THE SONG OF THE OPERA GHOST
Chapter Four “Ugh, I can’t stand wearing this thing,” the Doctor moaned. He was standing in the wardrobe room with Rose, looking in the mirror while he finished putting on his bow tie. They had spent the day roaming through Paris, seeing the sights, and eating lunch at a small outdoor café. After that, they had come back to the TARDIS so the Doctor could change into his tuxedo. “Well, you know, we don’t have to go,” Rose said shrugging. “No, we are going, I want to see the show even if you don’t,” the Doctor replied. He straightened the tie and shook his head. “Hate wearing this. Bad things always happen when I wear my tux.” He muttered. “Bad things happen when you aren’t wearing your tux," Rose pointed out. “Yes, but I’d rather be in my regular clothes than in this thing. At least when I’m battling monsters in my suit, I’m comfortable,” he replied. He sighed and turned around. “What do you think?” “I think you look very handsome,” Rose said smiling. The Doctor looked down at himself. “You think so?” he said. “Oh yeah, except…are you really going to wear the plimsols with that?” “Yes, Rose, I am. I’m going to allow myself one bit of comfort and personally I would rather go domestic than wear dress shoes.” He smiled and walked towards her. “You, on the other hand, look absolutely stunning,” he said putting his hands on her shoulders. “I know you probably don’t like being in this dress, but I love it. The blue color suits you. I would be honored to have you on my arm tonight, Miss Tyler.” He crooked his arm and Rose threaded hers through it. He smiled lovingly at her and the two of them walked out of the wardrobe room. Rose had to admit, the Paris Opera House was gorgeous. She stared, awestruck, at the ornate interior as the Doctor led her down the aisle to their seats near the front of the stage. As they walked, he glanced over, saw her gobsmacked expression, and chuckled to himself. They stopped three rows from the stage and walked towards the middle. Finding their seats, they settled down and waited for the curtain to rise. “You’re in for a treat, Rose; tonight they are doing Don Giovanni. It’s one of the best operas ever produced,” the Doctor whispered to her. “It’s a good one to start out with because the story is riveting and the music is gorgeous.” Rose nodded politely. Frankly, she didn’t really care about the opera. She just loved sitting close to the Doctor and watching his boyish enthusiasm. She loved when they did something he was truly interested in. She doubted if she would ever become a fan of the opera, but knowing that he was passionate about it and eager to be there made her want to sit through it with him. Most of the time, the Doctor was taking her places he though she would like so it was nice to let him do something he wanted to do for a change. She sighed contentedly as she looked at the people coming down their aisles in their elegant clothes. As she was admiring one woman’s green satin dress, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw the Doctor grinning at her. “I’m hungry, Rose, think there’s any chance they would have a concession stand in here someplace?” he said winking. Rose pretended to think. “Gee, I don’t know, Doctor, did they have people walking down the aisles selling popcorn and sodas in 1890?” she asked. “Um, not sure, but you know I could go for that and perhaps some candy floss and a Don Giovanni balloon, preferably purple.” Rose giggled. “Somehow I think you’re out of luck on that,” she said. The Doctor pouted and grinned when Rose giggled harder. He gave her hand a squeeze. Rose looked up at the stage for a moment and then giggled again. “What?” the Doctor asked with a grin. Rose gestured to the stage. “Give ya ten quid if you get up in the middle of the show and start singing the songs and trying to upstage everyone,” she said. Rose’s eyes widened when she saw the Doctor was seriously considering that. “Hmmm,” he said scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Dare I?” His eyes twinkled and he gave Rose a wicked grin. “Yeah, I dare,” he said. “Doctor, I wasn’t being serious!” Rose said. “Why, because you don’t have ten quid?” “No, because I was joking. I don’t expect you to jump up on the stage and starting singing,” she said. The Doctor shrugged. “Why not? I can probably out-sing everyone here,” he said sniffing. “I swear to God, Doctor if you do, I will rip off your bow tie and shove it down your mouth!” Rose said. “What would be even more fun is if I just skip the opera altogether and sing some 1980’s tune, perhaps ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ or ‘You Give Love A Bad Name.’ something like that.” “You wouldn’t dare!” “Or…I could cheer everyone up and sing ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ instead.” “Doctor, no!” “Or,” the Doctor said pointing to a woman a couple of seats in front of them. “I could borrow that portly woman’s shawl, go the Stevie Nicks route, and wow the crowd with my rendition of ‘Stand Back.’ “If you do, you’ll find yourself stranded here, because I’ll go back to the TARDIS and get her to leave you behind.” “Nah, TARDIS loves me, it won’t leave without me,” the Doctor said waving his hand dismissively. He tapped his chin with his finger. “Perhaps I could pull you up there with me and we could sing ‘I’ve Had The Time Of My Life’ and recreate the ending to ‘Dirty Dancing?’ he mused. “P’eh, you try and I’ll break your fingers off.” “Ah come on, Rose, we could play my all time favorite game, anachronistic name-dropping, where we say and do things that are from a future point in time and see if it’ll catch on now.” “No, Doctor, I’m not playing anachronistic name-dropping.” The Doctor sighed. “Fine, I’ll just sit here in silence then.” “Thank God for small favors.” She giggled when the Doctor shot her a look. He was about to say something back when the lights suddenly dimmed and the overture started. The Doctor and Rose settled back in their seats, took each other’s hands, and relaxed. Rose leaned her head against the Doctor’s shoulder. At first she had been apprehensive about watching the opera, figuring the lyrics would be in Italian. But the TARDIS had come through and graciously translated the show into English for her. And the Doctor was right, it was a very interesting story. She nuzzled up against the Doctor’s cheek. “Rose?” Rose leaned her head up and looked at the Doctor. “Huh?” “I’m having trouble seeing through the big bow on your hat,” the Doctor muttered to her. Rose gritted her teeth. She had forgotten she was wearing it. Reaching up, she took it off and put it in her lap. She leaned her head back on the Doctor’s shoulder and smiled when he leaned his head against hers. “I take it you’re enjoying the show?” he whispered. “I am,” she whispered back. “I’m glad the TARDIS is translating so I can understand it.” “Oh, she’s doing that for you?” the Doctor said, interested. Rose looked at him. “Yeah, why, isn’t she doing that for you?” “Nope, I’m listening to it in Italian. But, I know how to speak Italian so I don’t have any problem following it,” the Doctor said. “I think the TARDIS knew you wouldn’t understand it, so she’s translating it into English for you.” “I’m glad she is, I’d be bored otherwise,” Rose replied. The Doctor smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. They clasped hands and watched the show quietly. Joseph Buquet stood backstage watching the performance with the other crewmembers. Everything was running smoothly so far, but he was there just in case he was needed. As he watched the show, his eyes wandered over to box five and he eyed it trying to see if anyone was sitting there in the darkness. The Ghost supposedly was present at every performance or so the rumors claimed. No one had ever seen anyone up there, but that didn’t mean much since it was hard to see into any of the boxes after the perfomance started. The managers had warned him earlier about going up there, but Joseph refused to be intimidated. He was going to unmask this extortionist if it was the last thing he’d ever do. Silently he slipped away determined to find out if there really was someone sitting up there in box five. Rose sighed softly while she watched the performance. The beautiful music combined with the feel of the Doctor’s skin against her face was lulling her to sleep. She felt her eyelids grow heavy and slowly they began to droop. “Rose!” the Doctor hissed. She gasped and her eyelids snapped open. She looked over at the Doctor who had an annoyed look on his face. “Do not go to sleep.” He whispered to her. “I’m sorry, it’s just that the music is very soothing and I was starting to get sleepy,” Rose protested. The Doctor nodded. “I can understand about the music, but it’s bad form to go to sleep in an opera, so please try to keep awake,” he said. “It won’t last for much longer and then you can back to the TARDIS and go to bed, okay?” Rose nodded. She started to put her head back on the Doctor’s shoulder and then figured that was a bad idea since that was part of the reason why she was going to sleep. She sat up straight and put her hands in her lap, but the Doctor reached over, pulled her hand back to the armrest, and clasped it. Rose looked down at the hand and looked up at him. She smiled when she saw him winking at her and settled back to watch the final act of the opera. Joseph slowly climbed the stairs leading towards box five. He made sure to keep silent so he wouldn’t disturb the patrons. All he wanted to do was open the door, peek inside, and see if anyone was sitting there. If there was, he was going to fetch a gendarme and have the man arrested and questioned. He was going to do something about this so-called Opera Ghost even if no one else was willing to. He stepped off the stairs onto the second floor and made his way down to box five’s door. He tiptoed along, trying to be quiet lest he alert the Opera Ghost of his presence. Reaching the door, he paused and put his ear to it trying to listen for any signs of movement within, but the only thing he heard was the orchestra music drifting down the hall. Sighing angrily, he put his hand on the doorknob and turned it very slowly. Then, he slowly opened the door a crack and peeked inside. It was hard to make out anything in the darkness, but Joseph couldn’t see anyone sitting in the seats. Opening the door a bit more, he slipped inside and closed it behind him. He crept up to the front of the box and looked at the seats. There was no one sitting in them, so he relaxed and shook his head as he looked down at the stage below. “Just as I thought,” he muttered to himself. “This Opera Ghost is nothing buy a lousy blackmailer. I bet he’s never even used this box before.” “Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Joseph turned around and saw a man wearing a black robe and cowl standing beside him. He opened his mouth to scream, but the man grabbed him by the neck squeezing off his windpipe. Joseph flailed his arms trying to get someone’s attention, but the audience's eyes were fixed on the stage and the music drowned out the gagging sounds he was making. His eyes widened as the man moved closer to the front of the box and the light from the stage illuminated a silver mask covering all of his face. Dark pitiless eyes were reflected in the limelight as he squeezed harder on his neck. “I asked the managers to warn you about being too nosy, Monsieur Buquet,” he hissed. “You chose not to heed my warning and this is what you get in return.” In a last desperate attempt to free himself, Joseph reached out and grabbed at his face trying to claw his eyes out. He pulled the mask off the man’s face and his eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw what was behind it. The man squeezed harder and finally with one last gasp of air, Joseph Buquet’s eyes rolled up in his head and it fell back. The man lowered his body to the floor, picked up the mask, put it on, and walked over to a pile of rope hidden in the corner. Rose shifted in her seat. It had been almost two and a half hours and she was knackered. She was trying desperately to stay awake until the end. The Doctor glanced over and noticed her attempt to keep her eyes open. He leaned over. “It’s almost over, I promise,” he whispered. “Probably another ten minutes or so.” “Good, because I’m about to pass out.” Rose whispered back. The Doctor smiled. “You’ll wake up once we get outside in the cool night air,” he said. “And since you’ve been so good about doing this for me, you get to pick our next destination and---“ He jerked his head up when he heard a woman scream. Rose looked around for a moment in confusion and then her eyes settled on a horrifying sight. There was a dead man hanging from his neck from one of the theater boxes. The entire theater was thrown into pandemonium as terrified patrons climbed over the seats and sprinted down the aisles towards the exits. The only ones not running were the Doctor and Rose who stood rooted to the spot staring silently at the dead man. “Ladies and gentleman, please, calm down!” The Doctor looked over as a young man ran out onto the stage waving his arms. “I am the manager and I assure you that the situation is under control! Please calm down and take your seats before someone else gets hurt or killed!” he yelled to the fleeing crowd. Rose looked up at the Doctor and groaned when she saw he was staring right at the manager. “I guess we aren’t going home now, yeah?” she asked him. “Nope,” the Doctor replied. Rose sighed. “Well, I guess you were right about the tux being a jinx then,” she said under her breath as the Doctor led her past the screaming crowds towards the manager.
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