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Carlotta felt uneasy as she undressed behind the folding screen. The air in the large dressing room seemed compressed and stuffy all of the sudden. A disturbing feeling of intruding eyes suppressed any attempt to rationalize the warning occurring within her mind. She hummed manically, hoping to somehow cover up the distinct smell of sweat and fear. A jostling noise from the other side of the room panicked her. She raced to finish dressing when she remembered her stockings, gloves, hat, and shoes were all lying on the wooden trunk on the opposite side of the room near the location from which the noise had come.
Reluctantly, Carlotta peeked out from the screen; to her surprise the room was empty. Everything was still in place: the long velvet couch to her left, the black vanity with cherubs across the way, the cedar chest to the left of the vanity with all of her clothes still neatly folded, and the full length mirror towards the back of the room, yet she noticed suddenly that there was the slightest space between it and what seemed to be a tunnel. Before she could investigate a gloved hand slammed over her mouth preventing her screams of terror from propagating. The gas lanterns lighting the room all quenched with a single wave of the Phantoms hand. Carlotta shook violently in his firm grasp. A cold blade was pressed to her neck threatening everything she was.
Finally, his dark voice filled the silence, making her recoil into her own skin. "Leave the Opera, never come back, or you will regret the very day you stepped foot in this place. Don't test me, countess, for surely all the people you love will suffer along with you if refuse to obey." The Phantom released her from his grip only to catch her once more and pin her against the wall. She could see the man's masked face in the pitch dark, for his eyes were lit up by a glowing red that surrounded the pockets of his eyes.
The Phantom pulled up her sleeve, and with his knife, he quickly carved a diamond with a straight line and two diagonal lines attached. The cut faintly resembled a rose. The blood that poured from her arm made the laceration's design seem appropriate as if the sharp digging blade were a series of thorns piercing her flesh over and over again. Beauty: A two-edged sword.
" You've been marked, Prima Donna." A puff of bright smoke clouded the room and in that instant, the Phantom was gone. Carlotta coughed practically choking on the fumes. She dashed for the door and came out to the hallway screaming loudly. Her three hand-maids came rushing towards her urgently. Various cast members joined the large crowd surrounding the star. "What happened?" Asked the multitude. Carlotta could only manage, "Ghost! Ghost! It was him, the Opera Ghost!" The circle of people gasped and a large roar of conversation erupted proceeding the realization.
Monsieur Andre and Monsieur Firmin broke through the crowd promptly after being alerted by some employees of the situation and guided Carlotta upstairs to their office to discuss the happenings in private. They ordered her hands-maids to bring the rest of her clothes and shoes as security escorted them back into the haunted room.
Piangi followed behind his wife and went into the managers to the office. "Carlotta," the white-haired man began slowly. "What exactly occurred in your dressing room just now?" "You fool, I've told you before, and I will tell you again, the opera ghost is trying to kill me! What more do you need to hear?"
