Chapter Two
A Note, a Brother, a Bullet and a Murder
William entered the lair. The Phantom was writing down a note. William
walked over to see what it was about.
" Who is it to this time Erik?" asked William.
" A little comment on Carlotta's singing," answered the Phantom.
" Am I to give it to her personally or secretly?" asked William.
" Secretly, put it in her dressing room," said the Phantom.
William took the letter and started to head out. " William! Be careful! There
aren't any passage ways out."
" I know Erik, I'll be careful." William left the lair. When he
reached the dressing room he opened the door a crack and looked in.
Carlotta's dressing room was also part of the ballerinas' dressing room.
He looked around. No one was in sight. The lights were also turned off,
that was a good sign. William walked in and placed the note on
Carlotta's make-up desk. There was another note, from Piangi. Suddenly,
William heard giggling. It came from all around him. The lights were
turned on.
" Caught you Josh!" laughed one of the ballerinas. The
ballerinas had been hiding, hoping to catch Josh in their dressing room. William
paused and stared at them. They gasped when they saw him.
" Oh dear. Oh dear." whispered one of the ballerinas. William
raised up his hands in a calming motion.
" Please, don't panic. It's alright," said William. One of the
ballerinas looked like she was about to scream. William glared at
her. " If you scream you will regret it dearly," hissed William. She
screamed. William covered his ears. It was unbearably piercing, like
Carlotta's voice. " Shut-up! You little banshee! Shut-up!" snarled William.
Now all the ballerinas started to scream. William then pulled some
coiled rope from his cloak and made it into a Punjab Lasso. He held it
up in a threatening way. " Did I not tell you to be quiet?" William
snarled. The girls huddled together, staring in fear. That's when Josh
and Piangi burst in.
" What's all the screaming about?" asked Piangi. The two spotted
William. The ballerinas dashed past William and over to Piangi and Josh.
Not that it mattered, for William would never dream of using one of
those innocent girls as a hostage. Josh locked the door, trapping
William in the room. He then approached William slowly. William being
older than Josh didn't show that much fear, but simply held the lasso up.
" Do you think it's wise to attack someone with a weapon Josh?"
asked William smugly.
" Only when the person is armed," answered Josh. He pulled out a
handgun. William frowned.
" Children shouldn't handle guns Josh. You better put it away before
you hurt yourself," hissed William. He started to back away.
" What's the matter Phantom? Why don't you just vanish?" asked
Josh as he started to grin. William glared at him.
" Put the gun away Josh, you're risking your life," snarled
William.
" Josh! Be careful!" cried one of the ballerinas. William swung
the lasso and it was around Josh's neck. Josh raised up the gun and fired.
William let out a cry of pain and fell to the floor whimpering and
cursing. Piangi ran over and took the lasso off of Josh's neck.
" Good shooting signor!" commented Piangi. Two ballet girls
approached William. He stopped whimpering and was still.
" Is he." started one of the ballet girls.
" I don't know. Stay back. I'll find out," said Piangi. Piangi walked
over to William. He nudged him with his foot. William didn't move.
Piangi kneeled down and shook William. William didn't show any reaction.
" He's dead!" insisted Josh.
" Let's just make sure signor," said Piangi. Piangi took William's
pulse. Piangi's eyes widened. " He's.... He's....." Before Piangi could finish,
William's arm's sprung up and took hold of Piangi's neck. William pulled
Piangi down and pinned him to the floor. Josh raised the gun again.
William glared and him and shook his head.
" Fire that gun again and you will be one sorry young man,"
hissed William. " Let me out." One of the ballerinas headed for the door. Josh
held her back.
" Hold it. Why should we?" asked Josh. William's eyes widened.
" Because if you don't, you will continue to dance in a theater
with a curse on it!" snarled William. William released Piangi to cover his
wound. Piangi scurried over to the others. William looked at his blood
stained hand. Josh put his gun away and approached the wounded phantom.
William glared at him. " Congratulations Josh, you have won this
battle," hissed William." You might as well finish me off." William
clenched his teeth and waited for the final bullet. Josh walked over and
opened the door. He pointed out.
" Go on, get out of here," snarled Josh. William stared at him. " Well?
Do you want to go or not?" William slowly got up and made his way to
the exit. When he reached the doorway, he stopped and looked at Josh.
Josh gave him a glare that said ' Get out before I change my mind.'
William left. Piangi stared at Josh.
" Why did you let him go signor?" asked Piangi. Josh looked at him.
" Because if I took his life the Phantom would take mine,"
answered Josh. William rapidly made his way back to the lair. When he entered,
the Phantom quickly ran to his brother's aid.
" William! What happened?" cried the Phantom.
" I was tricked into thinking the room was empty," said William
as he gave a soft groan. " And they were armed." The Phantom led his brother
over to his bed. As William got on the bed, the Phantom rolled up an
unused music sheet. The Phantom placed it in William's mouth.
" I'm going to have to clean up the wound, the pain will be
great. You can bite on the sheet," said the Phantom. William nodded. He was ready.
The Phantom first washed off the blood with some water from the lake. He
then took out his tools. He got out the proper tool and began to take
out the bullet. William groaned a little but stopped when the bullet was
out. The older brother tossed the bullet into the lake. He then took out
a cloth and some iodine. He put some of the iodine on the cloth and
started to clean up the wound. That's when William started to scream in
pain.
" Hang on dear brother," whispered the Phantom. " I'm almost done."
When the Phantom finished using the iodine, he taped up his brother's
wound to prevent it from getting infected. The Phantom stroked his
younger brother's forehead. William looked up at his brother weakly. "
Now William, tell me everything," said the Phantom.
Upstairs, Josh, Joseph and Piangi got together. " We won't be able to
keep him a secret forever! I say we tell them that the Phantom has a
brother!" snarled Josh.
" But remember what the Phantom said. He doesn't want his
brother mentioned," said Piangi.
" It doesn't matter, I already told Andre," said Joseph. Josh
and Piangi stared at him in shock.
" You what? Are you insane?" snarled Piangi.
" They need to know," said Joseph.
" Your old age is making you crazy Buquet!" snarled Piangi. It was then
that Joseph and Piangi heard Josh give a cry of shock and fear. It only
took them a few moments to realize it was the Phantom using the Punjab
Lasso. The Phantom pulled Josh back then tightened the lasso a little.
" My brother told me what you did! You should know if you corner him,
he'll defend himself! I should crush your windpipes right now!" The
Phantom snarled.
" Signor! Let the boy go! It was self defense!" cried Piangi. The
Phantom scowled at Piangi.
" Silence Piangi! This does not concern you!" roared the Phantom. Josh elbowed
the Phantom in the chest, hoping for a chance to break free. The Phantom grabbed
Josh's arm and pulled back, creating a horrible snapping sound. Josh shrieked in
agony.
" You horrible monster! Have you no pity?" snarled Piangi. The
Phantom threw Josh to the floor.
" He means nothing to me! Why should I show any pity for him?"
" Because he showed pity on your brother!" Piangi screamed. "After
your brother was hit, Josh let him go! He only fired to defend himself!"
The Phantom scowled at Piangi coldly.
" My brother would not have killed him. He can't kill. He doesn't have
the guts. Josh was in no danger of his life." The Phantom backed away
into the darkness until only his outline was visible. " My brother
nearly died tonight! He's lucky to be alive! The bullet just missed his
heart!" The Phantom let out a growl, then continued. " It is most
fortunate for Josh that the bullet missed. Otherwise he would not have
left this room alive. Beware Josh! You may not be so lucky next time!"
Then the Phantom vanished.
Piangi dashed over and helped Josh up. The two left the room. Joseph
started for the door, when the Phantom's voice returned. " Joseph
Buquet? Can I speak to you?"
Down in the office, Firmin and Andre were inspecting Josh. Andre let
out a sigh of relief. " It's not serious, thank God. He'll still be able to perform,"
said Andre.
" You said that the ghost did this?" asked Firmin. Josh nodded.
" This is terrible! What could drive him to harm our performers?"
" Because I---" Josh then shut his trap.
" Because?" asked Firmin a little impatient. Josh shook his
head.
" I do not know why," said Josh. Andre headed for the door.
" I'll get some ice from the diner," said Andre. When Andre
opened the door, he shrieked, slammed the door and started to gasp. Firmin dashed
over to see what had frightened his friend.
" Andre! What's wrong?" asked Firmin. Andre didn't answer. He
just trembled in fear. Since it looked like Andre wasn't going to say much,
Firmin opened the door. Joseph was swinging by his neck in the doorway.
Firmin immediately ran to the wastebasket and retched.
" What have we done to deserve this?" cried Andre.
" You haven't done anything. Joseph brought this upon himself,"
said Josh. Firmin and Andre stared at each other. No one else spoke that
night.
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