The Phantom's Daughter

6. Death At The Opera

Even though she knew she was safe, Elise was terrified about what would happen during that nights performance of Il Muto.
Christine too was nervous about what the phantom would do, when he found out that she was not singing.
At first, the show seemed to be going as planned, until the scene where Carlotta's character kissed Christine's.
The phantom's voice suddenly echoed through the theatre, making all the performers freeze in fright.
"Did I not instruct that box 5 should be left empty!" Shouted Erik.
Elise shuddered as his tone, and she could tell that he was angry at being disobeyed by the managers. But she expected that his voice was just start of things to come.

"He's here, the phantom of the opera" whispered Meg, who was standing beside Elise.
Not wanting to lie to her friend, Elise just kept quiet.
"It's him" Christine mumbled from the front of the stage.
"Your part is silent, little toad" hissed Carlotta.
Elise glared at Carlotra as she instructed the maestro to start the orchestra from the beginning of the phrase.
She also had a hunch that her father was not going to like Carlotta for bad mouthing Christine.
And she was right. For when Carlotta opened her mouth to sing, a strange croaking noise came out instead.
The audience and some of the cast began to laugh, as Carlotta tried and failed to continue singing.

Eventually it all became too much and Carlotta stormed off the stage.
"What now?" Asked Elise quietly to Meg, as the remainder of the cast was left standing awkwardly on the stage.
"I don't know. But the managers have left their box so they must be on their way here" replied Meg, as she pointed to the empty box where they had been sat.
Firmin and Andre marched to the front of the stage a few seconds later, looking out of breath.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please stay in your seats, for Christine Daae will take over the part of countess" announced Firmin.
Christine's jaw dropped, but she didn't have any time to protest, as Madame Giry had pulled her away to get ready.

"While you wait we'll give you the ballet from act 3" revealed Andre.
Elise looked at Meg and they both frowned, for neither of them were in the correct clothes for that part of the show.
But since the band had already started playing, they knew that they had no choice but to dance in the costumes they were already wearing.
Elise's oufit was very restrictive, so she was glad that in that particular number she did not have to perform many acrobatic tricks.
However, since no one was ready for the ballet, the dancers kept forgetting moves and crashing into each other.
The whole affair was making the audience laugh, and Elise hated it.

As the dancers reached the piroet section of the number, they felt like there was a chance that they might be able to salvage the situation.
But suddenly a figure came falling down from above.
It was the body of a man, dangling on a rope, and hanging by neck.
Upon closer inspection, Elise realised that the man was Joseph Buquet.
Erik had had his revenge.
He'd killed the stage hand for mocking him and touching Elise.

The rope dropped to the ground, and Buquet hit the floor with a loud thud.
His unmoving eyes seemed to bore into Elise, as if they were holding her responsible for his death.
Everyone around her was screaming, and Elise felt Meg beside her, shaking her arm violently.
Despite the chaos, Elise was frozen.
Her father had never killed before, at least not in her life time. And she couldn't help thinking that Buquet was dead because of her.
If Erik hadn't been trying to defend her honor, maybe he wouldn't have felt the need to kill Buquet.

Elise was brought back to the present when the managers made their way back onto the stage.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please stay in your seats. It was just an accident" reassured Andre.
This of course was not true, and Elise could tell that they knew this, by the looks on their faces.
They had refused to obey the phantoms instructions, and were now paying the price.
"The show will continue after a short break" continued Andre, before running off stage to get the curtains drawn.
Elise didn't know how they were going to continue the show, even after a short break.
A man had died, and by the looks of those around her, Elise didn't think that anyone was going to get over that any time soon.

Madame Giry appeared and ushered the dancers off the stage so that the body could be dealt wih.
Even though Elise hadn't liked Buquet, and she often wished that he didn't work at the theatre. She had never wished him dead.
Elise had never really known death, her mother had died in giving birth to her, so Elise had no memory of her, or her death. She had no other family or friends that had died either.
"I don't think I'm ever going to forget what just happened" admitted Meg, with a terrified look on her face.
"Me neither" agreed Elise.

"Spreading gossip will help no one, girls. So you will not tell anyone about the phantom's warning that he gave this morning" said Madame Giry quietly.
"Did he really kill Joseph Buquet?" Questioned Meg.
"I do not know. Perhaps this really was an accident, but we will never know the truth" lied Madame Giry.
Elise was surprised at how easy it was for her guardian to lie to her own daughter.
But she guessed that after years of covering up for the phantom, Madame Giry had become a very good liar.

After a 10 minute break, Elise and the other dancers returned to the stage, ready to continue with the show.
None of them wanted to keep going, but they were all professionals, and they knew they didn't have a choice.
Elise stood ready in her postition at the back of the stage as the curtain began to rise.
She noticed several gaps in the theatre, and she guessed that not everyone had wanted to return after Buquet's death.

Elise was waiting for the music to start, so that they could begin the number, when she suddenly heard screaming from another cast member.
She looked over at the screamer who was pointing to the ceiling.
Elise looked up at where the dancer was pointing, and saw that the great chandelier was falling towards the stage.
All the dancers ran back as quickly as possible before the chandelier smashed into the front of the stage, sending pieces of glass flying in all directions.
Luckily Elise was at the back of the group, so she wasn't harmed, just as her father had promised.
But several other dancers and audience members weren't so lucky.