By the time I entered the dressing room the next day, my nerves were completely shattered. I was surrounded by lies and secrets and I knew I would eventually get caught in them and strangle myself. But I could not tell anyone; I didn't want to. It was the reason for all the lies in the first place. I was even lying to my friends. When I had returned to practice at the barre the previous day, Meg and Christine all but jumped on me to tell them what Madame Giry had wanted. I told them that since this was my first show, she was just making sure I was not too nervous and was giving me encouragement. The looks they gave me, however, told me that they didn't quite believe me.

On top of the fear that my lies would be found out, and the excited tension from tonight's swiftly approaching gala, my head could think of little beyond the disappointing "meeting" with the mysterious teacher. My stomach twisted and bunched in nervous distress; a most uncomfortable feeling to have before any event. Backstage before dress rehearsal, Christine and Meg at last noticed my distracted mood.

"Lina, what's wrong?" Christine asked as we hurriedly dressed in our costumes.

"Nothing is wrong," I replied.

"You've been distracted all day," Meg countered, sharing a look with Christine.

I shook my head vehemently. "I… It's not something I can explain." I poked around at the hairpins on the vanity in front of me, attempting to keep my facial expression neutral.

"Won't you try?" Christine asked. I glanced quickly up at her. She gave me a sweet smile, that so reminded me of myself from years ago, before life had torn my spirit apart.

We looked a lot alike, Christine and I. Meg told us we could easily fool people into thinking we were sisters. Except for the fact that her eyes were deep chocolate brown and her long dark hair an astounding mass of gorgeous curls, so different from my clear sapphire eyes and own dark, but wavy hair, I was certain Meg was right. A quick glance could confuse someone.

Quickly looking away from Christine, I began to put up my own hair. "I… don't want to hurt anybody's feelings," I said with a furtive glance at Meg.

Meg caught the look, however, and stopped lacing her shoes. "Tell us, Lina." Her look was intense and though her voice was soft, it was demanding.

Sighing in resignation, I said, "Has your mother ever… acted strangely?"

Meg laughed. "How do you mean?"

"As in, speaking of someone who doesn't appear to be there."

At this Christine and Meg looked at one another with an expression I was unable to identify. Sharing another secret; always more secrets.

"There is one she speaks of…" Christine said in a low voice.

"No! We mustn't speak of him!" Meg put a restraining hand on Christine's arm.

"She should know, Meg," Christine insisted. "She'll only hear it from someone else if we don't."

The whole dressing room was descended into chaos; cast members were rushing to get dressed, pieces of costumes flying across the room to owners who had lost them, some pushing and shoving to get to their make-up while others were helping one another; crew members were testing the lighting, testing the mechanics, moving props, and some even just finishing pieces of the set. Yet for all the mayhem, it seemed as if for the three of us girls the world had gone still. An unexplained chill ran up my spine.

Meg's furrowed brow and pursed lips told me she was unhappy to speak on this subject, but when she turned to me her expression was one of resignation. Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "There is a ghost who lives here, in the theatre. We call him the Phantom of the Opera."

"A phantom?" I asked dubiously.

They both nodded.

"So… your mother is not the only one that believes in this Phantom?" I arched an eyebrow.

"As long as we do as he wishes everything goes well, but if we ignore his requests…" Meg trailed off and gave a shrug.

"Then things happen. Bad things," Christine finished. She gave me an almost apologetic look.

Just then a dancer slammed into me from behind, jostling my thoughts back to the reality of the dressing room.

"Watch what you're doing!" the dancer spat at me.

I murmured an apology as she hurried off. The three of us snapped back into our preparations for rehearsal. A few times I noticed Meg giving me a troubled look and I pretended not to notice. She didn't like the way the other ballerinas pushed me around. Moreover, she did not like me taking the abuse. But what Meg did not understand was that I had been through much worse than what these dancers did. Their petty insults hurt a little, but did not sting as much as the cutting remarks I had had to deal with only months ago. If enduring the ballerinas' harassment meant never going back to the cutting remarks, then endure them I would.

Thinking about my past, even for that split second, dredged up words, horrible words, spoken to me in complete disgust. The memory of them made my breath catch. Tears came swiftly and unbidden, burning my eyes. I squeezed them shut tight, willing the memory away to make the tears stop.

I felt a hand touch my arm and then heard Christine's gentle voice in my ear. "Jacqueline, are you alright?"

Blinking rapidly, I nodded. "I'm fine," I said. I smiled at her reassuringly.

She looked uncertain, but smiled back at me.

"Come on! We'll be late!" Christine grabbed my hand and tugged my arm, bidding me to follow her and Meg.

"Hold on!" I laughed, gently prying Christine's hand from mine. "I need my shoes on first." I turned around to grab them, but they were missing. I knew I had left them right under the vanity in front of me. The smile dropped from my face and I spun back to Christine and Meg, wide-eyed and panicked.

"My shoes!" I said. "They're gone."

"What?"

"My shoes were right here and now they are not."

Meg frowned and pursed her lips together. "We'll help you find them," she said.

We searched everywhere we could in the dressing room with no luck.

"Lost something?" asked a passing ballerina. Her tone implied she knew exactly what I had lost… and undoubtedly knew how they had gone missing in the first place. The stifled giggles from her two friends did nothing to lessen my feelings that she was guilty. I glared at her and didn't answer.

"Hm. Too bad," she sighed, feigning pity. "Maybe you'll find them before bed."

Christine, Meg, and I stared after the trio of ballerinas as they strolled off. Them. She had said them. That wretch had taken my shoes and hidden them. Before I could start crying in despair Meg grabbed my arm.

"'Maybe you'll find them before bed,'" she quoted, looking at me intensely. "Lina! Let's check the dormitory."

As it turned out my friend Meg was brilliant. I found my shoes under my bed. Meg and Christine stayed with me while I put them on, then we hurried down to where we knew Madame Giry would be instructing the girls on the barre for warm-ups. We rushed down the stairs, jabbering the whole time, the two of them pausing at the bottom to dust their pointe shoes while I skipped on ahead to the barre.

Since I was wearing so much tulle in my skirt that a whole new outfit could be made from it, I skipped the warm ups this time. But I dutifully stood nearby waiting for Madame Giry to tell me what to do next. While I waited, I stole a covert glance at the girls who had hidden my shoes from me. Two of them were actually paying attention to what they were doing, but one shot a nasty glance my way. I saw her look at my feet for a second and witnessed the disgust on her face. I was certain she was upset that I had found my shoes… more than that, she was upset that I was still in the show. Which was completely ridiculous as I was not dancing with the ballerinas anyway. I was to be acting and singing with the chorus. And… the diva.

I could not stand that woman. An arrogant peacock of a woman, La Carlotta the prima donna strutted about and acted almost as if she were the one in charge. In a way, I suppose she was. It seemed that if she did not like something then it was changed to suit her taste. Thankfully, this had nothing to do with me so I was lucky in that I did not have to engage her. I was certain if I ever did speak to her she would ignore me or perhaps have one of her sycophants throw me out of the theatre.

Unfortunately, I did have to get near her during this act. I had to walk right past her, which was a path I generally avoided.

I did my best to put aside my fears and doubts and prejudice and concentrate on what I was supposed to do. Choreography and singing! I was supposed to sing! I did not have to fake the broad smile I wore.

We all sang:

With feasting and dancing and song

Tonight in celebration

We greet the victorious throng

Returned to bring salvation.

Meg was right. It was thrilling! I found it thrilling just to be able to sing again. But it was made all the more magnificent by being a dress rehearsal. The costumes of gold, red, white, and blue, fantastic red feather plumes on the men's helmets, Carlotta's jeweled head-dress and golden make-up - all moving and shifting on the stage with the crystal chandelier watching us from its height in the great vaulted ceiling. I had never felt better. Never more alive! And honestly, never had felt more like I belonged.

I went over the choreography in my mind, hearing Madame Giry's voice in my head, knowing that she watched from the side and that if I made a misstep that I would hear her voice directly in my ear.

The tenor, Ubaldo Piangi, came forward for his solo. He had not gotten very far when I heard a commotion behind us. I tried to ignore it, but it proved impossible. Despite being under the scrutiny of Madame Giry, I turned to see what was going on.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: Sorry it was such a long wait for this chapter! I was on vacation and then had another trip on top of that. But I'm back now! However, I've only got one more chapter to post for this story before I hit the end of my reserves. I'm working tirelessly to finish the following chapter, but as any of you fellow writers know, it's not always an easy thing to do.

Your comments encourage me to write faster, so thank you all for the wonderful response! :)

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope to have another one up next week!