NOTE: I OWN NOTHING!!! -cries in corner- Well, actually, I own one character and I'll claim this one. Aimée's all mine! Anyways, to more important things...This is a mix of 2004 movie and the Leroux book. I like the combination. Aimée and Christine are the same age (I don't know if that's really relevant here or if I'll state it later...hmm) and that might be all you need to know....so enjoy! As always it would be much apperciated if you R&R!! I'll take any kind of critisism as long as it isn't flaming!! I don't like flaming...at least the nasty stuff...

AND SPECIAL THANKS TO ZNDR.71!!!!!!! He helped me with many thing and without him there would sadly still be no title...THANK YOU!!!

Now onto the story!! Read and Review si vous plait!!!


Chapter 1: The Meeting

Aimée ran down the streets of Paris trying to get away from the angry mob on her heels. Looked around a bit, she saw that she was almost to the Opera Populaire. She started to sprint towards it in hopes of finding a hiding place. Her lungs burned and a spot in her side screamed in protest but she continued toward it. As she got closer, Aimée noticed a pair of orange glowing eyes. At first Aimée thought they belonged to a cat and continued running but as she got closer she realized that they were to tall for a cat and came to a halt. She shook her head to get rid of the image but they were still there when she reopened her eyes and as the torch bearers got nearer, realized it was a man's eyes. They belong to a man!

Aimée gasped at the approaching torch light and was reminded of the reason she was there at the middle of the night and ran up to the figure. "Please, monsieur, help me! They're after me for no good reason!" She pleaded and when he didn't respond she hoped fervently that the man understood English and not just French. Aimée stood waiting anxiously for a reply when the torch bearers came upon the scene. She whirled around and was immediately struck with the urge to run. Instead, she began to slowly move behind the strange man so that he could delay them if she decided to run.

"Monsieur," one of the men in front said who seemed to be the leader of the group, "that child must be handed over to us immediately!"

A few moments of silence went by before the man spoke. "And why is that?" the voice was calm, sinister to Aimée and she noticed a few people look at each other nervously.

The leader was a little shaken up by the sound of that voice. "Because, monsieur, she is a witch's daughter and she bears the mark of the demon. One green eye, one blue." He seemed to think this was a simple enough explanation but the man with glowing eyes did not.

The sinister voice returned, "That is no reason to chase a child. Now leave her before I am forced to kill you all!"

The crowd began to murmur and many started to leave but the man in front refused to give up. "But, monsieur, we-"

"Did you not hear me you booby! I said leave before I kill you! Do you not possess the knowledge to figure it out?!" The leader swallowed visibly and without another word turned and sprinted off to catch the rest of the group with the few remaining quick to follow.

Aimée was overjoyed at the thought of not being pursued any longer and turned to the man with the glowing eyes who seemed to be laughing quietly to himself. She jumped up and down a few times then exclaimed, "Oh! Merci, Monsieur, Merci! I owe you my life! Merci!" The man turned and looked at her, he seemed to be studying her very intently and after a few moments he turned and began to make his way to the Opera House.

Aimée immediately ran after him. "Monsieur! Monsieur! Please, may I come with you? I have no where to go and no one will take me in or leave me alone for very long because of my eyes. And I'm afraid that if I stay out here for very long that mob will find me!" She got it all out in a rush so that the man wouldn't have a chance to cut her off before she was done. The man had cringed at the mention of her eyes but was silent now. Finally he nodded (Aimée was able to tell by the movement from the glowing eyes). "Fine. But you will have to be blind folded and may not leave once you have entered my domain. Do you still wish to come?"

Aimée thought the question sounded like a trick but thought the place couldn't be any worse than some she had been in and could always find a way out. So she immediately accepted and they made their way towards the entrance of the man's domain.

***

Aimée sat looking around at the man's apartments. There wasn't much but it seemed to suit this man's life style. She sighed, easily becoming bored and started to look at things on tables.

Aimée had of course been blinded folded for her journey here but had vaguely been aware of riding in a boat (which had been proven true once they reached their destination, and her eyes had been uncovered). Once they had arrived, the man said that she must stay here, never leave the apartments, and do not roam around or touch anything without permission. Which led to her current position of sitting there bored. She looked over at the man and was stuck with a bout of curiosity.

"What's your name?"

The man took a minute to answer. "Erik." Aimée nodded, not expecting a last name because she didn't know about them. Erik went back to doing whatever it was he was doing and turned around. She saw his face for the first time since arriving, being the curious child that she was, she had been distracted by her new surroundings and forgot all about the glowing eyes and mysterious face. Now, when Aimée's eyes fell upon his face, she saw a strange half mask on his face. She tried to figure out what it could be for but couldn't .

"Why are you wearing a mask, monsieur? Did you come back from a ball?" Aimée's curiosity was overwhelming, and the thought of staying with a man who was able to go to things like balls was exciting!

Erik stopped what he was doing and straightened up. He began to clench and unclench his hands, obviously struggling to control his temper. "Do not ask that question again. Ever. Or else I will have to dispose of you."

Aimée scooted back farther on her chair and looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry, monsieur! I won't do it again." She fought the urge to run and hide and continued to sit there and say nothing. When she heard Erik start to busy himself again, she began to look around again but it was no fun with the tension in the air from her previous question. Aimée looked over at Erik, who had his back turned to her, and watched him for a moment. "Do you want to know what my name is? I asked yours but you never asked for mine." Aimée could her Erik sigh audibly and he straightened up but didn't turn around to look at her.

"What's your name?"

Aimée smiled and bounced a little bit at the attention. "It's Aimée! Maman chose it for me." Erik nodded and returned to his work…again. Aimée returned to looking now that it wasn't so awkward in the room anymore and began to hum a little tune.

Aimée was so busy looking around that she didn't notice when Erik stopped working and listened to her hum, mentally critiquing what was wrong and how he could fix it. But after she repeated herself a couple of times he returned to his work and simply listened to the child's voice. Until finally Aimée stopped and Erik turned to see her lying asleep on the bench she had been sitting on. Erik looked at her not sure if he should move the child or not.

Finally he got up and picked up the child. He carried her into his Louis-Phillip room and lay her down on the couch, retrieved a blanket and covered her up. He looked down at her for a moment considering her circumstances. He could put her to good use around his lair. And allow her to do the chores that he never did because it took up too much of his precious time. Erik nodded. That's what she'd do. With that thought, he turned and exited the room to continue his work.