The next morning, when Desiree awoke, she found a note stuck to the door. She felt insecure knowing that Erik had been in the room while she was asleep. She tore the paper off the nail it hung on.

Desiree,

Forgive me, I had to leave for about an hour to get some things. Please help yourself to the clothes in the wardrobe; I believe they would fit you. Remember whatever you may find in the vanity is at your dispense. Feel free to leave your room. Don't go anywhere but the room in which you awoke last night. You don't have to worry about not finding your way back; it will be the only door in the hallway that's unlocked. Please do not try to force any of the doors, you'll find out what's behind many of them in good time. There is food on the table in the aforementioned room. Help yourself. We can talk upon my return.

-Erik, Phantom of the Opera

She read it on her way to the vanity and laid it down on the top of it, reading the last two lines over her shoulder on her way to the wardrobe. The dresses inside were all very extravagant, much more extravagant than she would normally feel comfortable wearing. She picked out one of the simplest, still too much for her taste, but better than the others. It was black, and left her back and shoulders bare. It did fit her, though, and for that she was thankful.

There was a pitcher of water and an empty basin on the vanity that she hadn't noticed when she'd set the note down on it. She rinsed her face and hands, wishing she'd done so before she got dressed, then dampened a brush before using it. She brushed her hair until it was fairly straight- she liked it better that way, and the wet brush did it for her.

Suddenly, she whirled around to stare at the coffin. Her eyes narrowed. She knew she was being ridiculous. Empty coffin, empty threat. Still, she kept the coffin in her sight until she'd gotten out of the room.

The hallway outside was not quite as well-lit as her room, but her eyes were adjusted to the dark by now. There was not an overabundance of doors, but enough that she didn't know just how many there were by glancing around. She didn't take the time to count them, but rather just started trying doors, gently, so as not trigger whatever occurrence would be triggered by trying to 'force' the door, until she found one that opened. She entered, shutting the door behind her.

There was breakfast food on a table by the end of one couch, as Erik's letter had said there would be. She didn't eat any of it, though. She wasn't hungry, so she just drank some water and then wandered idly through the room, observing it.

The room had, though she didn't know it, undergone a great deal of change since Christine had left, just as everything else had. There was a couch, perpendicular to the door, with a small table at the other end, and an armchair facing the door next to the table. Another couch sat across from the first, with a foot or two of space between it and the armchair. At the end of that couch that was nearest the door was the table with food. Behind the chair, but not perfectly centered, was a large, stone fireplace with a small fire in it. On the mantelpiece were two ebony boxes, but they did not open when she tried to lift the lids because they were locked. A clock sat between the two boxes, and it seemed to be working, but she did not bother to see what time it was. The walls were draped with black cloth. A tall ladder leaned against the wall to the left, and at the top of that ladder, a small, black veil. She wondered what was behind it, and so she started up the ladder.

What she saw through the window behind the veil was the product of pure ingenuity. It was a six-sided room, each wall consisting of a giant mirror, and a large, iron tree in the center of it all, with a lasso hanging from it. Horrible, but quite amazing. Each mirror reflected not only the tree, but the other reflections. The reflections reflected the reflections reflected the reflections reflected the reflections reflected the reflections. So caught up in the vastness of the eternal forest was she, that she had not heard Erik when he came in.

"And what do you think of my forest, Desiree? Amazing, isn't it?"

She started when she heard his voice and barely managed to stop herself from falling off the ladder. Her head turned to look at him over his shoulder. "What is it for?"

His lips curled up into a smile and he shook his head. "That, you need not concern yourself about. All in good time, should you accept my offer. Speaking of the potential arrangement, let's discuss it. Come down from the window and let's talk."

Desiree descended from the ladder and sat on the sofa opposite him, with the untouched food next to her.

"You didn't eat," he said, nodding at the food.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't hungry. I drank some water, but I really didn't feel much like eating."

"That's quite alright, Mademoiselle. Now, about my offer, I need an answer."

"How endangering would it be to my health to stay here?"

He smiled. "Not too endangering. I'm sure I've scared you with some comments I've made, and I'm sorry for frightening you like that, but there is no threat in staying here. Not now."

"If I turn down your offer?"

"I'll take you back up to the streets of Paris and leave you there, and you can continue living your what-you-call-a-life."

"If I stayed, would I have the choice to leave if I desired to?"

"You can always leave, Desiree, you realize I have no control over you. I would find it very difficult to stop you, if you knew the way out."

She considered this for a moment, before finally answering. "I'll stay for a time, to see if I like it. If I don't, I'll ask you to take me back to the above world, and if I do, I'll stay with you. I assume that, in staying here, I also have leave to wander throughout the Opera House."

"At certain times and in certain places, most assuredly."

She looked at him a moment. "What will I do here?"

"When you are more familiar with the layout of this house and of the Opera building, almost anything you want. But for right now, I would like to hear you sing."

She blinked. "Sing?"

He smiled again and nodded. "Yes, sing. You seem surprised."

"Just what do you expect me to sing, Monsieur?"

"Oh, Desiree, sing whatever you like."

"I can't sing, Erik. I don't know any songs and I've never sung before."

"Your voice is very beautiful. It is obvious that if you had the proper training, you could be a very good singer. Please sing something!"

"I know no songs, Erik."

The next half hour was spent teaching Desiree a song from Othello, one that Desdemona sings. She was, as Erik had predicted, very good, even with just a half hour of coaching.

After a little while, Erik fell silent for a moment and looked at her with a vacant expression. "You're very beautiful, Desiree."

This comment had been unexpected. She blinked, and he moved to sit on the sofa, next to her, playing with a lock of her hair. "That dress fits you very well."

Her cheeks turned slightly pink. "I wished they had not all been so extravagant. I feel very out-of-place in this."

He smiled. "I am sorry, Mademoiselle. Of course. The woman for whom those dresses were bought would have only worn them to operas, and she did that so often that it was the only kind of gown she wore. I'll get some simpler ones tomorrow."

"Oh no, Monsieur! Please, if it's an inconvenience, there's no need."

"No inconvenience, merely a courtesy. Let's run through the song again."

She sang it again, Erik humming the chords. Tomorrow he'd probably take her into his room so he could play on the organ, but this worked for now.

When they were finally done, Erik stood up. "That's enough for now. I have other things I need to do. It won't take long, but if you're bored, it's nearly noon. You slept very late. You can eat, I'll bring in fresh food. Other doors are unlocked now, you can wonder around as long as you don't move or break anything."

Desiree stood up. "I'll just stay in my room for now, maybe look around in a little bit and eat a little later. Will you be busy very long?"

"A while, I'm afraid. Perhaps we can go see an opera this evening. Faust is playing. We'll see how it goes."

The both headed towards the door, Erik slightly behind Desiree. Before she opened the door, she turned around a posed a question that had been bugging her for a while. "Erik, why do you wear that mask?" Her hand moved towards it, overcome by curiosity, but she pulled it back. It wasn't her place to remove his mask.

He had put a hand up to stop her hand before she had pulled back. "All in good time, just like everything else, Mademoiselle."

"Yes, but is it just for a mysterious effect? Are a fugitive? Do you just find it comfort-"

"All in good time."

She tilted her head in slight confusion, then shrugged. "Alright. If you really don't want me to know right now, I won't press."

"I appreciate it."

She looked at him one more time, before exiting the room with him. They both entered separate doors, both consumed by their own thoughts. Desiree's consisted of being increasingly confused about this phantom's mystery, frightening sense of humor, and apparent love of music. Erik was simply trying to finish his plan for this young lady who had stumbled into his life in the most unruly way possible, and who was, in fact, starting to grow on him.