(A/N- sorry about last chapter, I had writers block and I couldn't think of a more interesting way to inform everyone about the "dreams." Anyways, enjoy. Hopefully you all will like this chapter!)

An Angel in Hell

"Christine Daae could sing in the opera." My wonderful friend, Meg Giry, had just nominated me to replace La Carlotta, who had just stormed out after a backdrop landed on her. Oh, I love you so much, Meg. Now I have to think of a "wonderful" way to repay you.

"Let her sing. She has been well taught." Thanks a heap, Madame Giry. I hadn't known that she was aware of my lessons with my "Angel of Music," but I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. She seemed to know everything!

"Go ahead, Mademoiselle Daae." Was the response from Monsieur Firmin. I stepped forward and was about to sing when I heard the two new managers debating whether or not this was such a good idea. I started singing anyways, and the managers shut up as soon as they heard me. That was nice of them, as I didn't need the distraction.

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After the performance, I was visited by a friend from the past, a person whom I hadn't seen for many years. Raoul de Chagny. He was charming, as usual, but it irked me a little that he automatically presumed that I wanted to go to dinner with him. Yes, I had missed him, but I had just performed an entire opera and was now thoroughly exhausted. I guess only a performer could understand just how taxing physically singing could be.

As soon as Raoul left me, I heard the voice of my "angel," Erik. He was obviously not pleased that that "slave of fashion" had paid me a visit. I quickly apologized, as it is never a good idea for one to be on the bad side of the Opera Ghost. Once I had finished sucking up to my Angel, he offered to show me who he truly was. Of course I said yes! The large, ornately gilded mirror that hung on the was swung open, revealing my Angel. He was more or less what I had expected. He stood a good six feet four inches tall, and, though he was rather lean, he was very strong. His black hair was slicked back from a face half covered with a white leather mask. The left side of his face was extremely handsome! It looked as though his face was a replica of a Roman God! So gorgeous! Flawless! I knew better than to expect the same on the other side of his face, but still!

He invited me down to his home under the opera house, and even though I had dismissed one suitor because of my fatigue, I decided to go with my Angel. Of course I wouldn't turn down that invitation! When he stretched his gloved hand out to me from the mirror in my dressing room, I felt an odd sense of déjà vu. Life was getting kind of predictable, huh?

I took his had without thinking, and even though his hand had a leather glove on it, I could feel the heat radiate from his body. The contact between the two of us, however small, sent my stomach doing flip-flops. That's odd, I've never felt that before.

He led the way, his hand never leaving mine. I loved the way he walked! It was so graceful, so elegant. He seemed to float, almost as though he really was the angel that he claimed to be. When we reached the gondola on the subterranean lake under the opera house, he carefully guided me to my seat in the front of the small boat and gestured for me to sit down. Once I was situated, he started rowing across the lake, which probably wasn't an easy task I might add.

We finally reached our destination, and my angel helped me out of the boat, catching me when I inevitable stumbled. Of course, I had always been a bit of a klutz, especially in front of gorgeous, sensual men. That's why I was never such a good dancer. I could see a smile tug at the corners of my angel's lips when I almost fell. Ah, well, at least I had been, however temporarily, in the strong embrace of my guardian angel.

Once I had composed myself, Erik started singing to me. I had never truly heard his voice, for he had always sung quietly, almost in a whisper, for fear of being discovered. His voice, his entire being, contradicted itself. His voice sounded of winged seraphs in heaven and burning demons in Hell. It sounded so sweet, and yet so bitter. I could even see such contradicting emotions in his eyes. Joy, sorrow, and an unidentifiable emotion that I had not seen in another being, at least not when they looked at me. It seemed to be related to the feeling that I got when I sang, a sort of passion, but it was not a passion I was familiar with. Oh, well. I would ponder this later. All I wanted to do then was lose myself in the music. The music of the night.

I began to struggle with concentration, though, for I was now extremely fatigued. Unable to stand any longer, I collapsed once more into Erik's arms. While continuing to sing, my angel carried me into a separate room and placed me gently onto a large bed. The last thing that I remember before drifting off entirely was Erik singing the end of the song. You alone can make my song take flight. Help me make the music of the night.

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I woke the next morning, or at least I assumed it was morning (one can never really tell what time of day it is five stories under ground, can they?) to the sound of an organ playing gently in the next room. I decided to go investigate, so I made myself presentable and entered the next room. I opened the door to a large but cluttered music room. There were musical instruments and various other items strewn all across the room. Dominating the room was a rather large, and might I add beautifully made, pipe organ. It had papers with various compositions sitting on every surface of the organ except for the keys themselves. Sitting at the organ was Erik.

He seemed not to have noticed my presence yet, so I crept up to him quietly. I didn't want to disturb him from his music. By the time I reached him, I was sure that he was now aware of my presence, though he was too engrossed in his music to actually acknowledge it. Oh, well. I understood.

I sat down on the bench of the organ to the left of him. Finally! He actually turned to look at me! Neither of us spoke, as both of us were staring into the other's eyes. I started blushing and wanted to look away, and yet I couldn't. In another sense, I didn't want to ever stop looking at him.

I reached up my hand, slowly so as not to startle him, and started exploring the left side of his face with my fingertips. Erik closed his eyes, unable to look at me any longer. I guess that total isolation doesn't prepare you for human contact. Even throughout our little staring contest and my gentle stroking of his face, Erik continued to play the organ. He didn't even hesitate once!

My sensitive fingertips felt every inch of smooth, clean-shaven skin on his perfect side of his face. I wondered what the other side of his face looked like? I knew that it was far from perfect, but I was young and, of course, curious. And I was sure that his misshapen face would not frighten me. After all, in my dreams I had seen many versions of Erik's face, and not even the most frightening one scared me.

Without thinking, I let my fingers slid from the left side of his face to rip off the leather mask covering the right side of his face. Before I knew it, I was pushed off of the bench and landed unceremoniously on the ground. The music had stopped. Standing over me was a furious Angel. I let my eyes wander up to his face, and was I was shocked when I saw it. It was not normal, and it was clearly distorted, but at the same time it wasn't too bad. Some of the versions that I had seen were much more hideous than the face looming above me. I think that the only reason his face might be called "terrifying" was because it stood in such sharp contrast to the other, flawless side of his face.

Even though Hollywood had prepared me for his face, nothing could have prepared me for his rage! He was shouting at me, calling me cruel names, and taunting me. "Well, you wanted to see me, so look! Look at me! Aren't you going to run away, screaming? You little viper!"

I stood up slowly, trying my hardest to fight back my tears. I also had to fight hard to bite back my angry retorts to his temper.

I faced him, defiance in my eyes. I would not let him frighten me away, just because he was wallowing in self-pity! This was absurd, his reaction! All that I had done was remove his mask!

When he saw that I was standing only a few feet away, unafraid, he faltered. I doubt that anyone else had gone this long without screaming or running away. My open defiance seemed to shock him, for he surely mustn't have expected me to stand, unafraid.

Without warning, Erik stopped his ranting entirely. I saw a flicker of fear, of all things, cross his face! He, a giant man who could probably break me in half, was afraid of me? That was an odd turn of events. I saw all anger leave his face as quickly as it had come, followed by an even more frightening set of emotions. Fear and hurt.

We stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity, but was really no longer than a few seconds. Suddenly, Erik spun and left the room. His stride no longer held the grace and confidence it had possessed yesterday. Now, Erik looked like a frightened, overgrown child…

Oh, shit! Now I understood! The only people before, in his entire life, who had not been afraid of him were those who had laughed at him and beaten him regularly. He must have thought that I would act as cruel as the rest of the world had!

I quickly ran into the room that Erik had entered, hoping desperately that there were no sharp objects in his room. I really didn't want him testing his skills when he was in a suicidal or murderous mood. To my surprise, the room that I entered was a dark, empty room. The only object, other than a single candle, was a coffin. How odd.

In the furthest, darkest corner of the room I could make out a shape huddled in the shadows. I tip-toed over to Erik and stood only a foot away from him. It wasn't going to be dangerous for me to be in such close proximity to my demon. He was far too distraught to cause me any harm. My maternal instincts started kicking in at that moment, so I gently knelt on the cold, damp flagstones (he really did need someone to redecorate his room!) beside Erik and cradled him in my arms. At least, I came as close as I could to cradling him in my arms, as he was a good foot taller than me.

Tearless sobs racked his body, and I unconsciously crooned soothing words, trying desperately to comfort my angel. Without even thinking, I bent down and kissed him on his distorted cheek. Instantly he froze up, petrified and unable to move. Oh my God, what had I done? When I tasted a single, salty tear that had managed to escape from his golden eye, heat rushed through my veins. I felt like I was on fire! My stomach flip-flopped again, only much worse this time. If I hadn't been kneeling, I'm sure my knees would have given way beneath me! Wow!

It took about a half an hour for my teacher regained his composure. I saw that confusingly passionate look in his eyes, the same one I had seen last night. Also, he wore a look of, dare I say it, gratitude. Why, my angel almost seemed grateful to me, though why I didn't know.

Abruptly, Erik stood up, pulling me up with him. He led me back into the cluttered music room and donned his leather mask once more. Then he said, "come, we must return. Those two fools who run my theater will be missing you." Although his manner was slightly cold, he could not hide the warmth in his golden eyes. Those eyes seemed to burn with a fire, constantly flickering, constantly burning… I had, unknowingly, broken one of the ice walls that guarded his heart when I had placed that single, chaste kiss on his cheek. I couldn't help but feel triumphant.

(Sorry if you thought that Christine or Erik were out of character. For Erik, I don't think that "lying Delilah" would have really been angry enough for my purposes. As for Christine, you must remember this isn't really Christine, so she can have a bit more backbone. I hope you enjoyed it!)