40Lookie lookie! A new chappy! Finally! So sorry it took so long, I just wasn't inspired. But then I started popping my Phantom movie in my DVD player and listened to the CDs and I got a bunch of brilliant ideas for this story. So yay! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera or anything in this chapter!
The Beautiful Rose
~Chapter III: Searching~
"Christine, dear, come here. You've been staring out the window long enough," Mamma Valérius chastised from where she sat at the table in the kitchen. Christine blinked slowly, being taken out of her daze as she turned her blue eyes towards the older woman. Mamma Valérius sighed at the girl's anxious appearance.
"Your father's a stubborn one – if he got caught in the storm he would not be taken down until he sent word to you," she said as comfortingly as she could. Christine looked back out the window at the harsh storm outside, the wind whipping the rain against the glass pane.
"What if he's hurt? Or lost? We should send someone to search for him," Christine said concerned.
"Send anyone else out in that storm and they'll get lost too," Mamma Valérius reasoned as she motioned for the girl to come to her. Christine reluctantly left the window and sat at the chair beside the woman.
"Listen to me," Mamma Valérius said sternly, putting a hand on Christine's shoulder, "Everything will be alright. When the storm clears up you will get word of him, I'm certain of it." Christine nodded her head with a small smile, though she still had a strong feeling that something might have happened to her father. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it felt as though the overwhelming knowledge that something was wrong had overtaken her.
She was brought out of her daze once again as a light knock on the front door was heard.
"Christine, could you get that?" Mamma Valérius asked with a dismissive wave of her hand. Christine nodded as she stood and walked out of the kitchen and to the front entrance. Unlocking the rusty bolt, she swung open the small door to reveal Raoul.
"Raoul," she said surprised, looking his wet form up and down. Raoul smiled as he casually took his hat off in greeting before raking a hand through his hair to slick it back.
"Christine…may I come in? It's wet out here," he asked. Christine chuckled slightly as she stood aside to let him in. Closing the door behind the Vicomte, Christine watched as Raoul took off his wet coat and hung it up on one of the wooden pegs nailed to the wall.
"May I ask what you're doing here?" Christine asked curiously. Raoul's blue eyes met hers as he smiled again.
"Visiting, of course. It's been too long since I've seen Mamma Valérius," he explained.
"Is that the Victome de Chagny I hear?" a voice called from the kitchen. Christine motioned towards the room and Raoul left in that direction. The young girl stayed in the front entrance, listening to the two cheery voices of her caregiver and friend talk happily to one another. She smiled liking the sound of uplifting chatter, but the feeling in her stomach didn't go away.
Looking out the window beside the door, she stared at the pouring rain in discomfort. Something urged her to leave, because something was terribly wrong, and she also thought that somehow everyone would understand if she did so. Against her better judgement, Christine took Raoul's jacket off of the peg and put it on, the inside of the heavy fabric dry and warm. She quickly opened the front door and ran out into the pouring rain, towards the horse Raoul had brought and tied to one of the supports of the small porch.
Untying the animal, she guided him towards the road before roughly mounting. In the back of her mind she was hoping that if she 'borrowed' Raoul's coat and horse that he wouldn't be able to leave her house and would stay to take care of Mamma Valérius, which she was certain he would do anyways.
"Christine!" a voice shouted and she turned to see Raoul standing in the doorway, looking at her in shock.
"I have to make sure Papa is alright. I'll be back soon, I promise. Take care of Mamma Valérius for me!" Christine yelled in return. "Come on, Kaveh," she urged as she nudged his sides until he began to gallop down the road away from her home.
~oOo~
Rain pounded the ground violently as Kaveh carried Christine through the dark forest. She shivered violently, wrapping Raoul's jacket around her more securely as she tried to see her surroundings more clearly through the harsh weather. It felt like it had been hours since she had left on her journey, and she now realised the serious mistake she had made. She shouldn't have left so abruptly, she could only imagine how worried Mamma Valérius was, and to drop a heavy burden on Raoul like she had was cruel. But the pull in her stomach continued to convince her that this was somehow the right thing to do, and that her father needed her.
She had passed one town already, searching every inn for anyone who might have seen her father. When there was no news she had continued on, hoping the next town would be more productive. But the winds had picked up again, and the rain was falling down harder. Christine had to consider stopping somewhere safe until the storm cleared up enough for her to keep going. At this rate she feared that she would get terribly lost, which she thought she might already be.
Eyes straining to see through the rain, a small light in the distance shining through the trees caught her attention. Turning Kaveh in the direction of the light she lead him in the hopes that perhaps it was another town. As she drew nearer and nearer, she realized it wasn't a town at all, but a mansion. Christine bit her lip indecisively, wondering if it would be rude to ask for shelter, but thought that to continue on could be fatal.
Hesitantly she nudged the horse forward as they neared the mansion. Hopping down from Kaveh's saddle, Christine looked around for an appropriate spot to tie him up. Seeing a stable beside the large building, barely visible to the front, Christine led the horse over to it. Glad to be sheltered momentarily from the rain, Christine looked around the clean stable at all of the horses in their stalls, looking for one that might be open.
At the very end she saw that there was one available, and she carefully led Kaveh into it and securely locked him inside. Patting the horse on the head, she began to head out of the stable when something caught her eye. There was a brown horse that was also in a stall only two down from Kaveh that looked all too familiar to her.
"Jammes?" she questioned in disbelief as she approached the horse. She seemed to recognize her and nudged her nose against Christine's face. Christine's heart felt uplifted at the thought that he father might be in the mansion, probably currently sheltered safely by the owner. She saw a side door from the stable into the mansion, but she thought it might be rude to enter in such a fashion.
Quickly she rushed back out into the rain and towards the front door, where she hoped it would be unlocked.
~oOo~
"…Idiot…" Richard mumbled unhappily as he repositioned his seated position on the bed.
"Are you…going to keep…saying that?" Armand panted tiredly as he let the other man wipe the blood off his bare back with a wet cloth.
"Yes," Richard growled angrily, dipping the red cloth in the bowl of water placed on the night table beside him before gently wiping at the deep lashes again. "I told you not to help him."
"He was lost," Armand protest weakly, being rewarded by the other man purposefully pressing hard on one of the cuts on his back. He gave a small cry before giving Richard an apologetic look for his behavior.
"Stop being nice to strangers, it only gets you hurt," Richard reprimanded, placing the cloth back in the bowl before picking up a roll of linen bandages and carefully beginning to wrap them around his friend's body. Armand sighed as he held the starting end of the bandages so the whole thing didn't unravel.
"I didn't think the master would find out so quickly," he replied honestly.
"Of course he would, idiot – it's as if he has ears everywhere listening in on us."
"If that's true, then you shouldn't speak badly of him – he might punish you too."
"I'd like to see him try," Richard grumbled, knowing that he had no power over Erik at all. It annoyed him greatly that someone as young as Erik had complete power over everyone in the mansion and would punish them over something as selfless as helping a kind stranger.
"I don't mind so much," Armand said after a moment. "I never like Buquet anyways,"
"None of us do, but if you keep messing with the master he will keep sending you to that blasted empty room in the cellars where that wretched Buquet is," Richard warned.
"You act as though I go down there frequently," Armand countered.
"You go down there more than most of us. Your good-heartedness is really getting in the way, you know that? How many lashes will Buquet give you before you get it?"
"Richard," Armand turned slightly so he could see his friend better, "I realize you are concerned for my well-being, but I'm alright, really. Besides, we can't all lose our good nature, or we're all going to be consumed into this twisted reality the master has invented for us. We have to keep up hope."
"…There's none left…" Richard mumbled with a sigh. Quietly finishing the bandaging, Richard stood from the bed and stretched. "We better go to the kitchens and tell Ledoux to start dinner." Armand nodded his head as he stood and shrugged on the clean shirt that had been folded on his bed.
"Firmin! Moncharmin!" a voice shouted down the hallway, startling the two men.
"Quit your shouting out there! We're in here!" Richard snapped angrily, not in the mood to hear that familiar, loud, annoying voice at that moment. A moment passed before a tall man poked his head into the room before entering. The man was tall, very well built, dark brown curly hair on his head and a thick mustache.
"Ah, Lachenel, what is it?" Armand asked kindly. Lachenel looked at him wildly and with almost a giddy expression.
"I was just in the stable when I saw that there was an extra horse in one of the empty stalls! I thought that maybe it was just my age getting to me, but I went to find you and I saw a girl wandering the mansion!" he exclaimed.
"What?" Armand questioned in disbelief.
"You're mad," Richard countered.
"I swear! I saw it with my own eyes!" Lachenel swore. Richard and Armand gave each other a look, the former a warning gaze as the latter had a spark of excitement. Armand quickly rushed passed Lachenel and raced towards the mansion's front entranced.
"Armand! Damn it!" Richard cursed as he chased after the other.
"Wait! What do I do?" Lachenel called after them.
~oOo~
"Hello?" Christine called nervously as she continued to slowly walk through the mansion for a sign of an inhabitant. Her voice echoed off of the walls, making the girl feel more and more small and alone as she searched around. She had found herself on the second floor of the mansion, passing by faded paintings of landscapes and small tables covered in dust.
"Papa?" she said more quietly as she opened one of the doors on her left to peek into the room, hoping to find something. She was surprised to find that it lead to another set of stairs leading upwards. The stone steps felt ominous, and she feared of what she may find up there, so she quietly shut the door.
"Armand, stop!" a voice shouted, and Christine jumped started at the sound. Turning wildly in the direction of the voice, her eyes widened in shock and fear as she saw a man abruptly stop mid-run. It wasn't the existence of the man that startled her, but his transparent shape that did. Before she could stop herself she emitted a loud scream.
"Please, don't scream! I'm not going to hurt you," the ghost assured her, putting his hands up in defense. Christine backed away from him towards the door, her body shaking uncontrollably.
"Armand!" the voice from before called as another ghost appeared, slowing down his pace as he noticed the girl. "Lachenel wasn't lying."
"Of course not," Armand tsked as he gave the girl a warm smile. "Hello there. I'm so sorry I frightened you – it was not my intention. My name is Armand Moncharmin, one of the workers in this mansion, and this is my friend Richard Firmin. May I ask why you are here?"
"I-I-I-" Christine stuttered before gulping down the lump in her throat. "I-I'm looking f-for my father."
"Father?" Armand echoed with a frown.
"Armand," Richard whispered, "get her out of here before she gets locked up too."
"Y-Yes," Christine answered the first. "I-I saw his h-horse in the stable."
"What is his name?" Armand asked slowly, guilt and realization starting to dawn on him.
"Gustave Daaé."
"Balls," Richard cursed. Armand's lips pressed tightly together in thought.
"He's in the door behind you, right up the stairs," he instructed.
"Armand! What are you doing you fool?" Richard hissed, smacking his friend across the arm. Armand just gave him a hard look.
"Richard, have a heart." Christine had stopped listening to the two as soon as she heard where her father was. Opening the door behind her she quickly scrambled up the cold steps to the top.
The stairs led to a landing, a small room made completely of stone. It was dark, the only light coming from a small barred window, illuminating slightly the only thing in the room, a barred wall that separated the room from the cell behind it.
"Papa!" Christine cried when she saw the man curled up on the cold floor in the cell, looking small and pale against his surroundings. Rushing to the bars, Christine knelt down to be at a closer level to him. Gustave stirred slightly at her voice, opening heavy lids as he coughed violently at the thin cold air. Looking up wearily, his unfocused eyes widened.
"Christine?" he whispered in disbelief.
"Papa, it's me," Christine called, tears streaming down her cheeks as she reached through the bars and took his cold hand. As his eyes adjusted she could just see the dark spots of bruises on her father's face, and the harsh purple mark around the wrist of the hand she held.
"How…how did you…find me?" Gustave questioned weakly.
"I was so worried, and I tried to find you. I saw Jammes in the stable and knew you were here," Christine explained, trying to wipe her tears away so that she could concentrate. "Papa, tell me who did this to you." Gustave's expression turned dark and panicked.
"Christine…you must leave…now," he said urgently.
"How can you even say that?" Christine asked in disbelief.
"Please…you must leave…before he finds you…" Gustave begged.
"Before who finds me? Papa, I don't understand!"
"Perhaps I can help you understand," a deep ominous voice offered. Christine whirled around, her eyes widening as she saw the dark shadow standing at the door.
A/N-Dun dun dun! I can practically hear the Phantom's theme in the background. So yes! The moment you've all been waiting for and I have so cruelly decided to postpone it to the next chapter! MUHAHAHA! But seriously, no hate mail, the confrontation between Erik and Christine DESERVES it's own chapter! That's right! And you know it! So please review! :)