Once Erik arrived at the sanatorium, he tied the horse up outside and found his way up to where the doctor was staying. He kept his cloak on with the hood up, hiding his face from everyone. He found the doctor in his office, opening the door and stepping inside with no invitation, closing and locking the door. The doctor looked up from his journal, standing up and backing away from this dark, hooded figure that just barged into his office. As Erik approached him to say something, he felt someone come behind him and put a knife to his throat. "State your business," a voice with a Western accent said in his ear. "Otherwise, this office is going to be a lot messier than before." Erik put his hands up, indicating that he meant no harm.

"I'm here from the Opera Populaire," he stated calmly, waiting for the protector to drop the knife. "I need to speak to the doctor about an urgent matter."

"Take the hood off, and then we'll talk," the cowboy said, lowering the knife just enough for Erik to remove his hood, revealing his mask covered face. The cowboy lowered the knife completely, coming around to the desk, standing beside the doctor. "Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important, but I do have some concerns about a dancer's illness that has become apparent just within the last few days."

The doctor nodded, offering a chair to Erik. Erik took the cloak off the rest of the way, draping it over his arm and sitting down. "So you work at the opera house," the doctor asked as he sat back down, getting a piece of paper and his pen out to write down the symptoms of the dancer.

"You could say that, but as I said before, who I am and what I do at the opera house is not important."

The Cowboy lifted an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he looked at Erik, thinking that he had seen him somewhere before. The doctor looked at him, putting his pen down. "How did you find me here?"

"I overheard the conversation that you had with the managers about the seamstress that died. After you left, the managers just laughed at you and I went in and grabbed your card, figuring that I could keep a better eye on strange happenings than the managers would."

"That's who you are," the cowboy said, having a revelation as to who Erik was. "You're the Opera Ghost."

Erik turned, looking at the cowboy. "How do you know who I am?"

"Because I'm the one who sent them here," a fourth voice said as he came into the office. The three men looked up, seeing an old man who was about sixty, average height, with long graying hair and a slight beard. He wore a long, dark brown trench coat, hat and scarf, and from what Erik could see, he was also wearing a large crucifix around his neck. He removed his hat, hanging it up on the hat rack. The doctor stood and came around to the other side, shaking the fourth man's hand.

"Professor Van Helsing," the doctor greeted as this Van Helsing handed the doctor his bag and removed his scarf, hanging it up. "When I wired you, I didn't mean for you to come right away."

"You know that I always come to my friend's in need when they call me," Van Helsing replied, his voice laden with a German accent. He turned to Erik, who was now standing, holding his cloak. "So, this is the famous Phantom. Good, you're young. You'll be perfect."

"Perfect? Perfect for what?"

"Oh, Professor," the cowboy interjected, coming over and standing beside the doctor, shaking his head. "You can't be serious. He's a murderer."

"Um, if I may," Erik said, leaning against the desk. "Would someone mind telling me what's going on?"

"Once you tell us about your dancer's illness," the doctor said, coming back over to the desk. The cowboy went over behind the desk again, pulling out a Bowie knife and starting to sharpen it. Professor Van Helsing went and sat down on the couch, observing Erik as he sat back down in the chair in front of the desk, turning his attention to the doctor. "Now, start at the beginning. When did you notice that this dancer was ill?"

"I believe that the illness began a week ago. I found her and a friend of mine who was trying to carry her back to her room. She was weak, unconscious, and I noticed two puncture wounds on her neck. The wounds were not bleeding, which I found odd. I took the girl back to her room and made my friend return to her own room and check on the dancer in the morning."

"Was your friend injured in any way," the professor asked, stroking his whiskers as he watched the Opera Ghost.

"No, sir; she was unharmed."

"Continue, please," the doctor instructed, making notes of the first occurrence.

"Today, my friend went by her room and found the dancer with her ear pressed against the wall. When she asked what she was doing, the dancer replied, 'I am listening to the opera house.' She said that she could hear everything. Now, Doctor, you and I both know that isn't natural. Something is seriously wrong with that girl."

The doctor nodded, writing down the rest of the symptoms, and stopped, setting his pen down. "Now it's time for our end of the bargain. I am Dr. Jack Seward. The man behind me is Aiden Quincy Morris, and the man to your right is Professor Abraham Van Helsing. We have been part of a secret sect for a number of years that protected the world from a man who is known as Dracula."

Erik looked at the good doctor, lifting an eyebrow. "Dracula is a myth, just as all vampires are. Aren't they?"

"Not exactly," Professor Van Helsing said, standing and getting a book out of his doctor's bag, handing it to Erik. It was a large journal with the word 'Nosferatu' inscribed on the cover. "That book talks about the history of Dracula and his victims throughout the years since he became a vampire. This account also talks about his time in London eighteen years ago."

Erik looked at him, and then opened the book, skimming through it for a few moments before closing it again. "You've been following Colette," he concluded, standing up from his chair. "That's why you two are here, and why you came. And if you have been following Colette, that means that he has been following her also."

Van Helsing nodded, observing the Opera Ghost once again. "What is not in there is what happened on the 30th of May, 1897. I believe that you know why that date is significant."

Erik nodded. "That's the day that Colette's parents were killed. What do you know about that day? She's very secretive and won't talk about it."

"Why don't we start at the beginning? Eighteen years ago, Jonathan Harker, who was a mere clerk at a law firm in London, was dispatched to Transylvania to settle some accounts with a certain Count Dracula. This Count had bought up some properties around London and the original clerk who went to settle them returned to London and had a complete mental breakdown. He was a patient of Dr. Seward's. The Count requested that Jonathan remained for a month to tutor him in English custom. However, that wasn't the case. The Count was going to trap Jonathan there in Transylvania, and go to London in order to steal Jonathan's fiancé from him."

"Jonathan's fiancé was Wilhelmina Murray, also known as Mina for short," Dr. Seward said, handing Erik a picture of Mina. Colette was the spitting image of her mother in the face, but she must have inherited the blonde hair from her father. "Dracula seemed to think that Mina was the reincarnation of his bride, Elisabeta, who killed herself when she received false news that Dracula had been killed in battle against the Turks. Mina was; because of Dracula, they developed a strong mind connection. He was able to read her thoughts and she could hear everything he said whether it was directed towards her or not."

"So what does this have to do with Colette?"

"We were able to save Mina from Dracula's grasp, but just barely," Van Helsing recalled, striking a match and lighting a cigar that he had. "Jonathan was able to escape from Castle Dracula and from Dracula's Brides, three women that did his bidding and fed on the living just has he done. Once he escaped, he and Mina were married, but that didn't stop Dracula. She was deeply in love with him and when he found her, he bit her and baptized her with his own blood. He retreated back to Transylvania and we hunted him down with Mina in tow. Mina's transformation into a creature of the night began almost immediately. She lost her appetite for food, and her blood was dying. When we got to Castle Dracula, she was nearly a vampire, and we barely defeated Dracula. Mina was the one who was able to put the stake through his heart and she watched him die. When he died, she was released from the curse because their love was stronger in death. Shortly after returning from Transylvania, Mina found out that she was pregnant. She and Jonathan had a daughter, their only child, and they named her Colette."

Erik sat back in his chair, rubbing his neck. "I had no idea."

"Here's something that I don't understand," Aiden said while still sharpening his Bowie knife. "How did you know about Colette? You've been writing her for over a year and I know that she has written you back. So how did you find her?"

"It was the last time she and her family visited Paris. They came to the Opera Populaire, taking a tour while they were contemplating on becoming patrons. She became separated from her parents and the manager at the time and got lost. She was crying, hiding her face in her knees. I pulled my fedora down and picked her up, cradling her in my arms. I comforted her, telling her that she was safe. I took her back to her parents, but made sure that they never saw me. I kept tabs on her throughout the years until I saw the paper the day that they discovered her parents had died. I knew that I had to protect her, but I wouldn't be able to protect her unless she was here in Paris at the opera house. She does have an inheritance here at a bank in Paris; I didn't lie about that. I've been working on getting it for her since she arrived."

"But you're in love with that diva, that Christine Daae," Aiden said as he slipped his Bowie knife back in its holster. "You don't give two shits about Colette, and you never have."

"I love that child more than you know."

"That's all you see her as then, as a child. She is slipping away from you and you don't even see it. That's why we are here."

"You're here because you're spying on her."

"We're keeping watch on her because that Vladimir de Maurier that she has been courting with is Count Dracula," Dr. Seward said, folding his hands in front of him. "When Jonathan and Mina were killed, it was at Dracula's hand. Somehow, he was able to rise from the dead. We're not sure how, but he found a way back to London and killed Mina and Jonathan when they were on their way home from the theater. Colette had stayed home because she was nursing a cold. Thinking that Jonathan and Mina were at home, he went there first, finding Colette as she was getting ready for bed. He figured why have the mother when he could just as easily have the daughter. So, he killed Jonathan and Mina; drained them dry. He stayed in London, watching Colette and learning everything that he could about her. He came up with a persona that he could use when he followed her to Paris, acted as a patron, and just recently began to fund the renovation and I'm sure that he's providing the funds for the masquerade ball."

Erik stood up, grabbing his cloak and pulling it on. "I have to get back. She had another date with him tonight."

"He won't feed on her now," Van Helsing comforted, putting his hand on Erik's shoulder. "He's been feeding on that dancer you told us about. In the morning, Dr. Seward will come and begin running tests on her to determine if she has fallen under the spell of the vampire. We're going to need your help. You're closer to Colette than anyone else at the opera house. We need you there to watch over her, just as you have done before."

Erik nodded. "I will come to you if I notice anything else suspicious," he said, pulling the hood up over his head. "I have to get back to her." With that, he left the doctor's office, and rode fervently back to the Opera Populaire.