Look! A new story! ...yay!

This one has self-insertion again (much like Writer's Block), but this time I am accompanied by 3 classmates, each of which represents something: Kristen, my best friend, Seth, some...guy...I decided...to pick out... because I needed a bigger cast, and Mike, my link to the rest of the world. And yes, I'll be called Amanda.

We are taken from our lil' school and put in the book. Good enough.

Disclaimer: For the story. I don't own POTO, Gaston Leroux does. His last name cracks me up.

x0o0x

Amanda groaned and placed a hand on her head. It was throbbing painfully, and the fact that she was leaning against a stone wall really didn't help.

"Where the flip am I...?"

She opened her eyes and saw nothing but complete blackness in front of her. Gradually her eyes distinguished a stone wall in front of her, and a couple of slumped forms against it.

One of them stirred, and a male's voice pierced the air.

"Mike? Dan? Why am I calling for Dan...is anyone out there?"

The boy's head turned to her, and he reached out a hand.

"Um...hi..."

Amanda swallowed and waved a little, though she knew he could barely see. "Izzat you, Seth?"

He withdrew his hand quickly and turned. "Hi, Amanda."

She heard someone else move, and a hand was put on her shoulder. "Ohh..."

"Kristen?"

Kristen sat up straight and blinked. "Where are we?"

Across the hall, Amanda could hear Seth sigh with relief. "Oh good, Kristen's here."

The last form moved. "Woah...that was weird."

"Mike?" Everyone looked at him as he shifted.

"Okay...that's...Seth, that's...Amanda, and that's...Kristen."

Amanda sprung up, not being one to let a chance at being the leader pass by. "M-kay! Anyone know where we are?"

"The bathroom at school with the lights off?" Seth asked, gesturing to the slime covering the walls. Mike laughed.

"Nah, the bathroom's more of a health risk."

Kristen piped up, "Oh, I know! We're at Amanda's house!"

Seth gave Amanda a look of horror.

Amanda snorted. "Not MY room. The only place I know like this in my home is my brother's room."

She turned around and saw a hint of light ahead. "Follow meh."

The other teens scrambled up and followed Amanda, each in a slight daze. They peeped down other winding corridors suspiciously, Kristen squeaking at a few rats that lay here and there.

Finally they reached the end. Looking through what seemed to be a window, they saw a comfortably furnished room. Couches were here and there. A wardrobe of considerable size stood against one wall, and a dresser covered in hair thingies was in one corner. Rugs lined the floor, and the rooms were a light shade of pink, although the gas lamps cast shadows across the-

"GAS LAMPS!" Seth exclaimed, pointing to one that sat upon the dresser, which was the closest in his view.

Mike staggered back. "Weren't they used in, like, the 1800's or something?"

Kristen nodded frantically. "But what are we looking through?"

She stood there, looking ahead blankly, then cried out.

"Amanda...!"

Amanda's jaw was already to the floor, her eyes wide. "Kristen, fetch me a danish!"

"What?"

"We're in the book!" Amanda squealed and started clapping her hands, dancing from foot to foot and cackling maniacally. "The book!The book! LALALALALA! Sexy original Phantom! Blond Christine! Raoul with facial hair! Hee hee hee..."

By now everyone was weirded out, but Kristen was pretty used to it, so she just stared off into space, humming something.

Suddenly Amanda stopped and took a deep breath.

Kristen covered her ears. "Oh no..."

"YA DA DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DA DUN DUN..."

Seth started shouting, pissed-off-Malvolio style. "Shut up! Amanda, chill!"

Amanda stopped with a pout, whimpering at being told off.

"Kristen, everything will be alright. Wait, no, I didn't say that-"

Kristen stopped trembling and put on a creepy smile, paired up with a malevolent glare as she looked up at Seth.

"Seth...everything will be alright..."

"Um..."

Mike was cowering in a corner. "Too...much...noise!" He whipped out his Nano, stuck the earphones in his ears, and started singing out loud. "Boom boom boom boom, I want you in my room..." Mike was immediately off in his own perverted Mike-world, while Amanda was giving Seth deer-eyes and Kristen's face was stuck in her creepy expression.

Amanda's ears twitched.

Seth opened his mouth, but Amanda hushed him. She even got Mike to stop singing as well. "Listen!" she hissed.

Sure enough, a rustling sound was heard, not far off in the distance. In fact, it was coming closer.

"Hold your jaw!" she whispered to the group, who reluctantly obeyed. She held out a hand, turned, and headed off down the narrow corridors.

She winded down the halls, working off of what she vaguely knew from the book and a little off of the movie. There wasn't much light and she could barely see as it was. She followed the sound of the silk, but it seemed to get her nowhere but dead ends and other corridors. Amanda let out a sigh as she entered another hallway. She didn't even have any idea where she had started, where she was, or even what cellar she was in, for that matter. Again she heard the silk, but it was so dangerously close that she clutched her jaw and froze in place, expecting a noose around her neck or a pair of cold hands seizing her by the shoulders. The rustling stopped, and she looked around, trying to see in the almost non-existant light.

A slight rustle was heard around a corner far ahead of her, and faintly she could make out two yellow dots beaming down upon her.

"Vincent Malloy on a birthday cake," she mumbled, using her own made-up curse.

A smooth baritone cut through the air, but it wasn't coming from the direction of the dots. In fact, it sounded like it was right next to her ear.

"Who are you?"

Amanda let out a soft cry.

"Scratch that. Vincent Malloy doing YOGA."

The voice spoke again, but it sounded annoyed this time.

"I asked you a question: who are you?"

Amanda opened her mouth to say something witty, but what came out was her shy voice, small and slightly broken. "I'm Amanda. I'm...not really from around here...I'm with some of my friends-"

"What are their names?" The two dots approached as the rustling sound started up again, and Amanda felt a chill snake up and down her spine. She slowly released her jaw.

"Kristen, Seth, and Mike."

The dots flickered and stopped, halfway to her.. "Ah, so there are men with you?"

"More like boys, if you ask me...we're all twelve or thirteen."

"How old are you?"

"Twelve..."

The voice hesitated, but she saw the eyes look her up and down. It spoke again, but it sounded amused this time. "Men's clothing, hmm?"

She looked down at her jeans, and sweatshirt. "Like I said, I'm not really from around here."

"Exactly WHERE are you from?" The dots approached again. Amanda instinctively took a step back.

"Long story. Listen, we've got nowhere to go. We were just in our Green classes-"

Amanda stopped. Obviously he had no idea what she was talking about. He must think that she had lost her mind, standing here in what was considered innapropriate clothing for this era and rambling on about her friends and school.

"Erm..." She took a deep breath, gathering up all of her wittiness. It's just Kristen being all scary-making.

"The question is, who are YOU?"

The dots moved quicker than Amanda could blink, and they were in front of her. An unfamiliar but unpleasant smell had appeared in the air in front of her, and she looked up, craning her neck to stare into the eyes.

"Take me to them."

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What's he gonna do? ;o

You won't know 'till you review! (Woah, that rhymes.)