Chapter 4:

'One, two, three, four...' Claire twirled in time with the count as she rehearsed for Coppelia. She had been cast as a village person on account of being a new face around the opera, but Claire didn't mind. As the song came to a close she saw Geraud off to stage left and flashed him a smile. She'd been in the opera house for nearly two months and had loved every minute of it, some more than others of course. She stretched quickly and scurried off the stage to meet Geraud, who was waiting for her with open arms.

"Bonjour ma douce!" he said as Claire gave him a hug, "And how are we feeling today?" Claire stepped back and said matter-of-factly.

"We are feeling very hungry and need something to eat." Geraud did a theatrical bow and held out his hand.

"Well then, we must not let her majesty starve!" Claire took his hand and they started toward the dining hall.

Claire was happy when they arrived at the dining hall, then confused as Geraud dragged her past the room and farther down the hall.

"I'm sorry, but haven't we passed our destination?" She asked beginning to dig her heels into the ground to turn around. Geraud continued to tug her down the hall and said with a hint of laughter in his voice,

"We may have missed yours, but mine is still a little ways away." Claire willingly let Geraud lead her to the secret destination at this point. She wondered where they could be going as he turned down another one of the opera's countless hallways.

Geraud finally opened a door and let both of them into a small room that had costumes hanging on racks all around it. The racks of costumes had been quickly pushed to the sides of the room and in the center a small table was waiting. Claire stepped into the room to examine further as Geraud closed the door behind her. She saw that the table had a little candle in the center and that there were two places set for dining.

"Surprised aren't you? I knew you would be." Geraud said leading Claire to the table and pulling out the chair for her as she sat down. There were salads sitting on the tables with dressing already on them. Obviously it was Geraud who had tried to put the dressing on because there was way too much. Claire gave a smile as she looked up and saw the huge smile on his face.

"Thank you Geraud, but I have to ask, what's the occasion?" Claire stuck a slice of tomato with her fork and plopped it into her mouth.

"Does there need to be one? I just wanted to have a private meal with a very lovely girl." Claire blushed and tried to hide it by staring down at her plate and shoveling more salad into her mouth.

Was this a date?

She had never been on a date before and now she realized why, it was horribly nerve-racking. She felt his foot lightly tap on hers while putting another tomato into her mouth and she jumped a bit with a nervous giggle. She finished her salad as fast as she could while making the minimal amount of eye contact.

"Well Geraud, uh- thank you for this lovely meal but I-I promised I was going to go meet one of my friends to do something... very important." Claire got up from the table and began walking towards the door. Geraud caught her arm and gently tugged her back toward him.

"No, thank you Claire for dining with me." He pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her on the forehead. Claire stopped breathing. With a chuckle Geraud turned her back toward the door and lightly tapped her rump saying mischievously,

"I'll see you around soon mademoiselle."

Claire ran like lightning out of that room and stopped only once she had turned down another hallway. Only then did she lean against a wall and let the huge smile creep onto her face. She lifted a hand up and gently touched the place where Geraud had kissed it and thought about his arms around her. Claire had this tingly feeling that went from her toes to her head and made her a little dizzy. She stood there for a moment then began walking slowly back towards the girls dorm.

Erik was hunched over in a chair at his desk reading another opera. He'd been reading them throughout the day and was in search of the perfect one. Words and notes were beginning to mush together in his mind and he felt like his head was going to explode if he read another measure of music. Setting the paper down on his desk Erik hauled himself out of his chair and stretched. A yawn escaped his mouth and revealed how awfully tired he was. Quickly after the yawn a chuckle arose.

I'm meant to be a phantom, a ghost and inhuman to those around me, yet here I am yawning.

He scratched his chin and noticed the prickly stubble growing on the unmasked side of his face. Then his fingers drifted to the white porcelain mask that covered his hideous disfigurement. His fingertips lightly brushed over the smooth cold mask as he wished for the millionth time that was what his true face felt like. Sighing Erik's hand dropped to his side and he slumped back in his chair. A clear bottle of liquid sat tauntingly on the top of the organ across the room. One sip couldn't hurt... Erik hauled himself onto his feet, a little unsteady, and walked to the organ. He grasped the cool bottle and lifted it up. The liquid sloshed around in the bottle as the phantom raised the bottle to his lips and took a sip. It felt hot and numbing as the alcohol slid down his throat, he felt satisfied. It made the pain fade, even if only for a moment, and that was good enough for him. Soon the bottle was empty, and Erik sat on the floor and stared blankly at it. He heard soft singing, it cascaded over him lightly. His eyes shut as he pictured his angel singing for him. Erik felt a hot tear roll down his cheek, after more and more tears began to fall. He angrily wiped them away and stood up, leaving the empty bottle alone on the ground.

He sat at his organ and shifted through all the papers on the music stand with clumsy hands. He needed to play something and lose himself in music. Erik found an opera that would suffice named Orpheus and Eurydice. He began playing the organ with deft hands, stumbling over notes here and there but not caring. The melody sang to him, and he felt the sadness as Eurydice was taken from Orpheus. The notes were painted with emotion, and sadness. Longing, and compassion. After the first song came to a close so did Erik's decision on what opera would be performed on the Opera Popluaire's stage. Now to find his new prima donna.

Erik clothed himself appropriately, put cologne on, and straightened his cravat as he left his lair. He made his way through the passageways to box five, where he had a lovely view of the stage. He saw ballerinas warming up stretching before rehearsal began. Even though this production wasn't an opera chorus members still warmed up their voices. Erik shut his eyes and picked out the sopranos with his well-trained ears. Listening, he began singling out specific voices and listened intently to each. One was beautiful, but there was something missing he couldn't put his finger on it, another was a little flat on every note she sang out, just as he was beginning to lose hope though, Erik heard a voice come in late. He listened closely and found himself intrigued. It wasn't the most beautiful of the voices, but there was a quality, no, more like a feeling in it that was missing from the other voices. He opened his eyes to see which chorus member was producing this sound and saw that girl. He closed his eyes and chuckled besides himself. Of course it would be her. He leaned forward in the chair he had seated himself in and stared closely at her, looking at her as she moved her long brown hair out of her face and whispered something to the ballet rat next to her. He knew only trouble would come if he chose her as his prima donna, yet something still drew him to her. He shut his eyes and whispered a curse in German as he promised himself he would steer clear of her. The phantom decided he would go to the girls dorm tonight and decide which girl would be his new student.

Claire stretched her arms high above her head and let out an obnoxious yawn as she climbed into bed and laid her head down on her sinfully soft and inviting pillow. Her eyes drifted gently shut and she fell asleep, snoring softly.

The phantom stalked the dark passage ways in his underworld beneath the opera, quickly and quietly making his ways to girls dorms. Rats squeaked and ran across Erik's path and faded into the shadows as he stormed pass. He walked up to a shut vent and slid it open so he could peer into the dark room. Two girls were awake whispering to each other while a dim candle was lit between them. Erik sighed and stood there for an hour and a half as he waited for the whole room to fall silent, and everyone in it to drift asleep. Erik saw the girl with the lovely soprano voice and nearly threw his voice into her ear. But movement caught his eye, he looked over and saw the brown haired girl laying in bed and snoring. He remembered the feeling he heard in her voice earlier today found himself struggling with which one to pick. Beauty or emotion? Erik threw his voice into a waiting ear and saw the girl stir.

"I'm here, your angel of music..." Those words felt sacred as they rolled off his lips. The girl sat up in her bed, pulling the sheets up to her chin.

"W-who's there?" She whispered scared.

"It is I, your angel of music my dear, and what is your name?" His voice was nearly trembling.

"Paige." The girl moved blonde curls away from the front of her face and said quietly, "Why are you here?"

Erik smiled besides himself, he was taking on a new student.

"I've been sent to teach you to sing my dear, you will be the new prima donna."

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for reading this chapter :) Leave comments and criticisms in a review!