This was my first idea for a fan fiction, I started it, then quit because of school, then got into writing the Phan guide. Please give me constructive criticism and help me become a better writer... please be honest, not mean. Enjoy! I do not own any ideas for Phantom of the Opera, I just want to put it in a modern New York City enviornment.

Prologue

It was almost a year since Erik let Christine go, and something odd happened. Erik was playing his organ, preparing for a new opera he has been living off of ever since that fateful day he let Christine go. He had a boat ticket to New York City, for he needed to get away, and soon.

A babies cry came from outside the lake with the yelling of a familiar voice.

"Erik, it's me please let me in," Madame Giry yelled as loud as she could. Erik pulled the lever to let her in, wanting to know what was crying so loudly.

"Christine gave me a child, claiming it was yours, and she wanted me to give him to you. I don't know how this happened, but you need to take care of him," and as Madame Giry explained, Erik looked at the tiny son that apparently belonged to him. He had a flawless face like his mother and striking black hair and green eyes like Erik.

'How did this happen? I don't remember... oh wait. The night before her wedding, and I brought her down we..."

Erik's face turned paler than usual, and Madame Giry seemed to notice.

"Why don't we send him to an orphanage, I see that you aren't ready for this."

"No! He is the only thing that will help me cope through this depression I have,"Erik held the small child with so much care and compassion. He looked at the baby and smiled, ' I have created a beautiful living thing.'

"Madame, I need you to get me enough baby clothes that will last for about two months, and another boat ticket to New York. I intend to keep little Alexander with me until the day I die."

When the boat landed in New York, it was June of 1882, and times were hard for Erik and little Alexander. Erik got a job at Coney Island by doing magic tricks in the side show to help him and Alexander live off the streets. Alexander developed a beautiful voice like Erik's over the years. Then twenty years later Alexander had married a young artistic girl, whom Erik approved of, and had a young boy himself, who happened to carry the gene of a disfigured face and beautiful voice. Erik loved his son and his grandson, Gustave, and kept his promise he made to Madame Giry. Finally in 1914 , Erik died, and there was much mourning from Alexander and young Gustave .

The family gene moved on from son to son and the married men would only have one child with their wifes. These descendants of Erik always stayed close to the arts and were known as an artistic family group. By 1993 another disfigured child was born and neglected by his mother. The father died a month before the birth and the mother hated how he looked so much like his father. When the child turned 10, he ran away to New York City never to be seen again.

Or so people thought.

Claire was a nervous wreck. She couldn't sleep and tomorrow was going to be the most important day of her 14 year old life. She hesitated to look at the clock, knowing that the time would go slower than normal. It was 2:07, too early to get up, but too late to fall asleep.

"What if I fail," Claire whispered to her wall. But the voice beyond the wall wasn't answering instantly like it usually did, for the wall answered these questions quickly when Claire asked. Claire was waiting for the walls answer, and while waiting, wanting to know who was always talking to her through the thin apartment wall. It didn't sound like Gibby, the annoying 11 year old brat that lived next door that she babysat for minimum wage, but a boy older than her, but not much older.

She looked at the clock again, "Damn, its still 2." She stared at the ceiling and started to count to one million (that was one of the only things that relaxed her; that and hearing the heavenly voice of the hidden man.) Slowly she drifted to a hypnotizing sleep only hearing in her dreams, "You won't fail love, now sleep. You will need the energy for tomorrow."

Claire was auditioning for a famous school, PA, for visual art so that she could paint and draw for and with the man behind the wall. He loved her art and gave it honest critiques so it could be perfected. She hoped to meet him soon and was always drawing pictures of what she thought he looked like. Every time she finished a sketch of a charming man she showed it to the wall and it always told her that it was a good sketch but would never tell her or show her what he really looked like. Every time he said that Claire got a disappointed look on her face, her blue eyes looked down and teared up.

Because he had never been seen by her, Claire thinks of him as her artistic angel. She only hears him when she is in her room(which was also her art studio) and sometimes his advise from her room carries over to her school class, and helped her earn the title of the best artist in the advanced class, a huge accomplishment for her.

She learned about PA from her artistic angel, who helped her convince her mom to audition for the visual arts department, fill out her application, and clean up her portfolio so it could be presentable for the teachers who would be judging her. She was exited about this moment, but almost felt like backing away from it.

It wasn't too long ago, about when Claire was 10 years old, her father died from cancer. He was an art dealer, a painter in New York, and Claire's best friend. He was Claire's biggest fan on her art and always offered to put it in his collection to sell, "It would be one of the most important pieces in the collection darling." Of course nobody ever cared about a seven year olds art, so it never sold. She was so close to him that his death impacted her in the most effective way.

The day of her fathers death Claire swore that she would never create a piece of art again. Yet she never got rid of her supplies; she only hid them, knowing that when she looked at the brushes and paint she would start to remember her kind father.

On her first day of sixth grade, she stepped into a school art room for the first time in two years. There was a mix up in her schedule, and the paper claimed that she was to take art classes. Her mom told her she would get it fixed before school started. Sadly, her mother never got a response from the request of the schedule change, and Claire was forced to go to the art class. The smell of paint mixed with the smell of fresh paper, wood, and glue, wafted through her nose, bringing back memories of her fathers art studio. The teacher asked if there were any students that had parents who worked in an art industry. Claire slowly raised her had, only to regret it later when the teacher asked her about it. Her throat started to swell, along with her eyes, and as she opened her mouth the counselor came in, asking to see her. Apparently her mom called, explaining the situation of her late father, and had everything sorted out. The counselor took her back to her office, giving her a tissue and her new schedule.

It was a sorrowful experience for her, and when she got home fell to her bed sobbing, calling the father that she would never be able to see again. That was also the day that she started to hear her artistic angel. His voice boomed in her ear and at first she ran out of her room, screaming for her mother asking her if she had heard the same bellowing voice. When her mother replied that the only sound that she heard was the rambunctious streets of New York. When her mother left the room, the captivating voice told her that he was there to help her develop her love for art again. He convinced her to start again to create art and if she got good enough that she could honer her father and become a famous artist.

"It would please your father to know that his little girl was doing well in her life"

Claire thought over his words, thinking he was correct. Her father wouldn't want her to dwell on the past and lose her passion for creating art. She should draw and paint in his name and his memory, so he would not be disappointed with her. She would live her life again. And with that realization coming to her, she accepted her new angels offer to have him teach her the wonders that she has forgotten over the last two years.

Little did she know that her heavenly angel had a dark secret that he could only hold until she was finally his.

Instead of using Coney Island or the theaters on broadway, I thought that I could use the performing and visual arts school in New York City, better known as the Fame school. I didn't make this a crossover because I don't know enough about Fame to do so. Plus, I wanted to write up an OC for the main female, and a kind of modern Erik style guy. I also wanted to keep the age difference between them, but a very slight age difference.

PLEASE REVIEW!

P.S. What you readers might not know is that I auditioned for an arts magnet high school and know exactly know hat is happening to Claire during her audition. I got in(yay!) and so I am basing this all on my experience at school and my imagination of what I would like to happen if phantom took place at my school.

OK... so I worked on it all day and I hope you like it, please review and tell me if there is anything you would like to see in future chapters. Thank You!