CHAPTER TWELVE

Meeting the Persian

"You don't know me, but that is not important. I am the Persian," he said with a laugh. "Quick, come with me."

The two men went into the hall. "I'll ask you again, young man. Where were you going?"

"I'm going after my brother, the Count de Chagny. He has taken Christine Daae because he doesn't want me to marry her. The police chief himself told me!"

The Persian burst out laughing. "Well, he is wrong," said the Persian. "No one could make the girl disappear that quickly, except for the Phantom of the Opera, Erik himself! You are a fool if you think it was your brother."

"You know about Erik?" asked Raoul.

Be quiet. We cannot say his name often—he may be listening." The Persian took Raoul down a dark hall. They stopped by a door. The Persian opened it and whispered for Raoul to enter. When he did so, Raoul saw that he was standing in Christine's room. Clearly, they had entered through a hidden door.

A minute later, the door opened and a man came in. The Persian told Raoul that this was his servant. The servant had brought two guns with him. He gave these to the Persian, who handed one to Raoul.

"So! Are we going to try and fight the Phantom?" Raoul asked.

"Certainly we are. And even though we are two and he is one, it will be very dangerous. Erik is not a fool, as you probably know. He knows many tricks and secrets," the Persian said.

"I'm not afraid," Raoul said. "I love Christine. I will do anything to save her from him. But sir, why are you helping me? Do you hate Erik, also?"

"No, I don't hate him. I think your Christine Daae would understand. He is to be pitied, but also feared. Erik did something very terrible many years ago in a far off land. I have forgiven him for it, though."

So, the Persian didn't hate Erik. He pitied Erik, like Christine. As Raoul watched, the man stood on top of Christine's dressing table. Slowly, he ran his fingers over the large mirror.

"Hah! I've found it!" he said. He pushed a corner of the mirror and then jumped off the table. "You will see the mirror turn around in a few minutes."

They waited, but the mirror did not turn around.

"I understand," said the Persian. "Erik knew we would try to enter from this passage. He has cut the rope that allows the mirror to turn."

"Christine entered his world that way!" said Raoul. "It looked as if she had disappeared into the mirror!"

"So you have seen this happen. What did you do?" the Persian asked.

"I did nothing, of course. I thought I was imagining things."

"You thought wrong!" said the Persian. "Well, we must find Erik another way. We must be extremely careful! He has built many secret doors and passages in this building, and he watches them all carefully. He will certainly try to keep us from finding Christine."

"How does Erik know the Opera House so well? Only the builder could know that much."

"Exactly," said the Persian with a strange smile. "Erik built this opera house."

They paused for a little while Raoul thought about this. Then Raoul cried, "Well, nothing is happening. Let's go! There isn't any time to lose!"

"Calm yourself, boy. We cannot go anywhere else tonight!" said the Persian.

But just as he said this, the mirror began to turn. The next thing Raoul knew, he was standing in total darkness.

(end of section)