A/N: AY! first actual chapter is finally up! This is my first time writing from the perspective of a character that was already created (Erik) so please go easy on me! I don't think his voice is totally right in this chapter, and I hope i can develop it better in the chapters to come, but please please please give me feedback on my writing! I'd love to hear what you have to say on how I portrayed Erik! Thank you guys so much for reading! Enjoy!

(I do not own The Phantom of the Opera or the characters that are in it)

I must have been staring at this candle for at least half an hour. Time moved painfully slow now to a point where I was starting to reconsider staying in the damned Opera House.

When the mob found my lair that night four months ago, I had managed to hide for a decent amount of time before Madame Giry was able to convince them that I had left for good. They managed to seal a few of my more obvious passageways, though many of them were left untouched, as they were hidden in some places that most people did not know existed in the opera house.

Though I was thankful that I was able to keep what I call my home, I noticed how things were not the same. I felt like a ghost- a true ghost- of those memories from that night, many months ago. It took me a while to stop sulking, and to continue to compose and write my operas, though that was only what I could do. Christine was gone, so I had no one to teach, Carlotta left, so I had no one to bother, and I was supposed to be far away from the opera house. Sure, there were those two poor excuses for managers, but I realized I would be in more trouble if I made reappearance. So I decided that I needed to retire from being the opera ghost, at least for now.

I did keep an eye on the happenings around the opera house, though. I made sure to notice the new cast members, and I often watched the performances, though unfortunately not form my normal seat in box five. I'm surprised they didn't make a joke out of it yet. I could see the ads in the newspapers: "Come sit with the Phantom of the Opera in Box Five- the most haunted spot in Paris!" Or, perhaps it was too soon for that.

I did have Madame Giry to keep me company. Her daughter, Meg, still believes me to be gone, due to her close friendship with Christine. Madame Giry tried her best to visit me, though those visits have started to become less frequent.

Sighing, I unnecessarily blew out the melting candle, and started to stand when I heard singing. Was there a performance going on? How late was it? That was another downside to being "missing". You stay hidden away for so long that you forget what time of day it is.

I decided it would be nice to stretch my legs, so I put on my black cloak, and found an exit.

It turned out it was only a dress rehearsal, but I decided to stay anyways. The lead singers weren't horrible; they just did not have the same talent as Christine. Damn.

I had promised myself a long time ago to not bring her up- to stop pining over her. I was doing quite well actually, but I couldn't help thinking of her whenever I heard music. I suppose I am… happy for her: happy that she is happy. That was the whole point of me letting her go that one night, right?

I shook the memory from my mind, deciding that that was too dangerous and painful of a thought to linger on. I had only just convinced myself that everything that happened that night happened for a reason, and I wasn't about to let that small piece of comfort go. I forced my mind and my eyes to watch the stage from my position above the new chandelier. Thanks to the railing, and the chandelier, I had managed to be out of sight from anyone down below.

The chorus had started to march onto the stage with the two leading singers, all singing a cheerful song about love or something of the sort. While the actors and actresses were continuing with their rehearsal, everyone else was quietly bustling about around them, trying to finish the set. At the moment, they had two benches, and a rather large and solid papier mâchée tree.

I continued to mentally criticize the opera, noting the faults and the strengths of each singer, when my thoughts were interrupted. A shout and a handful of screams could be heard as the sturdy tree came crashing down on two of the members of the choir. I almost stood up at that moment, wanting to lean over the railings, and gain a closer look, but I decided to remain hidden in my place.

"Who did this?" Madame Giry asked in a stern voice as four or so other chorus members helped their cast-mates out from under the painted brown trunk of the tree. "Where is John?" she shouted. John was Joseph Buquet's replacement. I had never bothered learning his last name, as I hardly saw him enough to deem it necessary. He was a younger man, though was able to get his job done quite effectively in fact. I was actually surprised that he had let this happen.

John appeared from backstage, and explained to Madame Giry how he was helping someone fix the pulley for the curtain, and was nowhere near the tree when it fell.

"I just don't understand. That tree is almost as solid as an actual one. It couldn't have fallen on its own." John said, walking over to examine the tree. The two chorus members had managed to escape from underneath the tree, but both seemed to still be in shock.

That's when I noticed the young Meg Giry. She attempted to whisper something to her mother, though everyone, including myself, had somehow managed to hear it. "Was it the Phantom of the Opera?"

The question echoed throughout the theatre, and everyone froze.

"Nonsense! The Phantom disappeared months ago, and if you still believe he's here, you must be mad." Madame Giry replied firmly, and loudly enough for everyone to hear. I did hear a tone of doubt in her voice though. There was a high chance I would gain a visit from her tonight about this, though I hope that she would believe me when I tell her that it was not me who sent the tree crashing.

I did wonder who it was, though. Someone must have pushed it down. But who could it have been?

I waited for the rehearsals to finish, the actors to stream out, the maids to finish cleaning, and the candles to be put out before I started my search.

I carefully and quietly snaked through the backstage, peering around every corner, and looking behind every curtain. I even checked my own hiding places in between the wider walls, and below the stage, but I couldn't find anyone. They had most likely already cleared out from the opera house after their act of "rebellion". I honestly had no idea as to why I was so curious about this matter. It was probably some idiotic stagehand that pushed it over for some reason. Yet, I continued to search the theatre, hoping to find at least something.

That's when I started to hear it: the humming. At first I figured it was just a member of the chorus, but then I remembered the time of day it was. Everyone should have left the opera house hours ago. I swiftly made my way from underneath the stage to backstage once more. The humming seemed to be coming from the stage, but when I slowly opened the curtain, there was no one there.

"I'm up here you know," A soft voice interrupted my search, and for a brief moment, my heart flipped in surprise.

My head snapped up, and there, on the catwalk, were two bare feet swinging back and forth from the edge of the wooden platform. I stared at the pale feet for a moment, perhaps assuring myself that they would stay put while I made my way up there. I took the shortest route I knew, and I found myself at the far end of the catwalk, and staring at a dark haired woman, clad in a simple grey dress that she had brought up to her knees to allow her feet to freely swing from the ledge. I noted the pair of matching shoes resting by her side.

I tilted my head, and kept a threatening look in my eye, "Who are you?" I hissed through my teeth. I wasn't going to show this woman kindness. I had no idea who she was, or whether or not she was the person who I was looking for.

"Do names really matter?" she asked, as if it was a genuine question. She shrugged, almost in a childlike manner, and looked back to her toes that continued to kick through the air.

I narrowed my eyes. I did not want to play games with this woman; she had no right to avoid my questions. Did she even know who I was?

"Well, no. I take that back. I think names do sort of matter, don't you think? I mean they're definitely part of whatever it is that is important. What is it that's so important though? Identity? That sounds somewhat right. But what about… no… Now, there are always the false concept of physical appearances…" She trailed off, thinking about some other ridiculous idea. Was she drunk? I decided that I didn't care. She was rude, and I was angry. No, I wasn't going to kill her; that would definitely make all heads turn to me when she was reported missing. I would simply frighten her.

I reached for my lasso, which I still kept loosely looped through the belt of my pants in case anyone braved the depths of the opera house. I began to walk towards her, making sure she was aware of every threatening step I took towards her. However, she didn't seem fazed by this. She simply looked at me, then my lasso, then back at her toes. I was behind her, when I held the lasso over her head, almost resembling a halo, yet she somehow managed to spring to her bare feet, completely avoiding the noose, swiped her shoes, and quickly ran away. How was she so fast?

She looked back at me and squinted, as if she was confused or possibly thinking of another ridiculous thought, then she vanished.

A/N: SO, what did you guys think of the first actual chapter? how did you like Erik's voice? i'm definitely going to try to develop it more and make it sound more sophisticated and mature, and i really was going to try to plan out his vocabulary more, but i just ran out of time:\ Anyways what did you think of this mystery girl? How did you like the sneak peek into what her personality is going to be? I guess I kind of made her a little childish but that's not supposed to be the defining trait that she has, but I guess she'll be easier to make out in the later chapters:) But yes, please tell me what you think of this chapter/the story so far! I know there's not much yet, but i'll try to write as much as i can whenever i can! But I do take feedback pretty seriously I love hearing from you guys about my stories and I do take into account what you have to say if it's definitely something that i can change/improve upon. Again, thank you guys so much! See you in the next chapter!
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