Ok… I know it took a bit of time… but it's here… a New Chapter, and Thank You for the Review… if it wouldn't be too difficult, please review…

Thank You, I hope You Like

A New Love

Charlotte was no match for Erik, she was small, and in no way muscular. In a way, she reminded Erik of Christine. She had the same spark from back when she was younger. There lives very much mirrored each other. And he had observed both from a distance.

He carried the struggling girl over to the mirror, in the back of his mind saying 'no man will take this one from me, she will not be like Christine.' He looked over at the portrait of his first love, he shook his head. 'I will not lose her.'

He slid the mirror to the side and carried Charlotte into his secret corridor. He set her down on the ground. She sat there, and looked up at him.

She did not scream, she did not speak, she just sat there looking at him, not at his mask, not his distortion but at his gray eyes. She wondered 'like a dream, much like her…' she figured against it, but she still wondered 'her angel.' He wondered what she was thinking. And he did not dare enter her mind.

"One question" she said in scared voice. She was a child yet she acted more mature than most middle-aged people. She spoke with intelligence. She was more educated than most people. Raised in a wealthy family which she hated.

He nodded and said "Anything." He looked at her. She was not afraid, was that possible? That someone could not be afraid of him.

"Who are you?" she asked, not breaking her gaze at him.

"An Angel in hell" he said simply. The girl's eyes finally strayed from him. "But you, my angel, can call me Erik" he finished.

"Then Erik, can we go somewhere other than here?" she asked. He raised an eyebrow (well it might have been two, but the other was covered , and not seen). "I'm afraid of these bugs, and I don't think they are too afraid of me" she said in a joking voice, but was obviously not joking as she jumped up and started itching.

He nodded and smiled. They walked down the long, dark corridor, when Charlotte heard a mouse squeak. She jumped up and grabbed onto his hand.

This mild sign of love surprised him. He had not entered her mind to make her do anything, and she already began to show affection for him.

"Would you like me to carry you? It's only a little farther," he asked sweetly. She sighed and nodded.

"Would you mi…?" she asked, but before she could finish, he lifted her up into his arms. She put his hands around his neck.

She played with his hair. It would only be a matter of time before she would reach for his mask. She sighed sleepily.

She began to sing softly…
In sleep,
he sang to me,
In dreams,
he came…

(She did not know where the words were coming from but they just flowed, she looked at him, and he smiled. She had an amazing, rich voice, and it was no wonder why the opera house wouldn't want her as the lead soprano).

That voice,
which calls to me
And speaks,
my name.

And do,
I dream again?
For now I find
The phantom of the opera
is there,
Inside my mind…

(He sighed remembering Christine and sang).

Sing once,
again with me
Our strange
duet

My power
over you
Grows stronger
Yet…

And though,
you turn from me
to glance
behind
The phantom of the opera
is there
Inside your mind

Those who have seen your face
Draw back in fear
I am the mask you wear
It's me they hear My/Your spirit and my/your voice

In one combined
The phantom of the opera is there
inside myyour mind
In all your fantasies you always knew

That man and mystery
Were both in you
And in this labrinth
Where night is blind

The Phantom of the opera is herethere
Inside my mind Sing, my Angel of Music!
He's there,
the Phantom of the Opera . .

By the time they had finished the "strange duet," they had crossed the lake and were already in the Phantom's lair.

Erik stepped out of the boat and picked Charlotte out of the boat, and held her there. She had fallen asleep from exhaustion. And lay there life less in his arms. She walked over to his room, and laid her down on the soft red blankets of the swan bed. He covered the small girl and smiled.

"Erik I love you" she moaned softly. He gave a soft smile. Finally a woman gave him his heart freely. Love filled his heart. But it wasn't love, and he knew that in his heart, just sleepy comments made by a sleeping girl.