A/N: Wooo! Second chapter:D I thought I would do this in the beginning to clear a few things up! I had a few people ask me about something I had said in the first chapter: I said I was going to make Erik a monster. What I meant(and what I should've written) was that I was going to show more of Erik's 'dark' side. We all love the soft side to Erik and know that he wishes to be loved, but one thing I loved about the original novel was that Erik was evil and sadistic. So all in all, Erik is still going to be the dashing man we all know he is but he will still have a 'dark' side! Hope that clears everything up!

Also, the song that Erik sings is 'Salut, demeure chaste et pure' from the opera Faust! Here is the translation of what is sung:

What unknown emotion now fills me!
I feel that my whole being is in the grip of love.
Oh, Marguerite ! Here I am at your feet!
Hail, chaste and pure dwelling where
One can feel the presence of an innocent and holy soul.
What wealth in this very poverty!
What bliss in the humble cottage!
Oh nature, this is where you created her beauty!
This is where the maid grew up beneath your wing,
Slumbered under your gaze!
Here too, breathing into her soul,
You lovingly turned this angel of heaven
Into a fresh blooming woman.
This is the place ... yes ... here it is!


She was naive and obedient, two traits that Erik began to find most helpful in his new line of work. He had been tutoring Christine for nearly a month and there has yet to be a moment where she doubted what he said. In the beginning she asked many a question; "What is your name?" "When can I see you?" "Why must we meet like this?" The questions slowly began to continue, trying to pry bits of information from Erik, things that he didn't want anyone to know. The only way Erik could put a stop to the girl's questions was to stop seeing her, but he couldn't even begin to fathom such a thing. In the end Christine's punishment was silence.

"Don't leave me." Christine sobbed, her face contorting as she wept before the mirror. It was at that moment when Erik realized how much he meant to her and what power he had over the young woman. Christine sat before the mirror, curled into a ball as she held herself and cried. "Please stay with me my angel."

"Angel?" Christine's head snapped up and she seemed to stare through the mirror, making Erik tremble as he looked into her red-rimmed eyes. He placed a gloved hand on the cold glass and traced Christine's face, wishing he could wipe away her tears. "Why do you call me angel?"

Christine wiped away her tears and smiled softly. "You will not give me a name to call you by and I wanted to call you something. I suppose I thought that angel seemed to fit." She climbed to her feet and moved to a small couch. "I was always told that people have angels that watch over them, angels that will keep them safe. My father even told me that there were angels that would guide people in their darkest hours. I thought about calling you 'muse' but you do so much more than just inspire me! You are someone that has been sent to me from heaven."

"You flatter me, child." Erik smiled to himself. 'She thinks of me as an angel. It is best she knows me by voice alone than a creature damned by God himself.'

"Have I upset you?"

"No, Mme. Daae. I am rather pleased by what you have called me; no-one has said such kind things to me before."

"Will you sing for me? I want to hear what your voice is capable of." Christine was lying on the couch, her eyes trying so hard to stay open.

Erik leaned against the stone wall, watching Christine stare into the empty space around her. He wanted to be beside her, to actually sing to her and touch her. The time Erik spent tutoring the young singer was beginning to grow more into the moments were they spoke, when Christine was able to tell someone about her day and what hopes she had. As much as Erik hated the world and damned the existence of man, this young woman was beginning to chip away at his hidden heart and awaken those most primal urges that Erik had tried so hard to suppress.

"You've heard me sing before."

"I've heard you practice your scales and warm up your voice," Christine said as she tried to fend off a yawn, "but I've never heard you sing. You may have hummed with me, but you haven't sung."

Without another word Erik began to sing the first song that seemed to swell in his heart, 'Salut, demeure chaste et pure.'

"Quel trouble inconnu me penetre!
Je sens l'amour S'emparer de Mon etre.
O Marguerite! A tes pieds me voici!
Salut, demeure chaste et pure, ou se devine
La presence d'une ame innocente et divine!
Que de richesse en cette pauvrete!
En ce reduit, que de felicite!
O nature, c'est la que tu la fis se belle!
C'est la que cette enfant a grandi sous ton aile,
A dormi sous tes yeux!
La que, de ton haleine enveloppant son ame,
Tu fis avec amour epanouir la femme
En cet ange Des cieux!
C'est la ... oui ... C'est la!
"

Erik came to a stop the moment he noticed that Christine seemed to be asleep. He told himself he should leave and retire to his own bed but something tugged at him, telling him to stay. That small voice grew louder in Erik's mind as he watched the young woman sleep. His conscience battled with that voice and in the end Erik's thoughts of keeping his relationship with Christine as nothing more than a student seemed to fade away.

The mirror that separated Christine from Erik twisted and opened the stone labyrinth that was Erik's home and cage. He slipped past the once hidden door and stood in Christine's room, only a few feet away from the sleeping beauty. Erik moved towards her with the silence that only a cat possessed and fell to his knees beside the couch. He watched her and lost himself in the soft scent of roses that seemed to emanate from her.

"Je sens l'amour S'emparer de Mon etre." Erik breathed the words from the aria he had just sang, his trembling hand creeping over the velveteen fabric of the couch like a fog. His gloved fingers grazed over Christine's cheek and she did not stir. Erik's heart raced wildly in his chest as his finger traced her features with feather-like softness. He wanted to hold Christine in his arms, to speak with her without the mirror hiding him away; he wanted to have her for himself.

"No." Erik hissed. He seemed to throw himself away from Christine almost horrified with the thoughts that had entered his mind. He thought he was above such urges; he did not need a human companion other than the few select people that were willing to help him survive. The only companion he needed was the kitten that shared his home, a creature that loved him above everything else.

That voice suddenly crept back into Erik's thoughts, cracking open Pandora's Box and letting those urges break through Erik's well trained mind. He eyed Christine's sleeping body, taking in every inch of her untouched body and the very curve of her hips. Erik knew he could take Christine away and easily overpower her, making her succumb to him. He knew the power his voice had; he knew that the seductive power still lay within him, hidden away much like his primal urges. Erik could not deny that he was still human and yearned for a woman's touch.

Erik crawled back towards Christine and watched her silently. He fought back that urge to carry her away, reminding himself what he was and that Christine was still a vulnerable child that still needed to be molded into an adult.

'I will do that molding.' Erik though as he stroked Christine's cheek. 'I will make Christine into a star and show her to Paris. In that moment of rapture the world will love her and then she will have to repay me.'

Without a moment to let doubt slip into his mind Erik leaned forward and kissed Christine as she slept. That kiss seemed to breathe life back into Erik's dreary world and spark a desire that he knew would not end.