it is not. The opera house is already on its way to being prepared. I assure you there is no need for you all to be here." I had dealt with reporters before but I wished Madame Giry was here to tell them off instead. People listened to her. "Andre, could Meg and I please make our way into the opera house so we know what we're dealing with?"

Andre gestured us but as we walked towards the entrance the press followed.

"Vicomte, is it true that the chandelier came crashing down to the floor?"

"Yes."

"What about the lead woman? Is it true that she was abducted during the finale of the opera?"

"No. It was part of the act." It looked like it could have been even though it was far from it.

"What say you about The Phantom of the Opera? Man or ghost? Fact or fiction?"

"Myth." We finally closed the entrance of the front doors of the theatre behind us.

It didn't look bad at all. It was very messy in the front of the opera house due to the hundreds of people making their way to escape the fire. The real damage was in the auditorium. When we walked through the doors and saw the chandelier perched on top of the first rows of the audience, the curtains were far past salvaging along with most of the chairs on the main floor of the audience because they were burnt.

"Obviously the chandelier and ceiling are in need of work, but the stage and orchestra pit haven't been damaged." Andre spoke.

"Did the chandelier crash kill anyone?" I was so caught up in saving Christine I hadn't even given thought to all the innocent people in the audience. I could only imagine simply watching a show and then all of the sudden have a chandelier falling right in front of you.

"No, thank God. But people are claiming to have been injured and now we're facing the inconveniences of being sued!"

"Well they have every right to sue us." I sighed, "I sure would if a chandelier came crashing down on me and forced me to escape from a fire."

"What! That would take almost all of our profits from our past three productions!"

"What other choice do we have Andre? People here hurt and we must compensate them."

"How will we make money while the auditorium is under repair then!"

"I have an idea." Hopefully it was one that would work.

"Let's hope this one plays out better than your idea of having Miss Daae sing earlier." Andre coldly said.

"I didn't anticipate a chandelier crash!" I was already uncomfortable being here in the first place. Was it not only some hours ago we were all here thinking we had the Phantom in our grasp? It felt like weeks had passed rather than hours. We all ignored the potential consequences of underestimating this man.

"Let us take this into the manager's office upstairs please?" Andre insisted.

When we made our way through the corridors to Andre's office I could see that the fire really hadn't damaged anything other than the auditorium; though it was the most important part of the theatre business could still be prosperous.

When we all took a seat in Andre's office he finally asked.

"What is your idea Vicomte?"

"This Fine Arts Academy; we're still doing it am I right?"

"Yes." Andre nodded, "We're under contract to do so."

"There are fifty sponsors am I correct?"

"No, there's actually more." Andre said wearily.

"What? How could there be more? I thought only fifty people were permitted."

"Perhaps it'd be best for mademoiselle to leave the room for awhile." Andre directed towards Meg.

"I'm sorry Meg." I told her as she quietly stood up and closed the door behind her.

"Why are there more than fifty Andre?"

"Dear Vicomte people do not think of me wrongly for not doing anything about it, but while Monsieur Firmin was working here he suggested that we should keep our options open to the incoming students especially if their sponsors were so keen on their success that they decided to place a down payment ensuring us of their irrefutable talent they would permanently contribute to the theatre…"

"You've accepted bribes!" this was so wrong! "How long has this been going on!"

"A month after our arrival…" Andre admitted.

"Andre we didn't even receive any resumes one month after our arrival! How could you cheat these students!"

Andre casted a somber look on his face. True, I should've expected this sort of action from Firmin and Andre. After all their jobs before the Opera Populaire was associated with the junk business.

"How many slots did you already promise to people who haven't even showcased yet?" I finally asked pinching the bridge of my nose with my eyes closed.

"Thirty-eight."

Unbelievable. I started to regroup. We had to accept fifty students that showcased; no matter what. It was the just thing to do; what we had promised to a world of talent. We would just have to explain why we were now going to have eighty-eight students instead of fifty.

"This is what we're going to Andre..." I opened my eyes and made eye contact with him to project the seriousness of this situation, "You are going to allow those thirty-eight sponsors that bribed you a slot because I see no way around it. You are also going to accept fifty more students who actually received callbacks."

"We haven't that much room here for eighty-eight students!"

"Well you're going to have to find some way to fit all of them in here because I don't see any other option. The students can learn to get along and share with everyone else who already live here."

"Very well…what was your idea you were about to say?" Andre probed.

"We hold bets."

"What?"

If there was anything I knew about rich people it was that they liked prestigious gambling, and all of the sponsors were very, especially the ones who had already bribed Firmin and Andre for a slot.

"Each month we could have the students do some form of artistic or musical challenge and hold bets."

"Well surely the sponsors would only bet on their own applicant."

"That's not necessarily true, since they're monthly challenges they would just bet on who would be the best and make money or either lose it. Sponsors friends would be invited to place bets as well."

"So we would then bet against them?" Andre began to understand.

"Yes, and since we're always here to see for ourselves all of the students progress we would know who to bet on." I didn't think it was necessarily hustling but rather just having knowledge of a good talent. Though I didn't like to do this what else could we really do to get money?

"Vicomte this is an excellent idea."

"I wish it didn't have to resort to this however." I sighed.

"Do you gamble then?"

"From time to time I'll enjoy playing with luck." I answered. I didn't have to ask Andre to know that he gambled.

Suddenly the door opened. I turned around to see a police officer.

"Vicomte, Monsieur Andre we have completed the police reports." The officer said.

"No accidents I hope?" Andre asked.

"I'm sorry sir but Signore Piangi's body was just found backstage."

"But the fire didn't reach the stage." Andre interjected.

"No sir, it appears that he either committed suicide or was murdered. A hangman's noose was wrapped around his neck. Most likely a murder due to similar finds."

"Similar finds?" Andre's face grew frantic.

"A policeman claims to have found this so called 'Phantom' and that he and two other policemen had chased him up to the roof. Apparently he strangled one to death, and shot the other two each in the arm and leg before knocking them both in the heads leaving them unconscious. Only Officer Roger's woke up out of the two of them."

Andre looked absolutely mortified, but this didn't add up. I went after him when he had plunged through the depths of the theatre with Christine, the only way this could've happened was if after Christine and I left the cellars he went to escape and ran into police. I wasn't exactly keeping track of the time either so there was no way to tell.

"You're sure it was the Phantom?" I asked the officer.

"Yes. Officer Rogers says that he worse the same mask from the performance." He confirmed.

Then it had to be true.

"Speaking of the Phantom; officer did you do a thorough search in the cellars?" Andre asked.

"We're looking for evidence to see if he had plans for what happened earlier written down and any form of identity." The officer responded.

I knew there would be no luck in that, and as much as I didn't want to be in this building anymore I couldn't help but wonder if the Phantom felt the same. That haunting question lingered in my head if he would return, but perhaps he was far away by now.

"Thank you officer." Andre said as the policeman left. But soon enough the door opened again, this time it was Madame Giry.

"Madame Giry how is Lorenzo?" I asked her.

"He is well; just a broken arm and shoulder. He was sleeping when I left."

"And Christine?"

"I told her to watch him in case he woke up wondering where he was."

"You could've asked one of the servants to do that." I frowned upon the thought of making Christine stay awake; surely she had to have been tired after what had happened in the catacombs.

"They were not my servants to order. Christine looked like she could use something to do anyways."

This concerned me. Christine probably was worrying too much about everything, but could I blame her?

"Thank you Madame Giry for taking care of Lorenzo." I felt bad the boy had to come to Paris on such a bad occasion.

"There is nothing to thank me for. I shall see you both soon then?" She said nodding at Andre as well.

"Yes, thank you for resuming your post here." Andre bid.

After Madame Giry left Andre and I had gone over a lot of insurance papers trying to get everything situated to make the next day of work easier. It wasn't until the glow of the sun behind the clouds caught our attention.

"Andre I must go and check on Christine."

"Very well. Vicomte I will need you here later tonight though; we've only less than a week until the Fine Arts Academy presentations begin."

"Yes I'll be back around five o'clock pm. Is that fine?"

Andre nodded and I finally left the opera house. The ride home had made me realize how exhausted I truly was. When I got home I quietly entered The Red Room; the guest room Lorenzo was occupying. There I could see Lorenzo propped up with pillows behind his back as he slept, and to his right was Christine sitting on a chair with her head in her arms resting on the edge of the bed. I walked over to her and lightly kissed the top of her head and breathed in the scent of her hair.

"She just fell asleep not too long ago."

I looked up to see that Lorenzo was awake.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

He shook his head, "I'm a light sleeper. My eyes were just closed."

"It's nice to finally meet you Signore Trentacosta." I held out my right hand until he hesitantly shook mine.

"Thank you…for letting me stay here tonight."

"It's my pleasure. I'm just sorry that you have to have a bad memory for your first night in Paris."

He seemed as if he were in a different place or was distracted by some other thoughts.

"Well Signore Trentacosta I must sleep because I've been at the opera house all night and I must take Christine to a more comfortable place to rest."

"Yes, you do." he strongly agreed.

I lifted Christine into my arms but before leaving the room I turned around to tell Lorenzo that he was welcome to go about the house make himself at home. He thanked me again and then I took Christine into my room and lay her on the magnificent king sized bed. At least here she would be more comfortable. When I went to the bathroom down the hall to change my clothes and brush my teeth my head randomly drop down at times in a desperate cry for sleep. After walking out of the bathroom I looked at the end of the hall where my bedroom was and I knew I wouldn't make it so I went into one of the many other guest rooms and the moment my head hit the pillow I was gone.

A lack of Christine, Erik, or Lorenzo in this chapter, but it was really important to put this in the story for many reasons soon to come. The next chapter will be in Christine's POV when everyone in Raoul's house wakes up but he has to go to work on Valentine's Day, whoop! and Christine and Lorenzo end up talking some more, and when they have this conversation interesting and very crucial things come up, and of course more lying. Don't worry I haven't forgotten about poor Erik, the chapter after will be Erik's POV on Valentine's Day and he'll be discussing things with Madame Giry as she tells him of what the police reports have found. so stick around! Review! Danke shun!