THE SONG OF THE OPERA GHOST
Chapter Six Andre led the Doctor and Rose through the backstage area. As they walked along, they noticed the remaining cast and crewmembers were giving them curious looks and whispering among themselves. The Doctor heard his John Smith moniker in some of the whispers, and he figured they probably all knew by now whom they were and what they were doing. He looked around and saw the looks of awe and fear on their face, as they whispered about him going to look for the Opera Ghost. For a moment, he entertained the idea of stopping and basking in his newfound celebrity, and then decided there were things that were far more important at the moment. As they walked along, he couldn’t help but admire his surroundings. He had read extensively about the Paris Opera house and had even attended shows on a couple of other occasions, but he had never been backstage before. He considered it an honor and a privilege to see it, and not for the first time, he thanked Rassilon he had been loomed to be a Time Lord. Despite the obvious occupational hazards, such as possibly ending up dead, the chance to explore and see things like this was well worth any danger he might face. Eventually, they went past all the onlookers, and Andre led them into a darkened area. The Doctor saw Rose looking around nervously, and he took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. They noticed Andre stop up ahead and turn to look at them. He pointed down at the floor, and the Doctor and Rose noticed a wooden trapdoor. “This leads down to the lake,” he said to them. “There are no stairs leading down from it, and it is quite a drop. Are you sure Mademoiselle is able to…” “Out of my way!” Rose said, walking over to the trapdoor. She grabbed the iron ring that was attached to the trapdoor and pulled it up. Andre stared at her in shock and looked at the Doctor, who merely shrugged and walked up behind her. Rose squatted down and looked up at the Doctor who came up beside her. He stared down into the darkness and looked at Andre. “You have a torch of some kind?” he asked. “Yes, monsieur, I have some old ones over here,” he said, walking over to the wall. “Apparently, people did used to go down there, but they don’t any more. They know better.” He took one, walked over to a nearby wall lamp, and lit it. He handed the torch back to the Doctor. “Good luck, monsieur,” he said to him. The Doctor frowned. “You’re not coming with us?” he said. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t go down there for all the francs in the world,” Andre said, horrified. The Doctor glared at him. “Thanks so much for all your help. I couldn’t have lit the torch without ya,” he said to him. “I’m sorry, monsieur, but I am terrified of going down there.” “Yes, and that’s what this ghost is counting on, people who are too terrified to investigate and find him. that’s why he murdered Joseph, to keep others scared, so they won’t get too close. Well, I’m sorry, but I’m not intimidated that easily and neither is Rose. If you are too terrified to go down, then stay here and pull us up when we’re done.” “Of course, monsieur,” Andre said. “Thank you, and now, I would say ladies first, but in this case, I think it would be best if I go first, so I can see how long the drop is. So…without further ado, ALLONS-Y! The Doctor slid into the hole, Rose and Andre bent over the hole and heard him let out an “Oof” when he landed. She noticed he had landed several feet down. He walked around in a circle looking all around him and looked up at Rose. “All clear, Rose, your turn,” he said, beckoning to her. Rose started to slide into the hole while the Doctor backed up. “Mademoiselle.” Rose looked up at Andre. He smiled at her. “Be careful,” he said. Rose smiled and nodded. She looked down, mentally counted to three, and slid through the hole. Andre watched, as she hit the ground and nearly toppled over. The Doctor caught her and helped steady her. “I guess these shoes are rubbish when you’re falling through trapdoors,” she said. “You alright?” “Yeah, I’m just lucky I didn’t twist my ankle when I landed.” The Doctor nodded and looked up at Andre. “Have a rope ready when we get back,” he said to him. “Yes, monsieur, good luck.” “Thanks,” the Doctor said. He smiled at Rose. “Fancy finding a hidden lake?” he said to her. “Lead the way,” she replied. “Monsieur, wait, I almost forgot…” The Doctor looked up at Andre. “Beware of the Punjab lasso, the ghost is said to snare his victims with it and strangle them to death. It is best to keep your hand at the level of your eyes in case he is lurking above waiting to kill you.” The Doctor nodded. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” he said. He looked over and pointed to a corridor off to the right. He looked back at Rose, they raised their hands in front of their heads, and they started to follow it. “Blimey, it reeks,” Rose said, wrinkling her nose. “If this guy is living down here, I pity him.” She looked around at the narrow, stone corridor. It had been nearly twenty minutes, and the only thing she had noticed was that they seemed to be gradually going down. There was no sign of any ghost or any underground lake, for that matter. Rose and the Doctor still had their hand up to their faces, but Rose was starting to get tired of holding it there. If she didn’t think there was a real danger of getting killed, she would drop her hand back to her side. Finally, after about ten minutes, they noticed the corridor was ending. They walked out of it and paused when they finally saw the underground lake flowing in front of them. Rose stared at it, awestruck. “Oh my God, this is amazing, an entire lake right under the Opera House,” she said. She made a face when she saw how murky it was. “Wouldn’t fancy going for a dip in it though,” she added. “No, I wouldn’t either. But, just because it looks unfit for swimming or drinking doesn’t mean that someone isn’t making a hideout down here,” the Doctor replied. “If someone is hiding in the Opera House, this would be the place to be, especially if the person is intimidating people and scaring them enough that they won’t come down here.” Rose looked around while the Doctor walked the length of the stone walkway looking around for any sign of habitation. So far he couldn’t seen any sign that anyone lived here. However, he wasn’t about to give up yet. If someone was clever to get around the Paris Opera unseen, then they could disguise their living quarters. He bent down and held the torch out over the water trying to see if he could see the bottom. He blew air out his lips when he couldn’t see a thing. “Problems?” He looked up at Rose, who was standing beside him. “Yes, I need to see how deep the water is. Be a lamb, and jump in and see if you can touch bottom.” “P’eh, you wanna know that badly, you do it yourself.” “Hey, what happened to teamwork?” “I’m all for it, just as long as you don’t ask me to go diving into a crappy lake that’s probably got leeches and a million diseases in it.” “Ah, come on, it can’t be as bad as the time you had to dive into that chocolate pudding lake on Philotedes Five to save me from drowning.” “Yes, I’m sure it is that bad and probably worse. At least that was pudding I went through and not some century old filthy lake that might make me sick. If you want to see how deep it is, why don’t you go?” “Um…” He looked around and pointed to the torch. “I’m holding this; I can’t let it get wet.” Rose held out her hand. The Doctor stared at it for a moment and then slapped it in a ‘give me five’ gesture. “No, give me the torch so you can go in,” Rose said, rolling her eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry, I misunderstood your hand gesture there,” he said. “No, I’m sorry, you can’t have the torch.” “And why not?” The Doctor looked at her haughtily. “Because I am the leader, which means I have torch privileges. You have only achieved the rank of sidekick junior deluxe, which means you can go diving into murky, disease-infested waters, but you can’t carry the torch. Before you can have that honor, you must reach sidekick senior deluxe, and in order to do that, you have to defeat me in hand-to-hand combat.” “Whatever, Doctor, the point is, I’m not diving into the bleedin’ water, so either you go in, or you have to make do with looking at it and figuring out the depth that way.” Erik, who had been watching and listening from a secret room nearby, perked up at the mention of the Doctor’s name. “Doctor?” he whispered. “ No, it can’t be him.” He listened more intently to their conversation. “Well…” the Doctor said. Rose looked at him. “Well, what?” “You gonna dive in?” “No, Doctor, I am not diving in.” “Oh come on, I thought you were my faithful companion who would do anything for me!” “Companion,” Erik murmured. “How about this. Why don’t you go back up, get the TARDIS, take it to the bottom of the lake, open the door, and take a peek out?” Erik clenched his fist. “It is him,” he growled. “Um, yes, but how am I gonna stop the water from coming inside my ship?” the Doctor asked. “You have shields, I seen em. They held back those Dalek lasers the day you rescued me from them. Can’t they hold back water?” “It might, but the problem is I would have to go down there and open the door, and I’m not about to do that. If you’ll recall, blabbermouth Harkness did mention that my TARDIS shields can hold back almost anything. I’m not sure if it can hold back water, but I don’t fancy opening the door and getting a wall of water in my face.” “Well, then, we’re stuck. You’re just gonna have to guess at the depth, I suppose,” Rose said shrugging and walking away. “What happened to the good old days when I could throw you at a bunch of bloodthirsty, goat-headed cannibals, or walk across you while you made a human bridge above a stream of molten lava, and you were happy to do it?” “I wised up,” Rose said, looking back at him. “Now we finished here, or you gonna stand there and moan all night about not being able to look at the bottom of the lake?” The Doctor took one last look around and sighing, followed her. “I remember the golden days of time traveling when I could command my companions to stretch themselves on the rack in my stead, or eat Bandok Acid Worms, or get boiled alive in oil, and they considered it a privilege to serve me in any way they could. Companions nowadays are way too soft for my liking,” he muttered, as he followed her. Erik watched as they left and went back up the corridor. “The Doctor,” he hissed. “I never thought I would see him again, but finally fate has been kind to me and delivered my mortal enemy into my hands. And now, I will pay him back for what he did to me and get my revenge at last. And I will make him suffer, as I have suffered.” He smiled. “And I think a good place to start is with his pretty companion, Rose.”
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