As soon as rehearsals started, Natalie snuck away. She couldn't believe how stupid she was going to be, but apparently she had a death wish. Making sure no one could see her, Natalie snuck into Christine's dressing room. "Alrighty," she mumbled under her breath as she stood in front of the mirror. "How on earth do you work?"

Running her hands along the edge of the mirror, Natalie searched for some sort of lever that would reveal the secret passage to the Phantom's lair. With a sigh of frustration, Natalie crossed her arms and glared at her reflection in the glass. Finally she just pushed on the mirror, angry that she couldn't open it. To her surprise, it slid to the side, opening the passageway. "Of course it was that easy," Natalie said, rolling her eyes.

Pausing, Natalie considered the corridor in front of her. She was really pushing the Phantom's buttons, and going back down could have some serious consequences. At last she stepped through the door then slid the mirror back into place. "You know," she muttered to herself. "If you die in a dream, you wake up. But I'm not entirely sure I want to risk it, on the off chance this somehow isn't just all in my head."

Natalie cautiously made her way down the passageway. After last night, she was much more alert in looking for traps. And she was pretty darn sure that Erik wouldn't save her again, that is, if the trap didn't kill her instantly. But that didn't seem like Erik's style. She figured that if there were more, they would create a slow, painful death.

Eventually the stairs ended and Natalie was standing at the edge of a lake. "Now that's more like it," she said to herself. Then she frowned. "Oh crap!" There was no boat. It was probably back at the Phantom's lair, which meant she was going to have to get in the water. If there were traps, she would be totally vulnerable. It also meant that if the water got very deep, she was swimming.

Carefully Natalie edged her foot into the water. To her surprise, it only came up to her knee. She smiled; she could do this. Natalie sloshed her way to Erik's home.

Erik's pen flew across the paper as the song formed. He paused then sang the melody to himself to make sure it was perfect. Satisfied with what he had so far, Erik continued writing his opera. After he finished another phrase, Erik decided he'd better go see how the rehearsal was going. He frowned when he heard what sounded like splashing. Ripples in the water proved that someone was indeed tramping through the lake. Erik immediately knew who was coming. Crossing his arms, Erik stood at the edge of the water, waiting for Natalie.

"Either you are begging to die or you don't understand the art of subtlety," he said crossly as she came into view.

"That was subtle?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "If that was subtle, I'd hate to see blatantly obvious."

"You wouldn't live to see obvious. The rest of the opera house would find you hanging from the rafters," he snapped. "Give me one good reason I should let you live." Once again, he had her by her neck, although he wasn't completely cutting off her windpipe. Yet.

"Because," she said, trying to pry his fingers off her throat. "If you were going to kill me, you would've. This is the third time you've had the chance but you haven't yet. You could have killed me in the opera box. You could have left me to drown last night. But you didn't."

"That can be easily changed," Erik snarled, tightening his grip.

"Plus you're the one who wanted me here. Madame Giry said a person of influence wanted me around. She was talking about you." Erik squeezed even tighter, so Natalie's voice became a desperate whisper. "And you're curious. You want to know how I know so much about you. You want to know how I all your secrets. You want to know how I knew about you and Christine, how I knew to get down here, how I know your name." She began gasping in an attempt to get air into her lungs. "I can tell you," she rasped. "I can't promise that you'll believe me but I'll tell you."

Reluctantly, Erik released her. Natalie fell to the floor, trying to get her breath back. "Alright. Start talking," he ordered.

"Look, I wasn't kidding when I said I was from 2012. The Phantom of the Opera is one of the biggest musicals in the world. It's one of the longest running on Broadway, West End, you name it. There are a gazillion and ten movies about you. And it's all based on one little book by Gaston Leroux written in 1910."

"Musicals? Broadway? Movies?"

"Doesn't matter. Point is, where I come from, everyone knows who you are and what you've done. You're a zillion dollar business. But you're also one hundred percent fictional."

Erik stared at her in disbelief. "My God, you really are crazy. You are absolutely insane."

"I told you that you wouldn't believe me. I know it's sounds crazy and farfetched and totally implausible but it's the truth." Still on the ground, Natalie curled up into a ball and began to cry. "I swear it is. It's the truth."

Erik began to panic. It was obvious that Natalie was in a downward spiral. Usually she appeared to be in full control of her mental facilities, she was now spinning out of control. And since Natalie knew so much about him, Erik was worried that she could cause some serious damage. Not to mention that it was just plain cruel to do this to her. If he didn't calm her down and do it soon, it was very possible Natalie could truly go insane. Well, more so than she already was.

Kneeling next to her, Erik began to sing softly in an attempt to soothe her. He didn't think, just let the words fall from his lips.

"And here in the night
As I feel the inferno
I stare in the dark
Thinking what is eternal

The man or the moment
The act or the reason
These thoughts fill my head
As I contemplate treason

Of dreams I have had
And dreams I have pondered
When late in the night
My mind it would wander

To things I have done
And then quickly regretted
While denying vices
My life had selected

And I think what I've done
Or have yet to begin
And the man I've become
And the man that I've been

All I was
Meant to be
Could I
Suddenly
Just decide
Not a thought
Would survive
Could it be
My life's worth
Ended there
With my birth"

Natalie slowly met his gaze. Her eyes were still filled with tears, but for the moment, they had stopped falling. Quietly, she began to sing a song of her own, although it was more to herself than to him.

"Show me what it's like
To be the last one standing
And teach me wrong from right
And I'll show you what I can be
Say it for me
Say it to me
And I'll leave this life behind me
Say it if it's worth saving me

Heaven's gates won't open up for me
With these broken wings I'm fallin'
And all I see is you
These city walls ain't got no love for me
I'm on the ledge of the eighteenth story
And oh I scream for you
Come please I'm callin'
And all I need from you
Hurry I'm fallin', I'm fallin'"

When Natalie's song ended, she wrapped her arms around her legs and pressed her face against her knees. "I'm sorry," Erik whispered. Natalie slowly raised her head to look at him. "My temper gets the better of me sometimes," he continued.

"I shouldn't said anything. Hell, I shouldn't have come down here at all. Now you're going to kill me," she moaned.

"No, you shouldn't have come," he said gently. "But I'm not going to hurt you."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to hurt you, and I can't exactly keep you down here forever; I have a feeling you would drive me crazy and besides, someone would notice. So I guess that means eventually I'm going to have to take you back upstairs."

Natalie curled back up and ignored everything he tried saying after. Finally, Erik walked back to his piano and began to play a lullaby. She was soon sleeping like a small child. Erik picked her up and placed her in his bed. He could take her upstairs again, but he wanted to make sure she would recover from this. As much as he didn't want her messing with his life, Erik also didn't want to absolutely traumatize her either. He had been through that; it was nothing but pain.