Ex-Managers of the Opera (Erik Lenoir)

[Christine Daaé]

Little Christine had been quite weary ever since that awful encounter only about a week before. She'd hardly been able to sleep at all, for fear that she may be taken from her bed again, or visited again in the middle of the night by a demon with blood dripping from its jaws. She had no idea what to thin about where they were any more. The village was nearly as frightening as the manor itself, perhaps more so in some ways. She couldn't sleep, couldn't leave, she'd hardly been able to eat after all of the fear and worry... she was trapped!

Her eyes were terribly dark with shadows and red with fatigue and crying. She had begun to cough a little, the lack of sleep taking its toll on her health. She had been seeing things and she wasn't sure whether they were real or not any ore. Surely this place would be the end of her, driving her to complete and utter insanity. Oh she wished more than ever that she could just go home: home, where it was safe, and there were no ghosts or demons, and the only one she had to worry about taking her was Érik, and where there were no metal horseless carriages, and people spoke French, and where everything was just so much simpler...

This was the state of mind in which the girl entered the opera of the manor. She had no particular purpose for being there; she had been wandering as she usually did, merely afraid to be alone in any one place for too long a time. Her Mamma Valérius was there now, which helped to bring some of the comfort and familiarity of home, but she had to be careful about it. The old woman was already in such a delicate mental and emotional state that the girl was afraid to let her know of her troubles, for fear that it might be the end of the old woman.

Christine was so wrapped up in her own troubles that she had no time to take notice of anyone else who might have already been inside of the theatre, nor did she notice anyone who may have entered. She was, in a sense, lost: lot in thought, lost in emotion, lost in time, lost from the world that she knew and from any sense of sanity she had once known...

[Erik Lenoir]

Erik was starting on his usual inspection of the work that had been done and that which needed to be done to make the opera house usable again. He was not happy with the way the work had been going. Some cleaning had gone on, a few people had volunteered, and Erik had done a bit of it himself. But the work must move on if they were to actually produce any operas or ballets, or anything at all. Certainly the state of the place would not be condusive to putting on a production. Why the stage was in such bad repair, the trap doors could fail and someone could be hurt. And aesthetically, the place was not in good repair either.

Erik entered the opera house, clad in his evening clothes and mask as usual. He opened the heavy wooden doors and started walking up the aisle to the front to sit down in his usual place in the first row of audience seats.

Erik began to write down some of the things he knew needed to be done. He thought about the people he had talked to about the opera house and shown the place. Most everyone wanted to perform here. Only a few volunteered for the cleanup. He sighed. Well, it would happen, in time.

Erik was concentrating so hard and so wrapped up in his thoughts that he failed to hear anyone else enter the opera house.

[Christine Daaé]

Christine's entire body was shaking from fatigue as she moved through the aisle of the theatre. It was the result of over a week's time with nearly no sleep, constantly on the move, paranoid to be alone in one spot for too long. Everything that she had known of the world had suddenly been shattered in those few brief hours that she and Raoul had been to the nearby village. She wasn't sure what to think of anything any more....

She was quickly running out of explanations for the things she had encountered here, and every single day she found herself wishing more and more that this was all nothing but some horrible nightmare and that she would awaken at any moment... but she didn't. She didn't, and that was what terrified her even more than any of the things she had seen or experienced there.

As she kept on continuing, she managed to get to about the fifth or sixth row, her ankles began shaking and buckling more and more until finally they gave out completely beneath her and the girl and the collapsed, grabbing the back of one of the nearby seats in an attempt to catch herself and letting out a shriek as she fell. She gripped the back of the chair holding herself up, arms shaking with fatigue from the effort, breathing heavy ad irregular as she attempted unsuccessfully to recover not only from the shock of the fall, but also from the shock of all that she had endured the past few months.

[Erik Lenoir]

Still concentrating and lost in his thoughts, Erik suddenly became aware of a sound behind him, close...something that seemed perhaps like someone falling. Not a sharp noise, but it was followed by a shriek...in a woman's voice. Erik jumped up and turned quickly. Someone had apparently slipped only a few rows behind him. He was surprised that he hadn't heard anyone walk up the aisle, but he hadn't been paying attention.

When he came upon the person who fell, he discoverred it was the little blonde Christine, trying to hold on to the back of a seat to try to break a fall. Her eyes looked as if she'd been crying and she had dark shadows under them. He saw that all in an instant.

"Let me help you up, Mademoiselle Daaé," he said as he offered both his hands to help her to a seat. He noticed she seemed shaky and her breathing irregular and heavy. Erik remembered the frightening affair brought on by that seemingly insane fellow Destler. Erik had been told that another man named Érik may have kidnapped her, but in truth it had been found that Destler was the man who had kidnapped this young Christine and had threatened to kill her. Lenoir had aided the two de Chagnys, one her fiancé and the other older de Chagny married to Emilie. Mademoiselle Daaé's fiancé had brought her to a safe place while Lenoir and Edouard de Chagny had confined the bizarre Destler.

"May I bring you some water to revive you a bit?" Erik asked. He wondered if it was worry that had brought her to this state.

[Christine Daaé]

Christine was honestly somewhat relieved when she heard Monsieur Lenoir's voiice there in the theatre. It was much better than hearing that of Érik, or the deom, or the faceless man, or any other of the frightening things which she had encountered there within the manor or the nearby village where everything was so terrifyingly different. "Thank you, Monsieur," she said in a weak voice, still shaking all over like a leaf as she accepted his gesture and allowed him to assist her into one of the seats.

She manages a weak smile when he offered to bring her a glass of water. She was so tired, and water sounded like absolute heaven at the moment. The worry and paranoia had made it a bit difficult for her to force herself to eat or drink, and thus she was dehydrated on lop of her lack of sleep. "Yes, thank you..."

[Erik Lenoir]

Walking quickly out of the opera house, Erik went to a nearby washroom where he knew there was water. Several clean glasses were on a shelf along with a pitcher. He filled the pitcher with cold water and brought a glass and returned to the opera house. "Here you are, Mademoiselle," Erik said, pouring the water in the glass and handing it to her.

Erik sat down next to her and put the pitcher on the floor. "Do you need anything else? Are you all right?" Erik wondered what was wrong, as she had fainted before in his presence, and although she hadn't quite fainted this time, she seemed, to Erik, to be on the verge of it. And this time, she looked unwell. He was concerned, for he liked this little lady and he felt he could consider her a friend. Oddly, Erik had made a few friends since he had arrived at the mansion. That was unusual for him. He had also made several enemies. That was not unusual.

"You look a bit tired, Mademoiselle," he said, underplaying the fact that she looked considerably worse than just a bit tired. He waited, to see if she would tell him about it.

[Christine Daaé]

The girl sat shaking in the theatre seat, glancing about the room in distress, her eyes chasing imaginary shadows belonging to all of the frightening things of tat place. What had she possibly done to deserve to be dragged to such a cruel and foreign place? And what was even worse was that she had unknowingly wished such cruelty upon her fiancé and her adoptive mother as well by wanting then to be there with her. What could possibly have happened to make this reality?

Her eyes, in scanning the room for those terrors which plagued her within the manor and its grounds, caught sight of Monsieur Lenoir as he reentered the opera house with a glass and pitcher of water in hand. “Thank you,” she said in a weak voice as she reached out a trembling hand to take the glass of water from him after he had poured it. She raised it to her lips, taking a small sip, but with how much her hands were shaking, she ended up spilling more on herself than she actually was able to drink.

“No.... No, I don't need anything else. I.... I've had a bit of trouble sleeping recently... This place, I.... I don't even know what to think any more... I want to go home... It is too horrible here. There are demons, and strange machines, and everyone speaks English, and... and...”

Her lips trembled and she sniffled a little as a few tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall. She had thought that she had this place all figured out, but now... Now she didn't know hat to think of anything any more, and it was this uncertainty which had frightened her so. She didn't feel safe here, no matter what she tried. She couldn't sleep, she could hardly eat, and she hated being alone in the same place for too long. She did not trust it here...

[Erik Lenoir]

Erik felt sympathetic towards the little Christine. She had of course gone through the terrible episode in which Erik Destler had kidnapped her. Erik handed her the water and she sipped a bit, but spilled much of the glass on herself because of her shaking hands. He offered his large handkerchief to her to sop up a bit of the water.

"I am sorry to see you in such a state, Mademoiselle. Is there anything that I could do to help?" He noted that she appeared to be afraid of something, but what he didn't know. Then Christine started to explain her fears...demons...strange machines...everyone speaking English...

"Two of those are easily remedied, Mademoiselle Daaé, you could find someone to explain what the strange machines are, and I assume you may be speaking of the machines in the kitchen and also perhaps the lift...I could explain any of those to you...if you understand them, most likely you will not be upset by them. The fact that everyone speaks English, of course leaves you out of the conversations and is a block to communication. If you wish, I could give you lessons in English, for I speak the language very well." Erik said the last with a bit of pride, as was his wont.

"Demons? You have seen demons here? Are you speaking about Destler? And...I have of late met some very strange beings, spectres you might say. Some of them could be demons. One of them is, I am sure..."

"Have you told your fiancé about this? Perhaps he could offer you some protection against those things you fear..." Erik wasn't really too confident that her fiancé could be of much help, but he didn't say anything to that effect.

"And truly, Mademoiselle Daaé, all of us wish to leave this place and return to our homes. I am still searching for a way." The girl was almost in tears and Erik felt wished there were something she would let him do to help.

[Christine Daaé]

Christine took the handkerchief from Monsieur Lenoir when it was offered and used it to dry herself up some, as she was a bit wet from spilling water all over herself. “Thank you....”

She listened to his explanations and offers about how she could overcome some of the things that made her so frightened here. The girl merely shook her head, wiping away a few of her tears. “I don't want to learn how – I just want to go home again. Yes, I have seen demons here, dreadful, dreadful demons... ”

He asked about someone by the name of 'Destler' and Christine just looked at him, rather confused. “Oh, I don't even know any more.... I think I may be seeing things.... I have told Raoul of some of it, and he's doing all that he can, but that's just it! He's doing what he can do and, unfortunately, he can't do anything about most of this.... We tried to return to Paris the other day, you know?”

[Erik Lenoir]

Christine still seemed distraught even after Erik's attempts to cheer her up. She wanted to leave this place, and no wonder. She had seen demons, she said, and Erik didn't doubt her. However, if he told her some of the things that he had learned from the ghosts, he was sure she would be even more distraught. Indeed it was bad news for all of them who wished to leave. He had heard that it wasn't that they were being prevented from leaving, but that because of the time anomaly, the fact that they were no longer in their original time frames, they simply might disappear into oblivion. There was a certain point, perhaps just beyond the village, that the manor residents could reach and then...they would be no more. At least that's what King William Leverich told him. Perhaps the King didn't know what he was talking about. He had seemed a bit unsure of his facts. But who would want to be the first to try to prove the King wrong?

"What exactly is your Monsieur de Chagny doing about the situation? You said he is doing all he can.... what exactly does that mean?" When Christine said they had tried to return to Paris the other day, Erik frowned. "What did you do? Were you forced in some way to come back?" To Erik, it looked as if they indeed were unable to leave.

Erik didn't like to see the little blonde woman so upset. She had been kind to him in the past. But if there were not any possibility that anyone could leave, what were they to do? Erik was rather content with living in his lair, although he didn't like to be forced to live here without any choice in the matter. And he certainly didn't like the stories of demonic and occult activity in the manor...

[Christine Daaé]

“When we tried to return, we went to the village, and everything was so terribly frightening there... There are carriages that move without horses, and people wearing the most scandalous of clothing, and the air smells funny, and there are all sorts of strange things everywhere, ad in all of the shop windows... Anyway, by the time we made it to the train station, Monsieur de Chagny went for his money to purchase tickets and found it missing. It seemed someone had pickpocketed him...”

Christine sighs and then let her head fall to hang in her hands. “No money means no tickets, which means no passage back to Paris... And even if we were to somehow get back to Paris, I'm not sure what we would do from there... We had both planned on combining our finances an retiring after we were married, but... Not I do not know what we can do. I... I think that you and a few of the others were... well... were perhaps right in thinking that we were further from home than we thought... in a different time even.... But what I do not understand is how. How could we possibly have gotten here? Oh, I want to go hoe. I want to go home...”

“Raoul found a job in the village and is trying to save up enough for us to be able to move away to some house on our own, but I do not know how long that would take if we would be able to leave at all. In the mean time, I've hardly been able too sleep. It is too horrible to always be trembling like this. I am afraid that they will come back...”

[Erik Lenoir]

Erik listened to Christine's sad story of her and Raoul's attempts to leave the mansion. "I have also been to the village, Mademoiselle. It is indeed different and there are some things not to my liking also." Erik decided he would have to tell her what t he King had told him, whether it were true or not. At least they would have the information to make a good choice.

"Mademoiselle Daaé, what I am about to say will undoubtedly seem almost unbelievable to you. But I have it on very good authority, that if we reach a certain point past the village, we will disappear and be no more. I believe it has something to do with the time anomaly. You noticed, as did I and every other person from the mansion who ventured to the village, that their time is in the future. Even some parts of the mansion are in the future. If we venture too far into a place which is not our own time, we will vanish."

"Of course, you can choose to ignore that advice and simply continue on. At best, if my understanding of the situation is incorrect, you would make your way to a Paris of the future. None of your friends, family or acquaintances would be there. At worst, you both would disappear. Whether you would appear back here in the mansion, somewhere else, or simply disappear into oblivion is anyone's guess. It's what I was told. As to the reason wwe were taken here, that is yet to be discerned."

Erik felt sorry that he had to tell Christine the bad news, but really she needed to hear it. "I am sorry that your de Chagny lost his money... if you wish, and you are truly determined to chance it, I would be happy to give you the money outright, no repayment necessary. They are delighted to take our French francs for they are worth more than their face value."

"I would advise you to talk it over carefully with your de Chagny and decide if you wish to take the chance. Another idea would be to move to the village if you wish to remove yourself from the mansion." Erik paused and looked upon Christine kindly. He felt badly for the girl; he knew she was going through a lot of emotional turmoil. And it seemed she was less prepared than some to deal with the happenings in the mansion...

[Christine Daaé]

((Sorry this took so long. I've been having trouble with muse for this thread, because I know this was planed to be a turning point, and so I'm trying to make sure the progression is careful.))

Christine listened as Monsieur Lenoir spoke and she shook her head in confusion. “How is that possible?” She asked, her head reeling. “How is any of this possible?” She rubbed her temples, breathing uneasily. What was this hell hole that they had somehow come to? Her entire body shook and she wrung her hands over and over, frightened by the prospect of perhaps never returning home.

She shook her head, still wringing her hands in worry, when he offered to give her and Raoul enough money for passage on the train. As much as she wanted to go back, he truly did dislike having to accept assistance from anyone, even people to whom she was close. It was why she had been so hesitant to ask Raoul to help her escape from Erik back during the time of their adventures...

“I... I don't know,” she said, closing her eyes for a brief moment and passing her hand over her forehead. “I don't know anything any more. This is all a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare...” She hung her head in her hands, rubbing her temples as she did so. She had hoped never to have to set foot into that village again, but now it seemed that the only way to escape the terrors of the manor was to escape to the village...

[Erik Lenoir]

Erik didn't know how to respond to the little Christine's fears and of course her unbelief of the situation concerning the time anomaly. Having experienced it, he knew it was real. And he was quite content to live in his lair, here at the mansion. There were evils here, yes he knew that, like Erik Destler and Josephine the evil spectre and some others he had heard aboutbut never experienced. He had felt out of his range on some occasions, but still, it was better than being captured and executed for murder as he would certainly have been had he stayed in Paris. So yes, the mansion had been good for him.

But what could he say to Christine? "Mademoiselle, perhaps to stay in the village for a time at least may be your best chance to escape some of the horror of this place.. You would be away from the mansion and you and your de Chagny would be able to start a new life undisturbed. It would of course not be Paris, but it would seem that that could not be helped." Erik paused and gazed at the poor girl for a moment. She was so distraught. "Perhaps you would not take my monetary offer, but I assure you that I would b e happy to give you my protection any time you wish."

"This place, it's a place we can't seem to escape. However, as one of the spectres told me, it's a place to start over, to find happiness. Perhaps that seems outrageous to you, but it's a possibililty...." Erik had no idea what to say to the girl. He didn't understand the fears of this young girl. Erik dealt with his own fears in a very different way, so he didn't know what tot say to comfort her except offering to help. He didn't think she'd accept his help though...

[Christine Daaé]

Though to her own dismay, Christine knew very well that what she had seen had been real. She had seen the village and all of the strange things inside of it, but she still wished desperately that she could convince herself that it was all nothing but some terrible nightmare. She found herself hoping, every morning when she rose, that she would be back at home in Mamma Valérius' flat in Paris, preparing with Raoul to leave for the elopement, and yet she never was. She was still there, in the manor, and this was what frightened her most – that it was real...

She listened and continued to wring her hands as the masked man spoke. “Thank you, Monsieur Lenoir... I... I am not sure though, honestly, which place holds more horrors... To start over here, I.... I'm not certain it's even possible... How can we when the one thing that was the most fatal to our being together is also here? I am not sure as to how much longer I can manage to keep one hidden from the other...” And the girl gave a sigh an hung her head in her hands.