A voice. Coming from nowhere at all, and yet filling the entire room. She felt as if the voice was speaking to her very soul. The haunting sound of music, and heaven itself.

"Father?" She cried aloud, "Are you there?"

"No, my dear. Come, and see."

Light. Seeming to fill her entire being, and coming from a place that she had never before noticed. A place that seemed to have just appeared in this moment, but with no actual placement. Suddenly, it was simply there. She followed the light. The voice coaxed her gently onward.

"Christine…believe in me. Follow me, and live! See beauty as you never have known!"

"I believe…angel!" She whispered, her voice seeming to not come from herself. She followed the light and the sound into the mysterious place, and felt her soul being taken over by something she had never felt before. She wasn't quite sure what force she was feeling, it was coming so suddenly, and making her blood as if to tingle.

She followed the voice, and soon realized that she was now out of her dressing room, and had been led into a dark passage. How she arrived there, she hadn't a clue. It was dark, there was a faint hum in the air, but the magic had seemed to stopped almost as suddenly as it had started. The tingling feeling she had felt previously was soon replaced with an emotion not unknown to her, fear.

She turned away from the passage, hoping to find her dressing room behind her, and instead was faced with a brick wall. More fear flooded her small body. She pounded against the wall, terrified as to how this could have happened. When she pounded, she expected to feel brick, but instead felt something strange. The material which met her fists was not brick, but rather something cold, and almost brittle feeling. She moved to strike again, but a voice pierced the air.

"Christine!"

She turned back toward the dark passageway, and in front of her stood a looming figure in black. He stood over a foot taller than her, and yet seemed to be skinner than she was. She looked up to find a face, and her eyes met with glowing yellow spheres, hidden behind a black mask that covered the man's entire visage. She cried out again, backing up against the wall. The figure did not advance on her. Instead he watched her silently, as one watches an animal in a zoo. Then, he spoke.

"Christine…I am your angel. Please, do not be frightened."

Christine froze. She tried to speak but her words did not come.

The man reached out to her after a pause. He did not step towards her, rather lengthened out his long skinny arm to touch her shoulder. His hand was gloved in black leather, yet even through the material, she felt the coldness of his skin. She shuddered beneath his touch. Suddenly, vision started fading, and she felt herself fall to the earth.

Christine awoke in a strange place. She was lying in a bed that was small, yet comfortable. She focused her eyes on the surroundings and tried to discern what had happened. There was nothing in the room save it were the bed, and a small dresser. Looking more closely, she noticed that there were no windows in the room, only a door. Christine stood and looked down at her left hand. It was bandaged, and when she pressed against the flesh, it stung quite badly. She exclaimed slightly, and no sooner than she did, the door swung open. The man was back.

"Christine…you're awake." He said cautiously. He soon noticed her tending her hand, and began to speak.

"You fainted. I caught you as best that I could, but I'm afraid your hand hit the ground rather hard. Just a slight flesh wound though, nothing to worry about."

"Where…am I?" She stuttered. She could remember bits and pieces of the previous events. And this new knowledge of this stranger…her angel?…upset her a great deal. She noticed, that it was quite a bit easier to breathe than usual. Looking down, Christine saw that she was not wearing the full gown that she had been wearing when the voice encroached upon her room. Instead, her corset, and indeed, entire dress, had been taken off, and she was wearing only a fine silk night-robe over her chemise.

"What happened to my dress?" Christine asked, more confused than angry.

The man did not reply.

"I was wearing my gown from going out to supper with Raoul. I went back into my dressing room, and then…I'm here."

The man jerked at the mention of Raoul, and then spoke. His words came out harsh at first, but slowly tapered off into coolness.

"You were going to stop breathing if you stayed in that horrible corset!… I'm sorry, Christine. I did what I felt necessary. Please do not be too upset. Now, would you like some supper?"

Christine stared. It was too much to take in that a mysterious man had dragged her from her dressing room and apparently undressed her while she was unconscious. Finally, she breathed in to speak… but felt the room going black once more.