the phantom and the shadow chapter 3

the phantom and the shadow
chapter 3 hell has no fury like a sister scorned/the duo finds Christine

Two years had passed and Erik was now a young lad of eleven. He remembered how Stella had started earning her living. She started selling a variety of flowers in front of the opera house while she was singing. Her voice was maybe not powerful enough for opera but, At least it was nicer than Carlotta's, Stella's singing didn't had any croaking notes or false emotions.
He also recalled how they when they didn't have any extensive lectures from Madame Giry they went exploring the catacombs that their home was connected to. Erik had stolen a small, old boat from the props room and had fixed it up so it could actually sail on the water that flowed underneath the opera house. Stella then packed a basket with food and water, a box of writing utensils and blank paper so they could write notes of what they heard from their secret peeping holes scattered around other parts of the House. Like when Erik and Stella learned from listening to an architect, a financer and a lot more about agriculture and money.
The two had even learned how to sew and to cook, Erik had also earned his living as the Phantom of the Opera. He had been practicing how to mask his voice if he ever needed to actually speak with the gullible managers. The duo knew more about the opera than the stagehands themselves, and sometimes the managers wouldn't listen to reason. When Stella came in, Erik would write a note and give it to her, then in the middle of the night she would stab the note with her dagger. It soon became her trademark. You see, Erik was better at a verbal threat but Stella was the better one when it came to a intimidating threat; one that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand straight.
Erik was snapped out of his reverie when he heard a curious voice.
"Who are you and why are you wearing that freaky mask?"
Erik turned around and saw it was a son of one of the stagehands. Erik demanded back to the boy, "How did you get in here?"
The scraggly boy was roughly a few years older than him and Erik was scared. No one was allowed to enter the part of the hallway that led up to Box Five.
"Snuck under the red rope now have we?" The boy growled but managed to put on a smirk, "Answer me! Who are you?"
Erik put on a brave face and answered, "That's none of your business." Erik crossed his arms. The boy got furious, starting to throw punches. Erik tried to hit back without completely losing his temper.

~Erik's Pov~

I could feel the anger in me, attempting to get through, but I tried to hold back. It became harder and harder, I didn't want to hurt anyone, not since THAT happened. I could feel the punches all over me, pummeling me, then my mask fell off. It clattered to the ground. I saw the boy get up and started saying something. I didn't hear it all because my ears were ringing but I read his lips. The words monster, freak, disgusting. He even started kicking me in the ribs. All of a sudden I saw the boy fell towards me and I painfully rolled out of the way. When I moved my vision from the knocked over boy to where he was standing just minutes before I was surprised it was my sister Stella and she looked every bit as furious as l felt.

~Stella's pov~

I was on the way to Box Five to tell Erik about a new girl that had arrived to the opera when I heard muffled grunts. It sounded like a fight and immediately my thoughts flew to my brother.
"One of the stagehands found him!" I shrieked inwardly.
I sprinted the rest of the way up to box five and when I arrived through the hidden door I froze. A boy a bit older than my brother was using him as a punching bag and I could see was that Erik was struggling to keep his temper in check. Then the mask came off. The boy got up and started calling him names, and kicking him.
I didn't hear what he was saying because all of a sudden I felt an anger engulfing me. It completely blocked out any sound in my ears. My thoughts were screaming in my head, "Erik is hurting, my brother is hurting, THAT BOY IS HURTING MY BROTHER!" I ran over and pushed the boy away. He tumbled over, and Erik moved out of the way before the boy landed where he was seconds before and looked from his attacker to me with surprise in his eyes.

~Normal pov~

Erik looked on with awe as he saw his sister jump on top of the boy pinning his arms down with her legs and started giving him punches with her small fists,
"YOU LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!"
Then she took the boy's shirt and started whacking his head against the floor. Erik got up went behind Stella grasped her arm, and pulled her away from the now unconscious boy.
"Stella stop it!" Erik hissed at her.
"But he hurt you Erik!" She shot back with tears in her eyes, "I don't like seeing you getting hurt!" Erik pulled his now crying sister into his arms,"I'm okay now sister, I'm okay." he murmured comfortingly while rocking Stella in his throbbing arms.
After a while she pulled slightly away from him and looked at the boy on the floor,
"What now?"
Stella went over to where his mask laid and picked it up. Erik went over to his shoulder bag where he had writing gear, got out a note, a quill, a piece of red wax, a red ink bottle, a candle, and a box of matches.
He then wrote a note that said " My Dear Managers, Tell your stage hands to keep a better eye on their kids or else there will be more than two opera ghosts in this opera house."
He then put some melted wax on the bottom of the note and got the skull stamp out of his pocket. Pressing it into the still warm wax Stella the took a safety pin out of her pocket and pinned the note to the boys shirt. Then Erik took an old chair and threw it over the balcony.
They both heard the managers and a couple of stage hands yelling about who was throwing chairs at them. Apparently Erik had almost hit one of the managers in the head.
Keeping in an outburst of laughter the two kids went over to the hidden door while they heard someone run towards box five. They hurried inside and had just closed the door when someone burst through the wood door.
They heard a man yelling "OH DEAR GOD JEAN CLAUDE JEAN CLAUDE ITS YOUR BOY HE LOOKS LIKE HE'S BEEN IN A FIGHT!"
The two kids hurried away from the door and down to their home.

~Later that evening ~

"Erik would you please STOP moving?"
"I can't help it, it STINGS!"
"Well that boy messed you up pretty bad. Now would you please stop making such a fuss and KEEP STILL!"
"I'm not making a fuss- OUCH!" Erik turned to his sister who was looking at him with what he was calling the" I'm not convinced" face. While trying again to apply the antibacterial fluid onto his wounds with a cotton ball, the boy asked,"Why does it have to sting?"
Stella shrugged her shoulders as an answer. She then put away her medical kit.
"There! That should do it but be more careful next time okay?"
"Yes, yes, all right."
All of a sudden they heard a sound of someone sobbing. It sounded like a girl.
Erik saw his sister getting that worried look on her face again, the same as always whenever she heard someone cry she wanted to comfort them. He sighed.
"Come on, grab your violin and let's see who it is that's crying." Stella ran over, grabbed her violin and went after Erik who already had strolled out of one of their hidden doors. They followed the sound of crying until they came to the chapel, where they saw a little girl crying.
"That's the new girl I told you about," Stella whispered. Erik could hear a few mumbled words through the tiny girl's sobs.
"Father… you told me that-that an angel of music would look over me. You-you promised…" The brown haired began to sing quietly.
"You had watched me fall….through those tender years….And every time I-I thought there must be more that I could be you... I found a light, a different way right here in front of me…" Suddenly she stopped and began to sob miserably again. Erik thought that she had a beautiful voice and couldn't stop himself from whispering,
"Little one, please don't cry."
The little girl looked up with big brown eyes.
"Who is there?" At those words the pair's hearts went out to the little girl.
Erik murmured to Stella, "Go get Madame Giry."
Stella whispered back "Ask her what her name is."
Erik stood back up and asked the little girl,
"Little one… what is your name?"
"It's C-Christine." Erik saw his sister whisper the name to herself, dash down the secret hallway to disappear behind a corner. He then turned his attention back on little Christine and started singing, his voice angelic,
"Don't lose your faith, don't turn away, everything that makes you who you are will not lead you astray…When it gets cold, too dark too see…Reach in your soul and you'll find me there.
Erik smiled tenderly, even though the now quiet girl could not see him.
I'll always be…,Your constant angel…Your constant angel…" He saw her lay down slowly, watching the ceiling and smile knowingly.
"I knew it…" she whispered, and her eyes fluttered shut.