OK, this is my first fan fiction and I had the idea floating around in my head for quite sometime so I hope you enjoy!

Summary: Reinette's uncle forces her out of his house and into the Opera house. He says she must learn to behave so that he can find a husband who will marry her. Reinette argues with him one night and he leaves her unconscious on the street floor where anyone could find her…

It was beautiful. That was the only conclusion Reinette could come to about the new grand opera house. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and she realised how lucky she was to be able to visit it. In the entrance hall she kept close to the shadows, behind the two adults in front of her but she could not help letting her jaw drop in astonishment.

"Close your mouth, child," snapped her uncle from in front of her. He had a young face but grey hair and his eyes were dark and cold.

Reinette shut her mouth instantly and seeked comfort in the shadows cast from the long pillars lining the glorious room.

"What time did the manager say he was going to be here?" asked the woman beside her uncle, dark brown hair cascaded in a straight curtain from her head and she was slightly too skinny. Her face was also very pinched and often looked disgusted.

"Four, he's late. When I'm partner in the management of this opera house I'll have to have a word with him about his lack of organisation," the man said in a hushed tone to his wife.

Reinette rolled her eyes and glanced at the clock positioned high on the left hand sidewall, she saw that it was only two minutes past four and yet her aunty and uncle were complaining like the manager was an hour late. She found herself quite pleased that they were bickering in English and not French because then anyone eavesdropping would not be able to understand a word they were saying. Reinette looked up as she heard footsteps hurrying towards them and she smiled as a tall man with blonde scruffy hair came walking swiftly down the large staircase in front of them.

"Monsieur Tordu!" he said with a tone of delight, throwing his arms out in welcome. The two men shook hands and the man introduced himself as the manager they'd be waiting for, Monsieur Havens. Next Monsieur Havens turned to Reinette's aunt with a beaming smile playing across his face as he bowed and took her hand to his lips. "Madam Tordu," he said and then he waited to be introduced to the girl behind the adults. She was dressed in too finer clothing to be a maid yet he had not received any information that his new partner had any children. Monsieur Tordu did not introduce her.

"Shall we go to your office too discuss the arrangements then?" he said briskly, tapping his walking stick once on the floor. He did not need the walking stick but it added a certain sense of power and confidence to his image.

"Yes-Yes-Why of course," Monsieur Havens stammered. He was torn in between rudely bowing to the girl without having been given an introduction or rudely ignoring her presence like she wasn't there. He caught her eye for a second and a reassuring smile turned the corners of her lips. He took this as a signal to lead the family to his office.

&&&&

"I do not believe it!" Monsieur Tordu yelled as he slammed his hands down upon the large wooden table. Reinette sighed between her teeth as his violent action had made her tea spill over onto the table. They were back at their large home in Paris and Reinette was not particularly enjoying herself. "They think me a fool!" he bellowed and then he glanced at the tea on the table next to Reinette's cup, "Oh and stop making a mess child," he said coldly before turning back to his wife to complain again.

Child, that was all they ever referred to her as, not Reinette and she would think them very ill if they ever called her Mademoiselle Tyler.

"I'm cleaning it up," she said quietly as she left her place at the table and went to find a dishcloth. Even when she left the dining room, her aunt and uncle's voices followed her.

"I mean, a ghost, really! A ghost who demands money! What would a ghost want with money? Joan, they also want the Opera to reserve a box for this ghost person. A whole box! Do you how much money people will pay for a box? Lots, lots and lots." he was very angry and his dark eyes blazed like coals in a fire.

Reinette came back and wiped up the mess before secretly slinging the cloth under the table and sitting down to finish the rest of her meal. Reinette really didn't want the rest of it but she knew she would be shouted at if she did not finish it. Reinette longed for her room upstairs where an unfinished letter to her parents lay on the dressing room table.

"I'm sure it's just a welcome joke darling," Joan said from the other end of the table, she smiled sympathetically at her husband.

"Well it's very rude and not in the slightest bit funny! A ghost? What nonsense!"

"Actually," Reinette said, forgetting she was not meant to speak unless spoken too, "There was a ghost in the old Opera Populaire, before it burnt down in that horrible fire. Maybe those were his old demands and they still stick to them just in case he is still there. Some say that he caused the fire you see and therefore they don't want it to happen again," she looked up at her uncle and saw his was glowering at her.

"How many times? Do not speak unless you are spoken to child, you should show your aunt and me a little more respect!" he spat and Reinette looked down at her food, not showing him how her blue eyes sparked with anger and hurt. "As for this ghost, who told you that nonsense? I told you, whilst you live under my roof you will not socialise with my acquaintances. You are nothing, I'm looking after you from the goodness of my heart and yet you are not grateful at all." He heaved a long sigh and rubbed his temples, "Your parents are caught up in a nasty business at the moment and I am looking after you in my house in France. Other children would leap at the chance but not you," he spat and Reinette flinched.

"I am grateful, monsieur," she said to her uncle risking a glance at him. Anger still boiled at the moment of her stomach though. He only looked after her because her parents had begged that he would. Her uncle had refused until her father had named a big enough price. Her family had been threatened and her parents would have paid anything for nothing to happen to her.

"Well I'm not satisfied, that's why tomorrow, you shall be going to live in the Opera house. Your father once told me you could do ballet. Now will be your chance to do something useful in the days to come."

"But," Reinette stammered, she hadn't done any ballet in about four years, yes she had loved it when she was little but she wasn't sure she'd be up to the Opera Populaire's standards, "I can't-"

"Yes you can," her uncle yelled and her got up from his seat and marched over to her. Reinette tried not to look at him as he towered over her.

"Monsieur, I have not done ballet in many-"

He slapped her, hard across the face, so hard she fell to the floor and her face stung where he'd hit her. Reinette clasped a hand to it and her eyes seemed to be filling up with tears on their own accord.

"Pack your things tonight, you are leaving tomorrow," he lowered himself to the height she was kneeling on the floor and whispered dangerously, "Are we understood?"

&&&&

It was still dark when Reinette arrived on the doorstep of the large Opera Populaire, she knocked and patiently waited whilst hoping beyond hope that somebody was still up. Rain fell from the dark blue sky and she knew what a mess she must look; her uncle had made her walk. Reinette didn't want to knock again so she sat down outside the door, the porch protecting her from the rain. A sudden sense of being so very alone fell onto her and she lifted her hand to graze her bruised cheek. She missed her father and her step-mother very much and wished she had not had to come to France at all, nothing except maybe the Opera house she was sitting outside of had struck her as wonderful about the place. Silent tears ran down her face as her hands shook from the November cold.

&&&&

A man passed through the entrance hall silently, a long black cloak billowed out behind him and a pale white mask hid the right side of his face. He flinched as he heard a patient knock come from the door and he raised a dark eyebrow.

'Who on earth was calling at the Opera House at this time in the morning?' he thought to himself as he turned to face the door. He knew nobody else would be up at this time and wouldn't be for a few hours yet to come. His hearing was very good and he heard the person on the other side of the door slide down to the bottom of it. Erik turned away from the door, he wasn't going to let the person in that wasn't him and he didn't know who it was but as he turned away he saw Madame Giry at the top of the stairs in her usual long black dress. She did not seem him shrink into the shadows but he could see she had a worried expression across her face as she reached the door.

"I told him not to send her at this time, she'll catch a cold in this weather," she whispered angrily to herself as she quickly unlocked the front door.

Erik shrank further back into the shadows realising that his curiousity was getting the better of him with a small nod.

Hope you liked :D

I should get the next chapter up soon and they'll be more Erik don't worry.
Please review and CC is welcome :D

See you !