The Forgotten Past

Chapter 2

The papers read that it had been a year since the Opera Ghost had died. I felt sick to my stomach, when I read how that Inspector Ledoux had shot him once Christine Daeé was to safety. They shot him for no reason, but I know he was not dead. I don't know how I know but I could feel it, and I would not believe that The Phantom of the Opera was dead.

I had been working as the personal maid of Countess Christine de Chagny, for a couple of months. She is very kind not like my previous owners, but the Countess had told me that she did not own me, that I worked for her. She was kind and for that I did not want to upset her. So, I did not want to show her the paper. So, I went to the Count de Chagny to ask what I should do.

I walked you to Count de Chagny's office. As I walked down the elaborate walls of the mansion, I compared them to the ones at the opera house, it was nothing compared to the opera house. The walls were white, but the doors were like dark oak or something. The Count's door was at the end of the hall. When I reached the door I knocked on it, for a few moments there was no answer then I heard a come in. I slowly walked in and I saw the Count sitting behind his desk. He was of average height. He had long blond hair. I don't know why Christine picked him over Erik but that was her choose.

He looked up slightly from his paper work and said, "Yes what do you need."

"Sir have you seen that paper today?"

"No, I have not."

I slowly gave him the paper that I had been previously been reading, "I did not know if I needed to let the Countess see this."

He looked at the paper his eyes slightly widen then he looked up at me, "Thank you for bring this to my attention but if she asks for it give it to her, but if she does not do not bring it up."

"Yes sir", I said as I walked out the door and back to the Christine's room.

I put the paper in my apron's pocket and entered her room. I smiled as I enter, to see an averaged height girl with blonde hair with a beautiful and sweet face. Christine picking out what she wanted to wear today. She could not decide between a pink dress or a blue dress. "Ma'am you might want to go with the blue it brings out your eyes."

Christine turned around, "You really think so?"

"Yes, I think so. Should I take this other dress back in the wardrobe?"

"Yes, you can put it back as she started to get dressed."

I opened the wardrobe and hung the dress back up and I saw a beautiful red silk dress. Christine had never worn it. She had said that red was not her color, Christine looked good in red but that color did not complement her as well as the other colors, especially blue.

It took a couple of minutes to help Christine into her dress. She looked at her self in the mirror. Then turned around, "Has the paper come yet?"

I looked down at my pocket, "Yes ma'am it has, but there was nothing interesting in the paper today."

"Still I would like to see it.", she had no idea what was on the front page.

"Yes ma'am", I said. I kept the paper folded as I handed it to her. She looked at it for a moment, then sat the paper on her vanity mirror. "Are you alright ma'am?"

"Yes, I just did not realize that it had been a year, that's all."

"Would you like to talk about it?", I looked with her with a small smile.

She looked up at me, then sadly smiled, "Yeah, I would like to talk about it."

I sat down and listened very closely, "I'm ready, if you to listen if you are ready to tell."

"Ok", she said as she wrung her hands, "What most people do not know is that I asked to see his face...." She gasped as she told the story showing me that this was a hard subject for her, "I fainted when I saw his face, when I woke up I ran away. I didn't think about anything but to get away. I was trying to get back to the mirror, that was an entrance to his home, looking back now I am a shamed that I ran. Somehow, I came out behind a wall in the lobby and I ran with Philippe. As people know I came back and I sang as Marguerite in Faust. He then took me to the roof and he was killed by the inspector, as it says here. Yet, what people did not know was that when he came back up when I ran, and he was shot in the side. So, on the roof he was injured and sick, but the inspector was not the one that finally killed him. His father, Gérard Carrière the former opera house manager, shot him. After everything that happened, Gérard told me that Erik did not to be put on display for the world. So, he shot him, and he took Erik's body somewhere and buried him."

I grab her hand and I smiled at her, "It will be all right." Then she stood up and left the room. I was left in the room and I looked at the big mirror that reminded me of the mirror in the prima donna's room. I looked at myself in the mirror. I am of average height. I have blackish hair that was a slightly long, I usually kept my hair in a bun, like it is today. I wore a plain maid dress with a white apron. Thankfully it hid my past but not my entire past was bad.

I was in Christine's room straitening up when I heard some commotion coming from the other side of the door. "Philippe, I am going to help érard......Philippe, he is dead!" Then Christine came in her room mad. It was the first time I had seen her mad and I never want to get her mad at me.

"Is there anything I can do ma'am?", I asked he in a quiet tone.

When she started to talk to me her voice was a lot calmer, "Ana, we are going to the éra Garnier. If you could please pack my things. We will leave in the morning."

"Yes ma'am, how long will we be there?"

"I do not know. As long as Gérard needs me to sing. Anastasie, make sure to bring the red dress" With that I packed what Christine needed for her journey.

My room an adjoined to her's, so I went to the next room and packed the little belongings that I had a couple of dresses for work and a brush that was given long ago. Yet, I was going home to the Opéra Garnier.