Disclaimer: I do not own any of this but maybe the character, Adrianna and the really cool statue in this chapter! All things related to The Phantom of the Opera belong to Gaston Leroux and/or Andrew Lloyd Webber. Go split the credit amongst them.

The Nightingale

Chapter 1: It Is I

"I don't know if I still want to go through with this, Miss Giry." Meg Giry could sense the nervousness in her soft voice. "I confess I never really thought of getting a professional career and performing for an audience other than my friends and family. Sometimes it is hard enough for me to sing for them too."

Meg gave her a gently smile and took the young girl's hands in her own. "But your voice…is that of an angel. I have never heard anyone with such talent before, you could even surpass that of our recent Christine Daae!" she exclaimed. "And you told me, you've visited the Opera House before? When?"

"Uhm…w-when I was about four, eighteen years ago, my father took me to Paris and we saw Faust. I used to sing the songs from Faust after that trip all the time. I fell in love with the building, the music, the singing…it was all so dazzling." She laughed quietly. "And now, here I am, heading back to actually perform on that same stage."

Meg nodded and left them to silence for the rest of the carriage ride. She observed the girl, Adrianna Hale. She was obviously still tense and uncertain about all of this. It was astounding, though. Meg Giry had been invited to a friend's wedding and she was introduced to Adrianna. She was very surprised when everyone started to urge the girl to sing a song for the newly weds. She hesitated, turned red but gave in. The power of her voice struck her full of awe. She sang as if singing were the most natural thing in the world with a sweetness and pureness she had never heard from one of the Opera House singers and prima donnas before.

She was ringing her hands together and constantly brushing strays locks of her raven hair from her glowing amber eyes. She was a very thin and fragile looking thing with pale skin and blushing pink cheeks.

"So, Miss Meg, what do you do at the Paris Opera House?" Adrianna asked, breaking the silence.

"I am in ballet. My mother is head of the ballet department there. I sent her a letter about you and she is the one who told the owners of the Opera about you. You shall sing for them there once we arrive." she informed Adrianna. Adrianna shifted uncomfortably and stared out the tiny window.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Yes, of course." Meg said, looking up at the girl's distant expression.

"I want to ask you about the Opera Ghost…is he still there?"

Adrianna saw the surprise in Meg's face and looked away. "There has been no sign of the Opera Ghost for at least two years, Adrianna, since Christine Daae has left…" She turned to Adrianna who looked almost sad. But at the mention of Christine, she looked lost. "He was, well, in love with a rising prima donna two years ago. Because of his affection for her, there was a lot of trouble for the Opera House. But after she left…we haven't received any of his notes or anything at all. Very curious, wouldn't you say?"

Meg seemed surprised at Adrianna's far-off gaze, staring at her hands in her lap as if she had never seen them before. "Does anyone know his name?" This was a very curious question to ask about the Opera Ghost.

"No, no one, I think. No one is even sure if he is man or ghost."

"I see…"

The rest of the trip was in peace and small-talk. Meg led her inside the Opera House and Adrianna stuck close but gazing at everything around her. There was a light in the girl's eyes that made Meg smile. "Come," she said, taking Adrianna from her gazing. "You can change in my dressing rooms into a fine dress. We will meet the owners Monsieur Andre' and Firmin in an hour. I shall take you on a tour too. Recognize anything here?"

Adrianna looked around and caught sight of the grand staircase. The statue of a young woman called Marcello's Pythia laid just beneath the grand staircase caught her eye. She had seen it before, remembering the expression of the young woman's face, surprise but happy at some invisible person coming up to her, her hand put up in shock. She smiled at it and back at Meg who nodded, knowing.

They continued to walk up the stairs and at the top of them, against the right, half hidden in darkness was another statue, but of a tall man. It looked alive, like it was following their every move. She took a step toward it, attracted by the small light that illuminated the part of the man's white complexion, his dark eyes gazing soothingly at her. The trace of dark hair that fell over his eye attracted her to want to move it… "Adrianna, we must be quick. You need to change."

She quickly turned from her hypnotic state and followed Meg who was already half-way down another hall. "Careful, you could get lost around here easily. We wouldn't want you to be swallowed by shadows."

Meg led her into her dressing room and laid out a simple but elegant dress for her. "It never hurts to try to impress the managers, eh? I'm just going to look for my mother and inform the managers of your arrival, okay?" She left swiftly and closed the door behind her for Adrianna to lock.

She stared at the dress laid across the chair and scooped it into her arms. She quickly dressed and once she thought she was presentable, left the dressing room to find Meg. She said that at this hour, everyone was rehearsing on stage, preparing for a new show called "Renaldo" and trying to assign parts.

Adrianna peeked outside the dressing room and saw the endless halls at her sides. She remembered her way because they had passed the entrance to the theatre that led to the stage. She remembered seeing the entrance if she passed by the grand staircase again.

The staircase entrance was empty just as she had met it too. All the states stared at her as she walked across. She went to look at the man statue she had seen before. She was surprised to find it gone from the dark corner. The statue's eyes gazed at her from the opposite side watching her where she expected him…or at least a statue to be.

She walked down the stairs and found another statue. She did not remember it, maybe it was new? It was strange among everything in the Opera house. It was not soft and angelic but dark and gothic. A man on his knees, you could not see his face as he clutched it in his hands, dark wings sprouted from his backside and he was covered in shreds and rags for clothes.

…the eyes watched her as she approached the dark, black marble statue. He was entranced, which was rare for him, as he watched her walk towards it. They both seemed to be hypnotized.

She looked around her to see if she was alone and relieved that she was, but wasn't really. The man in the shadows struggled to keep her in his sight. His breath took a sharp intake as he watched her arms stretch out in front of her to the dark frozen figure. Her hand trembled to the statue's covered face. He almost pictured the statue looking up and enjoying the gentle caress of her hand. She held his head in her hands and gazed at the mortified figure with such an adoring look, the shadowed man had a hard time trying not to feel the heated jealousy growing in his chest.

There she was, this mysterious girl standing in front of the statue, her hand caressing his stoned face. Comforting the pain sealed inside the statue for all of eternity. Her gaze soft and eyes distant.

"Beautiful." he whispered with such softness, anyone could have mistaken it for a breeze through the cracks.

His eyes widened as she softly almost whispered, but to his trained ears, was sang and easily heard, to the immobilized figure.

"And who will come to you and sing in the dead of night…

Take you away and love you but I?

Who will you turn to…to forget life?

And keep you in warm arms in the dead of night…"

That voice…Erik's heart was beating rapidly. Never had he heard such a voice. He never imagined such purity and natural melody and sound to be confined in such a person on earth. It was a gift only thought to belong to angels…

The hidden man, Erik, stepped out, trying to stay within the comfort of the dark and placed a gloved hand on the rail. He did not know this song or whether she had just made it up…but he was compelled to sing along in some unknown enchantment.

"It is I…I to come and take you away…

Take you away from these endless days

Carry you on swift wings of mine

And keep you in warms arms in the dead of night…"

She seemed not to notice it consciously. But she acknowledged it and sang back…she was singing to him…

"It is I! It is I!"

He found a strange desire to move closer. He sang back, his rich voice invisibly enveloping her… "It is I! On my wings! IT IS I!"

It is I…