The Phantom's Family

Chapter 5

The Phantom was quite confused for days. The girl, Elizabeth, wasn't frightened around him. She had been kind and almost... understanding.

It had been several days since the girl had left at his command. Secretly, he hoped she would return; no one had been kind towards him since... well no one was kind to him.

Little did the Phantom know, she would return.

Nine days had passed since she left the Populaire. The Phantom was sitting in box five. The building was drenched in utter darkness.

Suddenly, he heard a thud towards the front of the building. The thud was accompanied by the sound of someone small running across the room.

"Monsieur! Monsieur Phantom! Please be here!" A familiar voice hissed.

"Box five" he hissed back.

He heard the girl's footsteps frantically race to his box.

The doors were suddenly thrown open and a dim light filled the room.

"Find her." an angry, masculine voice said.

Finally, the girl had made her way to box five. She collapsed the moment she was inside the box.

The Phantom watched as what he assumed was a search party flooded into the room.

Each person held a torch as they searched.

Why had Elizabeth come back? If she was so frantic, then she was probably running away from these people.

With that in mind, he leapt to his feet.

"WHAT REASON HAVE YOU FOR DISTURBING THE OPERA GHOST?" He shouted.

The search party stopped what they were doing and tried to pinpoint the voice.

"LEAVE NOW! UNLESS YOU WOULD RATHER FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE DISTURBS ME." he shouted again, pleased with the affect it had.

The people ran out of the Populaire.

"Th- thank you, Monsieur." Elizabeth breathed.

The Phantom looked over at the girl. She was trembling in a corner, half hidden by the shadows.

"Care to explain?" He asked, sitting down.

"I was scared. I ran away. They chased me. I was cold. I ran here." she spoke in short, quiet sentences.

Only then did the Phantom notice just how disheveled she looked: her long, dark hair was tangled in nots, her dress was torn in several places, the right side of her face was bruised and bloody, and to top it all off, she was soaking wet.

Not wanting to cause the girl anymore emotional harm, he decided against asking her more questions, and moved himself so that he was sitting next to her.

He was startled to see the girl scramble away from him. Had she finally come to her senses? Was she finally afraid of him? Had he done something to scare her?

Before he could wonder further, the girl spoke up. "Please. You don't want to see me. I'm hideous. Please!" She begged.

"You're hardly hideous. Not compared to me." he said subconsciously.

Without thinking, the Phantom reached up to touch his mask.

He was startled when a cold hand touched his. Elizabeth, still hidden in the shadows, had reached up and touched his mask as well.

He let his hand drop and he closed his eyes. Unsure of why he was letting this child touch his mask, he retreated to his thoughts.

He felt Elizabeth gently take his mask off and prepared for the worst. He heard her gasp quietly.

"Y- you're like me...!" She whispered.

When he heard that, the Phantom's eyes snapped his eyes open.

"What?!" He exclaimed.

Slowly, Elizabeth moved out of the shadows and into the slightly lighter darkness.

Through the darkness, he could see that the left side of her face was deformed, much like his own.

Eyes wide with confusion, the Phantom realized something that day: Elizabeth and himself were far too similar. They had the same hair, same eyes, same build, same face. They were more than just people in Paris; they were father and daughter.

He stared at the girl, who was still trembling. Suddenly, she reached out to touch his face softly.

"You're like me..." she repeated, still unaware of what would be her change of fate.