Behind the Mask [ON HOLD until SUMMER]

Chapter Two: The New Manager

Chapter Two

The New Manager

Monsieur Pierre (the host), stood there, gaping at the young man who now stood before him, looking like a fish out of water. The young man himself looked like a boy asking his father if he could keep a filthy street dog he found wandering about. "Oh, yes! O-of course!" Monsieur Pierre replied after regaining his composure. "350,000 francs going once! Going twi-"

"I bid 370,000 francs." A deep, calm voice coming from the audience interrupted. Everyone was only about to look over their shoulders and turn around to see who spoke when the young man said, a little bit too quickly, "400,000 francs then!"

"430,000 francs!" The voice bellowed. This may be harder than I thought it would be... The Phantom said to himself.

The bidding war carried on like this for quite a long time, people looked back and forth from the young man to where they thought the owner of the voice was, occasionally gasping at how much francs they would offer to Monsieur Pierre for the Opera House, it is, after all, the Opera Populaire. But soon the excitement died-down and the end approached.

"485,000 francs!" The young man shouted. He was growing infuriated by this unknown bidder. I am going to own this place! He thought to himself rather wickedly, but added to it quickly, in a much kinder tone, I have to...

"495,000 francs!" The voice said. Why wouldn't give up?! The young man thought, and then he paused for a moment. Not yet, at least, he said to himself.

"Fine then! I bid 530,000 francs!" The young man emphasized the how many francs he would give. The room fell silent. "Beat that, monsieur."

I am impressed, the Phantom thought. Who knew a foppish little boy like him could own such a fortune. He then stopped bidding for he knew he would just end up broke, with the Opera Populaire's ruins. He wanted to rebuild it, return it to its former glory and become the Phantom again, but then again, let's not forget, he is a wanted fugitive and he can't just go out and hire an engineering crew.

After a moments of waiting for the 'voice' to reply the young man grew restless and finally the host started, "530,000 francs going once! Going twice!" He breathed in deeply and shouted, "The Opera Populaire sold to Monsieur..." He trailed off, feeling embarrassed that he didn't know the young man's name, and looked at him expectantly. "Richard, Monsieur, Richard L'Visten."

"Sold to Monsieur Richard L'Visten!" Monsieur Pierre then continued as the audience broke into applaud and Monsieur L'Visten gave small bows, all of them forgetting all about the bidding war earlier.

He will come to great use, The Phantom said to himself. He will, indeed, come to great use.

Little did everyone know that the voice that spoke earlier belonged to the thought-to-be-dead Phantom of the Opera.

One WEEK later

POV of Monsieur Richard L'Visten 

"Good luck, Richard!" My friends called as I jumped out of our carriage and walked up to the Opera Populaire, which, in fact, I now owned. I hired an engineering crew a few days ago to help rebuild the opera house and it turned out that I had to give a speech, which I am truly not prepared for. I have been practicing for a day now, I have read and memorized it a hundred times, yet I still feel nervous.

I walked up the grand staircase and entered the auditorium. A chorus of good mornings greeted me. "Good morning everyone!" I replied trying not to show how nervous I was. I walked up what was left of the stage and gaped at the sea of people before me; most of them had started clearing the debris, while the rest were talking to each other about the Opera Populaire or what they think happened the infamous Opera Ghost after his obsession, Christine Daaé, left him. Get a hold of yourself! I thought, it's just a motivational speech! It doesn't have to be long...