The Underground Music (Phantom of the Opera Fanfic)

Chapter 19: Finding the Ladder

"A ladder, a ladder...where in the world will I find that down here?" I asked myself in a cheery sing-song voice while taking slow steps out from the elegant little room and closing the door behind me- I must be slap-happy from the notion of having to go back into that accursed chamber.

As I grabbed a hold of both sides of the tea-table and began to push it back into place against the door, a thought occurred to me- what was the purpose of that room? Frilly white bed sheets and dove-white furniture doesn't seem to be Erik's cup of tea...he is, after all, the dark brooding type. Really, I'd expect him to life in a coffin. Perhaps...perhaps it was for Christine? I wonder if she ever got to use that room...or, rather, I wonder if Erik ever got her to use that room...

With the tea-table back in place, I began to arbitrarily move about the foyer, looking to see if there were any other blocked-off doors. There were none.

"On to the corridor, then..." I sighed, puffed out my chest to help scare away my nerves, and walked to the double-doors leading into the arced corridor. In an exaggerated, confident motion, I flung both of them open and passed through the threshold.

Going down the hall, I walked past a door, and remembered it to be the one that I had opened just a few minutes ago...the door to the cluttered closet. A closet...closets hold ladders, correct? Erik has to be at least so normal as to use a closet for what it's supposed to be used for. With that hope in mind, I turned the handle of the door and showed myself into the closet.

Obviously, nothing had changed within just a few minutes. It was still the same cluttered closet with all of those musical items which I had beheld before. I cast my eyes to the floor, strewn with things like discarded papers, quill pens, broken fragments of music stands, objects that seemed to me to be parts of instruments and instrument accessories, glass, and pieces of white wood, all accumulated into one large, deep puddle of clutter...

I caught a glint from the corner of my eye. Wait, why is there a sword there? I shook my head. 'Tis of no matter...what is of matter, though, is- how am I possibly going to walk over all this clutter without stabbing my foot on something?

Noting how whiny I was being inside my mind, I gave myself a mental kick in the rear end, telling myself, Jennifer, stop being a coward! Your feet will be fine!

On that note, I stepped forward delicately upon a sheet of staff paper. This could be just like hop-scotch...all I need to do is jump to and fro these pieces of paper. The worse that could happen if I do that is get a paper cut, after all!

So...here I go!

I began to hop from paper to paper, jumping with one bare foot out then landing with both feet for each sheet.

I soon found myself stranded on one piece of paper, amidst a sea of sharp-looking clutter in front of me.

I looked out to the next sheet of paper- it looked too far away for me to be able to jump and land on it. But what else can I do? Drag my feet through God knows what?

I took a deep breath. I'll jump, and I'll use all my might. I'll count to three.

One...

Two...

THREE!

I bent my knee, and like a spring, propelled myself off the ground. I felt like I was moving through the air high above, but in reality, of course, I was only about one meter above the floor, if that.

I landed, but this time I landed with only one foot on the paper. Immediately, I felt that this landing wasn't going to go right.

And it didn't.