Dark Memories (The Phantom Diaries, #2) (15 page)

“Annette.”
 

The alarm in Aaron’s voice brought me out of the cushions.

“What’s wrong?
 
What’s going on?”

I sat up, reluctant to face him.
 
For all his kindness and patience, I really didn’t want to talk this out with him.

His fingers were quick to wipe the tears away, but I continued to sniffle and weep.
 
Though I tried to get a grip on my emotions, the fatigue, stress and confusion was now overwhelming and I couldn’t stop crying.

Proud and pragmatic, Aaron could never understand what I was going through.
 
Surely he would just brush my feelings aside.

“Tell me what’s going on, Annette.
 
What
has
you so frightened? So shaken up?
  
I’ve never seen you like this.”

“I heard the voice again.” I blurted it out, hoping he’d believe me.

“The what?”

“The voice.
The haunting.”

“The Phantom?”

He knew. He understood. Relieved, I leaned into him and suddenly felt sure he’d be able to do something to rectify the situation.
 
It was his opera house. Surely there was something he could do to do away with the Phantom.

“Annette, is what I’ve heard true?”

What had he heard, exactly?
 
I looked at him, unsure what to say.

“I overheard a few girls out in the hall speaking of you.
 
That you were possessed.
 
And now you’re talking foolishness about some phantom.”

Foolishness?
 
I pulled away to look at him.
 
“But, you’ve heard of everything that happened here while I was gone.
 
The chandelier.
 
The mirror.
 
The voice.”

“Annette, if rumor gets out that you
were
possessed… Your reputation is at stake here.”

While I silently cursed Judy for being too quick to tell anyone, I was nonetheless relieved to see this side of Aaron. I needed to know the real man under the façade.

“Aaron, this isn’t a joke. Haven’t you noticed a change in me lately?”

He smiled, a smile usually reserved for children who came around looking for autographs and photos. “Then tell me, where is this Phantom?” Standing, he looked around and spread his arms out about him, a condescending smirk on his lips.

“It doesn’t work that way.”

His chuckle was annoying and belittling.
 
He was ridiculing the great hardship I’d been through and wasn’t showing an ounce of understanding or sympathy.

“Annette.” He returned to my side and took my hand as he resumed his seat. “I know this has been a stressful time for you.
 
This is a whole new world that has opened up to you, and for such an innocent, it can be overwhelming.”

I nodded, but couldn’t bring myself to look up at him.

“What with rehearsals, shows and the endless stream of people all wanting a piece of
you,
it’s understandable you’ll be exhausted and perhaps even a little….” He trailed off, unable or unwilling to finish his sentence.

“A little what?
 
Delusional?
Crazy?”

“I’ve managed to make arrangements for that trip to Paris, and I think it would do you a world of good. The change of pace will replenish your energy and a change of scenery is always good for the soul.”

I tried to be enthusiastic, but my smile was weak.

“It will be a truly romantic escapade.” He brushed his lips against my temple then tilted my chin up to find my lips.
 
His kiss was tender, but brief. “You’ll love my family estate, and
Paris
… ah, you’ll never want to leave.”

He made it seem so wonderful. And getting away from the drama of Kristine and Eric would certainly do me some good. Perhaps he was right. “I have always wanted to see Paris,” I finally conceded.

“And I’ll see if I can’t get you a guest stint at the Paris Opera House. If you think
New York
fell in love with you, wait until the Parisians hear you.
 
They’ll make you one of their own and refuse to let you go.”

“Would we see the
Eiffel
Tower
, and the Louvre and Versailles?”

“Anything and everything you want to see, my love. I…” He took my hand and draped it over his arm and guided me up.
 
“…
will
be your personal guide through the enchanted streets of my ancestors.”

He gazed around the dressing room.
 
“Don’t worry,” he said.
 
His words seemed intended for someone other than me.
 
“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you from this Phantom.
Or whatever it is that have you so shaken up.”

Chapter 13

The following day I was back in rehearsal.
 
Judy was quick to spot me across the stage and wink at me.

“Hey,” she said when we had a break.
 
“I told a few people about… you know.”

“So I’ve noticed.”
 
I didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry with her for having divulged our secret to so many people so fast.

“Really?” she asked as she passed a small towel through her damp hair.
 
“How’s that?”

“Well, for starters, people have been looking at me kind of funny this morning.
 
And, barely an hour after I told you yesterday, word of a rumor was already coming back to me.”

“I hope you’re not too angry.
 
It’s not as if many people believed me anyways.
 
If anything I’m the one who is coming off looking a bit crazy.”

“You deserve it.” I teased.
 
“This was supposed to be between you and me… and Chace.”

“Some even think I’ve got a beef against you.”

“I was beginning to wonder that myself.”

She laughed and nudged me over with her hips.
 
“I did tell the one person who counts at least.
 
Chace seemed to take it pretty well.
 
I think it cleared up a lot of things for him.”

“He believed you?”
 
It seemed impossible.

“The change in you was dramatic, Annette.
 
All of a sudden you were cool and aloof with all of us.
 
You took to speaking French more and more.
 
And the clothes.
 
Geez!
 
Did you see what you went out wearing?
 
Girl, that was even more uninhibited than what I’m capable of.”

My cheeks were quickly heated and I could just imagine the intense blush that now colored my face.
 
Just thinking of the skimpy dresses Kristine had me parading in was enough to make me want to hide.

“Thanks, Judy.
 
I guess I can forgive your loose lips if you’ve at least managed to convince Chace I really wasn’t myself.”

“Speaking of.”
She gestured towards Chace who was heading our way.
 
“Look at that boy smile. He’s really got it bad, Annette.”

I tried to ignore the gentle warning in her statement. Was she afraid I’d hurt Chace?

“I’ll leave you two love birds.” She tapped me on the back and high-fived Chace as she passed him by.

He stopped in front of me and stood there for a moment, unsure what to say.
 
“I had a little talk with Judy.”
 
Adorably shy and hesitant, he was as sweet as always.
 

“I’m glad.”

“Do you have a minute to come have coffee or something?”

I glanced around and tried to catch the eye of the director. When he glanced at me I tapped my wrist and held my hand out three times to indicate I’d be gone for fifteen minutes.
 
While he didn’t seem happy with the length of the break, he waved me away.

“Let’s go,” I said.
 
“We have just enough time to go to
Pause Café
.”

We hurried across the street and Chace wasted no time putting his arm around me in the process.

“I’ve missed holding you,” he whispered in my ear.
 
He pulled the door open and headed for the counter to order while I found us a table.

The place was abuzz with activity and it took almost five minutes for him to arrive.
 
He plunked down a coffee in front of me and a hot cocoa for himself before taking a seat across from me and staring me straight in the eye.

“This is wild,” he said.
 
He reached out to take my hand and his fingers played along mine.
 
“It explains everything, but it’s wild.
 
Too wild.”

“I know.
 
I lived through it and I can barely believe it.”

“It must have been awful. I wish I’d known. I wish I could have helped you. I’m sorry I underestimated you.
 
I really should have seen it wasn’t you.
 
The change was far from subtle.
 
Admittedly I considered the possibility of drugs, but I didn’t really think you were the type to do that.
 
But if it wasn’t drugs, or stress, then who could have thought you’d be…”

“Possessed,” I finished for him. I smiled and tried to make light of the whole thing.
 
“Who could have known?”

He fidgeted and sipped his cocoa. I could hear his feet skimming over the floor and realized just how nervous this made him.
 
It was understandable. Dealing with someone who’d been possessed couldn’t be easy.

“Possessed.”
The word hung there for a moment, as though he was letting it completely sink in.
 
“It sounds so ridiculously unbelievable, yet I saw you.
 
I saw the extreme change in you.
 
But… possessed? It’s like something out of a movie.”

His eyes gazed into the distance and he bit his lip in concentration.
 
“I should have known you’d never hurt me the way you… she… whoever did. It was unbelievable the way you behaved.
 
When I saw you in Aaron’s arms, your body pressed up to him, your hands all over him and your eyes…”

I reached for his hand.
 
When he brought his gaze back to me I could still see the confusion.
 
That wanton image was emblazed on his memory and I wondered if I’d ever be able to erase it.

“You didn’t care about me at all.
 
In fact, you seemed to enjoy the pain you caused.
 
You relished my broken heart with a wicked gleam in your eye. I think that’s what hurt the most.
 
Losing you to another man is difficult, but those things happen sometimes. But seeing the pleasure with which you threw your affair with Aaron in my face.”

“Chace, please.”
I knew all this was cathartic for him, but it was driving me crazy hearing about all the antics Kristine had pulled.