The Phantom's Daughter

7. The Pianists plans

After the death of Buquet and the falling of the great chandelier, the police were called to the theatre. They interviewed all of the cast members, and Elise had to lie and say that she had seen and heard nothing out of the ordinary.
The theatre was searched multiple times that night but nothing was found. Elise was thankful that the secret passages around the theatre were very hard to find.
Eventually the police had to call off the search, because they weren't finding anything. And since there was no proof to suggest otherwise, Joseph Buquet's death was written off as an accident.

Once the theatre was cleared of police, Elise felt brave enough to risk venturing down to visit her father.
When she reached the catacombs she found Erik destroying his things and throwing objects around the cavern angrily.
"What's wrong?" Questioned Elise cautiously.
"She's chosen him over me!" Exclaimed Erik, furiously kicking a nearby box.
"Who's chosen who over you?" Asked Elise, even though she could guess what the answer was going to be.
"Christine has chosen the Vicomte De Chagney over me"
"Raoul?".

Erik frowned, "I didn't know you two were on a first name basis".
"We've only spoken once" Elise said quickly.
"I see. And are you as enchanted with him as everyone else?" Demaned Erik.
"No. He is too old for me. I'm too young to be liking boys anyway, that's what Madame Giry says"
"He wouldn't have you anyway. He's chosen Christine, and she has chosen him"
"You can't have seriously expected her to choose you after what you did today. You killed Buquet and dropped the chandelier on us all. Those aren't exactly nice qualities".

Erik growled angrily before turning his back on Elise.
"She might still choose you" Elise said quietly.
"No. She won't. She has agreed to marry him" revealed Erik.
"What! But they've only been together for 1 day"
"Tell me about it"
"I guess being friends with someone when you were children, means that you know them quite well"
"He doesn't know her like I do. He doesn't love her like I do"
"But Christine doesn't know you, not the real you. She thinks you're a spirit sent to her by her father. However, she does know Raoul. And she believes that he loves her, I guess... If you want to change her mind about you, you'll have to be nice, and stop scaring people at the theatre".

"It's too late for that" mumbled Erik.
"Maybe not... I also think it would be good if you didn't do anything creepy for a while. You need to keep a low profile" admitted Elise.
"You can't tell me what to do" snapped Erik.
"I'm just trying to warn you, that you need to be careful"
"You don't need to be scared for me. Those fools will never catch me"
"You don't know that for sure. And if you keep doing things like this, you're going to get noticed. You shouldn't have killed Buquet"
"I thought his death would please you. You never liked him"
"No, I didn't. But I never wanted him dead".

"The man mocked me, and got too close to you. I wasn't going to let him get away with that" stated Erik.
"You can't just kill everyone who crosses you" replied Elise.
"He isn't the first person I've killed" revealed Erik.
Elise frowned.
"I thought Giry would've told you" continued Erik.
"She doesn't like to gossip" admitted Elise.
"When I was younger than you, I killed my first man"
"Who was he?"
"He was nobody important. He worked for the circus I was a part of. He used to beat me. Until I seized my chance and strangled him with an old piece of rope, before making my escape".

"Madame Giry told me that she helped you escape the circus" said Elise.
"She found me after I'd killed the man, and brought me here" explained Erik.
"He doesn't sound like a good person. The man you killed" admitted Elise.
"He wasn't. I have no need to hurt good people"
"I hurt good people... I killed my mother"
"Her death was not your fault"
"She died giving birth to me. How is that not my fault?"
"She didn't look after herself. She was weak when she had you. Amelie bled to death, but it was not your fault. Besides, she was a whore, so I don't think you could call her a good person".

"I don't like that word" reminded Elise coldly.
"I'm aware. But that's what she was. Do you think a woman who wasn't being paid would ever sleep with a monster like me?" Questioned Erik.
"You're not a monster" replied Elise.
"That's debatable. Christine, who I've coached for years couldn't even look at me, when she removed my mask"
"That's probably because she was surprised. It's hard to look at your face for the first time, without a warning"
"Does it scare you? My face"
"No. I haven't been afraid of your appearence since I was very small. It's one of those things you just get used to".

"Do you think Christine could get used to it, in time?" Asked Erik.
"I don't know. Maybe. But don't go kidnapping her again" replied Elise.
"Don't worry, I have other plans" admitted Erik, his eyes drifting back to his piano.
"I don't want to know. Just don't kill anyone else. Please"
"We'll see... You'd better get going before your friends start to miss you"
"Alright, I'm going. Hopefully I won't see you in the theatre for a while"
"No. I'm going to be very busy these next few weeks. My masterpiece needs finishing"
"Well, I look forward to hearing it, when it's done".