A Twist In Time

Masquerade

     Walking into the Opera Populaire was one of the most terrifying things I've ever done, and the most exciting, but I had a pressing question to ask the Doctor.

"Won't people be looking for us?"

"The way dimension travel works, they won't notice that you are gone. When a time lord, or lady, leaves one dimension and enters another, time completely stops in the one that they left. When you get back, then time starts again. But no one will notice that time has stopped. Don't worry, I thought of everything." , The Doctor quickly explained.

"I see." Well, this would be a great chance to get away from my job and demonic neighbors. "But what if we can't dance? What are we doing at a masquerade? None of us can dance!"

"Well, who says we have to dance? There are a lot of people who are here to socialize."

"But none of us are good at socializing either!", I hissed at the Doctor.

"Then we must all play a game of make-believe.", he said matter-of-factly.

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    Walking to the ballroom, we passed Carlotta and her boyfriend Piangi. Just as she walked past me, I leaned to my right and "accidentally" bumped into her.

"Be careful, child!", she hissed at me, sashaying away. I tried to do my best not to laugh, honestly! As we stepped into the lobby after talking with the managers, who, to be honest, were not exactly the brightest, I found that there was indeed a great amount of people who weren't dancing. Looking around, I could see the balconies, women in elaborate dresses and beautiful masks escorted by gentlemen wearing suits, the dancers whirling around the floor, and the band on a small balcony above the grand staircase. The smell of mingling perfumes overwhelmed my nose, a trace of subtle violets and bold rose. The merry sound of the band was accompanied by the voices of the chorus and the swish of satin and velvet. As I looked up at the balconies, I saw a quick flash of red disappear around a corner. "It must have been him...", I murmured under my breath.

"Did you say something, sister?", Makaila asked, giving me a questioning look.

"Oh, nothing of importance, sister. Let's try to enjoy ourselves, shall we?", I said with a small grin.

"Indeed, sister!", Liz interrupted with a laugh.

As the managers, Carlotta, Meg Giry and her mother strode down the stairs, we saw Christine and that fop Raoul enter the ballroom. Oh, how I would love to kill that fop.

"Let's go talk to them! Come, on, hurry up!", I exclaimed as I pulled Liz and Makaila towards my childhood idol.

"Ms. Daae, I must say that  your singing the other night was absolutely angelic!", I gushed when she turned in my direction.

"Why thank you! And you are?", she smiled and looked at my friends and I.

"My name is Danielle Bouquet, and these are my sisters, Elizabeth and Makaila.", I explained, pointing to my "sisters" in turn. Christine looked puzzled.

"Are you perhaps related to the late Joseph Bouquet? Surely you have learned of the unfortunate accident that befell him!", she asked us, her skin becoming a shade whiter when she mentioned Bouquet's "accident".

"We are his nieces, and my father," , I gestured across the room to the Doctor, "was his older brother.", I told her.

"Well, it's certainly nice to see some relatives that cared about him. Will you be in town for awhile, or do you live in Paris?", Christine asked with a tilt of her head.

"We live here, but we will be out of town for the nest few weeks, as we are going to visit America.", I lied smoothly.

"Do you like to sing? You have the looks of an opera singer." , she said with a genuine smile.

"I do enjoy singing, but I don't think that I'm very good.", I said quietly, studying my elaborately embroidered shoes.

"That is not true! You sing like an angel, and you know it!", Makaila butted in. Christine laughed lightly.

"Is that so? Well, maybe after the masquerade we can talk some more, because I have truly enjoyed talking with you. Well, I must be going, but hopefully I shall see you three soon. Farewell!"

     And with that, my childhood idol and the fop walked onto the ballroom floor. As the last opening lines of Masquerade rang out, the tone of the band's music suddenly turned sinister. I wondered how the band knew when to change music, and what music to play when they had never had advance notice of the appearance of the Phantom.

     The look on the crowd's and Christine's faces quickly turned from joy to horror, while mine turned from anticipation to excitement. As the Phantom stepped out onto the staircase, I realized that the flash of red I had seen on the balcony was him. Of course, as soon as the Phantom appeared, Raoul left for the bathroom. The cowardly fop.

"Would you mind stalling him?" , I asked Liz, my eyes never leaving the Phantom.

"Who, Raoul?", she asked, alarmed.

"Yes. I want to make sure that the fop doesn't interfere with the Phantom's plans.", I muttered, sounding like someone from Pulp Fiction.

     "But of course, boss. I'll take him out.", Liz replied, talking in a gangster-inspired voice, walking away in the same direction as the fop. My heart rate increased rapidly, probably because my fictional crush had come to life in front of me, and I had just sent my friend after the fictional person who I despised the most.  I walked over to stand by Christine, knowing that she could use the presence of a friend.

     "Why so silent, good monsieurs? Did you think that I had left you for good?", the Phantom asked the managers, punctuating every beat with a step down the stairs, keeping time with my heartbeat."Did you miss me, good monsieurs, I have written you an opera! Here, I bring the finished score, Don Juan Triumphant!" , he shouted, yanking his sword from the scabbard on his hip. "Fondest greetings to you all, a few instructions just before rehearsal starts." He walked towards Carlotta. "Carlotta must be taught to act, not her normal trick of strutting 'round the stage!", he sang, using his sword to ruffle the feathers on her hairpiece. As Piangi stood protectively in front of her, the Phantom prodded his overly large potbelly with his sword. "Our Don Juan must lose some weight, it's not healthy in a man of Piangi's age." The Phantom strode over to the managers, using over-exaggerated movements with his sword as he walked. "And my managers must learn that their place is in an office, not the arts.", he said pushing his sword in their faces. He sheathed his sword and turned to Christine, who was giving him a scared yet wary look. "As for our star, Ms. Christine Daae... no doubt she'll do her best, it's true her voice is good, she knows, no, should she wish to excel, she has much still to learn, if pride will let her return to me, her teacher, her teacher..." At this point, the Phantom and Christine had started walking towards each other, and were now standing in front of each other. I saw a flash of movement on the balcony, and saw Raoul trying to jog and buckle his belt at the same time. That fop. "Your chains are still mine, you belong to ME!", the Phantom shouted as he tore the engagement ring off of Christine's neck. As he swished his cape,  a trapdoor opened underneath him and he vanished. Before it could close, however, that idiot fop ran up the stairs and jumped through the trapdoor! It then closed with a whoosh.

"Are you all right, Christine?", I asked as I rushed up the stairs to her side.

"It was the Angel...", she murmured under her breath.

"Christine, we should leave! Like, right now!", I said hurriedly, breaking character.

"You're absolutely right.", she said, turning and running down the stairs, with me in tow. As we fled, I mouthed "Come on!" to Makaila and the heavily breathing Liz.