A/N: chapter four holy crap!well i've edited this story a couple of times now because I wanted to make sure the direction i'm heading with this story works with the new chapter, chapter 5!( Which is three quarters written) Hooray!( two months later...) I think if I try REALLY REALLY hard it will be up by sunday... and so far this will be the closest Erik and Anne get so get ready. I also want you to keep the minor characters in this chapter in mind, one of them might not be so minor...

Disclaimer... I own the DVD, that's gotta count for something... no? Read and review!

Her father had been acting so strangely that night. He kept looking over his shoulder, fidgeting with his program and he had stared into space as they awaited the ushers who were to get them to their seats. Anne kept quiet about this even as he asked for her binoculars, saying that he needed to scan the audience for some of his "friends".He gave them back to her just as the red curtain

was rising. The magnificent set came into view and Anne gasped. The chorus and La Carlotta began to sing their song which ,Anne guessed, would have been beautiful had it not been for Carlotta's wailing. Anne compared her voice to the time when one of her father's horses had fallen ill. The poor creature wailed for nearly two hours before one of the servants took a shotgun to it. However morbid the thought of doing such a thing to a shrieking Carlotta should have been, Anne found it quite funny and had to put a gloved hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle.

Then Piangi, a little man dressed like him and another man stepped onstage and began singing of deceiving a young girl, how they would trade places and confuse her while one of the men seduced her. Piangi exited through a curtain as a young girl stepped onstage and began singing. She has the most beautiful voice, Annethought ,as the girl looked hopelessly in the opposite direction of the stage. Suddenly a man, definitely not Piangi, as this man was stick thin, stepped out from behind the curtain. His voice was light but masculine at the same time, it was entrancing. The man stalked up to the girl, embracing her from behind and stepping away from her while trailing his fingers seductively down her arm. They soon both began to sing.

"How do you like the opera so far?" inquired her father, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"It's wonderful father, she is amazing and he, he is absolutely entrancing."

"The girl is Mademoiselle Christine Daaé that I know but, that man, I've never seen him before...whoever he is, he's brilliant."

By this time both of the singers had climbed a staircase from different sides and embraced each other at the bridge on top. Then the man, in a desperate voice sang to the girl asking her to be with him for their whole lives, and how he wanted her to be the one to save him from his life of solitude. Anne's vision suddenly grew blurry as tears filled her eyes. She put her binoculars down and asked her father for his handkerchief when suddenly everyone in the audience gasped. Anne turned her head to see what happened, realizing she had dropped her binoculars, but she didn't dare take her eyes off the scene to pick them up. All she could see through her blurred vision though was the two figures. The taller of the two, the man she had guessed, grabbed the girl tightly to his body and Anne quickly wiped her eyes to see what was going on. He then pulled out a knife, sliced a rope, and yanked a chain. As he and Christine fell through a trap-door the chandelier came crashing down on stunned audience members. Some had tried to run, but most, including some orchestra members were too slow to react.

Upon making contact with the gas lamps of the stage the chandelier burst into flames, which quickly spread throughout the theatre. It was complete chaos.

"Anne, we must leave, the fire will spread quickly and we don't want to be trapped inside."her fathered said to her in a poorly feigned panic. He then grabbed her hand and led her out through the crowd. It was then she remembered.

"Father I have to go back!"

"For what? We haven't the time!"

" I must go back for my binoculars!"

Her father looked around for a moment before his eyes widened,"Alright, I'll go back for them. You wait right here. If I'm not back in two minutes go outside and wait for me there!"

"But father-"

"Promise me, Annie!"

She stared at him for a few seconds, puzzled, "I promise father..."

"Good," he gave her a swift kiss on the cheek, looked around once more and disappeared into the scrambling crowd. Anne waited, counting the seconds. From behind her someone had pushed passed her, knocking her to the ground. She looked up to see the end of a black cape turn the same corner her father had. It was then all her father's strange behaviour began to make sense; someone was after her father. What a silly thought, she told herself, and began to count again. When her father didn't come back after only a minute, Anne became worried and rushed to Box Five. When she arrived, the door was closed. She tried to open it ,but it was locked.

"Father!"she screamed,"Open the door! I think someone's following you!"

From inside the room she could hear another voice ,it didn't belong to her father, and she couldn't hear what it was saying. Then her father quickly called out,"Annie! There's no one here but me. You must leave, this whole place will catch fire in no time. I..err... can't move, my leg is caught!"

"That's a lie Father! There's someone in there with you!"

Her father's desperate, muffled voice came through the door,"Anne you must listen to me! Get out of here now! Do not disobey me!"

By this time Anne was bawling. From behind her she could hear audience members mumbling about the Phantom of the Opera and the man on stage but it didn't concern her at hat moment. Somehow she knew that whoever was in there with her father wasn't there to help him find her binoculars. She was so frightened, she didn't know what to do.

"Father please come on!"Anne begged.

"Annie, Go now!" , her father bellowed. She tried the door again but it wouldn't budge.

She began pounding on the door when suddenly someone's arms wrapped around her from behind and lifted her onto the person's shoulder .She squirmed and protested ,screaming, "Let go of me! My father, wait, we must help him. Put me down!"

She thrashed about to make whoever it was let go of her.

"Miss it's my job to get everyone out safely so please ,I beg you, calm down." The voice belonged to a boy, one not much older then Anne ,for she noticed that it cracked once or twice during his plea. She continued to thrash and squirm and protest nearly causing the boy to fall over. He'd soon had enough of her behaviour and stopped in his tracks.

"If you want me to put you down you must calm down and follow me, understood?"

Anne kept sobbing, and whimpered out a soft "Yes".The boy sighed with relief and put her down. When she looked up at him she saw that he was wearing an usher's coat. He handed her his handkerchief and grabbed her other hand, leading her down the hallways and through the crowds. She could see nothing but the back of his sandy bond head as tears once again flooded her vision, she felt numb, but in her mind she was coming up with numerous ways to save her father.Why wouldn't he listen to her?He said it was his job to get everyone out safely yet he left her father trapped in that room. She felt awful that she couldn't go to him, but this usher made her follow him. She knew in her heart that he'd never make it out of there,that if the fire did kill him, the man in the box would.

As they reached the doors and made their way outside they were hit with a blast of cold air. The usher continued to pull her along until she yanked her hand away. She began to shiver.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What's wrong!You're asking me 'What's Wrong'! My father is trapped in there you fool, whoever was in there locked the door !I was trying to get him out! My father will be dead if we don't do something!"she began sobbing again .

The usher boy tried his best to calm her down, though he was losing patience with her quickly .

"Look Mademoiselle, I was just doing my job, I'm sorry for your loss."

She scoffed at him,"You're sorry? That's it? You're sorry? I'm going back for him! " she shook her head and turned to go back inside. The boy's temper got the best of him and he grabbed hold of her arm .

"You're mad! Incase you haven't noticed ,you stubborn girl; that building is in flames, you can't possibly be able to find your way out alive, and I'm not coming in after you! Don't be so ungrateful! You're not the only one who's lost someone tonight! My father was in the orchestra pit! I had to watch him die! At least you won't see your father in pain!"

She froze, not knowing what to do after his outburst. She began trembling and her eyes were red and puffy from crying yet new tears managed to fall down her face. Meekly she said,"I could have helped mine." Her shivers turned to tremors and she fell to her knees. The boy got down on his knees too, took off his coat and put it over her.

"Th-thank you," she whispered, and fainted as he caught her and cradled her in his arms, where he waited until someone came for her.

Anne had tears in her eyes as she relived that night, walking down the same corridors she had fled with the boy .She never did see him again, and she realised then that he had saved her life. He had saved her and she had been completely ungrateful towards him. She would see if he still worked in the opera house, or at least find out what his name was so she could find him and thank him. Wiping away her tears, she put on a straight face again as she made her way towards that horrid box which had haunted her dreams for the past three years.

Erik sat at his organ, unable to come up with anything remotely decent to put down on paper. He had been spending so much time composing he felt as if he was running out of things to compose . Erik was growing restless.Why couldn't he come up with anything?He needed to get out,to find some sort of inspiration.Maybe a tour of his opera house would help.He hadn't been up there in so long that he was beginning to forget what it looked like. He thought it ironic that he could forget about the places that were right above him, but he couldn't forget about Christine, who was probably miles away.He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.Now was a good a time as any to inspect his opera house, though reliving his past in the process was not something he was looking forward to at all.

He reached for his mask which was sitting on the organ, he'd abandonned it long ago knowing he'd never had to worry about someone seeing his face down there.He reached for his cape and headed to his gondola. Thinking of places he was to inspect , he decided that he would start with his beloved Box Five.

A/n: Uh oh, here comes trouble! Hmm I wonder what Erik will do when he finds Anne in Box Five... oh wait i do know, but if no one reviews no one will!

Oh! And I'd like some feed back on how I'm doing portraying Erik. I understand he hasn't been in the story alot so far but I'm looking for opinions and maybe tips from Erik writing veterans, so if you'd like to help just put your tips in a review! Thanks!

Read and Review my punjabbing pretties! Whoa that was weird!