The Phantom's Daughter

Chapter Nineteen

Carlotta sounded like a fat ugly toad down below, and the shocked look on her face, made her look it too.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Boy it felt good to laugh again!

I squatted down, holding on the rope of the rafters, watching from below as Carlotta tried to save herself, only to make herself look worse. The thing was, Christine even tried to help her out too! Singing a few of the lines and improvising, making it as if it was just a passionate display of emotions. But stupid Carlotta was too proud to be one upped by her successor and shrieked at her, running off stage, crying like a sad toad she was.

The audience joined in my laughter as everyone on stage looked on in surprise.

My laughter was cut short as I saw Joseph Buquett round the corner. His teeth bared at the sight of me and I scrambled up to get away from him, feeling the breath of his grasp almost get me. But I was small and quick.

But I also had the disadvantage of not knowing where I was going. One wrong turn and I’d be trapped, one bad step, and I’d plummet to the hard unforgiving wooden floor of the stage. One hesitant move, and Joseph would get me. My heart was beating fast and my lungs burned so hard that I couldn’t breathe. He had given up on me for now, turning to investigate something and I snuck around to try to find a way back down.

Joseph stopped suddenly and whipped out his knife. I looked over to see Erik standing on the far side of the rafter, standing there tall and imposing. I stood up, watching what would happen next. Chaos was pursuing from down below as the actors struggled to change the scene for a ballet song. Erik ran off, Joseph Buquett ran after him and I followed in hot pursuit. Erik had gotten caught into a dead end, and jumped on a hanging rope.

“Joseph Buquett you leave him alone!” I called out. The Phantom paused and looked at me with wide eyes, and the scene shifter turned out, pronouncing, “you!” and charged after me, and I ran as best I could on these hanging rafters. I wasn’t per-say scared…the thing is, adults are always chasing orphans around to harass them or jail them or whatever, but I didn’t trust my steps up here. The wooden planks moved under my feet and I lost my footing and nearly fell, the ballet scene dancing from below.

As the dancing girls leap and frolicked downstage, the little girls from my section of the corps de ballet, showing off what they’d learned from their rehearsals, the back of my neck was grabbed, so tightly that I knew that it would leave a bruise in the morning. I cried out and I felt Joseph seething breath on me, reeking of poor dental hygiene and alcohol.

“Think you can laugh at me, eh? Think you can escape Joseph Buquett eh???? I’ll show you, you little sneak! You know something! Yes, yes, you know something!” He started roughing me up in a way that I knew was about to get very serious here, and I tried to scream to draw attention, but he covered my mouth up as he slapped me with the palms of his hands and tearing at my clothes. I bit his hand to make it let go, and as soon as I was about to call out, the sudden weight and abuses from the scene shifter lifted off of me, and I looked up, seeing the dark and commanding figure of Erik.

Relief swept over me. Erik would deal with him. Erik was strong and clever and fierce. The two men wrestled, and the rafters rocked at an uncomfortable form, I stayed low, clutching to the boards, wondering if I should still scream to draw attention. Erik must have caught the expression of my face and told me no in a strained voice.

I crept over, thinking to help him, and bit Joseph on the leg. He cried out, and Erik seized him around the neck, his eyes on fire with rage, his mouth in a snarl. “B*****d, you’ve crossed the line…” and with a mighty shove, he threw Joseph over the flimsy rope railing.

Joseph did an air flip, before grabbing on the board of the rafters, making it sway like a swing. Erik kicked him in the head as Joseph flung his other arm over.

He fell.

But not before grabbing me and taking me with him……