Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera, it's characters, or the Paris Opera house.

A young ballet dancer tiptoed silently through the dark hallways of the Paris Opera House. She held a small candle that she used to guide her path. Her hair was gathered loosely behind her as she stepped silently through her new home. She had been living at the opera house for only three days and already she was bored, everybody around her was the same; she wanted some excitement.

Gabriella had moved to Paris after the death of her mother. Her mother was Italian and her father French; after his wife's death he decided he wished to return to his homeland and bring his daughter to study dance at the greatest Opera House in the world.

When he had brought her to the theatre he had made her promise to not get into any trouble. She was probably breaking that promise by sneaking around at night when she should be sleeping like everyone else; but she couldn't help it, her day had been so dull, doing the same dances over and over- dances that she could have performed very well at the age of eight. She was an excellent ballet dancer but she wanted to do things other then just dance; she wanted to see things.

Gabriella came to the end of the hallway to the door of a large dressing room. This room was always occupied by the leading lady of whichever opera was being performed at the time- recently it had been occupied by Carlotta; a Spanish singer who had stolen the show the previous week. Curiosity got the better of her and, after looking to see no one was around, Gabriella slipped inside the room.

The dark room was unoccupied- Carlotta had gone out that night. Gabriella searched around the room looking for anything interesting. She glanced at the huge mirror adorning the wall and stood in front of it imagining that she was the star of an opera and that she was being courted by a handsome, rich man. A dream that was all it was- for even though Gabriella had more then enough talent and drive to become famous she lacked the opportunity.

As Gabriella turned to leave she saw a sliver of light on the ground, coming from a crack in between the glass on the mirror and the frame. Ridiculing herself for not seeing something so obvious earlier, she placed the candle on the table and went to the mirror for a closer look. Carefully she slid her fingers into the opening between the mirror and frame and slid the mirror revealing a dark, dusty, frightening chamber.

Tempted to turn back, but not willing to let such an opportunity escape her, Gabriella grabbed a torch of the wall and lit it with the flame from her candle. Sliding the mirror shut behind her she began to explore. She came across several staircases and hallways but she let her instincts guide her; soon she came to a lake. Music floated on the water, a haunting music that drove her to find where it was coming from.

"Hello," she yelled. "Hello, is someone there?"

The music didn't stop. Normally Gabriella would have waved it away and continued looking around, but she needed to find the source of the music, she had to know where it was coming from.

Praying that there was nothing dangerous in the water, Gabriella slid into the lake, holding the torch above her. She was freezing, but that didn't matter, she had to find the music. Gabriella was tall and the lake was shallow, she could walk on the bottom and still have most of her torso above water, so she began to walk towards the music. After what seemed like hours of following the sound she saw light coming from candles. As she came closer she realized that she had reached the end of the lake. At the edge of the lake there was a boat and Gabriella realized that she had stumbled upon the place that someone lived. There were candles and a bed and personal items all around on the shore; and there was an organ. A man was playing intensely; the intoxicating music was even more powerful then it had been earlier. The man had his back to Gabriella and hadn't seemed to notice that she was there.

Gabriella quietly made her way to the shore and silently walked towards the organist. The man finally seemed to detect her presence; he stopped playing and turned to see her standing there, watching him. Gabriella could only see one half of his face; the other half was covered by a white mask. He appeared handsome with dark hair that was perfectly in place and he held himself in a way of a man who could do anything.

"Who are you?" Gabriella asked.

"I think that it is I who should be asking such questions, you after all are the one who has invaded my home."

"My name is Gabriella, I'm a dancer here. I was exploring when I heard your music and I had to see where it came from."

"If you are a dancer in MY theatre you would have heard of me, The Phantom of the Opera and you wouldn't have been down here," the man's voice was smooth but contained no emotion.

"I have only been here for three days, but yes I have heard the stories of the Opera Ghost. I thought them only stories."

"Far from it, now I think you'd best return to the dormitories."

"I don't know how to get back. Please, play more of the music."

The man looked at her for a moment, as if trying to decide whether or not Gabriella was worthy of hearing his music. Finally he began to play again, the music was hauntingly beautiful. Gabriella closed her eyes breathing it in; the song was filling her with a passion. She felt drawn to the music and to the one who played it. She walked silently towards him, breathing deeply.

He stopped playing and Gabriella felt empty, she needed to here the music.

"Don't stop playing," she begged.

He asked, "What would you do to hear more?"

"Anything," she said, and she truly felt it. She felt herself drawn to this man; his mystery and his talent mixed made him seem almost godlike in her mind.

"Then you shall act as my spy," he said. "Every week you shall return here and shall report to me, inform me of the people above. If you please me then I shall play my music for you and I'll reward you in other ways as well."

Gabriella nodded her head.

"Then you may go and I will play when you return."

"How do I return?"

The Phantom led her to a passageway. "Follow this, it shall bring you back to the Opera House, when you come back take the same way."

Gabriella nodded and started down the passage. Turning back towards him she asked, "What is you name?"

He stood silent for a moment. "Erik," he finally replied before closing a curtain so the passage was hidden from view.

Erik sat down and grinned. It was such a brilliant plan he wondered why he hadn't thought of it sooner. Manipulating a dancer with his music to do his will was simply wonderful. She would only believe that she was informing him with useful information, when really she would be his experiment, his toy. Telling her his name and how to get to his lair was risky, but he knew that she would never inform others of his whereabouts, after all then she might not get to hear the music again.

Chuckling he began to play.

Okay so that is Chapter 1 of my story. Please note that this is based mostly on the Movie but also on the play.

Please read and review- constructive criticism is welcome but make it CONSTRUCTIVE