The Man Behind the Mask: The Sequel to Gaston Leroux's the Phantom of the Opera

Chapter Nine: Celi and the Instruments

   The next morning was bright, and Celi had slept through the night. Content, she rose early, pulling back the curtains to reveal a shining sun. Something in her head had subsided or been settled last night, and at last, a cloud no longer hung over her.

    Celi waited a while for Erin, but when he didn't come, she decided to go find him. She wanted to explore more anyway.

    She went downstairs and peered in a few rooms, but Erin was nowhere to be found.

   She was about to give up when she tripped over a thick rug and fell down. Celi noticed a portion of the rug was uneven, except when she tried to flatten it, the piece would not stay down. Peeling back the rug, Celi found a floorboard sticking up. In fact, a four foot square of floorboards were not connected to the floor at all! Sensing an adventure at hand, Celi dragged the heavy boards away, uncovering a sort of doorway previously hidden under them. It led to a secret staircase. Celi sat down, regaining her breath from dealing with the tedious boards and tried to figure out a solution to her problem.

   Erin had told her to be careful in his house because she could get hurt. But now she couldn't find him and was concerned - he might be the hurt one in this situation.

  Unexpectedly, a few notes of haunting music floated up to her,  a breathtaking melody from an instrument she could not name. (The only instrument she was vaguely familiar with was the piano in the good parlor back at the Monsieur's, which Felicette had played once.) These notes made her decision for her, and in a trance, drawn to the beautiful music that was so novel to her, she stepped down the staircase.

   There were four or five flights of stairs without a rail or supports, winding down a brick passage. The area was tight but opened up to a gigantic room on the ground level.

   The music gradually became louder, turning into a dramatic ballad of pain and ethereal melancholy. Celi was utterly enchanted, and a force unknown to her inspired something deep within her to awaken and follow the music.

    She found herself inside a large underground chamber where windows were absent, but instead hundreds of tall candles and a grand chandelier hung over and around a circle of water in the middle of the space, giving off luminous light. A grand piano was perched high on a raised section of the floor, almost like a stage. A painting of a beautiful woman wearing a ruby necklace and a deep blue gown hung high up on a wall in the center of the room. Or was it a girl? She seemed to be in the in between period. But she was beautiful. Hers was the portrait Celi had seen before, only now her blonde hair was loose and her features were softer.

   Celi approached Erin, who was holding a sleek little instrument with strings that he played with a stick. Part of it's deep red body rested on his shoulder, and his eyes were closed above it, expression peaceful. He was almost happy, and far more relaxed than Celi had ever seen him.

   He stopped to write a few things down when he spotted her. She immediately began applauding and grinning earnestly. His face darkened with anger but lightened again within seconds.

   "That was beautiful!" Celi exclaimed. "What is that instrument you play with a stick called?"

   Erin looked at her in disbelief. "This?" He held up the wooden object. Celi nodded. He took that nod as a great personal insult. For three days she had been in his company and he had not bothered to check her knowledge of musical instruments! Where had his mind gone?

  "This is a violin, and I play it with a bow, not a stick. Come here." He stood, and taking her hand proceeded to point out different instruments in the room, playing a few of them for her. Celi was amazed by them all... but nothing prepared her for the big violin they were now in front of.

   "This is a Cello." Deep, intricate notes rumbled from the Cello, and Celi's eyes widened. Out of the piano, pipe organ, flute, trumpet, brass drums, and harp, the Cello was what interested her the most. Erin, upon seeing her wonder decided to teach her at some point, how to play it.

   Right now, he allowed Celi to sit down and watch him work. He was a composer, he said, a person who, in the simplest terms, wrote music and songs. He took the language of dreams and stars and translated them into a language everyone else understood - the language of music.  Celi fell even more in love with the concept of music than she had with culture.

   After a while, Erin found himself to be stuck. He couldn't decide on how to end an aria he had been writing.

   "If I gave you the lyrics and melody, would you be able to sing as I play?"

   Celi said she thought so, if not she'd do her best. Slightly skeptical, but unable to find another solution, Erin moved forward.

   Celi was unfamiliar with an accompanist, and she stumbled a few times over the notes, but an hour later, they were able to go all the way through without any hesitations and Erin figured out how to end the song. Frankly, he was impressed with how quickly she learned, and how badly she wanted to learn. And her voice, for a child of her age, was not your average singing voice. When she was older and outgrew her child's lisp, she might find that she had talent. But only if she pursued training could she ever do anything with that talent. And seeing as she was living with Erin, finding a trainer was not a problem. He was standing right in front of her, cooking her breakfast in the morning and caring for her nightmares. However, Celi did not seem like the kind of person - after what she'd been through - who would want to deal with the stress and tedious work of being an actress or opera singer.

   Erin did not realize how drawn to music she was, how she felt possessed by it when she heard it, or sang it. He reserved that level of insanity purely for himself.

   Erin and Celi spent most of the day down in that room. He taught her a few things, gave her some helpful tips, and in turn, took inspiration from her innocent, young voice to write and add new pieces to an older opera he'd been working on. Celi was pleased to find that he had more patience than she originally expected and wanted to work as long as she did.

   The pair seemed to get along quite well.

                           🌹

   By the time Celi had lived with Erin for a month, she could read music, actual books, though she was much more fluent in music. She could discuss the history of music at length. She could critique the greats and identify a strong melody from a weak one.
Everything for her was finally perfect. She was very happy and had gained a few pounds, she had begun her life-long love affair with the world of music.

   Celi and Erin grew accustomed to each other and their alternating moods. Celi would sometimes grow solemn and Erin found that the best way to lure her away from the dark thoughts of her mother was to tell her funny stories or take her to the rose garden. Both of them liked gardening. Celi discovered that when Erin was in dark moods - and these could last anywhere between two minutes to two days - the best thing would be to sing for him, or let him cool then make him laugh. But singing generally worked wonders.

   Some days he disappeared and she didn't see him at all, so she would amuse herself with studying or practicing and ask his opinion when he came home.
He always told her he left on business, and asked her not to pry. She accepted this readily, giving him the respect he gave her when she did not want to talk about something. And she never asked about his mask; she understood why he would prefer hiding behind something physical, when like she, he had no where to hide from the memories that haunted him. She hid behind her voice; that was her mask. It was her, and it wasn't her. It was her telling a story that was not her own, which she could therefore accept being familiar with.

   Erin and Celi made a rather odd family, but they were a happy one nonetheless.