story."

   "Yeah, normally, he's upset over the grammar errors in the papers!" Star chuckled, when suddenly; he felt a bulb of light go over his purple, fuzzy forehead. "Hey, I've got an idea!"

   "What is it?" Nikki replied.

   "How about during one of the rehearsals of Faust, we go over to Box Five, and check out if the ghost is there!"

   "Yeah, that's right; the ghost said that he's been watching that Daae girl sing during rehearsals. Maybe he'd still be there, right?"

   "Totally! This will prove it to Kal that he's real!"

   "What are you two mumbling about?" The Chinook asked his friends, stopping them in their tracks.

   "Oh, uh, nothing, nothing," Nikki replied.

   "Yeah, we're just…you know…talking," Star chuckled nervously, "Hey Nikki, it's a beautiful day outside, isn't it?"

   "Yeah, it sure is, it sure is," Kaltag rolled his eyes, and continued to walk alongside his two friends, who high-pawed each other, as they planned on hatching their scheme the next day.

Chapter 5

   Nikki and Star's plan came into motion during rehearsals of the 3rd Act of Gonoud's Faust, and they managed to sneak down to Box Five in order to find out if the ghost might be present. They weren't able to do so the day they planned since they were with Kaltag for the most of their time, so they had to wait until that Saturday to hatch their scheme.

   One of them, however, seemed unsure that this plan would pull through.

   "Are you sure about this, Nikki?" Star asked, a bit nervously, "This doesn't really sound polite."

   "Come on; don't tell me you're having second thoughts about this." The brown husky replied.

   "I'm not, it's just," he gulped, "what if he sees us poking around? Maybe we shouldn't do this, and go back to the office." Star was just about to turn back around, when he was caught by the scruff of his neck.

   "Oh no, you're not chickening out on this, Andre." Nikki remarked, "Remember, it was your idea."

   He was right, after all. This was the purple husky's idea to begin with. Star didn't really have much of a choice at the moment, so he sighed, and agreed to stay.

   On one condition.

   "Could you go first please?" Star asked.

   "Why don't you go first?" Nikki replied, taken aback by the statement, "This was your plan, afterall!"

   "No, I think you should look, you're taller."

   "What? We're practically the same size!" Nikki exclaimed. The two sat there arguing for a few moments, as they stared at the Box, wondering who would sum up the courage to look through the small, round window.

   "I'll go first," The two managers turned as Kaltag walked up to them.

   "Oh, Kal…um…how long have you been standing there?" Star inquired, shuffling his paws.

   "I was just, you know, taking a little walk before lunch, and a thought came into my mind. It said 'I wonder what those two dogs are up to?' And lord and behold, here you are."

   "You probably want to know why we're here, right?" Nikki asked.

   "Oh, I think I know exactly what's going on!" Kaltag exclaimed suddenly, "You're here because you want to see if the ghost is real and not just a myth is that right, messieurs?"

   The two huskies gulped, "Um…yes?" They responded in unison.

   "Well, since you're so certain that he's real; I think it would be appropriate if I be the one to check inside first." The Chinook had actually known where his friends had run off to. He wasn't dumb; he knew that they had wanted to know about the ghost ever since the first day. You could say that he was a tad embarrassed, to have such close friends actually believe in silly rumors.

   I'll show these two that the ghost does not exist! He thought, as he walked up to the door to Box Five, got up on his back legs, and using the windowsill for support, he peered inside the Box. It was dark as usual, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There was no figure inside, there wasn't anyone sitting in the 6 seats. Nothing was there, absolutely nothing. All that could be seen was the cobwebs on the walls and dust that had clung to window's glass frame.

   "Do you see anything, Kal?" The purple husky asked nervously.

   "Nope, nothing whatsoever," He responded confidently, "absolutely, positively, most assuredly nothing, nothing at all." He got down from the window, "Now that that is all done, can we please, please stop with this ghost nonsense? It's making me go crazy!"

   The two nodded in agreement, and the Nikki and Kaltag walked back to the office. All expect for Star, who was following his friends, but couldn't help but let his curiosity get the better of him Star hadn't exactly agreed with Kaltag's statement, and ran back to the Box hallway as soon as his friends had walked into their office for their afternoon lunch.

   Star slowly walked up to Box Five, the little voice in the back of his head telling him "Go back, you idiot!" but of course, he just had to see, he had to prove to his friends that he was right.

   I'll show Kal that I'm right! He thought, as he placed his paws on the windowsill, and peered inside the darkness covered Box. At first, he didn't see anything, and after looking for a few minutes, he still hadn't detected any kind of figure present inside the Box.

   He sighed, realizing that he had been wrong about the ghost, and he was about to hop down from the window, when his eyes went wide as he gasped when he saw a pair of large ears stick out from a head that was attached to an unidentifiable figure that had placed himself on one of the seats.

   Oh my God! It's him! Star was completely ecstatic as the figure of what he assumed was the opera ghost was listening to the rehearsal on stage.

   I have to get Kal and Ni…He was about to hop down from the window when he noticed that the figure had moved.

   "Hmm?" Star was a bit confused as he wondered why the ghost was leaving, and got his answer when a low, growling voice came from behind the door.

   LEAVE…!

   The purple husky shrieked in terror, and fell off the windowsill on his back. He immediately got up and ran as fast as his skinny legs could carry him to tell his friends.

   He alerted the two managers when he opened the door and slammed it behind him, covering it with his body, shaking like a leaf.

   "Star, where were you?" Kaltag asked, "We thought you had gotten lost."

   "I…I…I…" He stammered. Nikki ran up to the husky and took hold of his shoulders.

   "Calm down, Star. Tell what happened." Nikki assured his friend.

   "I…I…s-saw…h-h-him-m-m…." Star stuttered.

   "Who? What did you see?" Kaltag asked, who had also ran up to the husky. "Come on Star, snap out of it!"

   "I…saw…him…the opera ghost!" Star began, "H-he was…sitting on the chairs…and he told me to leave!"

   The Chinook rolled his eyes, "Oh, come now, Star, don't be so silly."

   "B-but, Kal, I did see him, I really did! I'm telling you the truth!"

   "You were probably seeing things. See, this is what I was worried about!" Kaltag exclaimed, "You two have been letting this opera ghost get into your heads. I don't understand why you two agree with all these silly rumors!"

   "But, Kal, we don't know if he's real or not," Nikki replied, "And besides, lots of dogs have said they've seen him."

   "Yeah, I mean…what if…" Star gulped, "…what if their all true?"

   "Just because someone has seen something doesn't mean they have actually seen him, and can prove that he's real!" Kaltag snapped, "I can't believe you two! You two are acting like idiots, fools, and dolts! Why can't you just agree with me on this? Don't you see this is all a joke?"

   The Chinook fell on his back, breathing heavily, "I'm sorry, guys," He sighed with fatigue, "I think this House is getting to me. We've only been here for one week, and we're already going crazy! This isn't an Opera House, it's a madhouse."

   "Yeah, well no one said that this would be a walk in the park," Nikki added, "I mean, we've never done something like this before."

   "Besides that, we don't have any training in the music business, or in the theater business, unlike those other dogs that were here for employment."

   "Maybe…maybe we should quit?" Star