Chapter Nine ; The Phantom of the Opera Sara and Grissom were staring at a red curtain, waiting for it to move and reveal the beginning of the play they were about to watch. They were beginning to become impatient, they were anxious to see Dani on stage. It seemed the curtain would never move. Catherine walked down the aisle in between rows of chairs. She looked across the seats and saw the backs of two familiar heads. She walked down the aisle some more, then turned down a narrow path between two rows of chairs. She tripped over someone’s feet and sighed. “Sorry,” the man said. Catherine glanced at him and watched his eyes travel over her, she noticed that he was checking her out. This ticked Catherine off. “You should be!” She said coldly at him, then kept walking. She let herself fall into a chair beside Sara. Both Grissom and Sara turned to the blonde woman, and could clearly see she was stressed. Catherine looked up and noticed her co-workers were watching her. “Yes?” Catherine asked harshly. Grissom and Sara both looked away as soon as she spoke. There was silence for a few minutes. “How do you think they’ll do?” Sara asked and turned to Catherine. The question was left un-answered, since as soon as the question had left Sara’s mouth, the curtain rose. A boy was speaking in a rather quiet tone. The backdrop was grey, and the stage was eerie. A few people were gathered around a large object that had a sheet overtop of it. It was quiet, except for the boy’s quiet voice. It was an auction. The scene stayed soft for a few minutes, until a shy instrument started to play. A boy who was sitting in a wheelchair had just bought a music box. “Now for Lot 666…” The auctioneer said, his voice was slightly louder, but not much. Two boys were standing on either side of the large covered object. The auctioneer’s voice was growing stronger and stronger. The sheet was pulled off of the object quickly to reveal a chandelier that lit up within a second of the sheet being swept off. The chandelier started to rise to the ceiling and the band started to play the overture to Phantom of the Opera loudly. The chandelier danced and sparkled as it reached the ceiling. The audience was staring up at it. Suddenly the bright lights shone on the stage, and there was a different backdrop. Now it was brighter, and not grey. An actress walked on stage and started singing opera music. As the band started to play, people came rushing out onto the stage. Some were singing, some were dancing. Dani was in amongst the dancers. She twirled around to the beat of the music, along with the other dancers. Catherine’s eyes were searching for her own daughter, her gaze came to a dead stop when she saw that Lindsay was the lead dancer. -- “Think of me, think of me fondly, when we’ve said goodbye,” Dani sang. Her voice traveled across the stage and to the back of the auditorium. The high notes echoed, and she heard herself singing. She was shaking. Dani stared out at the audience, but she couldn’t see Sara. -- Now, Lindsay was in Dani’s room. Dani had just told Lindsay about the Angel of Music. “Christine you must have been dreaming, stories like this can’t come true, Christine you’re talking in riddles, and it’s not like you,” Lindsay sang to her. -- Now, Lindsay had left the room. Adam, who was playing as Raoul, had come and gone. The room slowly turned cold. The lights slowly faded, and the backdrop was grey. Christine, who was actually Dani, looked around, and waited for a voice to thrust itself into the room. Sara recognized as soon as it bursted into the room. “Insolent boy! This slave of fashion basking in your glory,” Chris sang. His voice was intimidating, and strong. The way the Phantom’s voice was supposed to be. Sara smiled to herself, and felt proud of Dani, Chris and Adam. “Ignorant fool! This brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph,” He kept singing. Dani’s eyes traveled around the room, searching for the Phantom. “Angel, I hear you. Speak, I listen… stay by my side, guide me,” Dani sang. “Angel, my soul was weak. Forgive me… enter at last, Master.” “Flattering child, you shall know me, see why in shadow I hide, look at your face in the mirror, I am there, inside,” Chris sang as he appeared behind the mirror. Dani turned and looked, she seemed in a daze. “Come to me, Angel of Music,” Chris sang. Adam walked onto the stage and heard Chris’ voice, and began to knock on the door leading to Dani’s room. Dani seemed oblivious to the sound though, because she was more interested in the Phantom singing. Dani reached her hand out, and Chris took it, pulling her into the mirror. They both disappeared from view as Adam finally got into Dani’s room. The theme of Phantom of the Opera played, and the curtain dropped. -- Now, the Phantom came out of a tent, masquerading as Don Juan. He began to sing, “You have come here, in pursuit of your deepest urge. In pursuit of that wish, which ‘til now has been silent, silent…” Dani glanced back at him, then looked away. “I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge. In your mind you’ve already succumbed to me, dropped all defenses, completely succumbed to me. Now you are here with me, no second thoughts, you’ve decided, decided…” Now the Phantom began to walk closer to Dani. “Past the point of no return, no backward glances, our games of make believe are at an end. Past all thought of “if” or “when”, no use resisting. Abandon thought and let the dream descend,” he continued singing. “What raging fire shall flood the soul?” As he sang, he put his arms around Dani and she closed her eyes. Dani waited for her cue to cut in, then she started singing. After she sang her part, both of their voices joined together and sang, “Past the point of no return, the final threshold, the bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn. We’ve passed the point of no return…” Police and Raoul watched as they realized it was the Phantom who was Don Juan. Then Chris started singing gently, “Say you’ll share with me on love, one lifetime… Lead me, save me from my solitude…” He took a ring off of his finger and slowly put it on Dani’s. “Say you want me with you, here beside you… Anywhere you go let me go too. Christine, that’s all I ask of…” The Phantom didn’t get to finish singing, because Dani had pulled his mask off, revealing to the audience his scarred face. The Phantom swept his cape around Dani and ran off stage. Then chaos ensued. Actors were running onto the stage, there were screams coming from all directions. The Phantom had struck again.
Oh sorry. I should have put another sentence at the bottom to explain that the Phantom stealing Dani was part of the play. lol.
Okay, I feel it's time to update... lol. Chapter Ten; The Underlying Problem “I didn’t do anything wrong! I don’t understand why you’re mad at me!” Dani said, her voice was slightly raised and it wasn’t the normal soft pitch her voice usually was. It was louder, stronger, and trying to win. Adam’s voice was just as loud, but slightly stronger. “That’s half the reason I’m mad! You didn’t notice what you did!” “If you told me, I would know,” Dani said more harshly then her other words. Adam didn’t reply, he just put his hands in his pockets and stared away from Dani. He avoided the look she was giving him, because he knew it would only make him feel guilty. Dani leaned against the wall of the drama room. She had a hunch about what Adam was riled up about, but she wanted him to admit it. A few silent minutes passed. Dani rolled her eyes and looked at Adam, he was still avoiding her eyes. She let out a sigh, “Sara and Grissom are coming to take me home soon,” she said. Adam finally looked over at her eyes; they weren’t mad like he had expected, they were desperate. Desperate eyes that simply wanted answers. Adam bit the side of his cheek nervously. His eyes stared down at the ground again. “Then you better go…” He said in a whisper that Dani could barely hear. When he looked at her eyes now, they were disappointed. “Fine, if that’s what you want,” she said in a soft tone before leaving the room, leaving Adam alone with his thoughts. -- Sara watched as Dani got out of the car and stepped onto the apartment building’s parking lot. Dani walked across the lot and into the building before either Grissom or Sara had even got out of the car. Sara looked over at Grissom to see if he noticed, she knew something was wrong. He was looking back at Sara, with a slightly confused expression. He raised an eyebrow for a moment, showing curiosity towards Dani’s problem, before getting out of the car and walking into the building. Dani had left the door to the apartment unlocked for Sara and Grissom. Sara walked in after Grissom. She glanced briefly around the apartment, before slipping off her shoes. She figured that as soon as Dani had entered the apartment, she had gone off to her room. Sara was slowly edging towards Dani’s room. Grissom had noticed this, and knew that not many things would drag her away from trying to find out what was wrong with her younger sister. Grissom, who was in the kitchen, swung around the island and linked arms with Sara on his way to the living room space. He sat down on the couch, and Sara reluctantly sat down too. She looked at him with a slightly frustrated expression. “She obviously wants to be alone,” Grissom stated. Sara sighed lightly and rested her head on Grissom’s shoulder. Her curiosity was bugging her, but Grissom was right. If she locked herself up in her room, without saying a word to anyone, she obviously wanted some time on her own. -- Sara’s eyes opened slowly. She lifted her head to see Grissom sleeping beside her. She got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen to check the time. The clock on the microwave glowed 12:31. Sara knew it was late, but a part of her still wanted to check on Dani. She walked down the hall and opened Dani’s bedroom door slowly. She peered into the bedroom to see a little girl laying in the dark, staring up at the ceiling. Sara took a few steps into Dani’s room and sat on the end of her bed. Dani’s eyes didn’t leave the spot on the ceiling that she was staring at. “Hey…” Sara said softly. Dani kept silent. Sara knew that Grissom was right, Dani wanted to be alone. She got up and headed towards the door, deciding that giving Dani her space was a good idea. Before she could leave the room, Dani spoke, “I want to go see Mom.”
Chapter Eleven; Mind Games Dani opened her eyes and let them wander out the window. She watched other cars pass by them. She sat up and stretched, hoping that she had fallen asleep for most of the trip to San Francisco. Dani looked over at Sara, who was sitting in the passenger seat. Sara looked very tired, and like she was about to fall asleep. Dani could tell that she didn’t want to though, it was the slight annoyed look in her face, and she didn’t want to sleep. “Are we there yet?” Dani asked. It seemed to startle both Sara and Grissom. Sara turned to look at Dani. “Almost, about another half hour,” Sara answered with a little smile. Dani knew that if Sara could have avoided the trip here, she would have. It wasn’t that Sara didn’t want to go. It was that she was unsure of going. There was a nervous feeling in her stomach, and she didn’t like it. About forty-five minutes went by, and they stopped at a hotel for the night. Dani didn’t sleep. The hotel bed was very comfortable, but she was worried, excited, and anxious about tomorrow. She didn’t know what to expect, so her mind traveled and different scenarios went through her mind. She wondered what her mother would look like now. The sun started to poke through the curtains that hung from the window. Dani rolled over and lifted her head to read the clock sitting on the little table in between the bed she was sleeping in and Grissom and Sara’s. She sat up, and looked over at Grissom and Sara. From what she could see, they were both sleeping. She didn’t notice that Grissom was awake. Grissom was worried over what might happen at their visit to Laura Sidle. He worried about the two women in his life that he loved. -- During the car ride to San Francisco State Penitentiary, Dani was shaking. She was too nervous to speak. She had been excited to see her mother again since Sara had told her that they could take a few days to make a trip to go see her, but now she was scared. “Sara… you knew her… well, b-better… I mean, she was actually a m-mother… you…” Dani started, trying to get her thoughts out of her head. There was a question she wanted to ask Sara in there somewhere, it was just jumbled up between all her thoughts. Sara turned around and just smiled at her little sister. She understood that Dani was nervous, after all, Sara felt the same way. She did feel a bit better today, because of the conversation her and Gil had the night before about the situation. Gil hadn’t said much on the matter when Sara decided that they could go to San Francisco, and she was eager to hear his opinion. Sara learned, during the talk with Grissom, that his point of view was; if Dani felt she was ready to see her mother, then they should let her. Over the time that Grissom knew Dani, he had learned a few things about her. He had analyzed her quite thoroughly, actually. He knew that if they had deprived Dani of the experience of seeing her mother again, she would be forever wondering what it would have been like. She would probably be able to be consumed for hours by simply going over what could have happened in her mind, she probably had already done so. Dani sat down in a secure room, beside Sara. She looked around, noticing that she was already inside the jail. In between was a complete blank. A woman with long, brown hair draped in her face was lead into the room. She was sat in a chair across from Dani and Sara. There was a long silence. Dani looked from Sara to her mother. Sara looked from her mother to Dani. Laura just kept her head down. And no one spoke. “Mom?” Dani asked ever so quietly. It was barely audible, and her voice was shaking. Laura looked up, long pieces of hair in her face, it looked like she had been crying. Her eyes traced over Dani, she hadn’t expected her to be a teenager already. Her eyes then wandered to Sara, but they stayed fixated on her eyes. Sara smiled lightly, “Hi mom.” Then her smile faded. She didn’t like seeing her mother like this. “I’m a horrible mother,” Laura stated, finally speaking. Dani didn’t say anything. “It wasn’t your fault,” Sara said. “You did… what you had to.” “That is not an excuse for tearing our family apart,” Laura said, beginning to sob. “Mom…” Sara started, but she didn’t know what she wanted to say. Laura turned her attention to Dani. “You must think I’m a horrible person,” Laura said in between sobs. Dani shook her head quickly, “N-no, I-I don’t think that.” Tears started to form in her eyes. “I’m sorry. You have no idea how much I’ve thought about what I did, and how much I want to take it back,” Laura said. “Would you rather things to continue the way the had been?” Sara asked her mother. Laura’s eyes shifted to her older daughter. “There were other ways to handle the situation,” Laura retorted coldly. She turned back to Dani. “Not all families end up like this, Dani, ours is just a little different,” she said with tears in her eyes. “Why are you trying so hard to protect her?” Sara butted in. Laura’s eyes again shifted to her older daughter. “Because I haven’t done anything all these years, and she needs to be protected.” “What about Sara?” Dani asked, she seemed confident, and her voice was strong. “Sara is fine, she has learned to fend for herself. She had to deal with everything from her childhood…” she stopped herself before revealing anything else, “and she’s still here.” Laura’s eyes were fixed upon Sara. “I’ve had enough,” Sara said finally, as she got up from her seat. “Dani, wake up. Dani, Open your eyes.” “What?” “Dani, wake up.” “No…” “Dani, you have to open your eyes.”
Chapter Twelve; Reality Dani opened her eyes to see a blurry room around her. She wiped her eyes, and noticed that she had been crying. The first thing she saw was a worried Sara, sitting beside her. The brunette didn’t say a word, but her eyes were scaring Dani, they were so very worried. The little girl looked around the room, noticing a dark red rug, two large bookcases, and beige curtains. “What happened?” Dani choked out. Sara reached over and squeezed Dani’s hand. After a pause, Dani spoke again. “What happened to mom?” Sara’s mouth dropped, staring at the little girl. Dani didn’t believe that Sara could look more worried, but she was proven wrong. “Are we still in San Francisco?” Dani asked. She looked around, noticing a lady sitting at her desk, simply watching Dani. Sara looked at the lady with desperate eyes. “It’s not…” Sara started, but her voice cracked and didn’t want to keep going. “I’m afraid so…” The lady said. Sara looked back at Dani. “What’s going on?” Dani asked, “Sara, where are we?” The lady stood up from her desk and walked towards Dani, taking a seat in a chair beside the couch Dani was sitting on. “Dani, you were dreaming…” Sara said, tears forming in her eyes. Dani shook her head. “No, it wasn’t. It was real. Dreams don’t feel like that!” “It wasn’t exactly a dream, it was a hallucination,” The lady said. Dani looked at the lady and shook her head. “No, it was real! We went and visited mom!” Dani argued, looking at Sara. “I haven’t heard from mom in years, Dani,” Sara said quietly. Dani’s mind was racing. She didn’t know what was happening. “No, we got a letter… from the jail! It said that we should visit her because she was sick.” Sara shook her head. “That… never happened.” Dani had figured out by now that the lady was a psychologist. “What’s happening?” She asked the shrink. “You’ve made up your own reality,” She answered. Dani took a breath. “So what is real?” “To find out what is real, we must take out what is fake,” Grissom said, speaking up for the first time. Dani’s head turned quickly, she hadn’t noticed that he was in the room. Tears fell down Dani’s cheeks. “I want to talk to Adam,” she said quietly. Grissom and Sara looked at each other, then at Dani. “What?” Sara asked. Dani looked up at Sara. “I want to talk to Adam… my best friend?” Sara opened her mouth slightly, took a breath, then spoke, “Dani… what do you mean?” Dani let out a laugh. “Do you mean to tell me that I made him up too?” Sara shook her head. Grissom spoke before Sara could give Dani an explanation. “When the both of you were kidnapped… he… didn’t make it,” Grissom said softly. Dani shook her head. “No… no… he did… he was alive… he got rescued before me! Grissom… you saved him!” Grissom shook his head lightly. He didn’t want to force what happened on Dani, all they could do was tell her the truth, and see if she believed it. “What about all the times I saw him after it happened then?” Dani asked. “It wasn’t real,” The psychologist said softly. Dani shook her head and began to sob. “What… about… the play?” “Phantom of the Opera?” Sara asked. Dani looked up and nodded. “What about it?” Grissom asked. “Adam was in it,” Dani said breathlessly. Sara shook her head. “No… your friend Chris was,” Sara replied. “Adam was too,” Dani repeated. “I’m sorry Dani,” Grissom said quietly. Dani looked up and smiled weakly at Grissom. She didn’t know what was happening. She didn’t feel real. Her life was an entire lie. She didn’t know the difference between what was real and what she had made up. She didn’t know when she began to hallucinate and make her own alternate reality. She doubted that anyone else did either. Dani turned to the psychologist. “When did this start?” She choked out, tears falling as she spoke. The psychologist looked down at her notes, which were in a notebook on her lap. “I would guess that they started after the kidnapping-“ “Which one?” Dani cut in. “The second one,” She answered. “To cope with the loss of your friend-“ “Best friend,” Dani cut in again. “To cope with the loss of your… best friend, your mind changed how you saw the kidnapping, and then changed reality completely,” she explained. The psychologist kept talking, mostly to Grissom and Sara, but the only thought that went through Dani’s mind was: ‘I’m not real.’ THE END