Chapter One

Erik found the reality of being a college professor significantly much less appealing than he had previously thought. What he had imagined being a rather pleasant and relaxing job turned out to be one full of positively unnecessary paperwork, excessive staff meetings, and thankless lazy students- the latter of which he particularly despised, as he was made to offer 'mandatory' extra help hours to those special students who had decided not to put in any effort into their assignments, and were now complaining about the failing grades he had very gladly given them. The only saving grace he could imagine for this dreadful job was the concert hall. The facilities of this particular university were quite impressive he had to admit, and to his delight, they were open to him whenever he felt inclined to make use of them. In the very first week of his employment at the school, he had committed every square inch of the building to memory, along with its various secret pathways he found quite on accident. One feature in particular never failed to take his breath away, even after the countless hours he had spent teaching and practicing underneath its majestic beauty- the chandelier.

He sat slightly slumped forward with his elbows bent stiffly on his desk, cradling a cold cup of old coffee between his hands as he stared glumly at the harsh light of his laptop screen. An unread email glowered back at him defiantly, almost mocking him as he remained still for a few moments before grudgingly relinquishing the mug as he finally moved to open it. With one click he had come to instantly regret his decision. Erik's jaw clenched with mild irritation as dim golden eyes scanned the sparse text included, noting the title, sender, and numerous attachments which followed.

From: Nadir Khan

To: Erik Delacroix

'URGENT - Late Application'

Erik,

Due to some internal system error, we've only just now found this application and we need you to go through it ASAP.

Acceptance list needs to be finalized tomorrow morning and we can't afford to lose a potential student this year. The interview will be waved.

Please find the application and other related files attached in this email.

Kind regards,

Nadir Khan

A harsh scowl crossed his expression as he finished reading, violently twisting both the warped and untouched features of his face, the lack of an apology for this unexpected assignment from an old friend proving to just be an added provocation. Nadir had neither been one to really understand boundaries nor understand the appropriate time for calling in favors. Sucking in a sharp breath, he prepared himself and proceeded to open the first attachment.

He was again met with another instant regret.

Erik froze in his chair the moment he saw the size of the first essay he had to read, and a faint choking sound of despair bubbled in his throat. His eyes narrowed cruelly as paragraph upon paragraph flew by before his burning glare, his resentment towards Nadir growing with each one he scanned. The room buzzed with the mounting tension of fury churning in his chest, the faint groaning sound of his own grinding teeth piercing the crackling air. He didn't even bother looking at the name highlighted in the top left corner, figuring that he would end up rejecting this applicant anyway, if only even due to his foul mood. With a silent prayer muttered to no-one, he moved straight on to the behemoth of a personal statement, noting that the university should start to put in word limits.

This was going to take a while.

'From a very young age...'

A very loud click signified he had skipped to the next page.

'...my father had always been the one encouraging me to continue practicing...'

Another click.

'...it was difficult after his death, and especially now that I was on my own it seemed to me that the music in my life had all but disappeared completely.'

His finger stilled over the trackpad, hovering briefly as he processed the few words he was reading, an odd fluttering of something in his chest stilling the rising irritation if only just for a moment, but it wasn't long before he moved on with another click which seemed more definitive than the last.

'...it is only because of my dear friends and the memory of my father that I have found the strength to once again pursue my passion...'

'...I believe that I am a perfect fit for the university because...'

They all believe that.

They're all usually wrong.

Erik sighed in resignation, allowing himself to recline back in his chair. There was truly nothing special about the application. Her (now that he had determined the applicant to be female) grades were average, she sold a regular sob story he had heard before, and her repertoire of hobbies and interests were just plain old ordinary.

He was remarkably underwhelmed.

It had been a complete and utter waste of his time, just as he thought. A sharp intake of breath whistled discordantly at his lips as he went to close out of the document, determined to write a strongly worded email to Nadir, and a scathing rejection letter to the unfortunate applicant. While clicking back onto Nadir's email, he noticed an attached video file he had neglected to see before. Erik blinked, reading the file name ( ), and before he knew it a new window had popped up on his screen as it began to load.

The camera was pointed at the ceiling until he heard some faint shuffling and the nervous whispering of two voices in the background. A minute quickly turned into an eternity of staring at a plain eggshell white ceiling, and he was beginning to almost doze off a little until he saw a flash of movement as a figure moved to stand in front of the camera and finally adjusted the frame lower. A small upright piano, a bare desk, and a very nervous looking young woman came into view. Erik blinked again, willing the haze to clear from his eyes, the sudden change coaxing him out from his lethargy. She wore a simple pale blue blouse and a mess of tight deep chestnut curls fell quite elegantly across her chest and shoulders. Her pale skin seemed to almost glow like porcelain even in the poor lighting of the room, and the pools of cerulean that swirled hypnotically in her eyes seemed to generate an inescapable gravity that almost physically pulled him closer to the screen. It wasn't until she offered a nervous smile and began to walk to the piano that he remembered the application, and that this most likely was the applicant in question. Erik's throat bobbed nervously and he blinked, shaking his head weakly to clear the strange fog that had settled over his mind, but he just couldn't quite shake the odd sensation that had buried itself in his chest the moment he saw her. It was almost as if there were hundreds of unheard melodies glimmering enticingly in her eyes, tempting him to close his own and to let her music command him, to possess him and to guide him. Erik bolted upright at the sound of the piano, not realizing that he really had started to doze off, completely absorbed in his daydream. Hastily refocusing himself on the task at hand, he watched motionlessly in a repressed silence as she began to play.

He found that her technical skill was adequate, and as she switched instruments from piano to violin, he observed that she was somewhat more proficient in the latter- but again, it was nothing exceptional. The brilliant shine of promise in her eyes faded as he listened tiredly, as did the melody that she had inspired to dance at his fingertips. After a few pieces, the fine wooden instrument came to rest gently on the piano bench and he watched carefully as she moved back to address the camera with an oddly significant amount more confidence than she had before, a certain energy now buzzing around her as she bounced over and smiled warmly before waving quickly to end the video.

It had been a mediocre performance... if he could even call it that.

He sat forward unimpressed as he went to close the window, words for an apathetic rejection letter already storming forward in his mind when he realized that the video didn't end there, seeing the continued movement on his screen. The click of a button echoed softly, and he found himself startled unexpectedly by her sudden groan and exaggerated collapse to the floor. The following squeal of excited praise from another female voice and complete disregard for the still rolling film suggested that she and her company must have thought the video to have been cut by then.

"Christine you were amazing!"

"No! Oh my god, I totally flubbed the waltz and did you even hear how scratchy my bowing was?"

Erik recalled that she had, in fact, missed a few notes in her second piece and was absolutely correct when it came to the admission of her rigid bowing technique.

"Nonsense! It was absolutely perfect."

The girl sat back up from the ground, returning to the frame of the video as she buried her face in her hands in defeat, her voice muffled as she whimpered.

"You should have sung."

The brief silence that followed her companion's words was painful even for him to witness through a screen.

"Meg, you know I never would have."

Her tone had changed suddenly, now heavy and laden with a dismissive reluctance.

"Ok then, how about you sing for me then?"

"Meg..."

"Oh come on! I'm your number one fan!"

"No."

"Pleeeeeeease?"

There was a beat of silence before 'Christine' gave a reluctant huff and forced herself to her feet. Erik waited patiently for a moment, the small amount of intrigue he had fading quickly, a faint pang of disappointment spreading through him as he thought the video to have finally ended- whatever this was had been at least somewhat entertaining to watch. Then he heard it. There was a hesitant intake of breath, and then he could have sworn he heard the very voice of an angel pouring out of the speakers of his laptop.

"Think of me."

Erik's eyes widened at the lyrics. He recognized that piece and its origin- Hannibal. It was quite a particular opera, one that he never found himself to be fond of, but on her lips, the sound of the music somehow transformed into something... something more.

It transformed into something divine.

The sound of her voice spiralled out into the far corners of the gloomy office, glowing a rich gold in the dark and curling warm around his body like blankets of silk. He let himself melt into its embrace, his eyes drifting shut as he felt his very soul being serenaded into heavenly bliss. There were only a few more seconds to the video before it cut abruptly without warning, leaving Erik cold and sitting in a numb silence, a burning emptiness in his chest, a longing for the return of the touch of something that had never even been there with him physically.

His breath rattled as he stared wordlessly at his computer screen, his hands shaking slightly as he scrolled back to the top of the application, this time reading the first line he had intentionally skipped before.

'Christine Daaé.'

It was only when he had closed his laptop afterwards that he was able to process what had just happened. He sat unblinking in his chair for a while, expression drained pale in shock as he contemplated what he should do.

She truly wasn't exceptional in any of her instruments, her writing was simple, and if that were all he had witnessed that night then he wouldn't have even given her another thought past her putting down the violin in the video. But that wasn't all he had seen. That wasn't all that he had heard. A faint rhythmic clicking rattled in the air as he curled and uncurled his fingers into his hand, knuckles cracking as he roughly pressed his nails unforgivingly into his palm, hoping that the sharp stab of pain he felt would jolt his mind into functioning properly again.

She's just a girl.

And for a moment he believed it.

Yet she sang with the voice of an angel.

With an exasperated growl, he moved swiftly to thrust open his laptop once more, the unforgiving glare of the white screen illuminating the nightmarish landscape of the right half of his face in the dark room. His hands froze over the keyboard as a nagging doubt crossed his mind, his eyes blinking shut as he took a shaky breath, silently willing himself to act.

Maybe he should give her a chance.

The call rang for a few moments before he heard a rapid shuffling on the other end and an incredibly tired voice began to croak.

"Hello?"

"Daroga."

There was a beat of silence, and the receiver's silent disbelief at his call was painfully obvious over the line.

"Erik? It's three in the morning, why are you-"

"I'm handling the mess you shamelessly dumped on me only an hour ago, so don't ask me why I've decided to interrupt your much-needed beauty sleep at this hour."

He scoffed, his voice low and laced with venomous spikes of contempt. Erik sat for a moment, drumming his fingertips on his laptop as he carefully formed his next words.

"Christine Daaé."

Nadir sighed, having no outward reaction to Erik's fiery temper (he was used to it at this point) and simply scratched the back of his head absentmindedly as he too tried to avoid stumbling over his words.

"About that… I had someone else review it, thinking you wouldn't give my message any thought, and they've already reached a decision. It wasn't anything special, so you don't need to worry ab-"

"My decision was to accept her."

The silence that ensued was again deafening. Erik felt his throat constrict and his lips crack dry as he waited, a foreign feeling fluttering nervously in his chest as he heard his associate's breath catch in unexpected shock.

"What? "

"I reviewed her application and I have decided that she would indeed be a good fit for the university."

"I heard her recording. I know your standards and she was nowhere near close to satisfactory for you."

He noted that there was a growing sound of tired irritation biting into Nadir's voice.

"Erik if you're trying something-"

"I'm not trying anything!"

He cut him off abruptly, and if he were slightly more awake than he was at the moment, he may have recognized the sound of his friend scoffing lightly at his sudden declaration.

"I have simply decided that Miss Daaé should be given a place here, and it is your best interest to agree with me on this."

Nadir took another unsettling pause, finding traces of a threat at the end of Erik's prickly words and making careful note of them.

"Alright, I'll go switch her spot."

Erik physically felt the tension loosen in his chest almost immediately at the other's calm response, his head feeling a little too light as he brought it forward in his hands on his desk, almost completely forgetting that Nadir was still on the call.

"Erik?"

The other man's voice came as a surprise to him, and he had to will himself to not jolt upright in his chair.

"Yes?"

He stammered uncharacteristically, his voice hesitant, having traded its commanding tone from before for something quieter and more appropriate for how exhausted he was.

"Take care of yourself."

With that, the call ended and Erik once again sat in silence at his desk. He still couldn't come to terms with what had just happened, nor could he admit his genuine investment in seeing this 'Christine' be admitted to the school. Her resume was far from impressive, and whoever had reviewed her application prior to him was right to reject her- and logically he should have reached the same conclusion.

But her voice.

It was another few minutes before he moved, the lid of his laptop clicking shut this time for good as his gaze fell indolently to the scattered stack of manuscripts at his right hand. In the dying light of his office, he was just barely able to make out the title on the cover page written in a burned crimson ink.

'Don Juan Triumphant.'

A faint smile played at the edges of his lips, the flicker of the beginning of an idea shooting like a star across a pair of scorched gold irises

Perhaps now that he had some inspiration from an angel, he may just be able to give life to this little dark fantasy of his after all.

Author's Note :

Thank you so much for reading the first chapter! I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! This is just the tip of the iceberg for the story I have planned, and I'll be back with the next chapter before you know it!

Feel free to leave a review to let me know what you think! Reviews are the fuel for the fiction!