The Phantom's Family

Chapter 2:

Night had fallen on Paris. The Phantom, still in his precious box 5, was alarmed by the sound of the entrance doors squealing oped and shut again. Soon accompanied by the sound of quick footsteps.

Who would enter a haunted opera house at this hour?

He was startled to see the young girl from earlier come running into the room.

She scowled as hot tears rolled down her face.

She ran to the stage and leaned against the base. She slid down to the floor, pulled her knees up to her chest, and to his horror, sobbed.

What was he to do with an emotional teenage girl?

If she didn't have a deep respect for the opera house, he was certain she would be screaming.

She let out one final chocked sob before managing to calm herself. When she was calm enough, she uncurled herself but remained sitting where she was.

The Phantom watched as she started softly banging her head against the wooden base of the stage.

She started to sing. A song that he had never heard. It was beautiful and melodic. It gradually became louder as the young girl got more and more comfortable where she was.

Tears were streaming down her face again, and her face was twisted into a look of agonizing misery that he knew all too well, yet her voice never once faltered.

Before he could stop himself, he was leaping down from the opera box and landing in a shadowy corner of the stage.

Upon hearing the unnatural thud of something hitting the ground, Elizabeth stopped singing and leapt to her feet.

"Who's there?!" she asked, once again not a single trace of nervousness or fear in her voice.

"What are you doing in my opera house?" he asked in a menacing voice.

"You're opera house? Surely the owner of such a fine establishment wouldn't hide in the shadows like a coward?" she said, attempting to get the mysterious figure to come out of the shadows.

The Phantom marveled at her quick tongue for a brief moment.

"I have my reasons." he replied.

"Of course."

"I'll ask again, why are you here?"

"I have my reasons."

He could practically hear her smirking, and he hated it. Hated being humiliated by a child.

The girl suddenly started moving towards the shadows where he was standing.

Squinting her eyes to see through the darkness where the strange man who claimed to be the owner was standing, Sarah could barely make out a cape trailing out behind him.

"Who are you?" she asked cautiously.

"The Opera Phantom" he said.

She froze in her tracks, and thinking she was scared, the Phantom smirked.

"The Opera Phantom... I knew he was real. No one ever believes me. I suppose that's why everyone thinks I've gone insane." he heard the girl mutter sadly.

She snapped out of her thoughts, still frowning slightly, and continued advancing to where he stood.

Having nowhere to go, the Phantom stood there.

Of course I would get myself into this mess. Get myself cornered by a child. he thought unhappily.

The girl finally stood before him, trying to see through the darkness to find out what he looked like.

Panicking, he shoved the girl back away from him and into the brightly lit stage.

Before she could hit the hard wood of the stage, she caught herself in a crouch, her fingertips keeping her balanced.

She stood up and brushed the skirt of her dress of.

"Very well. Good night sir." she said before jumping off the stage and onto the floor.

Surprised at the formality of her comment, he said nothing.

He was unpleasantly surprised when she didn't leave. Instead she paced back and forth for a few minutes.

The girl then decided she should get some sleep. With no intention of going back to find her family, she started walking over to the velvet upholstered seats.

Before she even made it halfway to the seats however, she decided that sleeping on the seats would be about as disrespectful as her mother singing on the stage earlier.

Discussed by the thought, she quickly veered away and began for somewhere else to sleep.

She ended up back where she had started: on the floor in front of the stage.

Sitting down on the floor, she heard the Phantom moving around on the stage, probably doing what she had just done: find somewhere to sleep.

When Elizabeth had finally settled on the ground, she groaned, realizing the many candles that kept the place lit were still burning brightly.

She stood up again and walked along the length of the walls, extinguishing every candle.

The Phantom watched her as she did so. Upon finishing with the last candle, she leaned against the wall for a few moments, presumably letting her eyes adjust to the darkness.

He had retreated back to box 5, not wanting to leave the Populaire unattended with a strange girl.

He watched her walk back to her spot on the floor and fall asleep.

Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep as well.