A/N: The song is Johann Sebastian Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring". If you don't typically read my stories, this goes along the same lines of "Ghosts of the Past" and "My Darkest Hour". I may branch out from this oneshot after I finish MDH and write a phic set with Christine and Erik visiting Madeleine in Erik's old home town. Perhaps…


An Angel's Voice

It was dark. Dark and beautiful. Christine squinted against the darkness so she might take in the beauty of it all. "It's been so long since I was in such a big church," she whispered. "And for such a small town!"

Erik shrugged, lighting a candle and handing it to her. "I used to sneak out of the houseas a child. I'd come here to play he pipe organs." A smile crossed his lips, reaching his eyes as he glanced up at the amazing instrument. "A ghost haunted this place."

"A ghost haunting a church!" Christine laughed. "Surely people didn't believe that!"

The Phantom shrugged. "People will believe most anything that is spread. Even that a child who has done nothing to harm them was born of the devil himself."

Christine felt her heart clench. "Erik? Would you play something?"

"People will hear!"

"Well then a ghost has come," she said with a bright smile.

He felt a smile tug once again at his lips and he moved towards the organ. In his mind's eye he saw Father Mansart standing there, a warm smile on his face and a Bible in his hand.

Erik's fingers moved in a slow, graceful motion across the keys. "This is best played with a violin," he murmured, but Christine urged him on.

Her gentle voice echoed through the church. "Jesu, joy of man's desiring. Holy wisdom, love most bright. Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring soar to uncreated light." She met Erik's smile as she raised her voice, singing still. "Word of God, our flesh that fashioned with the fire of life impassioned. Striving still to truth unknown. Soaring, dying round Thy throne…"

The music stopped abruptly and Christine looked at her husband in question. "Footsteps," he whispered and she followed him quickly into the shadows.

A young priest appeared, looking about. "Hello?" he called, his eyes wide in the dim light. "Is anyone there?" When no one answered, he let out a low breath and a smile crossed his face. Erik and Christine watched him leave the sanctuary in silence.


"It was the strangest thing, I tell you!" Marie said as she set her tea cup down. Her eyes traveled from Madeleine, to Erik, and finally to Christine.

"Well get on with it!" Madeleine snapped impatiently.

"I was talking to our young priest and he said he heard the oddest thing in the sanctuary last night. He heard the organ playing-" she turned her eyes to Erik, though not accusingly – "and so he went to see who it was. On his way there, he said he was sure that he heard – and he said that there was no doubt in his mind of what it was – an angel singing Bach."

Christine seemed to choke on her tea. "Angels sing Bach?"

"Apparently," the aging woman said. "Jesu, Joy of a Man's Desiring, he said. Strange, don't you think?" A smile perked her lips.

"Perfectly unbelievable," Erik responded and took another sip of his tea.


A/N: Please R&R. I'm rather addicted to reviews.