Blood & Glitter in Paris (Phantom of the Opera/Labyrinth)

Chapter 4

Erik wasn't happy. The managers had dared to not allow his darling to continue her singing at all. She wasn't to make a peep anywhere in the city where she might be heard. His box had been sold directly against many warning to the contrary and his box-keeper had been fired. He was furious. Furious enough to plan to ruin the crowning jewel of the Opera House.

He scowled as he finished his letter to the managers. He could have sworn the managers were just doing it to annoy him or to see how far they could go without him snapping. Well, they shall see Erik snap tonight if they don't respect his wishes.

He glanced over the letter one last time.

My Dear Managers,

So, it is to be war upon us?

If you still care for peace, here is my ultimatum. It consists of the care of the four following conditions:

1. You must give me back my private box; and I shall expect to have it at my free disposal from this day forward.

2. The part of Margarita shall be sung to-night by Christine Daae. Never mind about Carlotta: she will be ill.

3. I absolutely insist upon the good and loyal services of Mme. Giry, my box-keeper, whom you will reinstate in her functions forthwith.

4. Let me know by a letter handed to Mme. Giry, who will see that it reaches me, that you accept, as did your predecessors, the terms of the lease relating to my monthly allowance. I will inform you later how you are to pay it to me.

If you refuse, you will give Faust to-night in a house with a curse upon it.

Take my advice and be warned in time.

O.G.

Erik carefully tucked the note away in his pocket and tugged on his black gloves and flexed his skeletal fingers. With a swish, his cape came to rest on his shoulders and he lightly ran his thumb over the razor sharp blade of the knife he had tucked away in his suit.

"Never hold a chandelier by ropes." He mumbled to himself as he tucked the knife away and stalked out of his home. He had his plans in motion. He knew that tonight would a night that would change things.

This time, he didn't fly. He had to check on the horse he had "borrowed" from the Opera stables. That was also part of his two-pronged plans.

Caesar was a fine animal with excellent breeding and well worth the trouble that Erik went to get him. At four years old, the stallion was surprisingly calm for his age and gender. He was calm but strong with a slight stubborn streak. All in all, he was a well-rounded horse that would suit Erik's needs tonight very well.

As Erik approached the small place in the third cellar that he had placed Caesar, the horse neighed out a soft greeting and eagerly stuck out his nose in hopes of some treat. Erik half-smiled at the animal and held out a sugar cube. The horse snapped it up immediately and then bumped his water trough to remind Erik that he needed water.

Erik rolled his eyes but descended back into the fifth cellar to fill the bucket out of the lake. It was clean enough for a horse to drink. Not suitable for human consumption but okay for bathing and watering animals.

He returned to the makeshift stall and watered the thirsty animal. If horses could smile, he would have sworn that Caesar smiled at him. The affectionate nudge he received from him was deciding proof that the horse had enjoyed his water and sugar. And, without doubt, was probably looking for more.

"You've had enough." Erik said softly as he ruffled the horse's forelock and rubbed his nose. "You'll earn more tonight after you've carried Erik's darling down to his home." The horse tossed his head as if he understood and Erik wished he had a use for the stallion because he would make his borrowing permanent but as it was he didn't need him. Under the earth wasn't a place for a beast of his beauty and strength.

With a parting sigh. Erik patted his horse's nose and walked up the rest of the way to the secret entrance to the managers' office. He dropped off his letter and moved to his prearranged place. From there, he drop the single most expensive part of the Opera House and shatter it into a million pieces if they didn't do as he asked.

It is time. He thought as he waited for Faust to begin. It is time for me to state my existence in this place and to claim Christine as my own. The Viscount Raoul de Chagny had been way too interested in her. He had done some listening behind doors and knew that the boy's present was worrying Christine. Also, he knew they had been friends when they had been children and the boy had rescued a scarf from the sea for her. Though, he couldn't hold any ill will against the boy for that kind gesture towards his darling, there was no way that was sufficient to begin a romance.

In fact, Erik found it rather presumptuous of the boy to even think that Christine could love him after only knowing him for a summer when they were kids. This sudden return and proclamation of deep love was hardly real.

No, Erik well knew that love took time. He had had many years to fall in love with Christine and it had happened. And, now he was going to give her a chance to love him back. If he was completely honest with himself, he doubted she could ever love something like him. If she could even think of him kindly, he would consider himself of all mankind the most happy.

Many years ago he had hoped to find a woman who could look at him with love and perhaps even let him touch her without gloves but as time passed he knew that would never happen. He would live forever as a persona non grata. But, so it should be for a monster.

Shaking his head slightly to bring himself back to the job at hand, he waited through the whole of the first act and well into the second before the moment for Margarita came. He held his breath for a moment, anxious to see whether he would hear beautiful music from his darling or awful screaking from a woman who could be out sung by a monkey.

It was, unfortunately, the latter. With a snarl, he bounded from his position and moved like the ghost he pretended to be through the halls to where Carlotta kept her throat spray. With a slight smirk, he slipped some powder into the throat spray and hurried away into the flies where the ropes that held the chandelier up were. The area was completely deserted and he withdrew the knife and waited for the right moment to cut the chandelier loose.

The right moment came as Carlotta began to "sing" the next set of her lines.

Oh, how strange!
Like a spell does the evening bind me!
And a deep languid charm
I feel without alarm
With its melody enwind me
And all my heart subdue.

She went to sing the next line and to the shock and horror of all the listeners but to Erik's absolute glee, her voice cracked completely. She kept trying without any change. Her voice kept cracking. After she struggled through another line without succeeding, Erik used his ventriloquism to say into the ears of the managers sitting in his box,

"She is singing to-night to bring the chandelier down!" With that and a few cuts of his knife, the chandelier wavered for a moment then came plunging down. Erik watched with a satisfied smirk as the whole Opera House turned into a mass of people trying to flee. After watching it all for a moment, he turned and with a swish of his cloak, hurried off to Christine's dressing room's mirror.

Author's Note:

persona non grata = Latin for "a unwelcome person"