His Voice as Soft as Thunder

Act 1 - Scene 3: Think of Me

Carlotta smiled as she positioned herself infront of everyone. _________ shivered as a familiar scent passed her nose. 'What is he doing here?' she thought as she looked around, desperate to follow his scent. She began to follow where he walked, quietly leaving Meg as she watched Carlotta prepare to sing. As she began to walk further into the shadows her foot fell onto a small bit of fabric. It tugged at her foot, making her slip backward into the arms of Madame Giry who looked at her with a stern, maternal look.

"What was that?" she asked quietly. As they walked back into the fray. Madame Giry remained quiet, passing a note into _________'s hand.

"For you. From... him." she whispered. The young woman looked down at the aged parchment. It was the same parchment used by her tutor for the scores he made for her to practice. Turning it around she found it was shut by dark red wax, sealed with a skull, disfigured by a rather deep paw print placed perfectly in the centre.

Gently, she opened the letter. It was messy, and his writing looked as though his hand was not steady. Throughout it laid several faint pawprints, her guess was that it was caused by a rather affectionate cat who persisted in getting in the way as he wrote. She pondered for a second if it was the same stray cat that her and Meg had been feeding and smiled, thinking that it may have a home after all. She read the scribble words before a large crash and screams took over her senses.

_________ looked up to find a large backdrop had fallen on top of Carlotta and the chorus girls were screaming foul play from the notorious Phantom of the Opera. Meg grabbed her friend's arm, dragging her out of the radius of danger. She looked up, thinking maybe whatever she had stepped on belonged to the Phantom and if it did, why he had the same scent of her tutor. The young woman's heart began to race as she hid the note within her costume's brazier.

"He's here, the Phantom of the Opera." Meg whispered through Carlotta's loud screeching.

"Signora! Are you all right?" Gilles cried out as they rushed to her aid.

"Bouquet for God's sake man, what's going on there?!" Lefevre screamed up to the rafters where a sweat covered man drunkenly made his way to the backdrop's wheel.

"Please Monsieur, don't look at me!" he slurred as he leant his weight against the railing. "As God's my judge I wasn't at my post. Please Monsieur, there's no one there! Or if there was, well then, it must have been a ghost!" he lunged forward slightly, making the chorus girls scream.

Richard and Gilles stutterd as they thought of how to resolve the issue and calm the screeching woman.

"Signora, these things do happen!" Gilles snorted as he chuckled with nerves. Carlotta dusted herself off with vigorous rage as she stomped up to the three managers.

"These things do happen?" she mocked. "For the past three years thiese things have been happening, and have you stopped these things from happening? NO! And you two!" she pointed to Richard and Gilles. "You are as bad as him! These things do happen!" she scoffed. "Until you stop these things from happening this thing does NOT happen!" she shrieked in Italian before storming off once again.

_________ sighed as she took the note back out from her brazier. She read it over and and over again in the solitude of backstage, Madame Giry quietly making her way to her side and gently.

"Lefevre, do tell us she will be coming back... won't she?" Richard asked in hysterical disbelief. Reyer shrugged with even more frustration.

"You think so Messieurs," Madame Giry strutted over with a note in her hand. _________ listened in as the girls took their slippers off, the scent of her tutor returning. She looked around, confused about what is happening, before,

"_________ _______ could sing it." she heard Madame Giry speak up, looking back at her with an empathetic smile. _________ suddenly felt naked and small under the gaze of everyone around her.

"What, a chorus girl? Don't be silly." Gilles laughed in disbelief. _________ slowly made her way to the group, her tail between her legs.

"She has been taking great lessons from a great teacher." Madame Giry shrugged as she drew the scared girl into a small hug. "It's alright" she whispered into the young woman's ear.

"Who?" the managers asked her. _________ trembled in Madame Giry arms.

"I-I don't know his name Messieurs." she whispered, almost in tears. Madame Giry rubbed her shoulder as she kissed her forehead.

"Let her sing for you Messieurs, she has been well taught."

"Alright, come on don't be shy." Gilles ushered _________ into the spotlight. "Monsieur Reyer?"

"From the beginning of the aria then Mademoiselle?" Reyer sighed. The young woman nodded as she trembled in the light. As the piano began to play she looked up to the rafters to see the shadows of a man forming a silhouette of an angel. Her heart began to flutter as her innocent voice filled the room.

"Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye. Remember me once in a while, please promise me you'll try. When you find that once again you long to take your heart back and be free, please promise me that sometimes you will think of me..."

It happened in the blink of an eye. Soon, she was facing the hypnotised audience, every fearful tear in her eyes became tears of joy as her costume reflected every particle of light that emitted from the spotlight. Her eyes glazed passed everyone, even the young man who was watching with scheming eyes.

"We never said our love was evergreen, or as unchanging as the sea. But, if you can still remember, stop and think of me. Think of all the things we've shared and seen. Don't think about the way things might have been. Think of me, think of me waking silent and resigned. Imagine me, trying too hard to put you from my mind. Recall those days, look back on all those days. Think of the things we'll never do. There will never be a day when I won't think of you!" her voice lifted the souls of the audience as it pierced the air.

The scent returned, and _________ smiled a comforting smile as she felt the smiling eyes of her parents looking down at her from the rafters. She felt like she was weightless, floating in a never ending sea of stars where troubles never existed, and love was all she felt. As she closed her teary eyes, she saw a figure move quickly from its place in one of the theatre's lavish boxes. Her breath caught momentarily as she re-read the note given to her only hours ago.

'A voice like yours should not be kept secret, it should be listened to by all and heard by those worthy of an Angel's calling. Tonight I shall see your wings, and pray you will see mine also. Yours, forever. E.D'

"Flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade. They have their seasons so do we. But please promise me that sometimes, you will think..." The time had come. As she looked out into the audience, her ears numb, her heart beating through her chest, she felt her wings pierce through her back as her voice rang through the theatre, every note as perfect as the next. "Of ME~"

The audience exploded into a loud cheer as they threw roses and small bears at the stage. The young woman looked around as the muffled cheers barely entered her ears. Her head became light and she felt her legs buckle under her as she fell to the floor the second the curtains had closed, Madame Giry, Meg and that dark-skinned man rushing to her aid.

"Let's get you someplace quiet." the man whispered as he helped _________ up to her feet, her eyes blood-shot as tears cut through the thick layers of makeup that set her face. She remained quiet as they walked away, Madame Giry parting ways to set up the soprano's dressing room.

"Be gentle." Giry whispered to the shadow which followed close by her side. With silent recognition, the shadow vanished.