Hello everyone! So I am once again terribly sorry about updating but I have been in Jamaica for the past week and haven't been able to get to it. So here is chapter 6 and I am really excited for this chapter because a certain masked man is back and he is rather playful (if that's the word I'm looking for) in this chapter haha.
So I hope everyone is having an awesome summer and I would really like to hear from all of you so reviews would once again be greatly appreciated! Thanks!(:
The evening was going beautifully so far! The air was crisp, the stars were bright and the moon shown perfectly on the small café where two young new friends sat in the window laughing and enjoying each other's company. Jack had led May to a lovely café a little ways away from the opera house; together they sat sharing stories and memories and different things about themselves to each other. May was completely fixated over her new friend and his beautifully handsome charm. She discovered that Jack was 18 years old, 3 years older than she was, his family was rather wealthy and owned an extravagant estate just outside of town, and he was an avid opera goer, loved the color blue, enjoyed animals and when he was younger he always wanted to become an artist.
Not only was May learning a lot about Jack but Jack was also learning a lot about May. He learned that the young women sitting in front of him loved the color yellow, always wanted to be a singer, adored dogs, hated being the tallest ballerina, lived within the opera house, and always dreamed of traveling the world someday. Jack also learned that May looked beautiful in the moonlight. He was so transfixed on the girl that he hardly paid attention to anything else. Together now the two acquaintances laughed over a ridiculous story of Jacks childhood.
"Jack you must be joking!" May was laughing of the absurdness of the story.
"oh believe me I'm not, when I slid down the railing on the staircase, I knocked right into my father who ran into my grandfather hitting him clear off his feet." Jack retold the humorous story just to enjoy hearing May's laugh. "Even though I was grounded for a week everybody still found it quite humorous"
May was laughing again. As both there laughter died down Jack held May's glare and smiled at her grabbing her hand. "Maygen, you have a beautiful smile." May blushed at his compliment; Suddenly Jack reached up and lightly caressed her cheek. May held his gaze for another moment then broke it.
"Oh um what time is it" Jack looked at May confused for a moment then glanced at a clock on the wall.
"Ten thirty, why?"
"Oh I have to get back." May stood to leave and Jack stood up with her grabbing her arm lightly.
"So soon?"
"Yes I'm sorry I really need to get back"
"Then let me walk you there" May held his gaze for a moment.
"That… that would be lovely, thank you." Swiftly Jack picked up Mays cloak and draped it lightly over her shoulders and then he led her outside where they began on their way back to the opera populaire.
As they ventured back to the opera house through the empty Parisian streets, the two joked some more and told extravagant stories and memories. Finally they made it back to the steps of the opera house and stood gazing at each other under the shining moonlight.
" Jack, thank you for an amazing evening! It was absolutely wonderful getting to know you!" May was standing a step above jack so she was finally at eye level with him.
"Please there is no need to thank me." The two were silent for a moment just enjoying each other's presence. "May you are such a wonderful girl, I would love to see you again sometime soon."
May smile lightly at him, "I'd like that two" They both smile brightly.
"Well until then Mademoiselle .Daily," Jack slowly lifts May's right hand and places a feather light kiss to it. She blushes at the softness of his lips against her skin.
"I'll be waiting Monsieur Oliver." Jack laughs lightly. "Goodnight Jack"
"Goodnight May." They share one last gaze then may spins around and runs up the stairs to the opera house. Jack watches the young girl as she leaves and stands amazed by her beauty and adorable personality. He is truly astounded by the young ballerina.
As May reaches the doors of the Opera house she pushes them open and enters the rather dark lobby. At this time of night most of the ensemble members are gone leaving the few ballerinas who live within the dormitories. Moving as quickly as possible; May races through the empty halls making her way to her room. Her idea was to venture down through the catacombs to retrieve her satchel without being caught by the phantom but something quickly made her change her mind. Suddenly there was a loud crash then the sound of shattering glass and a thick curse that stopped May in her tracks. Peering around a corner May spotted Joseph Bouquet standing in a puddle of rum and smashed glass. A loud gasp escaped May's lips as she spotted the disgustingly creepy stage hand. Quickly Bouquet spun around and spotted the girl. He began racing towards her yelling incoherent words in his drunken state. May pushed herself away from the wall and sprinted down the hallway and up the spiral staircase leading to her room. In the distance she could still hear Bouquet yelling random words as she flung her door open and slammed it shut leaning against it and panting heavily.
Panting like crazy May spoke softly to herself. "I- I can't. I can't go back out there. He'll get me. He'll get me for sure." Sliding down the door May sat down trying to regain control. Slowly her breathe caught up to her and she was able to calm down. Standing on shaking legs May slowly walked to her wardrobe grabbing a light pink night gown then changing into it. She sat down at her make up vanity and lightly brushed through her curls as she made the decision to get her satchel after tomorrow night's performance.
And though it's clear though it was always clear
That this was never meant to be,
If you happen to remember
Spare a thought for me.
Christine sang away center stage while May stood alone in the wings softly humming along. May was the only one to see that something wasn't right with Christine. Her voice seemed to not be as golden and bright as the day before, also she looked exceptionally tired and warn out. As the young ballerina hummed along with the new Prima Donna, she was spinning a detailed plan in her mind as to how she would get her satchel from the phantom. Quickly Christine's song ended with a soaring cadenza and she pranced off the stage and ran right past May. Swiftly May ran after her grabbing her arm. Christine stopped with a gasp and turned around hurriedly to face her friend.
"Oh my goodness May you scared me!"
"Oh I'm sorry Christine. Um a-are you alright you don't seem yourself today?" Christine looked at May differently.
"Me? Yes I'm alright just um well just a little tired that's all." The way Christine looked at May showed without a doubt that she was hiding something from her friend.
"Are you sure Christine, I was kind of worried."
"Yes I'm ok. Thank you for being worried but I am completely fine May. Trust me" May was worried; Christine was still hiding something form her; But what? Suddenly Meg came prancing up to the two girls with a wide smile on her face.
"Christine, Christine I cannot believe it! Oh my goodness I cannot believe it!" Meg was beyond giddy as she reached the girls grabbing Christine's arm.
"What can't you believe?" Christine looked at Meg confused.
"You and the Vicomte, I had no idea." May had no idea what the girls were talking about.
"What's a Vicomte?" Meg looked at the girl shocked.
"What's a Vicomte? Haha I believe you mean who is a Vicomte." May glanced at Christine looking for an answer.
"Meg is talking about Raoul de Chagny.." Meg interrupted Christine.
"Oh Raoul is beyond handsome, oh Christine you are so lucky to have him as a suitor!" Christine glanced at Meg shocked.
"A suitor? Meg me and Raoul are only childhood friends, he is not my suitor."
"Whatever you say Madame de Chagny haha!" Meg was joking with Christine, who gave a sympathetic laugh.
May suddenly spoke up. "Well he sounds wonderful! I have to go get ready; I will see you girls in a little." With that May turned and ran to her dressing room to get ready for the night's performance.
The performance that night went quickly and fairly well. May did an amazing job dancing and Christine stunned the audience with her voice, even though it was not one hundred percent. After final curtain calls May made her way back to her dressing room where she quickly changed into a beautiful dark blue gown that flowed at the wait and had hints of gold along the chest and along the sleeves that went halfway down her arms. May faced her mirror and let her curls her golden curls flow over her shoulder. Grabbing a light cloak and a small candle May peeked out her dressing room door to see if the hallways were finally empty. They were so she swiftly ran down the hallway to the hidden door she found and began her journey down through the dark catacombs of the opera house.
Her journey was long and tedious but finally after a long time of walking May saw the light coming from the phantoms lair. Making her way inside she inspected the area to see if he was there. No sight of him. She then found the plank that allowed her to get across the lake and set it down with a soft plunk and made her way across. Once across she again glanced around the area looking for the masked man but he wasn't in sight so she began to search. She ran up towards the area where he had thrown her to the ground but nothing was there. She began searching around his piano but all there was was scattered sheet music.
"Well if it isn't the little blonde girl again!" The familiar ominous golden voice pierced the quiet air like a dagger. May yelped with fear and whirled around to see who was behind her. May was struck with the sight of a white mask and a beautifully mysterious man who wore it.
"You just couldn't get enough of me couldn't you?" The masked man smiled wickedly and paced over to the young women in his lair.
"Monsieur Le Phantom, good to see you again." Her words were shaky and soft as they escaped her lips. The phantom slowly approached her and leaned up against the piano as she stood in front of him. May notice that his hands were behind his back the entire time he walked to her and even as he leaned against his grand piano.
"Why are you here girl?" He spoke with a touch of interest in his voice.
"I believe you have something of mine." The phantom gazed at her wickedly.
"Do I now? And what might that be?"
"My satchel," The phantom stood tall now in front of her.
"Does it happen to look like this?" Unexpectedly he held up her satchel in front of him.
"Yes that's it thank you…" May reached out to grab her satchel but the phantom pulled it away from her.
"Not so fast, what would a little girl like you be doing with such a heavy bag like this?" He began walking away inspecting the outside of the bag.
"That sir is none of your business. Now if you wouldn't mind handing me…" The opera ghost cut her off.
"Oh well what do we have here? It looks like candles, a couple of matches, a first aid kit, hmm smart girl, a compass, and oh, oh what's this; a diary?" He held out May's journal.
"Please give that to me.." May went to grab the journal but he pulled it out of her reach and backed away.
"Now what could an innocent little girl like you have to write about?" He began to open the journal flipping through the pages.
"Please I beg of you…"
"November 3rd, last night I snuck out of the opera house and ventured through the streets of Paris. Everything was beautiful no one seemed to wonder why I was alone but that was ok. There were so many different stores and sights. Unfortunately I was caught and brought back to the opera house. At least I got a glimpse of Paris. You little rebel you." He was reading everything aloud as May stood beyond embarrassed.
"Please stop…"
"March 20th, Today Meg told me of the opera ghost. No one has ever seen him but I want to. The fact that this ghost lives within the opera house is horrifying yet thrilling. I hope I can see him one day. Everyone seems to be afraid of him; they say he wears a mask and has eyes like a cat. That hardly sounds scary to me. Everybody here is just mean. What if he's not a ghost, what if he's just a man? Oh well let them all think what they want. Awww Miss. Daily I am flattered."
"Thank you but please give it.."
"Here's a good one! December 22nd, Christmas is almost here; Another Christmas without Papa and Mother. There is a new boy at the opera his name is Jonathan. He is rather handsome and very nice. For some reason I cannot seem to find the courage to talk to him. Meg has a fine time talking with him, why can't I? Well maybe tomorrow I'll talk to him and who knows maybe I'll get a special Christmas gift or even a kiss!. May you dog!" May was bright read from embarrassment.
"Stop it now!" Swiftly May lunged forward grabbing the journal out of his hands. The phantom gave a deep laugh of self-satisfaction; he obviously enjoyed playing games.
"No harm done?" He held up his hands in defeat. May was silent for a while as she silently questioned him.
She sighed in defeat. "No harm done."
"Good!" He turns and slowly walks towards the lake; meanwhile May places her journal into her satchel and inspects it to see if everything is inside. She notices a stitching on the strap that wasn't there before. She realized that it must have broken and he fixed it.
"You fixed my bag?" The phantom stood at the edge of the lake as he turned to face her.
"Yes. The strap broke so I thought it would be nice to fix it."
"Oh, thank you."
"You're welcome." The phantom began walking towards her again. "I saw you get hurt yesterday… are you alright?" He was now standing in front of the girl who looked at him confused but glad.
"Yes I'm alright, thank you." May smiles at him,
"Does your leg still hurt at all?" May looked down at her leg which was covered by a layer of silk and skirts.
"Umm yes, yes it actually does."
"Well here wait here for a moment I'll be right back." With that Erik left the room and entered a different one. May was confused but did what he said and stood still waiting for him to return. Soon enough he returned with a small glass container of something in his hands.
"Here this should help the pain." He handed her the glass container. May inspected the container cautiously.
"Thank you" They were quiet for a moment. "Um what is this exactly?"
"Oh it's a mix of different Persian herbs that takes the pain away. An old friend of mine gave it to me." May opened the container and smelled the paste inside. It smelled of aloe and herbs.
"OK well thank you."
"Of course," They were quiet for a moment again. "By the way your dancing last night was phenomenal; absolutely exquisite!" May blushed lightly causing the man in front of her to smile.
"Thank you Monsieur Le Phantom." May smiled at him again. "Am I still not allowed to know your name?"
"You will learn in time." May sighed I defeat again and Erik turned and walked towards the piano.
"May I ask you something?" He turned to face the curious girl.
"I guess."
"Do you know of the Vicomte de Chagny?" Suddenly the phantom stiffened up as he gazed at the girl with cold eyes. It took him sometime to speak up and when he did his voice was cold and low losing the golden-ness and beauty.
"I do indeed, but please do not mention his name again. Raoul de Chagny is not a good man and should not be spoken of." May was confused how he could he be saying he was a terrible man when Meg and Christine thought he was wonderful.
"Oh I- I'm sorry I asked." The phantom looked up at the girl with a bit more warmth in his eyes than before.
"It's fine." They were both quiet. "It is late I suggest you be on your way. You need your rest for tomorrow's performance. Goodnight Miss. Daily and don't forget your bag again." May threw her bag over her shoulder confused.
"Goodnight Monsieur. And thank you for fixing my satchel." She then turned and left.
Watching her leave Erik thought things over for a moment considering the girl then decided to retire to his piano for the night to compose and lose himself in his music.
Wooo that was a biggy! Longest chapter yet WOOT WOOT! So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I really enjoyed writing it and especially Erik's parts haha! So I would love to hear from you all so please review and tell me what you think! Thanks so much!(:
Ps. I have a notebook where I write out an outline for all the chapters and right in the beginging I have a side note that literally says Que Jack manly charm! Lol I thought that was funny! Ok have an awesome week everyone!(: