A/N: Thanks for reviewing! You guys rock my socks! ()Sorry it's taken me so long to update! I'm writing another story (an original, obviously) for my school's newspaper, so I've been working on that, sorry! By the way, in case anyone's wondering, I'm basing this fic on a combo of Webber's musical and Kay's book. (Imagine the same storyline of Webber's musical, yet with Erik's background being the one from Kay's book… I'm probably going to make a few references to Giovanni, the gypsies, Erik's mother, and Nadir in some chapters, so if you haven't read Kay's book, please try not to be TOO confused! Oh, and as, you'll eventually read, Erik has Webber's half-mask…I've always liked that a lot!)

Disclaimer: Don't own any characters, but I wish I did!!!

Maeko-NoharaAs you will see in this chapter, Jacqueline's fault is that she's nosy and (as we'll see in later chapters) has a tendency to ask too many questions and say the wrong thing at the wrong time (Kind of like Christine in Susan Kay's book lol) By the way, YAY FOR HARRY POTTER!!! (Sirius and Lupin are my two favorite characters)

Padfootz-luvr Yay! Harry Potter! WOOOO!!!!!! I was having the same dilemma you are when I was coming up with the idea of the story. Who will he pick? Well, I already know the answer to that one () But it was a VERY hard decision to make, I must say…Maybe he could be a pimp and have both of 'em… Hahaha Nah, I like my idea better.

ashanti01Thanks for your review! I know! This site is screwed up sometimes… I hope you like the rest of the story!!!! Do you like Harry Potter too? (LoL the other reviewers and I do)

An Anti-Sheep Cheese Muffin You, my friend, have the greatest pen name ever!! () Thanks so much for the review! I hope you like where my story's going!! (Do you like Harry Potter? Everyone else seems to! )

Rhythm Is A Dancer: Yay! I love your e-mail address (The Black Family motto! GO SNUFFLES!!!) Anyways, If you have read Susan Kay's novel (I don't know if you have) We know that Erik is an architect and builder, so I just imagined him getting some of his old builder friends (Jules and Garnier, to be exact) to help him fix up the place. As for use of descriptive words-Yes, I'm working on that! (Although, in chapters from Jacqueline's point of view, that's difficult because of her lack of sight) I'll try to do better though! Thanks for the constructive criticism! ()

Chapter Three

The next several weeks passed by in a blur of magic and music to Jacqueline. Her original misgivings soon left her and she felt as if, for once, she finally belonged somewhere. Each day was like some wonderful dream and, though she sometimes feared she would wake up to find that it was all a fantasy, she was met each morning by the sweet voice of her angel. Erik was truly an angel in her mind. It hadn't taken her very long to figure out that he was, in fact, just a normal man, yet it mattered little.

From the first day, Erik had treated Jacqueline with the care and love of a father. Each morning he made her a delicious breakfast and played his organ for her as she ate silently at the rough wooden table. She often left her food untouched, preferring to simply lean back indulge herself in the product of Erik's god-like musical abilities.

Jacqueline's favorite times of the day, however, were her singing lessons. She was in a state of shock the first day Erik told her he planned on teaching her. "But Erik, I don't know… I've never had lessons before…are you sure I'm good enough? I don't want to disappoint you." He gently took her hand and led her closer to the organ. "My dear, you already sing like an angel. There is nothing you could do to disappoint me."

The first lesson itself was amazing. Erik took her voice to new heights and she was able to nail notes she never would have dreamed of hitting before. She had never before performed a song from an actual opera, yet she was able to do so with little trouble. These tragic stories…she felt as if she could identify with each character she portrayed and put her soul into her voice as she had never before.

It was only a few short days into Jacqueline's stay with Erik that her feelings for him became befuddled. During their fourth lesson, he singing abruptly stopped as she felt a pair of strong hands grasp her waist tightly. She took in a gasp of air. Gently, Erik whispered into her ear. "Your breathing, my dear, you need to breathe from deep within your diaphragm." She felt his deep breaths behind her and she did her best to imitate. "That's it, Jacqueline, very nice… Let's start from the beginning of the aria again." His cape brushed her gently as he returned to his seat at the organ. She nodded slowly, her breathing returning to normal. Softly she began singing again, trying her best to ignore the thoughts running through her head.

She was shocked to find herself longing to feel those hands on her once more.

Being in love was a shocking new experience for Jacqueline. She had never really known any men, except for her father. Growing up on the streets, there was no chance to worry about romance when just getting by was so much of a problem. Now that she was with Erik, however, she was able to explore emotions she had never felt before. She had only one concern: Did she really know enough about Erik to have these feelings for him?

During their first week or so together, she had divulged to him the secrets of her tragic past and her few exciting stories of life on the streets, yet she knew nothing of him. The questions always ran through her mind: Where was he born? What were his parents like? Are they still alive? What did he do growing up? Did he have any friends or family? And, the most pressing question was: Exactly what was that smooth thing she had felt the night they had first met?

One day, when Erik went out to buy more ink and parchment for his compositions, Jacqueline decided to look for answers.

Of all the rooms in Erik's house, the only one she was forbidden to enter was his bedroom. He had told her this the morning after they met. "Please, Jacqueline, that is one place I do not wish for you to enter. I…it…" his voice trailed off. Jacqueline replied simply, "I understand, sir." "Please," he replied gently, "Call me Erik."

Erik… she had never before realized just how beautiful a name could be…

She shook the thoughts from her head as she felt her way over to the door. Jacqueline was well aware that her lack of sight would make things difficult for her, but she did not care: she wanted to learn whatever she could about the man she was learning to love. She felt the coolness of the doorknob beneath her small hand as she tremulously turned it and opened the door.

Once inside the room, she could feel a strange coolness that sent shivers down her spine. Something was unsettling about it. She reached her hands out in front of her groping her way around in search of something…anything. Suddenly she heard the crunch of glass beneath her feet. Puzzled, she followed the broken trail to a solid surface covered in jagged glass. A small cry escaped her lips as the cold, hard glass sliced the skin of her palm. She heard a strange creaking noise, but she ignored it because, as she moved her hands over a wooden frame encircling the jagged surface, she knew what she was feeling. "It's a mirror." She whispered.

Continuing her groping, Jacqueline found that there was not one, but several smashed mirrors around the room. "I don't understand…" she thought to herself. Beside the line of mirrors, she briefly felt a few canvases with the roughness of paint upon them. Portraits… Jacqueline continued on. Eventually she felt a sharp pain in her arm and she knew that she had bumped into what she had been looking for: a dresser.

"There must be something in these drawers…some clue…" She opened the first three drawers to find nothing but assorted garments of clothing, which was to be expected. She lingered at the drawers before moving on, however, savoring the feeling of the cloth beneath her fingers…this cloth which covered Erik's body…She trembled at the thought "Jacqui, stop it!" she told herself aloud, using her old childhood nickname. Shaking off the feeling, she continued on before finally stopping at the bottom drawer. Inside she found an incredibly detailed wooden box, carved with a weaving vine of roses. Her fingers ran over the fabulous etching.

Finding her way to the bed, she opened the box with a deep breath. The contents of the box were confusing. She felt a strange round object on a chain that was either a pocket watch or compass: she could no be sure which. Running her hands across its smooth surface, she felt an engraving. Struggling to feel out each letter, the engraving was revealed to read "To my beloved husband, Giovanni. Love always, Isabella". Jacqueline sat in confusion. Who on Earth was "Giovanni" and why did Erik have his watch, or compass, or whatever this strange object was?

Continuing her search, she found a strange, jewel encrusted circular object. It seemed small enough to be a bracelet, yet was far too ornate. She felt on it a metal buckle like that of a belt or animal collar. Beneath this was an extremely thick pile of paper. Jacqueline knew that Erik was a composer. Could this be some long forgotten work? Cursing her inability to see these puzzling clues, she removed the last object. Jacqueline knew exactly what this was: it was a fabulously detailed woman's ring. To whom did it belong? Jacqueline wondered. Erik's mother? A former lover? She shuddered at the thought.

The box remained open as Jacqueline carefully placed the objects back on the bed for further inspection. She had one more drawer to look in: the one which lay on the end table beside Erik's bed. Opening it, she gasped loudly. Inside she felt the coolness of a strange, smooth object: one identical to the mysterious thing Erik dropped the night of their meeting. She ran her hands over the object. She felt a hole in the upper left corner and felt a strange area which stuck out near the edge. Suddenly, as though she had found some secret key, everything began to click within her mind: Erik's unwillingness to relive his past, the broken mirrors, his cry of anguish when he dropped that odd object on the night of their meeting…

"There's something…wrong with him…" she whispered to herself in disbelief, "He wears a…"

"Mask." A voice behind her whispered with quiet rage.

Jacqueline dropped the mask in shock and turned around, not seeing, but knowing who was there.

Erik was home.

A/N: Not the best piece of writing I know…And I had intended for this to be two chapters, but I just HAD to have Jacqueline be a nosy bitch (). I realize that the story seems to be moving kind of fast, but we still have to hear about what Erik thinks of Jacqueline and what he thinks of her NOW. ;) Thanks for reviewing!