Chapter 1

The all-encompassing sound of the Overture's first notes swelled only moments after the lights in the theater had gone down. The audience had just hushed into silence, only leaving a second of stillness before the theater became alive with music. Instantly, every one of the hundreds of people sitting in the velvet red seats facing the stage were drawn into the world of the opera already.

The young family sitting in floor seats a couple dozen rows from the front were no exception. And as the show, Don Juan Triumphant, began, the story unfolding as the minutes passed, the four became more engrossed in the world presented on the stage.

For three of them, this opera house was no stranger. The parents, Peter and Margot, were fairly significant benefactors of the Opera Populaire, and attended each new show put on there. It was no surprise that the couple, who seemingly lived for the theater, made sure that their children were immersed in it as well. The tradition started when their oldest child, Oliver, turned five years old and was taken to his first show. From then on, he attended a performance with his parents every year. The same went for their daughter, Marie Anelle, when she was of age. It was something that they looked forward to every year, counting down the days months in advance.

By the time the youngest child, Benjamin, was three years old, Oliver had already moved out of the family's home and into one of his own, just across town from where he grew up. But still, for the following two years, he attended an opera yearly with his parents and sister.

This year, however, he wasn't able to attend. He was on holiday with his new fiancee and wouldn't be returning for another two weeks. It was a shame that he missed this one, since it was Benjamin's very first time accompanying his parents to a show, having turned five a month earlier.

As the show went on, Marie Anelle was just as entranced as everyone else in the audience seemed to be. This show was dazzling, maybe even the best one yet. There was a darkness to it that was rarely seen at the Populaire. Don Juan was a romance, of sorts, but the evil that loomed over it was what really came forward.

She might have been the most excited about this show than any other before; she had heard all the gossip about the female lead, Christine Daae, for months. And now, here she was, in the flesh, only a few hundred feet in front of her, giving one of the best performances Anelle had ever seen.

Breaking out of the spell she had been put in by the music for a moment, she glanced down at the little boy sitting next to her. Her brother was dressed up for the momentous occasion of his first show at the Populaire, though his fancy clothes looked a bit comical on such a small child. Ben was squirming in his seat, clearly not used to sitting still for so long. Anelle had to give him credit; he was such an energetic, impulsive child, it was a wonder he had managed this long. She couldn't help smiling slightly at the sight of her rambunctious brother trying so hard to be grown up.

Looking over at her parents, it was no surprise to see that their attention was on nothing but the show, hypnotized by the music and plot unfolding in front of them. Their love for performances, in this opera house in particular, was something all of their children had grown up knowing as fact. Every month or so they would embark for the evening to see a new show there, always dressed up and happy. And when the children got to go with them once a year, half of the fun was seeing their parents in such high spirits.

When Anelle looked away from her brother and back to the stage, she couldn't help noticing that something seemed...off. She couldn't be sure what it was, but there was something sinister casting its mood over the stage that hadn't been there before. The most affected by it seemed to be Christine Daae herself, who was going through the current song with such a realistic fear in her face and voice, that Anelle found herself concerned for her. But of course, there was nothing that the actress was actually afraid of. It was just her unspeakable talent showing through, putting out more realism than she was used to seeing in the other actors.

As the song went on, the two leads dancing seductively around the set, entrancing each other and the audience with their bold lyrics, the sense of something wrong didn't fade. Marie Anelle tried her hardest to push it out of her mind, but she couldn't seem to. In fact, the sensation seemed to be building, every passing note letting on more and more emotions that were too real to be staged. At one point, she considered leaning over to her parents, asking if they knew if anything was wrong.

But before she could, Christine Daae ripped the hood off of the actor playing opposite to her. There wasn't time to process the horror of it all. One moment, the blinding spotlights on the stage illuminated the face of the man who had just been singing. But his face was not anything that she could have ever imagined, not even in her nightmares. One half was disfigured to a point that didn't seem possible. And the next moment, there were screams coming from all over. First from the stage, it seemed, but then from the audience as it was realized that this was not a part of the show.

The man grabbed Christine, pulling her off stage in a hurry. Just before they disappeared from sight, a shot rang out from somewhere in one of the boxes, resulting in even more screams of terror.

It was mayhem before Anelle could think her way around what to do. There were people running everywhere, and a mob formed immediately, going every which way to try and locate the man and the lost prima dona. Somewhere in the first minute of chaos, the lights in the front of the stage had been tipped over, most likely by one of the chorus members who were leaping from the stage, trying to find the closest exit. The flames that poured from them began to grow.

Anelle watched as her parents' faces absorbed the disaster in front of them. They stood up, turning out of the rows of seats and into the aisle.

"Quickly!" their father shouted to them over the roar of hundreds of voices and footsteps. He reached out his hands towards their children, but before he could make contact with either of them, both he and his wife were swept away by the crowd, lost in a sea of people as easily as a grain of sand in a wave.

Benjamin was among the screaming people now, crying out for his parents, his whole body shaking with fear and shock. Anelle grabbed his hand, looking for which direction they needed to move in to avoid being trampled by the ceaseless crowd. She scooped him into her arms before managing the escape the row of chairs, melding into the wave of people running down the aisles towards the front.

Just as they approached the exit nearest to the stage, only a few rows away by then, a loud explosion crashed nearby, and the fire from the stage lights began spreading more rapidly, cutting off the exit that they were headed towards. There was another outburst of deafening screams, and a shift in the pulse of the moving crowd.

With Ben in her arms, she didn't have time to turn around and start running quickly enough to keep up with everyone around them. She was knocked to the ground, the mob not moving around her, but over her. Without having to think about it, she threw her body over Benjamin's, doing all she could to shield him from being trampled.

There was no way to know how long she laid there, braced on the ground, not able to move. When the foot of someone running collided violently with her head, she was knocked unconscious.

(A/N: Hello! This is my first Phantom fic in a LONG time. My last one went unfinished about four years ago for personal reasons. But after reading through the old chapters, I was reminded of another plot I had in my mind at the time. Though I couldn't write it then, I've decided to give it a try now! Since this is my first time in a long time writing for this fandom, I would really appreciate reviews so I can know what everyone thinks!

The next chapter should be up fairly soon (within the next day or two, I'm guessing) so stay tuned!)