Andr� and Firmin burst into the dressing room, each furiously brandishing a piece of paper.
"Miss Daa�!" Andr� said, "whatever is going on?!"
"Can you explain these notes?" Firmin added, thrusting his paper at Christine.
"They appeared on our desks this morning�"
"Without any explanation! You must tell us�"
Mme. Giry broke in, pulling the disconcerted Christine away from the managers. "Give her room to breathe, for pity�s sake!"
"But she�s the only one who can tell us the meaning of this!" Andr� snapped, an edge of poorly-concealed irritation in his voice.
"The meaning of what?!" Mme. Giry said in exasperation.
"The return of the Opera Ghost!"
There was a puzzled silence as the managers looked expectantly at Christine, who had drawn back in confusion. "You must be mistaken," she finally murmured.
"We�re not mistaken!" Firmin insisted, waving his note in Christine�s face. "Just look at this!"
Christine took the paper and read it slowly. "�I regret to inform you that Christine will not be singing in any of her scheduled operas until our daughter has been returned.�" She broke off for a moment and looked at Firmin in disbelief. "�If you do not find her, a disaster far beyond your imagination, much greater than the crashing of a chandelier, will occur.�..." She looked up, horrified. "Oh Madame Giry, he can�t have�"
Mme. Giry took the note from the dismayed girl. "Of course he hasn�t done anything. He�s upset, and he�s just taking out his anger on someone he believes he can control. He doesn�t mean a word of it, you know that."
Christine slowly nodded, as if unconvinced. "Of course. You�re right. He would never�"
"On the contrary," Firmin interrupted derisively. "In the history of our management, he has destroyed one chandelier, kidnapped one diva and shattered another�s renown, murdered two men, and caused general disarray in every area of the opera for over three years! Who knows what he�s plotting this time, but whatever it is, I daresay he will carry out his plan."
Silence reigned in the room for several moments. Finally, Christine spoke. "He wouldn�t do any of those things now. He�s not the same as he was before."
Andr� entered the argument heatedly. "He�s acting the exact same way as before�sending mysterious, threatening notes signed �O.G.�, sneaking about in dark passages... He sent me a note as well." He held it up and read it aloud. "�I still have access to every room, vault, chamber, lair, and secret passage of this Opera House. You cannot escape from me. Find my daughter, or you will wish you had.�" He looked up at Christine. "The Opera Ghost does not joke. We know that from experience."
"He must be stopped before something terrible happens," Firmin declared.
"You must help us, Miss Daa�you must tell us what these notes mean, and you must tell us where to find this man!"
"The Paris Opera depends upon this information�and only you can give it!"
"I told you, he�s not responsible for this," Christine objected indignantly. "It�s a hoax, someone�s idea of a joke. He would never say such things!"
"Then none of this is true? You don�t have a daughter, do you?"
Christine hesitated. "Well... yes, we have a daughter."
"But she hasn�t disappeared?" Firmin asked anxiously.
"Actually, she...she has." Christine said, biting her lip against the sudden rush of tears that came to her eyes.
Andr�s eyebrows raised. "How old is this daughter?"
"She�s two months old," Christine managed, forcing herself not to cry. "She disappeared last night after the opera�out of her cradle."
Firmin�s face was growing pale. "Then what the notes say are true!"
"Yes, the part about Meg, but Erik would never�"
"Where is he?!" Andr� demanded. "We�ll have him arrested before he can carry out his plan!"
"No!" Christine cried in horror. "You can�t! He�s done nothing!"
"We have plenty of evidence against him from two years ago! It will hold true!"
"You have no proof!" Christine insisted over their voices.
"We have�"
"Gentlemen!" Madame Giry loudly broke into the din, interrupting the shouting managers. "This is not going to help anyone!"
The men fell silent.
"Now then," Mme. Giry said, "let us discuss this rationally."
The door of the dressing room burst open and Raoul ran into the room. "Christine!" he exclaimed. "I know who�s�"
Mme. Giry threw her hands in the air helplessly. "Monsieur de Chagny, you have a way of appearing at the worst times!"
Raoul suddenly noticed the other people in the room. "Pardon me," he said breathlessly, "but I must speak to Christine."
"Speak, then," Firmin said sarcastically, seeming to either forget or ignore the fact that Raoul was the opera�s leading patron and had every right to interrupt them. "You�ve already injected yourself in the middle of our discussion�why not further the interruption!"
"Please," Mme. Giry said impatiently, turning back to Raoul. "What is it, Monsieur le Vicomte?"
Raoul looked at Christine. "Christine, may I speak with�" He stopped as he saw her tear-filled eyes. "What�s wrong?" he asked anxiously, rushing to her and taking her shoulders in his hands. "What�s happened?"
"Meg," she whispered desperately, finally losing the battle with her tears. She buried her face against Raoul�s shoulder. "Oh Raoul...someone has taken Meg!"
*****
Erik moved quickly down the dark corridor behind the dressing rooms, intent upon finding Christine. She had not been in the lair; the only other place he imagined she could be was in the dressing room. If she wasn�t there, then he wouldn�t know where to look. He couldn�t afford to search for both Christine and Meg�if he was going to find the baby, it would take all his concentration.
So he hurried toward the dressing room, hoping to find his wife there. She had been distraught when he left her alone the night before, she had begged him not to go; but he had been determined to find the baby. He hated the fact that Meg was not in his arms now.
He reached the mirror entrance to Christine�s dressing room and pressed his ear against the wall to hear who was present in the room. He heard someone crying�Christine?
Another voice rose over the crying�a man�s voice. A man who sounded strangely like Raoul de Chagny. Erik�s resentment toward Raoul came again now�full force. He furiously shoved the mirror open and stepped into the dressing room.
He froze immediately, instinctively, when he saw the crowd of people in the room. For Raoul and Mme. Giry to see him was one thing, but the managers had never been so close to him�the only times they had seen him were at the masquerade ball, and during the performance of his Don Juan Triumphant. At the masquerade, they had been terrified; during Don Juan, they had simply been furious. What would they do now that they had him in close quarters, with nowhere for him to retreat?
Then he held his head high as he suddenly remembered the mask he again wore. He was the Phantom�he held them all in his hands. All he had to do was threaten to cause terrible disasters beyond their imaginations and they would listen to and obey him. He stared at them, challenging them silently�just try to touch the Phantom, he dared. Andr� and Firmin backed up against the door, more terrified than they had been at the masquerade. He restrained the urge to chuckle�so the mask still did command attention and fear, even though two years had gone by since the Phantom�s last appearance.
Then, as he turned, he saw Christine�enveloped in Raoul�s arms. He glared at the Vicomte in fury�how dare he! Angrily he stepped toward him, but a hand on his arm stopped him. He glanced down to see Mme. Giry restraining him with her eyes, offering an explanation, but he shook her hand off. He would handle this on his own.
Raoul�s eyes met Erik�s above Christine�s head. Raoul stiffened, and his hold on Christine tightened. Confused, and unaware of Erik�s presence, Christine quickly turned to see what had caused Raoul�s sudden tense actions.
A flicker of relief appeared in her eyes when she saw Erik. He desperately wanted to rush to her, to take her away from Raoul, but when her expression quickly changed, he didn�t dare.
She stared at him, her eyes focused on his mask. Sudden tears blurred her vision, but she couldn�t turn away. How could you... she silently cried.
She had told him time and again that he didn�t need his mask�that she loved him without it. He had believed her, hadn�t he? Didn�t he know her love was stronger than his fear of betrayal? Why would he go back to the mask now?
She forced herself to speak. "Erik, why�"
Ignoring her whisper, he stepped forward and pulled her away from Raoul, his touch hard and cold. She fought the urge to break away from him and instead reached up to take his mask.
His hand captured her wrist and brought it back down, before her fingertips could even touch the mask. "Leave it," he growled under his breath.
"No," she protested, in a hushed whisper. "You don�t need it!" She reached with her other hand toward his face.
He grabbed her hand and pulled it away from the mask. "I told you to leave it."
"I won�t!" she cried.
He ignored her and kept his grip on her hands, as he looked at the managers. "Have you found my daughter yet?" he demanded.
"Yes!" Andr� hurriedly assured. "I was just about to suggest we call the police�don�t you agree, Firmin?" He glanced sideways at his fellow manager.
"Yes, I believe we should," he said. "Why don�t we...uh, do that now!" He was opening the door halfway through the sentence, and both managers quickly scurried out.
The four left in the room all seemed to be at a loss for words. Christine, her hands still clutched in Erik�s, stared at the floor, her expression unreadable. Erik and Raoul stared at each other, tossing silent challenges over Christine�s head. Mme. Giry remained in the background, quietly observing them all.
Erik finally broke the silence. "Let�s go, Christine." He turned her toward the mirror.
She pulled her hands free and hugged her arms to her chest, obviously disregarding his command.
"Christine," he repeated, reaching for her. "We need to talk. This is not the place."
"This is no different than anywhere else," she said, shrugging his hand away. Her heart ached from his betrayal, and she suddenly could not bear his touch.
"Christine..." He waited, growing impatient, completely unaware of the turmoil she faced.
"How could you?" she finally asked, her distress showing in her eyes.
"How could I what?" he returned harshly.
"How could you hurt me like this?"
"I haven�t done anything," he defended, not willing to concede that he knew what she meant.
"You know you have!"
His temper flared. "You have no reason to be accusing me of�"
"Don�t play innocent! You promised me you would never wear the mask again. You told me you would be Erik, not a phantom!"
"The mask is to cover my face, Christine. My hideous, loathsome�"
"Your face is the same as it has always been!" she interrupted, growing more upset. "Nothing has happened to cause you to suddenly go back to the mask! You know I love you without it! How could you hurt me so much?" She choked on an angry sob. "If the mask has nothing to do with your former title, then why did you send the managers notes signed from the �Opera Ghost�? Why are you referring to yourself as the ghost again?"
"They won�t listen if I don�t�"
"You�ve never given them a chance!"
"I don�t need to! They�re the same as they were before, and�"
"Just stop it!" she cried. "You�re only making things worse! I don�t want to hear your excuses! Don�t you believe me anymore? Don�t you know I love you?"
"Listen, Christine�"
"Listen to what? More of your self-defense? I don�t think so." She turned and stepped away from him toward the dressing room door.
Erik strode after her and caught her arm before she could leave. "I told you we�ll discuss this somewhere else."
She wrenched herself away, ending up beside Raoul. The Vicomte, who had been silently observing the entire exchange, glared at Erik as he stepped toward Christine and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Erik�s rage was further provoked. "Stay away from my wife," he growled.
Raoul disregarded his demand. "You�re certainly not comforting her! Haven�t you noticed her feelings? She�s distraught over your daughter, whose presence you don�t even seem to miss, and�"
Erik ignored the insults. "I said to get your hands off her!" he snarled, jerking Christine away from Raoul.
"She obviously doesn�t want you!" the Vicomte angrily shouted.
"That�s none of your concern!"
"When it involves Christine, I think I have a right�"
"You have no rights when it comes to my wife!"
"Apparently you don�t even care about her feelings, so�"
"Stop it!" Christine interrupted indignantly. "Both of you, stop it! I can speak for myself�stop arguing over me!"
The two men were silent. Christine again pulled herself out of Erik�s grasp and stood between him and Raoul. "I made my choice two years ago. You both know that. I�m not changing my mind, now or ever." She looked up at Raoul. "Please, Raoul, don�t try to make me. And Erik..." Slowly she turned to face him. "There is no reason to be so possessive. I�m yours forever�you know that!" She paused, as if reconsidering "Don�t you?" she whispered, suddenly unsure as she stared at his mask.
"Of course I know that," he snapped.
"Then why?" she whispered, pleading for his true answer.
"I�d rather discuss this when we�re alone," he said, his voice irritated.
"Just tell me why," she repeated. "You�ve been without it for two years�why do you need it now?"
He couldn�t answer her. His tried to ignore his battling emotions, but they refused to be shoved from his mind. He wished he could shake the feelings of anger and remove his mask... But already, he felt dependent upon it. If he took it off, he would have to face the humiliation and rejection all over again.
But he couldn�t tell her that he had put it on because he doubted her. She would be so hurt if he told her. After all the times she had promised her unending love, if he told her now, she would be crushed.
She waited for him to answer, silently begging him to have a good excuse, but he could find nothing to say. Not a sentence of explanation came, not a word of reassurance. Her eyes stung with unshed tears. "Take it off," she pleaded finally, stepping close to him. Her hand lifted and rested gently on the mask, but did not try to remove it�she waited for his consent.
Slowly his hand reached up and closed around her fingers. "Please, Christine..." He groped for an explanation she would understand, but could find none.
She withdrew her hand from his grasp, staring at him, her eyes showing immeasurable hurt. "Why can�t you trust me?" she whispered.
"I do trust you�"
"You don�t!" she cried. "I�ve told you�I hate the mask! If you trusted me�if you loved me, you would take that thing off!" She turned toward the dressing room door.
Anger again overtook his emotions. She had no right to do this to him. "Christine, listen to me!"
She looked at him again, her hand resting on the door handle. "I don�t want the mask, Erik. I only want the man behind it." Before he could reply, she left the room and pulled the door closed behind her.
Erik angrily stepped toward the door, intending to follow Christine and make her listen.
"Why go after her? It�s obvious she doesn�t want to hear your explanations," Raoul said.
"I�ll decide whether she wants to hear them or not," Erik retorted, pulling the dressing room door open.
"So you�re going to go out in the open?" Raoul asked, his voice taunting. "I thought you always stayed in backstage passageways."
Infuriated, Erik whirled to face the Vicomte. "I don�t know why you think you have any say about anything that concerns my family! I didn�t want Christine to see you again�and now I know why! Our lives have been completely pulled apart since yesterday when you met her at the mausoleum, and it�s all your fault!"
"I tried to warn you! I told you that someone wanted to hurt you�and now your daughter�s disappeared!"
"For all I know, you took my daughter!"
"Me!" Raoul exclaimed, obviously highly insulted. "Why would I do such a thing? Why would I purposely hurt Christine like that? I love Christine." He ignored Erik�s enraged expression. "Yes, I love her. I won�t pretend I understand why she chose you, and I won�t pretend I like it, but it was her choice, not mine. I still care about her, and it�s very obvious that you�re more concerned with your own feelings than hers. If you�re not going to listen to her, then I will. I�ll help her find Meg, if you won�t�I daresay I have more ideas of where to look than you."
"We don't need your help," Erik said. He stepped toward Raoul, moving so close that their faces were separated by mere inches. "If I find you anywhere near my wife, you�ll wish I had killed you with that lasso two years ago. Stay away from Christine."
They stared at each other for a long moment, neither one budging.
Finally Raoul shook his head in disgust. "She really believes you love her. I don�t see how she could think such a thing. You only care for yourself." He turned away and went out the door, leaving Erik in raging silence.
Erik stormed across the room to the open mirror and went through, jerking it closed behind him. He wouldn�t go into the regular hallways and chance meeting with the Vicomte again. He would find Christine by using his unfailing system of passageways and secret doors, and then he would make sure she was never seen again by Raoul.
*****
In the dressing room, Madame Giry stepped out from the shadows where she had witnessed the entire exchange between Erik, Christine, and Raoul. She felt compelled to find Christine and tell her what had happened after she left, but some other force told her to find the Vicomte instead.
He had said only a moment before that he had ideas of where Meg might be, and when he had first arrived, he had been ready to tell Christine he knew something�what did he know?
Mme. Giry left the dressing room, intent on finding the answers.
*****
Meg Giry pulled Christine�s dressing room door closed and leaned against it, puzzled. Christine was not in the dressing room, nor in rehearsal, and no one seemed to know where she was�in fact, everyone in the opera house seemed to be searching for her. There was a police wagon in front of the building, the managers were locked up in the office, Reyer was more than frustrated trying to locate his star diva to ask her about a piece of music she was supposed to be singing that night, and Raoul de Chagny was running about the place frantically in search of her.
There was simply no other place for Christine to be aside from the house on the underground lake, and it didn�t make sense that she would be there when all these people were searching for her. Meg didn�t dare go down there again�she had been scared out of her wits when she went into the lair alone on that night two years ago. Finding the Phantom�s mask and cape had been more than unbelievable. She had actually been relieved�without the mask, he must not want to exist. She had kept it, for some unknown reason. She certainly had no use for a mask.
It had stayed in her possession since then. Christine had discovered it two weeks after choosing Raoul, and it had upset her more than Meg would have ever imagined possible. After her initial shock, however, Christine hadn�t wanted the mask. She had told Meg to get rid of it, but Meg had forgotten, and it stayed hidden away in a dresser for almost two years.
Meg had completely forgotten that she had it until two days before, when she discovered that Christine had married the Phantom. She had purposely dug it out after that, and studied it for awhile. A plain, white mask�it was amazing how much fear and respect it commanded.
But the reason Meg now searched for Christine was because the mask had disappeared. No one but Christine could possibly have any interest in it�so Meg was curious if her friend had taken it. Not that she really cared, but it seemed strange, after Christine had insisted she did not want it back.
Meg sighed in exasperation and moved down the hall away from the dressing room. Before she could find out where the mask was, she would have to locate Christine.
*****
"Christine!" Raoul called for the hundredth time, growing more concerned as time went by and he still did not find her. Had she left the opera house? Where would she have gone? He groaned, hoping that his greatest fears had not been realized.
He had spent most of the previous night searching for information on who was after Christine and Erik. A few pieces had fallen into place, and while what they implied was hard to believe, the pieces all fit together. He could easily see it being true�and it scared him. If it was true, then Christine was in terrible danger�he had to find her, and soon.
He had searched everywhere he could think of in the opera house. There was simply nowhere else to look. He would have to leave, have to find somewhere in Paris that she could have gone.
He headed toward the front door, trying desperately to think of where Christine might be. He could come up with nothing, but still he had to try. He pulled the door open and started out.
"Monsieur le Vicomte!" Madame Giry�s voice came from behind him.
He turned and let the door fall closed again. "Madame Giry! Do you know where Christine is?!"
Mme. Giry caught her breath as she shook her head. "I must speak with you."
"I need to find Christine!"
"Monsieur," Mme. Giry said, her tone commanding attention. "I have helped you learn information you needed more than once. Now I want your help."
"My help? I don�t know where Christine is!"
"That�s not what I�m asking," Mme. Giry said. "I want to know who has their daughter."
*****
"Christine!" Meg called as she walked through one of the backstage areas. It was dark and eerie, and Meg was anxious to get away, but she had to find Christine. What if something had happened to her friend?
The lantern she carried cast strange lights on the equipment in the hall. Meg had always avoided these parts of the opera house�the girls of the ballet corps had been terrified of the backstage passageways ever since the reign of the Phantom.
Meg knew now that there had never truly been a phantom of the opera�he had only been a man, but the darkness of the passage still made her uneasy. She felt as though she was being watched, but she kept going, telling herself that no one was there.
"Christine," she called softly again, wishing that she would hear an answer. None came, so Meg sighed and anxiously kept going.
She finally reached a door leading from the backstage hall. She pushed it open quickly, only to find another dark corridor, this one accessing several dressing rooms that had not been used in more than a year.
Meg shook her head and dismissed the thought that Christine would be here, but as she quickly walked down the hall, she was surprised to see a door slightly ajar. Would Christine have come here?
She cautiously nudged the door open and extended the lamp a few inches into the room. She saw nothing, and stepped back, disappointed.
But before she could turn away, something urged her to go back inside. "Christine?" she whispered, as she poked her head back into the room.
There was no answer in words, only an almost mute groan. Scared beyond measure, Meg swallowed hard and said again, "Christine?"
There was no response. Every bit of Meg desired to turn and flee, but she had to find out what had made that sound. She held the lantern high and took another step into the room.
What she saw made her gasp in dismay.
For half a moment, the light illuminated Christine�s form, lying lifelessly on the floor.
A horrified scream escaped Meg�s throat, and the lantern slipped from her fingers.
Then the candle went out, and the room was enveloped in blackness.
