The Phantom of the Opera: Phantom's Apprentice (Complete)

Chapter 3

The sound of the organ rose Christia from her peaceful slumber. This was normal since her master would not sleep at night and would either play his music or being rummaging through papers that would sit on his desk on the other side of their private home. His desk would be rather cluttered with papers that contained music notes or possibly the occasional morning paper. Some of the time, Christia would wake to nothing and her master would be gone, not to return till later. It was once or twice where she became worried because he left no note or did not notify her the night before that he would be gone, but after a time she grew to trust that he would return and would never leave her.

That morning, the music sounded different though. It wasn't the normal light toned sound that she would hear most mornings. It seemed more sad and solemn. It was slow and tugged at her heart a bit. A tear almost came out.

Christia removed the covers from on top of her and rose from the bed. Strands of hair were matted in front of her face, her braid was falling out, and she felt the tiny pieces of crusts that filled the corners of her eyes. With her index finger she removed the crusts while listening to the music that her master played.

"Why does the tune sound so different?" She thought to herself. Taking hold of the ribbon that held her almost ruined braid together, she pulled the strand and her hair came flowing out. She looked in the mirror and saw her hair in all places on her head. Dark circles were under her eyes and she looked pale. "How I hate my hair," she whispered to herself, reaching for the brush that was on her vanity. Sitting down in front of the mirror, she ran the bristles through each strand. She winced each time because it would catch a couple tangles through the strands of curly hair. She continued to stare into her mirror as she brushed through her long brown hair. Even though she brushed through a part of her hair several times, it would look a little more askew than before she brushed it.

"I see that you are awake." Christia turned to see her master near the opening to her room. She had not realized that he had ceased playing his music. "Allow me." He held his hand out, and motioned for her to give him the brush. She obediently handed him the brush and faced the mirror. He began to run the brush through her hair, starting from the bottom and up. "You are so hasty my child."

"I know you wanted me to run into the city for some supplies and wanted to be quick." She replied to his comment. "I wished not keep you waiting for them." Her master smiled as he began on the other side of her head. Her hair began to look more well-kept then before.

"What have I told you child?" He spoke, with a serious tone. "If you rush through a song," he stopped mid-sentence, waiting for Christia to answer.

"The song will not fully be embraced by you or whoever is hearing it." She answered, as if she was getting sick of the, phrase. Her master nodded as he took the hair ribbon from the table and fixed it through Christia's hair.

"That is right. The same goes for with life. If you continue to rush through the events in your life, you will not be able to fully enjoy it." He explained, lifting Christia's long curly hair up and wrapping the ribbon around it tightly. "Such like young girls your age. They wish to quickly be married and believe the first man who tells them they are pretty will be the one they marry. They do not see a life ahead of them and go with the flow of society."

"Is that why you tell me not to meet anyone?" Christia asked, puzzled. "Do you wish me never to marry?" Her master looked down at her, as she turned her head ever so slightly towards him.

"What you choose to do, is your choice, all I ask is that you take your time and never forget what I have taught you and that you will not forget me. You will know when it is time." He tied the last part of the ribbon and stepped back and gazed upon his work. It was still a little of a curled mess but looked better than before. "It seems I am much or experienced with music then doing a woman's hair." Christia laughed, standing up from the mirror.