The Phantom's Family

Chapter 3

Elizabeth jolted awake. Something had awoken her, a noise.

Leaping to her feet, she waited for any signs to run, and she got one.

The large entrance doors screeched open and Elizabeth barreled across the dark room.

Her silent footsteps kept her less likely to be found, but she had to hurry and find someplace to hide, but where?!

Then she noticed the box seats off to the left and right sides of the stage.

Scrambling on to the stage, she looked for a way up to one of the top boxes.

When she finally found one and made her way up. She pushed the door to the box open and shut again without a sound.

The best place in the box to hide, would be crouched down where the seat met the floor.

She raced to the front of the box, but was delayed when she tripped over something large.

She tumbled to the velvet floor or the box just as two small lights that she recognized as candle flames pierced through the darkness.

She stayed laying on the floor, too scared to move.

If possible, she became even more scared when the thing she had tripped over groaned softly.

Luckily, the people below didn't seem to hear it.

She watched as the figure stirred and sat up against the wall.

She army-crawled over to the person and slapped a hand over their mouth. She was startled when she felt a cold, smooth surface beneath part of her hand, but she didn't say anything.

Only then, did she realize she was kneeling on a cape. She was in a box with The Phantom of the Opera.

The phantom was fully awake when he felt a small hand slip over his mouth. Memories of his past came flooding back to him and he was ready to attack.

The only thing that kept him from doing so, was the look of desperation, pleading him not to do anything, that he could see in a pair of icy blue eyes.

He reached up and tightly wrapped his fingers around the hand on his mouth and pried it off his face.

Together they sat in silence, waiting for something to happen.

Soon, they heard the quiet crying of a woman.

"Where could she be? This is the last place in Paris that she could possibly be. Not to mention the most likely place." came the choked whisper of a woman. A woman who happened to be Elizabeth's mother.

"We'll find her. Maybe we should stay here until morning?" Suggested a man. Her father.

This was unacceptable to the Phantom though. He was already tolerating one visitor.

He stood up and climbed onto the edge of the box. He leapt down and landed with a thud.

"Who- Who's there?" came the woman's voice.

"Why have you once again disturbed the Phantom of the Opera?! Leave at once and no harm shall come to you." he said, voice echoing throughout the room.

Both the man and the woman scurried out of the Populaire at this.

Slowly, the Phantom made his way around the room and lit every candle.

After doing so, he returned back to his box where he found the child with her knees drawn to her chest, in a corner of the box, fighting sleep.

When she saw the man come through the door she turned her head to face him, not having the energy to do much more than that.

The adrenaline that had fueled her escape from her family, was now gone.

"I do believe you have some explaining to do." he said calmly.

Elizabeth was strangely calmed at his words. She didn't quite know what to say yet, so she observed the man's appearance.

He wore a black suit underneath the black cape that pooled around his feet. He was quite handsome, but his appearance differed from other men. He wore a white porcelain mask; the smooth surface she had felt in her attempt to silence him.

She sighed, knowing that she couldn't not say anything any longer.

"You may want to take a seat as this will most likely become a quite lengthy conversation." She suggested.

Trusting her judgement, he sat down on the seat of the box.

And so the night wore on, quickly fading into the early hours of the morning. She explained how her and her parents had come to Paris for a vacation, how their reservation at an inn had been canceled due to someone willing to pay more for the room. She explained how she didn't have a healthy relationship with her family and how for that and many other reasons, she had been branded as insane at the age of 6 years old.

The Phantom sat there, never saying anything, just watching and listening as the girl told her story.

Tears brimmed her eyes several times, but only did she cry when she had finished.

She was exhausted, had felt abandoned for most of her life, and she just couldn't hold it back any longer.

Not knowing what to do to comfort the child, he sat down on the floor next to her.

Her crying gradually slowed to a stop. A small weight on his shoulder jolted the man back to reality.

He looked to his left to see that the girl had fallen asleep and her head had fallen to his shoulder.

After a few minutes she hadn't stirred or shown any signs of waking. He sighed and picked the girl up bridal style. He carried her out of box 5 and laid her back down where she had previously been sleeping before retreating to the darkness of his lair.