The Girl on Fire-A Phantom of the Opera fanfiction

The Girl on Fire-Part 2

         Beads of sweat began to collect on Anastasia's forehead as she scrubbed the steps of the huge marble staircase that lead to the auditorium of the opera house. She had been working since the early hours of the morning and she was not used to working this hard all day. Sure, in her past years she was all too familiar with cooking and cleaning for anyone who would give her a few francs for it, but the constant labor at a place such as grand and large had begun to take its toll on her. Through the small windows in the front doors, Anastasia could see the sun beginning to set on Paris, casting a lovely light orange and pink color to coat the sky. Even though she was not a dancer quite yet, she was glad that life could be simple right now. Simple meant calm, and calm meant not being angry. An emotion she had to avoid to keep everyone around her safe. Humming a mellow tune, Anastasia continued to scrub the floors. She was nearly finished.

       The bucket had been returned to the cleaning closet, and Anastasia was all to eager to go to sleep, and even better, change out of the basic black dress and white apron she was wearing. She much preferred colors like dark and light red, but rarely wore them due to her low income. She began walking out of the opera house and making her way towards the small hotel she was staying at, when she heard a sudden shrieking sound. It seemed to come from a woman, and Anastasia immediately began running towards the sound. Turning the corner she came upon and alleyway, and saw a woman being pressed up against the brick wall with a mans hand over her mouth. The woman seemed to be quite wealthy and the man quite poor. there was no doubt in Anastasia's mind that this was a robbery. The man had yet to see her, giving Anastasia the element of surprise. She pulled a small pocket knife from her pocket and swiftly stepped up behind the man, holding it to his throat. "Do not move" she said quietly but sternly. "Take your hands off of her and no one gets hurt" she said, trying to stop the pure anger, and adrenaline that was coursing through her veins. The man complied silently, and the woman ran away quickly. Moving the knife away, she then pushed the man away. "Well, well, aren't you the little hero?" Anastasia could practically smell the alcohol wafting in the air from him. She kept the knife pointed at him as she stepped back out of the alley. But she could have sworn that she saw another dark figure on the opposite end, and the glimmer of white on half of its face ensured it was not her imagination.

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       The room was never silent. There was always a conversation in the room next door, or a rodent running around. The room wasn't very dirty, but it also wasn't very clean. The sun had just begun to rise, and in the distance over top of the buildings and shops Anastasia could see the top of the opera house in the distance. The walk was not too terrible, but it was not too pleasant either. It was through a part of town where there where many poor people. Desperate for food. But if there were any unpleasant encounters, her money was under a secret spot under the floorboards in her room, and there was a loaf of bread in her bag. During her walk, Anastasia couldn't get the image of the masked man out of her head. Who was he? Why was he there? Should she be afraid of him? All questions she had that went un-answered. At least for now they were. She turned the corner and the opera house was getting closer with every step. But a breeze blew throughout the street, in the midst of spring, causing a sneeze to erupt from Anastasia. This was a normal human function, but having to dust embers off of her sleeve after said function, was not.