Prologue: The Legend
The legend of the Phantom of the Opera is well-known all over. It was he who showed up one Masquerade, threatening the new owners of the Opera Populaire. It was he who caused the giant chandelier to fall, igniting a flame that would engulf the whole opera house. It was he who haunted Christine Daae, one of my dearest friends. It was also he who changed my life.
He wasn't a legend. The Phantom was merely fantastic at trickery.
My family was stricken by poverty. Their solution was to speak one of their oldest friends, Madame Giry, and ask her to take me in as a ballerina.
This is how I ended up in the Opera House. I had been chosen to room with Madame Giry's daughter, Meg, and her long-time friend Christine Daae. Christine's father was a famous Swedish violinist. He died many years back and since then she'd been living in the ballet dormitories.
Meg and Christine soon became my great friends. We'd go almost everywhere together, though Christine, at times, disappeared to take her "voice lessons." I found it quite odd, considering she denied knowing the man or even what he looks like. But every time she'd come back, she'd sing a bit of a song and her voice became lovelier every lesson.
I was contently living in the large opera house. Unfortunately for me, I hadn't known about the upcoming events that were about to take place.
A/N: The whole Phantom of the Opera play/movie that this was based off of was not my idea. Only the narrator/main character was created by me.