The Man Clad in Black (Phantom of the Opera)

So We Meet Again - Chapter 6

You already knew who had done this... At least, you thought you did. Who else would have your dress?

You glanced around, looking for a trace of the man who had placed your things here. Perhaps he was still here.

As you crept closer to your bags, a voice from behind you caused you to squeal.

"I see you've found your things."

You yelped and turned around quickly, and you soon found yourself face-to-face with the man whom you had seen the night before. You were certain it was him - who else wore such a mask?

"I - yes, Monsieur! Thank you," you said, still catching your breath after such a scare.

"You left all of this with me... I find that it's only fair that I give them back."

Wait, what? You didn't bring your bags...

"I... I believe that it was only my dress that I left with, Monsieur," you said with a frown. "My bags were at the -"

"At the entrance?" He completed your sentence, and of course, you were left even more confused than before... Especially now that he was talking to you instead of giving single or double-worded answers. "How did you -"

"I own this opera house, Mademoiselle," he said seriously. "I know everything that goes on in this place."

"But I thought that Monsieur Firmin and Monsieur André..." you started, trailing of as you tilted your head in thought. You were still quite confused as to who this man truly was, but as soon as you recalled the conversation between Madame Giry and the two new managers, it all snapped into place.

"You're the ghost!" you gasped. You nearly forgot about the fabric that you found, and once you lifted it up to compare it to his cloak, a simple glance confirmed it all. You wanted to kick yourself. "How come I hadn't figured this all out sooner?"

He was a little confused as to how you had managed to catch a piece of his cloak, but even more so as to why you didn't run away.

"You don't know what I've done?"

"Of course I've heard about it, Monsieur - I was there when it happened!"

The man went pale. Have you truly been there to witness the deaths everyone that he has killed? Have you seen his countless victims? You were his one chance at redemption, but if you had seen everything that he had done...

"The lead soprano - Carlotta, was it?" you said, thinking out loud. "Her singing was, in my opinion, simply mediocre and too much for me to bear... And for everyone's sake, you dropped the scenery on her! That was brilliant!"

He internally breathed a sigh of relief. It appeared that you only knew about the stunt he had pulled with La Carlotta, and to be frank, he hoped to keep it that way.

He paused. It took him a moment to register everything that you had said, but once he understood, he was absolutely shocked.

Brilliant?

"You would be the first to say so, Mademoiselle," he muttered. No one - not even Madame Giry - has ever dared say such a thing... At least, he had never heard it to his face.

"Really? I'd think -"

You were interrupted with a knock. It was that of a delicate hand, and while it was light and quick, it was enough to stop you in the middle of your sentence.