Chapter 3

"My name is Elle," she answered shyly, and still a bit anxious from the incident in the theatre. "Elle D'aubigne. My father owns the opera house."

"I see," he replied. "Well, Mademoiselle D'aubigne, I'm glad to see that you are okay. What frightened you so, to make you run that fast?"

"Oh nothing," she quickly replied, not wanting to tell him what had happened. He most likely would not believe her and, whoever that was back there, she did not want to talk about that strange encounter. "I was just startled. I thought I heard a noise, but I guess I'm hearing things. Excuse me Monsieur Hector, but what are you doing here?"

He laughed and then he politely answered her. "I am the son of Charles Tremaine. He was hired as the main director here."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Elle stated. She was probably going to be seeing a lot more of this man because of his affiliation with her father, so she had to be friendly with him. "Are you from around here?"

"Actually we moved here from Britain three years ago," he said. "My father is British and my mother is French, so she convinced him to move us back down to her old home. He was so interested in getting a job at this particular opera house because my mother used to come here as a little girl, and he believes that the bright lights of this palace will shine again."

"So does my father," she replied. No wonder his English had not a trace of French in it, he spent most of his life in Britain. He seemed like a nice young man, but for some reason she found that she could not focus on him. Her thoughts were on the mystery man, the stranger in the dark who keeps to the shadows.

"I was just able to go out to lunch-" he began.

"It's lunchtime already?" she asked, caught off guard at the leap in time. Last thing she knew it was only nine fifteen, now it was noon. Where had the time gone? She hadn't done much to make it pass, but pass it did.

"Yes," he answered patiently. "Would you like to join me?"

She thought for a moment, and decided to accept the kind offer. The only other choice she would have is to grab some lunch while trying not to disturb her parents, who were busy with the directors, and head off to her room. "I would love to."

Elle accepted his arm when it was offered to her and he escorted her out to where he had a carriage waiting. He helped her into the carriage and then hopped in after her. The driver pulled the reigns and then the horses took off slowly down the street. She turned her head to look at the man sitting next to her, and felt awkward. She was not sure what to say.

"How do you like your new home?" he inquired, trying to start a conversation in order to ease the tension in the atmosphere.

"Very much so," she responded. She had liked her new home; the opera house fascinated her and felt as if it were filled with so much history. It was the strange occurrences that troubled her, and although she was curious about the truth behind the darkness, she was more apprehensive. Elle had been that way her whole life, loving the thought of adventure but never ready to have one of her own. That was one reason everyone thought she could never perform.

"Glad to hear it," he said pleasantly.

Lunch went well, and Elle found herself thinking fondly of this new man in her life. Hector had an agreeable countenance and always did whatever he could to make her feel comfortable. After only knowing him a couple hours she felt like they were close friends, well somewhat close. It was nice to have a friend after being lonely so many years.

He dropped her off back at the opera house and said that he would see her soon. Then he took off in his black carriage as she entered the entrance hall. The workers were gone, but in their stead was a line of people, men and women, girls and boys, starting from within the theatre. She thought that the cast was not coming until the next day, but then guessed that they were now choosing the cast. These people were all auditioning to join.

Elle walked past them and up the set of stairs that led to her family's quarters. She treaded down the hall and stopped outside her room. Then she took out her key and opened the door. With a sigh she entered her own domain and took a seat at her small private piano. It had been a present from her parents for her tenth birthday, and although she had played on many pianos since then, it had always been her favorite.

For some entertainment she laid out some music and began to play. The music soothed her, and she felt in control. Then, as the piece was winding down, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Sitting on top of her instrument was a letter, with a red skull seal. She immediately stopped playing and picked it up.

Breaking the seal, she wondered who it could be from and how whoever had written it got into her room when it was locked. These questions puzzled her, and so she read on in order to hopefully find the answers.

My dear Mademoiselle D'aubigne,

Welcome to my Opera House. I see you have made yourself at home.

My apologies, I did not intend to frighten you, and you took off with such a start. It would be wise not to run next time.

As to your singing, perhaps you have not had proper instruction. I'm extending my services out to you, to see if what you say is really true or if there is a hidden side of you that even you are not aware of.

Be in the theatre at eleven.

It would also be wise to keep my existence to yourself.

-O.G.

There was only one person who this letter could be from, and that was the stranger from earlier on in the day. She was even more confused now that he left her that letter then she was shortly after she met him, if you could say that they met. Elle had no idea how he had gotten the letter in her room, and she was now worried that she was not safe in her own room since she knew that he could get in there.

Another thing that mystified her was that he knew her name, and not only that but he referred to the opera house as his own. Her father owned the Opera Populaire, and had owned it for two years, so why was some strange man calling it his? It made no sense to her.

Elle was not sure if he was threatening her by the tone of his letter or not, but the warnings gave off an ominous vibe. She decided to listen to his little snippets of advice, not because she trusted his words, but because she was afraid of what he might do. She had not even seen him, and just that fact alone gave him power over her. The last thing she wanted to do was upset a man whom she was not sure would cause harm to her or not.

Then he brought up singing. He seemed to believe that she had some unknown ability to sing that he, for some reason, thought he could bring out in her. She doubted his words, truly believing that she was never meant to sing. That life was not for her; otherwise it would have happened by now. Also he told her to be at the theatre at eleven. Did he want to give her singing lessons?

Elle had to make up her mind on whether to go or not. If she did not, then who knows what could happen to her, but if she did go then she still won't know what to expect. Just thinking about this situation made her feel like a silly little girl again. She did not even know this man and she was already frightened out of her wits by him. All he wanted was to hear her sing, and she ran. What exactly was she so afraid of? Of singing?

She would go at eleven, and she would prove to him that she was right, and then he would leave her be. Until then she would return to playing her piano and wait for dinner to roll around. Time always flies when you are busy doing something that you love to do, and music had always been at the top of her list.

It still bothered her that she knew nothing, but Elle hoped to get some answers soon. Without noticing it, she had begun to hum along with the song she was playing. Her fingers gracefully hit each key, and the many years of practice she had acquired were evident. Keeping herself busy was just the trick to push all worries from the mind and coax herself into being relaxed.

Elle's fingers busied themselves with the black and white piano keys for many hours. Soon she found that it would be dinner in about half and hour, and she put her music away. Then her eyes darted to the letter, and she picked it up again. She would have to hide it, just in case someone came in her room. He had told her to keep his existence a secret, after all. Elle slipped the letter away in one of her jewelry boxes and then looked at herself in the mirror.

Her day was much more eventful then what she was used to back in the country. She fixed her hair where a pin had fallen out, and then checked it in the mirror. Elle was ready for dinner with her parents, and she hoped that their day had gone well.

She left her room, locking her door behind her, and headed to the dining room yet again. The directors had finally left, and now it was just the three of them. Judging by the expression on her father's face she could tell that the meeting went better then expected, and she remembered the long line of people she had seen when coming in. Perhaps casting had gone well too.

"How was your day?" Monsieur D'aubigne asked his daughter.

"Interesting," she replied. "I met someone today. His name is Hector Tremaine; he said he was one of the directors' sons."

"Oh yes," her father said. "Mister Tremaine. He is our primary director."

"Lovely man," her mother commented. "And his son is such a gentleman."

"We achieved a lot today," he stated proudly. "So many people wanted to work for us, but we could only hire a certain number. Did you see the crowd earlier today?"

Elle nodded, and began eating her food. She was glad that her father was having a smooth transition so far. If only he had known what she had been up to, or about the man who claims to own this place, then he would not have been so calm. But alas he was, and she was not about to inform him of her new secret.

After dinner she retired back to her room to wait until it was time for her to sneak off to the theatre. Maybe she would be able to get a face to place with the voice she had heard, or maybe she would learn more about him, this place, herself… Only time will tell.

A/N: Please review!

Galasriniel- Don't worry, there will be lots of him to come. Thank you for the kind review. As to everything else, well, you'll see as you read on.