Her body was wracked with sobs. Mia lay on the floor, curled up on the floor in fetal position, her hands over her ears. She needed to make it stop. All she could hear was Erik's voice screaming her name. He sounded so heartbroken, so betrayed. "MIA!" she could hear him scream. His voice, his inconsolable sobs as she ran away from him. She wanted to go back to him, she needed to go back to him, but she knew that she couldn't. Mia knew that if she went back to Erik, she'd never leave him again.
"You filthy little slut," Amelia hissed in the back of her mind.
"Don't call me that!"
"Mia, Mia come back to me."
"I can't, don't you realize that Erik?"
"Ungrateful, unfaithful…"
"Stop it!"
"Can't you see I need you Mia?"
"There's nothing I can do, Erik. I'm trapped here!"
"What would Gaston do to the adulterous whore he's married to when he finds out her dirty little secret?"
"It's not like he's any better!"
"Why did you leave me Mia?"
"Erik, I didn't have a choice!"
She needed to make the voices stop. Mia knew there was only one way that she could make them go away. She staggered into the bathroom where she found Gaston's razor. But no sooner than she opened it, revealing the shiny silver blade, there was a knock on the bedroom door. "Madame?" she heard Hazel call. "Please open the door Madame. I've brought you supper."
Mia reluctantly threw the razor aside and buried her face in her hands. "Just leave it Hazel."
"Madame, you haven't been eating. Please open the door. It'd make me feel so much better if I knew you were eating something."
"Just leave it outside the door Hazel."
"But…"
"LEAVE IT!" she screamed at the door.
There was a moment of silence, before Hazel's soft reply of, "As you wish, Madame." Once she heard Hazel's footsteps, indicating that the maid had left, Mia burst into a fresh wave of tears.
Erik buried his face in the pillow. He could still smell the faintest whiff of her sweet scent. He would trade anything and everything to have Mia back in his arms. "Mia," he moaned. "Mia, why did you leave me?"
"Hello?" He looked up at the sound of a feminine voice. "Erik? Are you there?"
"Mia!" he shouted joyfully. Erik turned to the mirror and saw Mia standing in front of it. He ran to her and took her into his arms, holding her tightly against him. "You came back to me!" Just as suddenly as she appeared, she was gone. Erik looked down at his arms and realized he was only holding air. Mia was never here; he had only imagined it. "No!" he screamed.
He grabbed a candlestick off of the organ and threw it at one of the already shattered mirrors, only succeeding in cracking it further. After that, he grabbed anything and everything he could get his hands on and threw it. Within minutes, the entire lair was coated with sheet music that Erik had flung in his rage, some of it dangerously close to the water's edge, but he didn't care. He stomped across the paper, hours of work wasted, and climbed into the gondola. Erik was determined to find the patron and make Barineau pay. He wanted him to be humiliated. After all, it was it Barineau's fault Mia wouldn't stay with him.
Silent as a shadow, Erik made his way up the secret passage to the prima donna's dressing room. He opened the mirror just enough for him to slip in and out of the room. Barineau and his mistress were in the corner, but they were far more interested in each other than their surroundings. It disgusted him. How could Barineau be so terrible to his wife and have a meaningless relationship with Violet? He knew that the moment the patron grew tired of her, he'd throw her aside and move onto another girl. The only one who wasn't hurt in the long run was Gaston.
Without making a sound, Erik stole across the room and switched Violet's throat spray with one of his own concoctions, the very same that he used on Carlotta the night of Il Muto. "What was that?" Violet asked, hearing Erik close the mirror.
"Nothing Vi," Barineau replied before going in for another kiss.
"Stop," she said, pushing him away. "I've got rehearsal. They'll be upset if I come late again." Violet walked away from her lover and towards the mirror. "My hair! Oh, Gaston look at my hair!"
"You look fine." She finally turned away from her reflection, picked up the crystal bottle with her throat spray, and applied a generous amount. "Come here," the patron instructed before grabbing her and kissing her intensely.
"I have to go," Violet reminded him. "Will I see you tonight?"
Barineau shook his head. "No, I have other engagements."
"Then when will I see you again?"
"As soon as I can."
"Gaston you promised me!"
He turned red in the face. "I KNOW WHAT I PROMISED!" He exhaled slowly before continuing with, "I've told you again and again that these things take time. You'll have to trust me."
"You keep saying that, but you haven't done anything! I can't wait for you forever Gaston!"
"And you won't have to," he answered. "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."
She allowed him to kiss her once more. "You'd better," she said before leaving for rehearsal.
On the way to rehearsal himself, Erik was scowling. He couldn't believe he had to share Mia with that unfaithful, no good, arrogant bastard. If she would just let him, Erik would take Mia away so that she never had to see that smug smirk ever again.
The first few minutes progressed smoothly, as it was chorus buildup to the leading lady. Violet stepped forward for her big, extravagant entrance. She hit the first note perfectly fine, as well as the second and the third, but when she went to hit the fourth, the highest note in the song, it happened. Violet croaked.
Instantly there was chaos. Half of the stagehands and chorus burst into laughter, the other, cries of horror remembering the night it had happened to La Carlotta and the death of Joseph Buquet. Andre and Firmin began shouting for order but to no avail, while Violet dissolved into a fit of hysterics which only made the croaking worse. Finally Barineau stood. "That's eno-CROAK!"
Gasps filled the theater. Erik burst into cruel laughter which echoed around the vast room. "Interested in singing Monsieur?" he called. "I can't imagine how else you'd have access to the Mademoiselle's throat spray. Unless of course, your mouth was somewhere near hers. Tell me, Monsieur, does your wife know about your indiscretion? Is that why she never comes here anymore? Do you keep her away so she won't find out?" Barineau attempted to scream back, but wound up croaking again. The theater burst into uproar and Erik began to cackle again.
"Amelia!" Mia looked up as there was a loud pounding on the door. "Goddammit Amelia, I'm going break down this door if you don't open it right now!" Before Mia could get a word out in response the door burst open, the lock broken. "Amelia!"
"Gaston!" she cried. "What's going on?"
He grabbed her and pinned her against the wall. "What have you done?" he shouted.
"I…I don't understand," she stammered as she tried to escape his vise-like grip. "Gaston please, you're hurting me."
"Where have you been going every day?"
She cringed. "I haven't been anywhere. I haven't left the house for days Gaston. You know that."
"But before! When you were sneaking out every day, where were you going?"
Mia had never been more terrified of her husband in her life. "I was just visiting with some old friends from school," she lied. "With you gone so much with your business trips and being away at the opera, I get so lonely waiting for you to come home."
"LIAR!" he screamed, squeezing her arms tighter. "I know you've been sneaking off to the opera. Don't lie to me! I know! What's his name?!"
Her eyes grew wide. "Who's name?"
"The man who you convinced to humiliate me in front of everyone! Who is he? A stagehand? A chorus member? God forbid, one of the help?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Mia confessed, as tears began to slide down her cheeks. "Gaston, I didn't put anyone up to do anything. Please believe me. I'm you're wife! I would never do anything to hurt you. You're not acting rationally!"
He threw her to the floor, where she landed with a cry. "I'll find out soon enough," he snarled. "You can't keep secrets from me forever." As soon as he stormed out of the room, Mia began to run. She couldn't stay here anymore. Not with Gaston. Not now, not ever again.