Disclaimer: The phantom is not mine no matter how hard I've tried.

Review Responses:

GerrysISUchick04: I didn't think to warn my readers who haven't read my Lotr fics about my tendency to hurt my characters. But I promise this fic is more emotional pain than physical. (Well mostly.)

PhantomPhanatic: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm glad you're interested.

Author's Note: I guess I should give you all a warning. To my reviewers who have read my Lotr stories I am known as The Evilly Morbid Writer, because of my tendency to torture my characters, in very imaginative and devious ways. Though this is a love story there will be some disturbingly painful scenes for our beloved characters, both physical and emotional pain. I am sorry I did not think to mention this in the first chapter.

Discoveries In the Dark

"Who is it?" Antoinette's voice said pulling the door open. She looked in shock at the body sprawled at her feet. "What has happened?" She said bending beside the girl she had met earlier that day. She was hardly recognizable.

"What is it mother?" Meg said from behind her. "Oh my." She gasped looking down at the girl her mother was checking over.

"Help me move her." Antoinette commanded after she was sure the girl still lived. She crossed the hall and unlocked the door to the room across from hers. She had vowed she would never use this room, but the dormitory was too far away to carry the girl. The dressing room had not been changed since its last occupant had left it. They carried the girl in and laid her on the bed that looked as if it had been waiting for that moment. It did not escape Madame Giry that there was no dust, and the flowers in the vases looked fresh. So he was still lurking around. They worked quickly to clean her cuts and bruises.

She and Meg took turns watching over the girl throughout the night. Antoinette could see thatLily had nightmares, but did not try to wake her. She would need her rest to heal from the ordeal. It was still early when she heard a soft clicking noise behind her. She turned to see him standing next to the mirror.

"I'm sorry, Erik. I had no choice but to use this room." She began to explain thinking he would be angry.

"I knew you would." Was his reply.

"You knew… Erik did you do this?" She asked knowing she did not want to believe it.

"Antoinette, I am many things. But it would take a true monster with no compassion whatsoever to have done something like this." He spat the words at her in anger.

"But you knew." She whispered.

"Yes." Was his only answer. He walked over to the bed looking down at the injured woman. "Will she be all right?"

"I do believe so. It will take time to heal, but eventually she will." Antoinette assured him. "It's such a pity too."

"What is?" He asked.

"She was so beautiful. When I saw her earlier I thought I was looking at the face of an angel. But now she will have scars. I only hope she can live with them." She looked up to him knowing he would understand.

He looked down at the woman and for the first time realized how beautiful she must normally be. Her skin, where it was not bruised, was the color of fine porcelain. Her face was pleasantly heart-shaped, and her long hair hung in spirals, and was the color of rich mahogany. Before he had only seen the bruised and battered skin. "She will have to." He said reaching out once more to touch her cheek. Then he turned and went back to the mirror entrance.

But he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "Erik. She is not Christine."

He swung around so quickly at her words that she thought for a moment that he would strike her. "I know that."

"She has nothing for you. No talent. No voice. Please leave her alone." Antoinette pleaded with him. She had seen the look on his face when he looked at the young woman.

"Do you think me a letch woman? She was hurt. Am I not allowed to show concern for another human being?" His angry words reverberated through the room.

"It is unlike you, Erik." She replied stiffly.

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think, Antoinette. You of all people should know what compassion is. You showed it to a young boy that they called the Devils Child many years ago. Do not think me incapable of it now." He warned slipping behind the mirror and into the secret tunnel leading to the catacombs.

"Oh Erik, not again." She whispered. Then she heard a noise from the bed and turned to see the young lady sitting up staring at the mirror entrance that was now closed.

"Lily. You are awake." She smiled returning to the girl's bedside.

"Yes. Where am I?" She asked still not taking her eyes from the mirror.

"This is the old Prima Donna's dressing room. It is no longer in use. It was the closest room to my own so I decided it would be best for caring for you. I have to admit you gave me quite a shock when I found you outside my bedroom door." Antoinette tried to draw her attention from the mirror.

"Your bedroom. But I collapsed on the stage." Lily said turning her attention to the older woman.

"Maybe in your confusion you made it to my room. Don't worry little one." She tried to assure the girl. But she was positive that Erik had brought the girl to her.

"Maybe." She turned her gaze to the mirror again and then for the first time noticed her own reflection. She reached a trembling hand up to touch her bruised face. She flinched at the pain it brought her.

"Don't worry about that either my child. It will heal." Antoinette tried to comfort the girl.

She nodded. "Yes I know. It matters little." She answered, shrugging at her own reflection. This surprised Antoinette. Most of the women she knew were extremely vain when it came to appearance. "I just wish my eyesight was not so blurry."

"Blurry huh. Well maybe when the swelling goes down it will help." She paused for a moment not sure if she should ask what was on her mind. "May I ask who did this to you?" She prayed silently that Erik had been telling the truth.

Lily looked down to the covers and thought for a moment. "Just a man who I owed money to. He thought to gain recompense in another way. I did not agree."

Antoinette knew what the girl's words implied. "Lily. Do I need to send for a doctor? Are you hurt elsewhere?"

"No. I managed to escape him before he could do any more damage than what you see." Lily assured her.

A sigh of relief left the older woman. "Good." Then she turned towards the door. "I'm afraid I must leave you for a short while now. The auditions will start again in a few moments. But I will have my daughter come and sit with you."

"Madame Giry. Who was the man you were speaking to when I awoke?" Lily asked, stopping her from leaving. Antoinette had hoped the girl had not seen him.

She turned to the girl. "Someone you must forget you ever saw." She said in a commanding voice.

"But his words were so touching." Lily said staring again at the mirror, almost as if she could see through it.

"You can not think of him that way child. It will only bring you pain. Please promise me that you will try to forget you saw him." Antoinette's voice sounded urgent.

"I will try." Lily said after a moment of thought. After Madame Giry left the room she whispered again to herself. "I will try, but how can I?"

After a short while a beautiful blonde woman entered the room carrying a tray of food. Lily had been deep in thought. She wondered what her future held at the opera house. She felt comfortable and safe here. Safer than she had been in the past five years of her life. She wasn't sure what it was about this place that comforted her. After the ordeal she had suffered through the night before she knew she should be upset, but that seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Hello. I am Meg Giry. I bought you food. Mother said not to wake you if you slept, but I am glad you are awake." The blonde girl smiled placing the tray in front of Lily.

"Thank you. I am Lily." Lily smiled at the friendly young girl.

Lily ate a small amount of the food speaking to the young woman. Before they knew it hours had passed. She couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to the other woman. She hadn't spoken that much in years. "I saw you dancing yesterday. You were lovely."

"Thank you. I am to be the lead dancer this year. The owners said so. I can't wait until the first performance." Meg chatted happily.

"Yes, well I am worried about the first performance." Lily said frowning.

"Why." Meg asked.

"I should be starting the designs for the costumes today. But my eyes are still blurry. How can I draw if I can barely see the paper?" Lily admitted her fear to her new friend.

"You just need a couple of days to heal, Lily. You are rushing it. We have plenty of time until the first performance." Meg tried to assure her.

"I am being silly, I know. But I so want to please the owners. I don't want to lose this job. I don't ever want to leave the opera house." Lily said smiling broadly. "It is such a magical place."

"I think you will be here for a long time to come, Lily. I can see the love of opera in your eyes. Why have you never tried to dance or sing? I think you would look glorious up on the stage. I think your passion would come through in the performance." Meg tried to urge Lily into a new direction.

"No Meg. I cannot do that. I would much rather remain in the background creating the beautiful costumes. Please don't ask me to attempt something I have not the heart to do." Lily said not explaining her reasons behind her aversion to the stage.

"All right. I will not push it." Meg agreed.

Lily had stood and moved to the mirror staring at its gilded edges. "Meg, can I ask you something?"

"Why of course, Lily. You can ask me anything." Meg said sitting on the bed and crossing her legs beneath her.

"Have you ever seen a man in the opera house wearing all black, and bearing a white mask covering half of his face?" Lily asked looking at Meg's reflection in the mirror.

Meg swallowed hard and the color left her face. "Lily, that is not funny." Meg said thinking the girl was jesting her.

"What do you mean, Meg?" Lily said in confusion. Meg could see then that Lily was not teasing her.

"Have you seen him? Have you seen the phantom?" Meg said in a demanding tone.

"The Phantom?" Lily said questioningly.

"Oh Lily. Everyone knows the story of the Phantom. You are not trying to tell me that you do not." Meg said not believing that the woman could be so naïve.

"Meg, I'm sorry but I don't know what you speak of." Lily said turning to Meg.

Meg decided to believe her. Then settled in to tell Lily the sorrowful story. "They say that there is a man living in the catacombs below the opera house. But he is no normal man. He is a genius, and he has the voice of an angel, but he hides his face from all that would gawk. His face is deformed and ugly." Lily thought of the mask she had seen on the man's face the night before, and thought it no wonder he would hide. But she did not interrupt Meg's tale.

"They say he fell in love with a young performer. Christine Daae. He spoke to her and tutored her in the shadows of the night. He kept himself hidden from her, so she would not see. What the Phantom did not know was that Christine was falling in love with her childhood sweetheart, the opera's Patron. I am not sure of what exactly happened, but she ended up leaving Paris with her lover. They say the phantom disappeared after that." Meg finished the sad tale.

"He must have been heartbroken." Lily whispered thinking of the pain he must have endured.

"Do not feel sorry for him, Lily. What I did not tell you was that he was also a murderer." Meg continued with a warning.

Lily looked up in shock. "Murderer." She was shocked by the word.

"Yes he killed two men in this very theater." Meg said.

"But why?" Lily asked in confusion.

"No one is sure. He just did. And if you have seen this phantom I suggest you stay away from him." Meg gave a final warning before standing to leave. "I must go see how the auditions are going. I will be back with your evening meal."

After she left Lily sat on the bed. "Why do they all think they need to warn me away from you? I have never even met you." Lily whispered starring at the mirror.

"Yes why must they?" She heard a voice floating through the air around her. She looked all around, but could not tell where it was coming from.

"Who's there?" She asked finally.

"They think you should fear me. Maybe they are right." The voice seemed to whisper around her.

"I heard you speaking to Madame Giry. I don't fear you." She said bravely forcing her chin forward.

"They all do." The voice spoke again.

"I am not them." She said defiantly.

"No you are not. Are you?" The voice whispered again.

"But Madame was right about one thing. I am not your Christine." She said knowing her words would anger him.

"No. Noyou are not." The words were not spoken in anger as she expected, but more in disappointment.