Part Four

Shadows filtered above her head in curious dances that made her moan and swoon with pain and confusion. Despite herself Sarah had no recollection of how she had come to be in the depths of the tunnels beneath the city, staring at the glittering coloured shapes upon the unknown ceiling. She knew she was lying on a bed, but that was the extent of it.

All Sarah could ell was that the area was indeed deep underground and yet still within the foundations of the opera house. She was still quite dizzy and her body was still pained from the exhaustion of the previous events. Secretly she hoped the cat would have eaten the mouse that had taken her place on stage and inwardly she swore over the situation. Sure, her voice was fantastic and everyone thought she was pretty – but the opera house couldn’t stand the idea of a successful star that was a rat!

As Sarah pulled herself up into a sitting position, she noted that a small candle had been lit for her convenience and some food too; the candle sat on a special stand with a pane of coloured glass shielding it from the wind. It wasn’t the beast quality bread or cheese that Sarah had ever eaten, but the satisfaction of a sated stomach and the reassurance of food eased her concern. There was also a large thimble beside her, full to the brim with cold clear water and Sarah felt herself moan in pleasure at the taste of it and its refreshing quality. When she’d nearly drained the pitcher she was startled to spot a piece of scrap paper below simply stating that she should ‘eat up’.

“And here I feared kidnap by rat-haters! What a nice surprise?” Sarah mumbled to herself in annoyance. Although she hadn’t really assumed herself to be in danger, purely for the fact she was still alive, Sarah felt oddly anxious. Her mind kept returning to that forlorn being to have kissed her in the night. As much as she was sure Amelia believed it to be a dream, Sarah couldn’t help but feel a little curious about it. She had even dared to think of that being as some sort of ghost perhaps. Right now though something was telling her that no such ghost existed, but that individual had helped her here.

Even so, Sarah pulled herself up onto her feet and began to twitch her toes, yawning and rubbing at her eyes. She then stretched her hand to the hair upon her head and was startled to find it had all been loosened. She pulled her locks of nearly black hair to the side and felt a curious bump at the back of her head… maybe that’s what had happened to have made her collapse into the shadowy figure’s arms? With a groan Sarah began to pat down her dress, only to find she was no longer in the costume of the show but a nice and simple blue-green dress that was not only comfortable but a perfect fit – something she noted as very creepy.

Sarah then shook her head and began to stroll about the little room amongst the dark tunnels and smiled in approval at the cleanliness of the place. There were paintings on the wall, there were books and wardrobes and a writing desk. There was everything to tell her that this place was well-maintained and, despite the poor lighting and deep setting, the kind of place a posh bachelor would own in London. Sarah walked out of the room and down a series of narrow paths toward another room, in this room there were several instruments including an organ and a harp. She was surprised to note a few personal pieces of music and nodded in approval this time.

Pacing on, Sarah looked toward another room up ahead where she could hear someone working away. As she approached the edge of the gap in the stone, she slowed down and felt a pang of fear. What if something monstrous was behind there? What if there was a battle going on? What if she poked her head around the corner to see the ripper himself at work? Sarah shook her head from the anxiety and instead nervously poked her head around the corner and held her breath, being as quiet as possible. What she saw though was much more startling then she could have expected….

A hunched figure was busy playing with the tool kit of an engineer around a series of strange copper pipes that looked a plumbing system. She watched as he hammered at the device and gave an aggressive series of swear words at the metalwork until it gave a wheezing hiss and he stood up in relief. When he stood up, Sarah found her jaw nearly dropping to see a tall and muscular male rat with grey fur and a pale face with a curiously crooked grin and shining yellow eyes. He patted down his white shirt only to groan at the black spots of mess he patted onto it, suddenly Sarah gave a gentle chuckled and nearly bit herself for it.

“Oh… you’re awake ma’am.” The figure stated nervously as he turned about to look at her. Immediately Sarah recognised him as the figure that had kissed her randomly and suddenly she found herself blushing. But the figure didn’t seem to recognise her in the same way and instead put his toolbox away and then found a handkerchief to wipe the muck away from himself. He stepped over to her side and then bowed in front of her with a gentle smile upon his face before taking her hand and kissing it gently, making Sarah even more surprised. “I want to apologise for the feline incident last night… normally I have her under more control but she got out last night. Thankfully I found you before she got to you, I hope you don’t mind but I brought a doctor down to you and she decided that you wouldn’t do well in your costume so called on Miss Amelia to bring some items down.”

“What? I’m sorry but I’m afraid I don’t know what’s going on sir…”

“Ratigan… my name is Professor Ratigan. I was hired to deal with the technology in the theatre. I’m not allowed where the public go, I guess you can understand why.” He chuckled gently as he lifted his tail and held it in his hand. Sarah stared at him in an anxious manner, yes she could understand and now she felt very bad for him. Ratigan then gave a gentle chuckle of amusement. “Anyway, I keep a cat as a guard from thieves and murderers running around this system of tunnels… but she got out last night and you were the one unaccounted for. I’m afraid she’s trashed your room, so Madam Amelia said you should use the spare one in my area of the tunnels.”

“Uh… I know you’re being kind but I’m afraid I’ll have to ask Amelia about this… it just seems quite unusual to me.” Sarah gulped anxiously, suddenly thinking that something could be going on here. She did not think he was going to be nasty to her, but who’d changed her clothing in her sleep? That was something seriously creepy! But Ratigan just nodded his head and gestured for her to follow him, Sarah willingly did so.