Hey everyone! Here is the next chapter, I tried to slow this one down a bit more, but if it is still too fast please let me know. thanks for reading and please review! (I do not own anything from the Phantom of the Opera :( )

Gustave's POV

I got lost along the many dark hallways of the opera house, until I found a stair case leading down to a lit room. I was sure it was the chapel because in one corner there was a stand holding a whole bunch of candles and against the wall was a picture of god.

I expected the room to be empty due to how late it was, but I was surprised to find a young girl there, but not just any young girl, the one who had smiled at me earlier that day. She sat in front of the candles with her head bowed. I started to leave the room when she called out to me.

"You don't have to leave." She said. She lifted her head and looked at me with her green eyes.

"Did you come down here to pray too?"

"Um, no I...I was just exploring." I stammered, I was never really good with people and I didn't have many friends.

"Oh well you can come join me if you want." she smiled at me so I sat down next to her.

"I was just praying for my father, he died when I was very little."

"I'm sorry." I looked down, not knowing what else to say.

"thanks." She paused "I'm Amia, what's your name?"

"Gustave"

"I like it. So Gustave why did you come to the opera house? I heard that you were separated from your parents? Is that true?"

I tried to come up with an answer that could work for all three questions, but instead I just sat there with my mouth closed looking stupid. "I…I… uhh, I was separated from my parents and I'm trying to find them, but I needed a job."

"That's so sad; I think you are going to like it here." She stood up.

"Well I have to get back or my mother will worry. We should do this again tomorrow night."

"Ok"

"Same time tomorrow then?"

I nodded my head.

"Ok, good night Gustave she said as she disappeared up the stairs and into the dark."

"Good night" I said back. I stayed and looked around the room for a little bit and then headed back to my room.

The next day of work was boring and I wanted to talk to Amia, but she couldn't talk during rehearsal so we would have to wait till we met up at night. The first night we sat together talking just as we had the first time; I had found out that both of us were ten, she liked being a dancer, and that she lived with her mother and older sister in the ballerina dormitories. Most of what I told her was the truth, but I also had to lie, if people knew the real reason I was here who knows what would happen.

This started out as a small thing, but soon I found us meeting there every night and we began to form a friendship. Every night after everyone went to sleep we would sneak down to the chapel and just talk; it was easy to talk to Amia, she always had so many questions. One night in particular she asked me a question different from her usual ones.

"Gustave, when you finish with your job here what are you going to do? And where are you going to go?"

"Oh I'll probably just stay here, what reason do I have to leave?"

"But what about your parents? I thought you were looking for them."

I realized I had made a mistake and forgotten my previous lie, I started to think of something to cover it up, but when I looked into Amia's soft green eyes my mind went blank. I didn't want to lie to her any more.

"Amia, I haven't really been honest with you." I said looking down

"What do you mean?"

"I…I… didn't become separated from my parents. I live with them in America."

She looked at me with total confusion "Why did you lie to me? And to everyone else?"

"I had to, the truth is my mother sent me here to find someone, but before I left she made it very clear not to tell a soul the real reason why I had come; she said it would put me and the other person in danger."

"Who is it?"

"I honestly have no idea, she just referred to him as the "Angel of Music." she wanted me to come here and give him a letter, but I have no idea where to find him, what he looks like, or where he may be. I can't even ask anyone either." I babbled on trying to get myself to stop, but I had not told anyone my secret and the weight of it was so great that once I started I just had to let it all out.

Amia stared at the candles while playing with her deep brown hair, taking in everything I had just told her. She finally turned towards me and rested her hand on my shoulder.

"I'll help you find him Gustave"

"Really?"

"Of course. What are friends for?" she asked as she stood up and helped me up off the floor.

"We can start planning our search tomorrow night."

"Ok" I said now more excited to have someone to help me find him.

"Just one more question, why is it so important that you find this Angel of music person anyway?"

"Because, he is my real father." I said, it was still a shock to me since I had found this out just before I had left home, the man who lived in my house , that I called father really wasn't my father at all.

She looked at me with confusion again, but quickly shook it off. "Then we will definitely have to find him, well it's getting late. Good night Gustave."

I told her good night and ran back to my room to continue on a piece I was writing. I loved to write music and I loved to play my music as well, but that was until the man who was known as my father at the time, but I now called him Raoul had sold my piano calling my music skills nonsense. My mother had said that it just brought him bad memories, but she would not tell me what those were. I had also asked her that day why I was so different from the other children since they would always pick on me and she told me it was because I was just like my father, but I never really understood that until reading the letter she had given to me.

Ever since then I had slowly stopped writing my music, but after meeting Amia she had inspired me to write a piece for her. I spent hours working on it and finally finished. I was so excited to show it to her, but I wanted to play it and there was nowhere for me to, so I folded it and stuck it into my pocket so I could show it to her at the right moment.

The next few days moved along slowly, I would get up at six, work till four, eat, and then meet Amia in the Chapel at night to work on finding my real father. We started by searching common places and came up with nothing. Amia suggested asking the managers, but I wasn't sure whether or not I could trust them so we looked ourselves. After almost a week we came up with nothing; there were no signs of any angel of music anywhere.

We were both stumped. We had tried everything with no success, we had even snuck into the manager's office and searched through the files of workers for him, but there was nothing.

"Maybe he doesn't work here anymore" Amia said one night

"No he has to work here!" I said angrily, I stood up and began pacing across the room. "There has to be something or someone who we can trust to know who he is."

"Well I'm tired we can try again tomorrow." Amia said picking herself up off the floor and leaving the room.

I stayed in the chapel for another hour, pacing and trying to put any clues from the information my mother had given me together before giving up as well and going to bed.

Work the next day was boring, we were working on the aria for the diva of the show Angelina Delleris which meant that the whole cast basically sat around and waited for Angelina to finish her practice. Of all the people I had met here Angelina had to be my least favorite. She was a spoiled diva who was nasty to others and thought she deserved everything; and she wasn't even that good at singing, my mother would have blown her out of the water.

Today in particular she was very annoying, yelling about her dress and the way the music sounded.

"This song is unacceptable!" she screamed at Andrea and Firmin. "It is much too basic for someone of my skills and I demand it be changed immediately!"

I gave Amia a look of "here we go again" as the managers tried to reason with her.

"Miss Delleris, there is no way that we can have this music changed, we are stric-"she cut Andre off before he could finish.

"Can't be change! I don't care what anyone says, I'm the star the people come here for me. Without me this whole Opera house would shut down so if you two still want a job I suggest getting that song changed now!" she screamed at them.

The managers looked at each other and stared talking about changes when suddenly a menacing voice rang out from the top of the Opera house.

"I wasn't going to step in, but those two fools have no spine and simply cannot follow orders!"

Everyone in the room became silent and looked up towards the audience. I turned to see who it was as well and I saw a man standing in box 5. He was wearing all black and on one side of his face was a white mask.

"My orders were to make sure that there would be no changes to my songs! And as for you Miss Delleris this song was set perfectly for you caliber of singing. Giving you a song any more difficult would cause people to flee the show at the sound of your screeching voice. If any of you disobey my orders again I will not hesitate to teach you a lesson!" The man yelled angrily to us.

I was truly frightened, this man seemed awful. One second he was there and the next he was gone.

People began to turn towards each other and whisper; no one seemed to know what to do until Madam Giry stepped in. "Angelina take your song from the top she said as she began to pound her cane onto the stage floor as if she were trying to wake everyone up."

I sat listening to Angelina practice; her singing hurt my ears and kept me from being able to think straight, so I turned toward Amia

"Who was that?" I whispered.

"The Phantom of the Opera."

"The what?" I asked

"The Phantom of the Opera." She repeated "hasn't anyone told you about him?"

I shook my head no.

"Well they say the Phantom lives in the catacombs. He wears that mask because underneath he hides his horrible ugly face from everyone. He runs the opera house watching over and controlling everything that goes on here. He has been here forever; he was also the one who caused the great disaster."

"What disaster?" I asked now even more curious.

"Well a long time ago, the Phantom fell in love with a girl, but because of his disgusting face she could not love him back. One night during a performance he snuck onto the stage, made the chandelier crash into the audience, and kidnapped the poor girl forcing her down into his lair to marry him. Another young man, the girl's fiancé went down to try and save her."

"Then what happened?" I asked.

"No one really knows for sure, they never found the bodies of the girl or the young man, but most people just assume they are dead. They didn't find the phantom either, and for a few years while the place was being rebuilt and starting out things were quiet. Until one day when the Phantom returned and now he has been here ever since.

I sat thinking about the story when something hit me.

"Amia, the Phantom's been here forever right?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well then maybe he knows who the Angel of Music is." I said excited

"Gustave you can't be serious! You can't ask the Phantom, you'll get killed!" her voice rose and someone shushed us.

"Well what other choice do I have? Tonight I'm going down to those catacombs and I'm going to find out who this Angel of Music is!" I said determined.

I was certain that this man knew who my father was, he had to know and I was going to make him tell me!

Well things seem to be heating up, i'll try to post again for this story soon, but I can't promise anything due to school and the other story I am currently working on (My other story is called Wandering Child and if you are enjoying this then I suggest you read Wandering Child as well.) thanks again for reading and please REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!