Chapter 28
2 months later.
"Erik Destler, what are you doing now?" asked a very tired looking Mme. Giry. The whole cast had been practising for Il Muto for the past 8 weeks and not a single person had their lines memorised, in a word this was turning into a disaster. Maestro was speaking with Richard in low tones about a certain bar in a measure he was playing incorrectly and Erik allowed himself a brief smile of pleasure before Mme. Giry's accusatory comment. The previous smile, however, was not the cause of Mme. Giry frustration, it was in fact because Erik had been covering his mouth to stifle a giggle along with Gregory at the ridiculous costume that Senior Pianji and La Carlotta were now sporting around the stage. Both of the 'stars' however were completely oblivious to the fact that they did look very ridiculous, which made the whole situation even more hilarious. "Erik!" Shouted Mme. Giry again, but she was angry this time and the smile dropped off Erik's face as she moved quickly towards him and Gregory.
"Mme?" inquired Erik with as straight a face as he could manage at the moment.
"This is not play time Erik." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "If you believe so, I shall send you back to the orphanage, where you can play with kids your own age." Erik smiled up at Mme. Giry the combination of the Christine's support and the fact that he had been given the lead, if only the understudy, for both the Operas had made him unafraid of Mme. Giry.
"Will you?" he raised his eyebrow at her and there was a short silence between the two of them before Mme. Giry rolled her eyes and turned huffily to walk back to centre stage. Erik grinned to himself and watched with amusement at La Carlotta and Senior Pianji strutting around stage.
"Places everyone, we're starting from the top…again." Mme. Giry sighed.
"It's not my fault if people keep stepping on my costume and making me trip!" said Pianji in a hurt tone. He waltzed off stage with Erik following as his servant and Carlotta began to screech at the pageboy and the other servants. Maestro stuck up the opening bars of the overture and rehearsal began.
The Phantomess watched from up above in her box at the murder that was taking place on stage. The victim's name was Opera and something had to be done. Something would be done. A plan began to form in her crafty mind and she disappeared into the shadows down to her lair to prepare for later.
Opening Night: 5 weeks later…Opening night was always a welcomed and yet, stressful ordeal to go through for not only the actors, but the musicians and nowadays even for the managers. They were used to sipping champagne and trying to get into young girls' skirts: for them opening night was the night. Since the increasing threatening notes from the Opera Ghostess, they had been reduced to mere blubbering forms, rarely coming forth from their tiny office and petrified of any and all spooky looking women. A change Erik mused, that was quite humorous as times. However humour was the last thing on young Erik Destler's mind since he was waiting anxiously in the wings for his part to come up. Not only was he nervous for his second big role, two of the most important people in his life were watching him perform: Rachelle and Christine. Rachelle had sent a beautiful bouquet of purple Orchids and rather a large box of chocolates, which under the inspection by the managers had mysteriously disappeared, and chocolate smudges on their faces did appear. Erik shook his head, he didn't really care for chocolates very much anyway anymore. Erik glanced sadly at box 5 to where Rachelle and her sister now sat talking gaily to each other. Rachelle wore a midnight blue dress tonight that sparkled with many little diamonds and had her hair curled up with a few loose strands cascading down her back. He took a glance at himself in the mirror and sighed in despair, unhappy to see how much Rachelle and he had changed since their former childhood days. Erik glanced back up at the vision that was Rachelle in her stunning and no doubt very expensive dress, and as the light hit the diamonds in her dress, they reminded him of stars in the night.
Music of the Night…The other woman who was watching Erik tonight, well more of a ghost than a woman was Christine, the Phantomess of the Opera. Erik knew she was with him and watching over him always, although she never sent a note written in gold like Rachelle, but Christine did send her usual single red rose tied neatly with a black ribbon. Erik felt a strange sense of calm flow through him when he had been in his dressing room earlier that night holding it up to the light. Even though they had had their disagreemtns in the past, Erik knew she was just tough with him because he could do much better than he was at the moment. Erik felt like a silly little boy when she scolded him for not focusing on her music, but he felt deep down there was some sort of maternal love that she possessed for him, which got him through the long vocational studies with Christine in her lair. Since their big argument in the room after he and Rachelle had kissed, Erik had done everything in his power to impress or at least satisfy her in some small way. Since that awful night he had thrown everything he had into his voice and her music, and she seemed to get less and less frustrated with him. Occasionally she offer him small compliments, but her greatest reward to him would be if she left the lessons early and they just sang together. During those moments Erik would feel his soul leave his body and rise up to sing with the Angels, just as his human form was singing on earth with his very own Angel of Music. These times Erik felt as if each passing minute was a divine drop of eternity, and longed desperately for when Christine would say those magical words to him: "I believe we've done enough work for now Erik. Let us take a break for the rest of the night."
These thoughts seemed to comfort his twisted emotions as he struggled not to throw up from the combination of nerves and Carlotta screeching. A few bars played without her croaking, which meant his cue had arrived and he waltzed out behind the enormous Pianji.
TAP TAP"Why who canna this be?" sang Carlotta in response to the 'knock' on her stage bedroom door.
"Gentle wife admit your loving husband!" Roared Pianji as he stepped into her bedroom and slapped one of the maids on the behind, laughing drunkenly. The maid scurried out of the way and Erik followed Pianji closer towards Carlotta taking her hand in his own. Pianji gazed out to the audience and his expression softened. "My love, I'm called to England an affairs of State." Pianji's eyes turned hungrily to a maid who was hunched over the bed folding clothes quietly. "And must leave you with your new maid." As he said this Pianji stepped away from Carlotta and placed his arm around the maid and turned again to the audience grinning mischievously. "Though I would happily take the maid with me." The maid gave a girlish giggle and moved away quickly and Carlotta approached Pianji, her shrill voice cut through the air painfully and Erik tried not to grimace as the two of them sang in harmony together as husband and wife. Minutes later an interruption was caused, but not the one Erik wanted.
"Didn't I instruct that Box 5 was to be kept empty!" Bellowed the Phantomess as her furious tone rang around the Paris Opera House walls making all inside cower at the raw power of it. Erik shrunk back in terror, for he had never heard her that angry before in his life. Everyone stood stone still, afraid to ever breathe for everyone had heard that the Phantomess might have existed, but it was on this famous night that she revealed herself to the public. And the public was terrified.
Erik was the first to start, half out of shock and half out of curiosity.
"It's her. I know it, it's her." He half whispered urgently to no one in particular. Pianji who was at least a breath away from Erik at the time, and who seemed unaffected by the Phantomess, turned his massive form and sneered at the young and frightened Erik.
"Your part is silent little Toad!" he hissed venomously and Erik took a step back as a new wave of fright seized him.
"A Toad Monsieur?" The Phantomess asked in a somewhat amused tone, compared to the previous one she had used. Colour flushed into Pianji's cheeks as he slowly rotated back to face the audience and gave a furious glare up to the chandelier and where the supposed voice was coming from, but to tell the truth the adeptness of the Phantomess' ventriloquism made her impossible to locate. Her voice lowered to a dangerous whisper "Perhaps it is you who are the toad…" Her menacing form and presence retreated from the giant room of the Paris Opera Auditorium. A small collective sigh was heard throughout the audience and chatter began to break out in little groups around the place. Groups of people began to stand up and when the exaulted Senior Pianji realized that he was loosing his audience he took centre stage and began to speak.
"Oh excuse me for the interruption Ladies and Gentlemen." He took a low bow and noticed that the people who were about to leave had their eyes on him once again. Pianji allowed a brief smile and glared at Maestro as if to say, 'Play or you will never play again.' "Maestro, from the beginning please." He smiled falsely to Maestro and then to the audience as he returned to his starting position with Erik just behind him as usual.
TAP TAPCarlotta still stood frozen on stage and so Pianji took things into his own hands, and not for the first time either.
"Gentle wife admit your loving husband." He stole a quick glance to the audience to see them settling back down and then launched again into his part as he took centre stage. "My love, I'm called to England an affairs of State, and must leave you with your new maid." The skittish ballet girl who was playing the maid, had completely forgotten her part and stood dumbly on the spot. Pianji, however ignored her and continued on gaining more courage, which seemed to pass on to Carlotta because she began to move quietly in her spot mumbling something to herself. Pianji faced the audience and delivered his next cheeky line, "Though I would happily take the maid with me." A nervous chuckle circulated the house and Pianji turned to face Carlotta and they began to harmonise together with Erik wincing in the background. La Carlotta and Senior Pianji joined hands in the middle of the stage and both were brimming with confidence when the unthinkable happened…
CROAK!A/N: Hello all my reviewers. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for sticking by through all this because well, it's been so very hectic, I can't really describe it to you. That and the fact that I was having a difficult time getting past the last scene. Hopefully this cursed writer's black will be at an end and I can write more chapters from now on. Thank you all again. Read on and stay tuned!