“My dear, did you hear that? I think we have more guests.”
“No, Erik. That was just the rats. Remember the rats in the walls?”
“Is that why you’re trembling? Are you that frightened of rats? I don’t think so, my dear. Shall we take a look and see if it’s truly rats or more guests?”
“No, Erik. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to see rats.”
I laughed at her. “Christine, Christine, Christine. Don’t try to deceive the master deceiver. I know you gave away that secret passage to your young de Chagny. Why do you think I locked that door? Just a coincidence? Think again.”
“No, Erik,” she begged. “I didn’t give it away. I never told him where it was or how to work it. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
I shook my head, released her, and walked into the parlor. “You know what the chances are that someone could find my lair without help?”
“It wasn’t me, Erik! Honestly!”
“Such words, and so easily spoken,” I taunted, while slipping the bag in my pocket and walking to the wall separating the parlor and the mirror chamber. “Look here, Christine. Have you ever taken a good look at this painting? It’s a truly peaceful painting, don’t you think? Beautiful trees—a clear sky—a babbling brook. Here, let me take it down so you can see it closer. Oh! What do we have here? Another painting? Now who in their right mind would put one painting over another one?”
I looked at her and cocked my head. “Someone surely had to be senseless to do such a thing. But wait! This one isn’t very pretty. It must be of a dark night—there’s nothing to see. Who would paint such a thing? No talent at all, this painter has.”
I pretended to try to take it down, and when it wouldn’t move, I growled, “I can’t get this one down. Perhaps it’s not a painting after all. I seem to remember someone saying that things aren’t always what they appear to be. Perhaps it’s a window and not a painting. Let’s look through it and see if it’s a window.”
“No, Erik, it doesn’t matter.”
“Doesn’t matter? I can’t believe you actually said that. You’re always curious and want to know who and how and to touch and to feel. Are you quite all right?” I asked, while stepping toward her and feeling her forehead. “Hmm, no fever. Oh, well, if you’re not curious then I am. I want to see if it’s a window, and, if it is, I want to know why it was concealed.”
“Please, Erik, go play your piano for me. I want to hear the wedding mass.”
“Nice try,” I laughed. Then I became staunch, stood close to her, lowered my head, and glared into her eyes. “Wouldn’t you rather see your lover, especially after he made the long trip down here just for our wedding?”
Pathetically, she tried again. “You’re wrong. You’re just teasing me. There isn’t anyone or anything there. Please, Erik. Play your piano for me. Play “One Beat” for me.”
“How dare you,” I growled. “That piece represented my heart pouring out to you during a beautiful moment between us, and you ask me to play it now?—Just to save your lover? How dare you! How dare you, you despicable traitor!”
She was stammering, trying to find words to calm what she feared was coming, my violent anger. I clamped my teeth together and gave her a defiant stare. Then I moved to the corner of the room where I pressed two hidden springs; one turned a light on in the mirror chamber, and the other one opened a small door and allowed steps to fold down under the window. As she watched them click into place, her eyes widened and she began twisting the fabric of her dress. I then took her by the arm and led her around the room as I turned off all the lights. Then, with only the dim light coming from the chamber, I took her to the steps and looked coldly at her.
“Step up, my dear, and watch the picture turn into the man you were going to run away with and marry.”
“I don’t want to marry anyone, Erik.”
“Don’t play me the fool, Christine,” I demanded harshly. Then I put my lips next to her ear, and whispered, “With the lights just right, you’ll be able to see him clearly. Won’t that be nice?”
“Please, Erik, don’t do this. You’re frightening me.”
“What? Are you saying you’re afraid of the dark? You shouldn’t be afraid of the dark while in the arms of your husband. I’m very strong, Christine. I’ll protect you.” I grabbed her in my arms and held her tightly, while she struggled against me and moaned, so I released her. “Will you make up your mind, you fickle woman. Do you want me to protect you or not?”
She looked up at the window and then back at me, and I knew she was desperately searching for the right words or actions to alter my course. When she didn’t respond, I took a firm hold on her arm and shoved her up one step, and then we both heard movement on the other side of the wall.
“See, my dear. I told you we had guests in there. Now step up further and see who it is. Also, let me know how many are there so I can set more places at the banquet table.”
“Please, Erik. If you love me you won’t make me do this.”
I gently pulled her down from the step and let go of her arm.
“Very well, my dear. I’ll go up and see who’s come to celebrate with us,” I said as I took one step up.
“No!” she quickly exclaimed while grabbing my arm. “I’ll go!”
“Why, thank you, my sweet. You’re so thoughtful to save me the effort of such a climb at my advanced age. Now, tell me, who’s come to call?”
She looked inside and nearly fell from the steps. Then, with trembling lips, she continued with her lies. “No one is in there, Erik. It must have been the rats we heard.”
“If there’s no one in there, my dear, then describe what you see. Do you like what you see?”
“Oh, yes,” her shaking voice tried to convince me. “It’s filled with the most beautiful trees. How did you create such a lovely painting?”
“It was nothing really, just something to occupy my solitary hours spent alone in my home. But with your abnormal curiosity, aren’t you the least bit interested to know why I created such a masterpiece and then hid it behind a wall?”
“No, not really,” she tried to say bravely. “You do many things that are unusual, and I’ve learned to see them as just your way, without asking questions.” As she started to climb down from the steps, she made another attempt to deceive me. “I’m finished looking at your painting, Erik. You can turn the light out now.”
I moved close to another painting and began running my finger along its frame. To anyone who might have been watching, I might have appeared almost normal right then, but I’m sure my tone had to be sending chills up her spine.
“I’ll make you a deal, Christine. I’ll turn that light out—if you agree to marry me for real. I won’t even ask you to say you love me anymore. I can be patient for that. We could be married before you love me. There are many places in the world where people marry before they love each other; sometimes they don’t even know each other when they marry. But, as time goes by, they learn to love each other with a love that’s precious and true.
“Just as that grain of sand can become a beautiful pearl in an oyster, two unpolished people can produce a beautiful marriage, if they try. Try with me, Christine. Try with me. Take me to your bed, and I’ll turn the light out in my mirror chamber.”
She was just ready to answer me when a voice, Raoul’s voice, came from the other side of the wall. “Christine! No! Don’t do it!”
She nearly jumped out of her skin, and, looking me straight in the eyes, she began shaking her head. The expression on her face told me she felt the next step was going to be Raoul’s death. But I wasn’t ready for his death just yet. I wanted to continue with my power game a little longer, so I narrowed my eyes, smiled, and backed to the middle of the room, facing the mirror chamber. Then, with my hands on my hips and my head wagging, I taunted her.
“My, my. I had no idea the rats in this building were so intelligent—or was it rats? Perhaps it was Erik’s voice we heard inside the room.
Just as I have eyes and ears everywhere in this opera house, my voice is also everywhere. Were you aware of that, my dear? Watch and listen as another skill of your betrothed is unveiled.”
I tossed my voice toward the scorpion. “Turn me and watch me sting.” Toward the grasshopper. “Turn me and watch me hop high.” Toward the bag of keys as I tossed them in the air. “Let us out so we can work our magic.” To myself in the mirror chamber. “Erik wants out! Let me out! It’s getting hot in here!”
Her hand went to her mouth, and she looked at the lighted window, and I smiled. “You’ve heard me before, I’m sure. Did you not hear the toad in Carlotta’s throat?—Co—ack—good imitation, don’t you think? And how about the laughter in Box Five, did you not hear that? And then there were your roses who spoke of tender love and hope.”
I began sending my laughter all around the room in rapid succession, until, with her hands over her ears, she began begging, “Stop! Erik, please, stop!”
I sneered. “Stop? I thought you could listen to my voice all day long, but now you want me to stop? Why is that, my sweet?”
“Because” was all she could say.
“Aha, it’s because of the hurricane, isn’t it? You feel its approach, don’t you?” I paced beside her, goading her. “Well, tell me, my dear, how do you like being tossed by the gales of a hurricane? Not very pleasant, is it? I told you we were in the eye of the hurricane—now didn’t I?
“If you’ll remember correctly, I tried to warn you about the dangerous game you played, trying to work both ends. I tried to tell you to make your decision before it was too late and the churning walls came down on us. But you didn’t listen to me.” I stopped pacing, grabbed her by the shoulder, and glared down into her eyes. “Well, perhaps you’ll listen now that you can see all my predictions are coming true.”
She was breathing hard and kept glancing over my shoulder toward the window and then back into my eyes.
“Why do you tremble, Christine? If there’s nothing but pretty trees on the other side of that window, then why do you tremble so?”
“Because you frightened me, making me think someone was being tortured in there.”
I released her shoulder, took a step back, and cocked my head. “Tortured? I’ve never said anything to you about torturing anyone. Why would you think I would be torturing someone?”
She tried to fabricate more lies while twisting her fingers. “I don’t know. I’m just frightened, I guess. I don’t know.”
I watched her face as she looked at the window again, and it told me much. Raoul was in there sure enough, but who else? The police? Why did she use that term, torture? My suspicions were strong that there was only one person who would use that term with regard to my mirror chamber, so I probed Christine further.
“Don’t try to hide it, my dear. I know your young lover is in there, but I don’t believe he has the intelligence to find my special room by himself. So, since you say it wasn’t you who showed him the way, then I suspect someone else is also in there with him. Say, perhaps, my so-called friend, the one the chorus girls call the Persian?
“Now, it’s not that I think my friend has any more intellect than your friend, but he has had many more years to study my work, and he is a very tenacious fellow. He once told me he always finds the man he goes looking for. Well, Mon Ami,” I said as I turned toward the mirror chamber and gave it a knock. “Do you think you’ve found me? Can you see me? No, so you haven’t found me yet. You’ve only found my trap. How does it feel to be on that side of Erik’s invention? Isn’t it wonderful?
“Oh! Let me give you a few words of caution. Don’t bother to look for a way out. Since you last saw them, my creations have advanced along with my imagination. They’re held back only by this weary and broken body I drag around. But still, what I can imagine I can create, and I imagined a better way of supplying you with a desert heat. So don’t bother trying to find a lantern to turn off and stop the heat. I use electric coils now. They heat much more efficiently and are well out of your reach. Are you enjoying their comfort yet?
“And the most important caution for you to remember—it won’t work to use your shoe or pistol butt or your strong shoulder to break those mirrors. It will only cost you valuable energy. And, no matter how bad it gets in there, I strongly advise that you don’t use a bullet from that handgun strapped to your ankle to shatter my mirrors. If you do, it just might be tantamount to committing suicide.
“Oh, that reminds me. You might caution that young fool who’s in there with you to keep his pistol in his pocket. I know he’s fond of pulling it out at any opportunity and shooting blindly, but now is truly a bad time. Let me explain why. You see, those aren’t ordinary mirrors you’re looking at. They’re special—like me. They’re deceptive—like me. They’ll deceive you and come back to kick you in the rear—like me.
“How is that, you ask? Well, those panels aren’t what they appear to be. They’re made from thick, polished steel. Oh, what’s that you say? You like my new mirrors? You think they’re pretty? I did a good job? You thought they were real mirrors? I know. Aren’t I ingenious? But you do remember, don’t you, that they’re only reflecting the iron tree and its branches, and, if you look closely, you’ll find one of my lassos under that tree, just in case you should need it before the night is over.
“Anyway, back to the mirrors. It took a long time to get every one of them just right. Not only did they have to have hours and hours of polishing but they also had to be meticulously painted with lacquer to fill in any minute flaws. But, I guarantee, they’re all equally dangerous.
“If you should shoot at them, the bullet would only ricochet around in there until it loses velocity or embeds itself in something soft—say, human flesh—say, the back of one of you. So take my warning seriously. I know Raoul is good at shooting others in the back, and, if he doesn’t maintain his self control while in there, he just might perform a difficult task—shooting himself in the back. Wouldn’t that be funny—in a strange way? At any rate, be careful. One of you could end up dead before your appointed time.
“Do you get the picture, Oded? Good. I thought you would. I would hate to have to clean up large amounts of blood again—especially if it belonged to the one who used to be my friend. You do remember how terribly ghastly it was to remove all that blood, and I’m sure you still remember how I feel about that stuff, don’t you, Mon Ami? So please be kind. Don’t spill any of it if you take your own lives. Use my lasso. It’s most clean and silent.”
“What, you say? Is this an idle threat? How often have you heard me give anyone an idle threat? That’s what I thought. Never! The last time I saw you, I warned you not to get too close, now didn’t I? I told you the luck of the Irish may not be with you the next time you invaded my territory. Now you can see for yourself that I wasn’t giving you an idle threat.”
For the most part, I’d been carrying on a one-sided conversation, and I was tired of hearing my own voice, so I looked at Christine, who was leaning with one hand on the back of the divan. Then I spread my arms out, shrugged my shoulders, and shook my head.
“Oh, sigh, sigh. It appears no one wants to talk to Erik. Poor Erik.—Poor me.—Poor Erik.”
There were a few moments of complete silence, and then a familiar voice entered the conversation from the other side of the wall.
“Erik! Remember, I saved your life.”
Forty-Eight
“My, my, if it isn’t my old and foolish friend Oded. I knew it had to be you in there. You were always the best tracker. Well, almost. You never were able to track me successfully, now, were you?
“At any rate, it’s so good you could make it to our wedding celebration. How thoughtful of you. But don’t you think it would be proper etiquette to congratulate your old friend on his upcoming nuptials rather than bringing up such a tired and worn-out subject? And, if I’m remembering correctly, which I’m certain I am, I’ve more than paid you back for that ill-advised error in judgment, so i
t’s too late to claim anything for that one act of mercy toward me. I’ve lost track of all the times I held back from killing you, Mon Ami, so we’re even.
“However, I can’t help but feel you must be regretting that decision about now. If you hadn’t helped me falsify my death—you wouldn’t be facing yours. But don’t fret too much about it. We all make bad decisions from time to time.” I chuckled. “Though, under the circumstances, that decision was a truly stupid mistake. But never mind that now.”
“Yes, Erik, never mind that now. That was a long time ago, and it has nothing to do with what’s happening now. I don’t regret saving your life in Persia, and I don’t regret what I’m doing now. I would do it all over again if it would prevent you from making a terrible mistake.”
“Prevent me? What makes you think you can prevent me from doing anything I want when no one else has ever been able to? Have you forgotten our time together in Persia? You couldn’t have forgotten how I nearly destroyed the palace I’d just built in order to get my way. Were the Shah and all his armed men able to prevent me from achieving my goal? Did I get what I wanted? I believe you know the answers to those questions. And do you remember what happened to those men because of their error in misjudging me? One was left as a baked good in my mirror chamber and the other to live out his life in emotional torment.
“And another case in point, what about the dozen or so mighty fighting generals, men in charge of other fighting men, men who’d won so many battles that the medals on their chests weighed them down? Think about them. Were they able to finalize their plans to hurt those I cared about? No! With the wine still in their mouths, they dropped where I wanted them to drop. None of them could stop me from what I set out to accomplish.
“So, now I’m a bit confused. If those two powerful nations couldn’t prevent me from getting what I wanted, why do you think you and that silly naval officer in there with you can do it alone? Ha! I laugh at your feeble efforts. I take it you must have seen me enter my trap door in the third cellar, right. But now, think for a moment, Mon Ami. Did you honestly believe I would leave a straight path to my dining area? Ha! I laugh again at your stupidity.
Through Phantom Eyes: Volume Five - Christine Page 69
