Chapter Eight
Rebecca snapped her eyes open to see what all the shouting was about. At least she thought she did. But even though she swore her eyes were wide open, she still couldn’t see anything. The entire auditorium had been plunged into total darkness. Only a few scattered corners were lit by flashing battery powered emergency lights.
Another clap of thunder rattled the sky, and the scared screams settled into startled gasps. As the silence grew heavier in the auditorium, she could hear the rain pounding against the windows and the wind howling through the trees. And even though she couldn’t see it, she was sure lighting was flashing dangerously beyond the school walls.
“Everyone stay calm!” Miss King called through the darkness, sounding anything but calm herself. “It’s just the storm. I’m sure the electric will only be out for a few minutes. Just stay where you are until the lights come back on. I don’t need anyone falling off the stage and breaking their necks.”
Rebecca was still lying back on the mangy cot that smelled of stale mothballs. Looming above her, all she could see was the faint outline of the white mask of the phantom, which was still covering Justyn’s face. The magic connection they had briefly shared had broken the minute the music ceased to play, and Rebecca had to wonder if it had ever been more than just her imagination. With a sigh of exasperation, she sat up on the cot.
The silence lasted longer than she was comfortable with and Rebecca felt the need to break it. “Spooky, huh?”
She felt the weight shift on the cot as Justyn took a seat beside her. “Not really. I like the dark.”
Rebecca laughed lightly. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
Her eyes were starting to adjust to the dim light, and she was able to see the outline of her companion. Even in the dark room, his silver necklace clearly glittered around his neck. It was the same one he had been wearing in the gym, a star in a circle. It made her curious.
“Can I ask you a question?”
He shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything better to do at the moment.”
“I don’t want to offend you.”
She knew he smiled because she saw the white glint of his teeth through the darkness. “I’m not easily offended.”
“Your necklace.” Rebecca surprised herself with her own courage when she reached out to touch it. “Does it mean something to you? Or is it only for shock value?” He was quiet for a minute and that made her nervous. “I did offend you, didn’t I?”
He laughed out loud. “Not at all. You just took me by surprise, that’s all. I wish more people would ask instead of making presumptions. It’s a pentacle. Each corner represents one of the elements.” As he explained, he lifted her hand and guided her fingers around the points of the star. “Air, fire, water, and earth. And the center is spirit. I wear it for protection.”
Only after he let her hand go was she able to speak. And even then she had to clear her throat. “Protection from what?”
“That’s two questions. It’s my turn to ask you one now.”
She nodded, even though he probably couldn’t see her. “Okay, that sounds fair. What’s your question?”
“Would you give me the pleasure of escorting you to the Halloween dance?”
Rebecca was surprised at first, and even a little excited. But then she remembered she had already promised to go to the dance with Tom. She wanted to go to the dance with Tom. She had been waiting all her life to go out with Tom. But she still regretted the answer she had to give Justyn and she found that she was glad for the darkness. He couldn’t read the expression on her face, any more than she would have to see the disappointment on his.
“I . . . can’t,” she told him. “I already told someone else I would go with them.”
He sighed, but didn’t really sound surprised. “You know, if you continue to turn me down when I ask you out, eventually I might stop asking.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but it will take a while. I’m extremely stubborn when there’s something I want.”
Justyn was staring at her. Rebecca was extremely aware of his presence beside her. She could feel the warmth radiating from his skin, and she could smell his earthy cologne. He was so close, but not quite touching her. Yet, even though they weren’t making physical contact, she could still feel an energy seeping from him—that same electric current that shocked her every time he touched her. It was driving her insane. And the most annoying part of it was that he knew he was having this effect on her. She could hear the amusement mingled with the seduction in his voice.
She swallowed hard. “And what is it, exactly, that you want from me, Justyn?”
“I want to know who beat me to the punch. Was it Tom?”
Rebecca wasn’t sure that was a safe topic, so she quickly changed the subject. “Oh, no. I answered your question. It’s my turn again.”
“You’re right. You’re right.”
“So.” Rebecca went back to the original line of questioning. “Protection from what?”
“From evil surfers who’re trying to steal the girl of my dreams.”
Now Rebecca knew her cheeks were scarlet and again she thanked a higher power for the temporary black out. “Be serious!”
“Okay, seriously.” He relented. “I’m Wiccan. This pentacle is to me what the cross is to a Christian.”
Rebecca felt her mouth fall open. “A Wiccan? Isn’t that sort of . . . sort of like a witch?”
“Not sort of. I am a witch.”
A very appropriate crack of thunder rumbled at that precise moment. In reality, Rebecca wasn’t really surprised. It seemed only fitting that the modern day phantom would have some kind of magical ties. Still, Rebecca found herself looking over her shoulder to make sure no one else was listening. Of course she couldn’t see anything anyway. But she did hear whispered voices all around her, and wondered who might be eavesdropping on their conversation.
“You’re a witch, huh? If I ever do go out with you, will you be picking me up on your broomstick?”
She didn’t need to see him to know that he had rolled his eyes. “Ha, ha. I’ve never heard that one before.” Sarcasm or not, he still gave an honest chuckle. “If you’re really curious, I could give you a book to read, just to explain what it’s all about. Wicca isn’t what you probably think it is. It’s a religion, and a way of life. A good way in my opinion. Our primary rule is, ‘If it harms none, do as you will.’”
“It’s really important to you, isn’t it?”
“It’s important to me that you understand who I am. I don’t want you to think there’s any reason for you to be afraid of me.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” Rebecca told him, and was surprised that she meant it. Of all the crazy emotions he invoked in her, fear wasn’t one of them. “But sure, give me the book. I’m a bookworm. I’ll read anything.”
“Okay, I will.” Then he added. “It’s my turn again.”
Rebecca forgot that they were playing twenty questions, but she was a good sport. “Shoot.”
“What do you see in Tom?”
“He’s not that bad, you know.”
“He has the depth of a puddle.”
Rebecca thought about laughing, but it wasn’t really a joke. Then she thought about sticking up for Tom, but she couldn’t think of any good arguments in his defense. “He hasn’t been very nice to you, has he?”
She saw his shoulders shrug. It was getting easier to see in the dark as more and more time passed. “I’m used to being the outcast. It comes with the territory.”
“Then why don’t you try to . . . I don’t know . . . make yourself a little less conspicuous.”
“I like who I am, Becca. Why should I change for people who don’t take the time to look past outward appearances and preconceptions?”
Rebecca understood his sentiment. But she still wanted to argue that they were in high school after all, and outward appearances counted for ninety percent of their assessment in the eyes of their peers. But before she could open her mouth, the overhead lights flickered, once, then twice, before finally flooding the auditorium with brightness once again. Rebecca was blinded by the sudden radiance.
A few people around her were clapping and hooting. Miss King struggled to regain some order as kids started milling around the stage. They were picking up where they had left off, and Justyn and Rebecca moved to the sidelines because they weren’t in the next scene. They watched in silence while the others went back and forth about the mysterious notes they had received from the phantom, leading Rebecca to wonder again who her own personal phantom really was.
“Becca,” Justyn whispered suddenly, making her jump. “Do you really want to go to the dance with Tom?”
The answer should have been an easy one. But when she turned to meet his steady gaze, her mind was whirling with so many different thoughts, that she wasn’t sure anymore that it was what she wanted.
She lowered her eyes. “No . . . I mean . . . yes. I mean, of course I want to go with him. I wouldn’t have said yes if I didn’t.”
“You could change your mind . . . if you wanted to.”
She shook her head. “No, I couldn’t. It wouldn’t be fair.”
He nodded. “All right then. I won’t ask you about the dance again. But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up.”
“You better give up, vampire. Becca is with me now.”
Tom’s part in the scene had ended, and he had come to find her. But the lull between scenes wouldn’t be much longer, and they all had to prepare for their next curtain call. She tried to use that as an excuse to separate the two boys before they could get into an argument. They glared at each other with such pure hatred that Rebecca had to congratulate herself on her quick thinking as she led Tom to the other end of the stage. Miss King would probably have a stroke if a fight broke out after all the dramatics they had already been through in the last few days.
Rebecca didn’t think she had to worry about Justyn anymore as they moved through the next scene. Tom stopped her as she was darting to her spot on the stage with a serious expression on his face.
“You don’t really like that vampire freak, do you, Becca?”
She didn’t really have time to debate it. She was supposed to be on the stage with Wendy and Carmen. She quickly gave him the answer he wanted to hear, just so he would let it go. It didn’t seem to matter whether or not she really meant it.
“No, of course not, Tom.”
Tom happily let her go about her business. But what she didn’t realize was that Justyn had been standing just behind them, and overheard the brief conversation. When she finally noticed him there, and saw the sad look in his eyes, it almost made her want to cry out that she didn’t really mean it. But she didn’t have time. They were waiting for her. She decided there would be time to explain later.
The music was already starting. Before she knew it they were already back to the love scene between Christine and Raoul. But before she could step onto the stage for the duet, Justyn caught her arm.
“I’ll never give up, Becca.”
She couldn’t have responded even if he had waited long enough for her to find her tongue. Justyn let go of her arm, and took his place hiding behind a gargoyle statue while Rebecca joined Tom. He hadn’t really sounded angry, just determined. Yet, Rebecca couldn’t help but think that his words had sounded like a threat—a threat worthy of the phantom.
The love scene was a blur, but at least they made it through the whole song without any curtains falling on their heads to ruin the romance of the moment. Tom took advantage of the lack of disasters. His lips touched hers ever so gently as they came to the end of the ballad.
The moment should have been perfect. She waited for the butterflies in her stomach to start fluttering, waited for the lightheaded feeling. There should have been ecstasy after so many years of dreaming of this exact thing happening. But her mind was still on Justyn, worrying that she had hurt his feelings. And even more worried about the fact that he was standing just a few feet away, watching Tom kiss her, just as the phantom had watched Christine.
When Tom finally let her go, the look she saw on Justyn’s face was every bit as tormented as the phantom’s had been on the cold roof of the opera house when he realized he was losing his love to the gallant Raoul. As she and Tom moved to the sidelines, Justyn took center stage. That torment was echoed and magnified by the desperate, yet beautifully resonating tenor of the phantom.
“On my wings your song took flight.
But you betrayed me on this night.
Now as my hopes have been swept away,
So begins our real life play.”
He huddled on the ground, completely in character and beyond. From the sidelines, Tom and Rebecca sang the echoed words of the love song that drove the phantom to unimaginable acts of violence. Justyn captured the essence of that fury as he stood up and stared directly at Rebecca and Tom. The final words of the act seemed as if they weren’t just lines from the script, but a serious threat. A threat directed at them.
“This day a curse is on your head.
This opera house will live in dread.”
As the menacing words reverberated through the auditorium, Rebecca had to wonder just how much Justyn really had in common with the phantom. What was he really capable of?