Author's Note: I really wasn't sure I wanted to continue this, but due to an unexpected number of positive reviews I've decided to write more. Thanks to Emma-J-Riddle, kitty minky, MagickAlianne, Maska, and RoSeQuEeN for their support, and I hope that you continue to like the story!

Updates will be sporadic at best, since I have 2 AP tests to study for added to the usual rigors of schoolwork, but I'll try to keep them fairly constant. Don't expect the next chapter up as quickly as this one, though—I already had this written, which is the only reason I'm able to post it so promptly.

I hate this chapter because it's predictable and it has a terrible title (I honestly couldn't think of anything better), but at the same time I love it because…well, read and you'll see.

Chapter 2: Enter Mystery Man, Stage Left

The first powerful chords of Phantom's overture rang throughout Mrs. Draper's small house. Ashley could feel her piano teacher standing behind her, watching approvingly as she struck each new chord, her eyes barely paying attention to the music on the stand. She listened as her fingers played out the full, familiar tones, glorying in the grace of the music she was channeling. She nailed each note, remembered each crescendo and decrescendo, played as though she hadn't just received the music yesterday in orchestra class. Ashley finished off the piece with its familiar ending, and then turned to her teacher to see what the woman thought.

"You really love it," Mrs. Draper said, smiling. "And it certainly shows. But I think you're a bit overenthusiastic here," she indicated a measure with a wave of her hand, "and here." She had Ashley play the sections over and over again, making small corrections each time. When they had worked on the Overture for nearly half of her allotted hour-long lesson, and she felt confident that she knew which parts to practice, Mrs. Draper agreed that it was enough. "What do you think you should work on next?" Mrs. Draper asked.

Without hesitation, Ashley pulled the score for Music of the Night from the bag containing her music and set it on the stand. "I haven't played this in a while, and I probably need to work on the segments where the key changes, they were difficult for me before," she said. Music of the Night was one of her favorite songs to listen to, and she hoped that whoever was chosen to play Erik would be able to hit the higher notes, and make the music sound the way it was supposed to—sweetly, darkly sensual. This was definitely a song that she wanted to do justice to.

"Do you at least know which key it starts in this time?" Mrs. Draper said, a hint of amusement in her voice. She was, of course, referring to the time almost seven years ago when Ashley had decided to teach herself the first few pages of Music of the Night after seeing the musical for the first time. Unfortunately, she had neglected to notice the key signature, playing instead by ear, and so it hadn't been until her lesson that she realized she'd been playing it in D instead of D flat.

"Yes, Mrs. Draper," Ashley said, smiling. There were a lot of things she knew about Phantom and its music that she had not comprehended as a ten-year-old. Certain songs made much more sense now…

"Well then, play it for me as well as you can, and we'll see what needs work," Mrs. Draper said.

She began to play, and the rest of the world went silent. Though Music of the Night wasn't her favorite Phantom song to see performed, it was her favorite to play, and she was soon so caught up in its alluring melody that she hardly focused on the sheet music in front of her. Her fingers glided languidly over the keys, speeding up and slowing down and keeping the rhythm of the piece. She came to the section of the music where she was required to change keys, and detachedly she noticed how smoothly she managed the transition, how naturally it flowed into the next segment. The music had taken over and was now playing her, as opposed to the other way around.

Later, when she thought back on it, Ashley realized that she had been so enveloped in her playing that she hadn't heard Mrs. Draper's front door open, hadn't even noticed the person who walked in and stood in the foyer, watching her play. But then, it had seemed like a voice rose up from nowhere to accompany her music: a perfect, full, softly seductive voice in her head. "Floating, falling, sweet intoxication," it sang softly, still managing to fill the room with quiet power.

Ashley's first instinct was to stop, to turn around and find out where the voice was coming from, but her second reaction, the one that won over, was the compulsion to keep on playing. Anything, she would do anything to keep on hearing that voice. She continued the melody, and the voice joined her again. "Touch me, trust me," it suggested, "savor each sensation.

"Let the dream begin,
Let your darker side give in
To the power of the music that I write—
The power of the music of the night!"

The music rose, the melody along with it, and Ashley barely had time to regain her senses before the voice returned again for the final lyrics. "You alone can make my song take flight," it sang, softer than before. She could hear it, halfway between asking and commanding, "Help me make the music of the night!"

The mysterious singer hit the final, high note with perfect clarity, holding it until Ashley's accompaniment died away. For a moment, it was all she could do to sit and stare at the music in front of her, still caught up in the perfect beauty of that voice, the song they had crafted together… She cleared her mind with a shake of her head, then turned to the source of the voice.

The singer had moved closer to the piano as the song had progressed, and now stood barely feet away, allowing Ashley to observe him closely. The boy looked to be about her age, maybe a little older. Black jeans, black t-shirt, and black hair were sharply contrasted by pale features and cool blue eyes that met hers with more than a twinge of embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry," he said, still looking at Ashley. "I hope I didn't bother you. I just couldn't help myself, you were playing so well." He looked down at his feet sheepishly.

Ashley was glad of this, because it meant that he didn't see her furious blush at the compliment he'd paid. "You didn't bother me at all," she said. "Your singing was amazing."

"That it was," Mrs. Draper said, startling Ashley—she'd completely forgotten about her teacher standing behind her.

The boy looked startled as well, and quickly said, "I'm sorry for interrupting your lesson, Mrs. Draper."

"Generally," she said, "I'd be more annoyed—but Ashley, I think that's the best I've ever heard you play the end of that piece!" She rounded on the boy. "Damien, you never told me you sang!"

"It never came up," the boy—Damien—mumbled.

"Well, I always do end up with the talented ones," Mrs. Draper said, and Ashley heard a hint of pride in her voice.

"What high school do you go to?" Ashley asked, still caught up in her amazement. He didn't look like anyone she'd seen before around the campus.

"Silver Hills," he said, actually looking at her while he spoke this time. "But I'm new there—transferred in at the semester."

After getting over the fact that he went to her school, Ashley asked, "Have you heard about the spring musical yet? This year we're doing Phantom—you should audition!"

The boy flinched back almost visibly from this suggestion. "I dunno," he said, looking down and mumbling again, but Ashley thought she saw his cool blue eyes brighten a bit at the suggestion. She hoped he would try out—with a voice like that, he'd easily get a part, possibly even the Phantom's, and either way she would get to play piano for him to sing along with.

Damien sat down on the couch in Mrs. Draper's living room as the piano teacher continued the rest of the lesson. He did not sing any more, though a part of Ashley wished he would. Even without his voice added to the songs she played, Ashley was sure that his presence in the room was the cause of her successful performances of the rest of her songs. There was something about him that made her play her very best.

Finally, when her lesson was done, Ashley gathered together her music and put it back in her bag. Damien got up as she passed by him on her way to the door. "You play well," he said, rewarding her with a small smile. "Maybe I'll see you around sometime." Then he was walking over to the piano, and Ashley was out the door, still wondering at their unrehearsed duet. It continued to occupy her mind as she drove back to her house, did her homework, and ate dinner. Those final strains of music were the last things she heard before she fell asleep.