The Phantom Ascending |✔| [Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction]

No Second Thoughts

When I found them, all five of them were together in the kitchen, and looked like they were about to gather courage to seek me out on their own.

The housekeeper, Mrs. Vescare, looked tense, but the cook, my dear Mrs. Berti, and the repairman Piero, seemed calm. They were with me the longest. Two young maids fidgeted restlessly, standing behind their seniors.

"Hello."

"Miss Daae," the housekeeper murmured. It seemed that she would be their spokesperson.

"June here says that someone was on the upper floor with you, although I can't quite believe it. Of course, it is not ours to pry, but this house is a strange place, and there have always been bad stories about it. That is why we were so happy to work here without having to live in."

Mrs. Berti looked like she might interrupt the housekeeper, but Piero motioned her to stay silent. The housekeeper continued:

"Now, there are those stories of old, and also the occasional funny sounds that the maids would hear when cleaning the upper rooms. Nothing that can't be explained by a stray mouse, or at least that's what we believed until today. Miss Daae, June thinks that you talked to a ghost. And with, pardon me, all those articles about your allegedly haunted past... We need our jobs, but there are some things we wouldn't risk."

"Like working in a haunted house. Or working for someone who deals in black arts," Juno blurted out, her final words a terrified whisper.

"June!" Piero scolded.

I raised my hand to calm them down. What would Erik want me to tell them? But no. This was about me. I was the one living in sight while he hid himself away. What did I want them to think of me, then? The rumors of me being Dessler's mistress were never in print, but only circulated among theater folk. These people here only thought of connecting me to those sordid gazette tales.

"Please, calm down," I said with the feigned composure.

"The truth is very simple. I am just a normal girl, and those tales you've read about me last year are false. As for this house, I know very little of its past -- it housed a Doge's lover, didn't it? -- but I have never encountered anything strange. And I see your faces now, your disbelief, but please, let me finish."

The maids looked restless, but they all remained quiet. And so did I. Suddenly it seemed madness to reveal Erik's presence to them. He was safer when they thought him a ghost, wasn't he? People feared ghosts, but were curious about reclusive men. Suddenly, I was tongue tied.

"Signora Daae?" Mrs. Berti spoke out. She was a robust, caring woman who liked to speak her mind. "May I say something? Mayhap make it easier for you."

I nodded.

"I've noticed that ever since New Year's, your appetite has much improved. For a while I thought that you might be with child, but you stayed thin, even if you ate and still eat for two. And knowin' you, I can't believe that you're throwing it all away, not when you're always eager to give us all the leftovers to take them home."

I stared at the woman.

"Your meaning?"

"Someone is regularly dining with you. And with what the girl here saw, I think they might be sometimes staying here too," she said with a tone of someone pleased to finally voice her old suspicions. I appreciated that she at least never gossiped about it before -- that much was clear from the surprised glances that the others exchanged.

"I do not have a lover," I said firmly, "but I have been meeting with a man." There, it was out of the hat now. "He is teaching me to sing better, and he is a recluse. I let him work here in peace in return for his lessons."