"Help me say goodbye,"

Christine wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks. She stood in front of the mausoleum, hugging her blue cloak closer against the bitter cold.

"Father, I need you" She said, "I feel as though I'm stumbling through the dark. So much has happened since you left me. I don't even know what to feel anymore. I love Raoul, but do I love Raoul the Vicomte or the boy who went in the sea to fetch my scarf?"

Christine smiled sadly remembering that day. Her father gave her that red scarf for her eighth birthday. One day she was twirling and dancing outside their little house when a gust of wind blew little Christine's scarf off her shoulders and towards the sea. She cried and cried watching it glide into the water.

"Don't worry! I'll get it back for you!" She heard the boy's voice and saw Raoul sprint toward the beach and into the sea. His clothes stuck to his small frame and he was soaked to the skin in sea water. Huffing and puffing he held out the dripping wet red scarf.

They were such good friends during that summer. But that was so many years ago, Raoul wasn't a man, but he still was no longer that little boy she met by the sea. He was polite and cared for her. But was this truly love she felt for Raoul, even when he proposed to her she had yet to wear the engagement ring on her finger.

"And what of my angel, father?" Christine asked, "You promised you would send me the Angel of Music. But it seems that you've sent me a ghost."

Her Angel-no, the Phantom-wasn't a heavenly being. But while he was flesh and blood, his voice was that of angels descending. His voice was graced with such beauty, but his face. It was unnatural and so twisted.

But it was his rage that scared her. His face was not what drove her from him, but to feel the anger of the one who cared for her and was there when no one else was. Despite this though she couldn't shun him for that very reason. When she first came to Paris after her father died, her angel was there for her when she was sad, scared, lonely.

And unlike Raoul, the Phantom was no boy. He was a man, it was felt in his mannerisms, the air of power and control around him.

He scared her, but Christine felt at the same time drawn to him. And this confused her even more. Why didn't she feel the same way for Raoul?

Her thoughts of confusion were clouded over as Christine suddenly could hear something. It sounded like music. She looked around, trying to trace the sound. It was music, it sounded just like a violin.

"Father?" Christine asked dumbfounded, "Papa? Is that you?"

She must be hallucinating, it couldn't possibly be her father. But still Christine was wide awake and was sure she could hear a violin.

"Wandering child, so lost so helpless

Yearning for my guidance,"

A voice sang. Christine's heart raced. A familiar twinge of fear and uncertainty overcoming her.

"Angel or father?

Friend or Phantom?

Who is it there staring?"

She questioned, looking around. But the voice was everywhere around her.

"Have you forgotten your angel?"

Christine looked up to the mausoleum, there she could see a black shape come into view. And there he was, her angel had followed her. Overtop the mausoleum the Phantom was perched above, he wore the same familiar suit and cloak Christine remembered from the first night she saw him. He also wore a wide brimmed hat with black feathers. As she looked up at him, Christine felt no urge to run. The fear she felt moments ago melted away.

"Angel oh speak!

What endless longings,

Echo in this whisper"

Erik had been watching her since the masquerade. The months he'd spent in solitude, without his pupil was agony. But it had to be done, 'Don Juan Triumphant' was now complete and his opera was to be performed in the biggest venue of Paris. But while the masked maesro took pride in this, what mattered most to him was Christine. It hurt hearing the fear in her voice when she referred to him, the feeling of betrayal burned inside him as he watched her on the rooftop with that boy. And when they kissed, Erik's heart broke at the sight.

But despite how angry he had been, a sense of wanting to care for her overcame him. The poor girl looked so distraught, his heart ached hearing Christine's sad melody. He wanted to comfort her, as he had done so for years.

"Too long you've wandered in winter,

Far from my far reaching gaze"

Erik had ceased throwing his voice and no longer tried to conceal himself.

"Wildly my mind beats against you,"

Christine turned away, she was still so conflicted. The Phantom scared her, but her Angel of Music made her feel safe. If the two were one and the same, why did she such twisted emotion.

"You resist, let your soul obey/But my soul obeys"

A feeling of trust overcame that fear. She trusted her angel. For years he looked out for her, kept her safe, and made her voice soar asking for nothing more in return.

"Angel of Music!"

They sang their strange duet as Erik continued the haunting notes on his violin. All thoughts of doubt Christine had seem to melt away as she heard the music, heard his voice. Christine spun back around toward the mausoleum.

"I denied you/you denied me,

Turning from true beauty

Angel of Music,

My protector/Do not shun me,

Come to me strange angel/Come to your strange angel"

Erik set down the violin, outstretching his hand.

"I am your Angel of Music,"

Erik sang, beckoning Christine to him. It was working, it was as if she had no control. The young soprano reached out her arms as she walked up the mausoleum steps.

"Come to me Angel of Music,"

Erik called, he watched her trance-like obey, getting closer and closer.

"Angel of darkness! Cease this torment!" Suddenly was heard as Raoul sprinted through the iron gates and into the graveyard. Erik scowled, he himself was so entranced that the Opera Ghost failed to hear the boy's footsteps through the snow.

"Christine! Christine!" The young vicomte called, "Whatever you may believe this man, this THING is not your father!"

But Raoul's words fell on deaf ears. Christine knew well enough the Phantom was not her father. But her father promised to send her an angel. And he had made good on that promise. She wanted nothing more right now than her angel's embrace.

"Let her go for God's sake! Let her go!" Raoul desperately pleaded. Erik would do no such thing. Why should he? So the Vicomte could hide her away from him? Not again, not this time.

"I am your Angel of Music,

Come to me Angel of Music,"

Erik sang once more, calling out to the girl. Christine was up the steps. she was so close now. The Phantom reached down to her.

"Christine!" Raoul shouted, horrified as his cries did nothing to bring Christine out of the masked man's trance.

Erik couldn't help but smirk, relishing in the fact that this time he won over the boy. He gently grasped Christine's extended hands, lifting her up to his level.

"My Christine, mon ange has returned to me." Erik brushed a stray curl out of Christine's face. The young soprano smiled up at him. She saw no trace of the Phantom, forgetting about what was underneath the mask. Christine let Erik envelop her in his cloak, whisking her down from the mausoleum where a carriage awaited at the back gate of the cemetary.

Raoul wanted to stop this monster from taking her but could do nothing. He had a gun, but he wouldn't risk shooting Christine.

"Christine..." The Vicomte dropped to his knees in the snow as he helpless watched the Phantom vanish into the night with her.