"Melody, could you please come down please," a voice called to her.
The 17 year old girl turned her attention from her book to the door. "I'm coming," she called back. She got up from her bed and put the book aside and went to the main room. When she entered, she could see her father's face and that reminded her of her own. "Why did I have to come?" she asked.
"You've always asked if you could take singing courses, like everybody else," her mother said in her normal sweet voice.
"Not that I think you need any, I've already taught you everything there is to know about singing," the voice of her father interrupted "and we decided," her mother continued while giving her husband a small glare "that you could start lessons next week"
Melody could not believe her ears and her eyes grew wide with surprise. "You're serious?" she asked while looking at her parents. "I can go?" "Yes, but you'll have to hide your face," her father instructed her, not showing the enormous guilt he felt. It was his fault she had to wear a mask in the first place.
In his eyes, the young woman was absolutely perfect: her brown curls and pale complexion made her look a lot like her mother. The only thing in which people could recognize him as her father, was the same deformity she had (the only difference is that the left side of her face was deformed, while his right side was deformed). And her voice, Christine maybe sang with a voice of an angel but hers, it was unbelievable. Even when all the angels of heaven would sing, it was nothing compared to her voice. And he trained her the same way he trained Christine, but it was different with her, it was like she was born to sing.
"And I rent you a little apartment, so that you can live as free as you've always wanted," her father said to her. "But be careful, not everyone tend to accept you because of your face. Do not show it to anyone who doesn't deserve to know you to the fullest."
She was too excited about the fact that she could go that she forgot about her face, but when it struck her, she didn't seem to be too happy. "If anyone of the people out there even dare to put their hands to close to my mask, I make sure they'll regret the day they were born" Erik could not help but smile at her comment. She has inherited his temper and that fact already caused some fierce verbal fights between the two of them, but he was glad that nobody would ever have the chance to take advantage of her because of her temper.
"Please don't start fights from the very first moment, it'll get you in trouble," her mother warned her. "Don't worry mom, I'll be as polite as ever," Melody answered remembering a visit from her aunt Meg. That unfortunate day , she was in her worst mood and feigned to be polite and that turned out a fiasco. The result, she snapped and broke the half of the service (the fact that Erik's temper will never be restrained didn't do the whole situation good).
Shaking the memory away, she realized that she still had to do a lot before her departure: she needed to get packing, to learn her way around in Paris and most of all to deal with the stares she'll probably get from people. Christine seemed to notice the realization her daughter got and said: "We'll go to the apartment tomorrow and arrange a few thing" Melody could not have felt any more fantastic at than at that very moment. She could see the happiness in her parents eyes, although she still could spot some hesitation in her father's eyes. But he made it very clear to her that she could go without feeling guilty about anything.