As I lie awake in bed, I cant stop thinking about the bastard ghost that has ruined my career.
My head pounds from the anger I feel towards him. I shut my eyes trying to shake the thoughts from my head. If I am to possibly get better, being angry wont help me. I try to relax, but angry thoughts fade and turn into the realization of the pain in my leg. It pounds and burns as if it is om fire. I thought that rest would lower the pain but that clearly didn't work.
Suddenly, my eyes bolt open at the sound of a knock at the door. I grit my teeth as I swing my legs off the bed, trying to deal with the pain. I use my nightstand to balance my self as I walk towards my wheel chair. I steady myself as I sit down. As I wheel towards the door, I hear another knock and then another. I can tell they are getting impatient.
With a annoyed grunt I yell "Who the bloody hell is it?!" I don't hear a reply and instead the knocking stops. I finally reach the door and when I open it I am greeted with a annoyed Madame Giry. Behind her is Meg, who is appears to be cowering in shame from her mothers passive aggressiveness.
"Took you long enough", she sighs. I give her a look of disbelief and dramatically motion towards my broken leg. She rolls her eyes and nudges me out of the way as she barges into my house. Meg then walked forward and said "Ignore her attitude. Believe it or not, its how she shows love." She lets out a small smile and walks inside.
We gather in the living room. Meg takes a seat on the blue ottoman by the couch. Madame Giry sits in the wooden chair located in the corner of the room. I notice her gaze scan the entire room with judgment in her eyes. I try not to notice it, remembering what Meg said, though I have doubt its true.
"So what brings you two here?", I ask raising an eyebrow. Meg looks at me shaking her head while smiling. With a laugh she says, "obviously to see how you are doing. I mean, breaking a leg isn't something you can shake off." I smile back and say "Why thank you." I look down and shake my head. "I won't lie, my leg hurts like hell". I pause before taking a deep breath "But, what is bothering me more is, well, I don't know what it is. I-It's some kind of ghost I guess? You both probably think I am crazy."
Madame Giry's eyes grew wide and she leaned forward. "The Phantom?" she exclaims, almost at a lost for words. "I'm sorry, the what? And you don't think I'm crazy?" I told her with confusion. "No. I don't think you're crazy," she said. All of a sudden I became intrigued.
"What can you tell me about this Phantom, as you call it?" I ask raising my eyebrow. Madame Giry's expression dulls as her head turns to look at the floor. "I've said too much already. I should not have said anything," she harshly replies. During which Meg looks up at her mother's quick change of tone. She starts to speak, but her mother cuts her off.
"Get up Meg. We are leaving," Madame Giry says as she gets up and pulls her daughter off the ottoman. "But I-", Meg makes a second attempt at speaking, but is again cut off by her mother. The two quickly hurry out the door. But right before she gets dragged out, Meg turns to me and mouths "I'm sorry." To which I whisper "It's all okay."
However, that was a lie. It was probably one of the biggest lies I have told. Right now I am anything but okay. In a matter of minutes I have learned that there is a "phantom" and I'm not insane, but also that other people know about it. Or . . . at least, one person knows about it, but they refuse to tell me anything.
These thoughts of confusion mix with the pounding of my leg, and I am now in more pain then I was this morning. I decided trying to sleep would hopefully lessen the pain. I wheeled myself to my room and pulled myself into bed. After getting comfortable, I closed my eyes and tried to forget about the pain.
When I opened my eyes, I was in the middle of the ocean surrounded by a thick fog. It was dark, and with the only light being from the moon. As I gazed into the distance, I noticed a dark figure moving towards me. I was filled with fear at what the mysterious figure could be. As it got closer, however, I could make out a gondola with no one on it. Then I woke up.
It was the middle of the night and my face was sweating from fear. What I thought was a strange reality was nothing more then a facade. I rubbed my hand through my hair and sighed. I looked around my shadowed room and froze. I noticed a area on the right side of my room appearing darker then normal. The shadowed area drew closer and then the world went black.
~~~
I awoke to the sounds of birds chirping outside my window. The sun was hot in my face and my room was filled with light. I yawned and moved to get into my wheelchair. As I dangled my legs off the bed I remembered the shadowed figure that was in my room. A quick rush of fear flooded over me, but quickly subsided as I realized it was probably a dream.
I lowered myself into my wheelchair and started to head towards the kitchen. For some reason, however, I decided to stop after barely moving. I looked down to where the shadow was in my "dream", and on the floor was a rose. Looking closer at the rose I saw a note tied to the step with a red ribbon. I picked up the rose and read the note, which contained a single phrase.
"la douleur exquise"
