"Erik," she whispered into the darkness. Never in her life had she felt true fear. Oh, she thought she had; she had been faced with spiders, stories whispered by the other chorus girls, their only purpose to scare one more than they could imagine. That, though, was completely incomparable to the fear she felt at this moment. "Erik," she called out again, a fraction louder. She stood, her eyes closed even though it made absolutely no difference. She fidgeted with her dancer's outfit unconsciously, wishing both that he would show himself, and also that he wouldn't, and she could just turn around and forget the whole thing. She knew she couldn't do that though, she would be waiting there until he came out.
After another moment of pure silence, she took a tentative step forward. With her next step, her foot plunged into water deep enough she couldn't feel the bottom. She let out a cry of shock and pain as her leg went down, and she lost her balance. Her arms flailing, she reached out for anything to hold onto, anything at all, and her hand found unexpected coolness in much larger ones. She screamed as loud as she could while keeping her mouth shut, praying that it was him, and not, well, someone else.
As she was pulled up and back fully onto land, her hands were released, and she stood there in complete silence, to dreadfully afraid to do anything. Her chest heaved with every breath she took, her mind on the verge of panic. Suddenly, she heard what she had come here for. That, that voice. That musical sound she had heard only a few times before, that voice that almost made her cry with its rich beauty. So enraptured as she was, she was completely oblivious as to what he was saying.
"You could have killed yourself coming down here alone!" he hissed at her, "Have you any idea the amount of danger you so foolishly placed yourself in?" She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then shook her head in answer to him. She proceeded to then burst into tears, realizing her almost fatal error.
"Hush!" Erik cried, embarrassed and ashamed for making a seventeen year old cry. She stepped towards him, leaning her head on his chest while sobbing, just wanting to be closer to his voice, wanting him to speak more. He awkwardly patted her on the back, and slowly began to stroke her smooth golden hair. "Hush Meg, hush," he repeated, "Your safe now."