I'm not sure whether I want to finish this story or not, so please read and review. You guys are what keep me going Sniff sniff tear Just five reviews...thats all I ask..I wonder if Five people have evern read this story. Anyway...happy reading.

The next day we continued our search under the excuse that we wanted to see more of the famous opera house. No one questioned us, after all we were then new stars. The opera was full of mirrors of all shapes and sizes but none of them were the one we were looking for.

Ashley was getting more and more impatient and to tell the truth so was I. I think I was more impatient to be rid of Ashley's constant whining than anything, though. We were growing more irritable towards each other by the minute. Meanwhile we kept up the pretense of ill health to keep us from going to rehearsals. Still no one cared. Where we really supposed to be that good?

We entered my room after another long day of searching and flopped down on the first pieces of furniture we could find. Thank God that table had not been closer to the door, it would have made a fine fainting couch. I looked over to Ashley and I knew the worst part of it wall was that our godforsaken search would continue the next day. I sighed. Ashley had already fallen asleep in a chair and I think I was going to join her in a few minutes. I looked around my dressing room. It really was nice and to think Christine Daae had once slept here.

I frowned. I was beginning to disbelieve the whole phantom story. No one had mentioned him since we had come and there was no sign of any of the characters: Madame Giry, Meg, the managers, Christine. They were all gone. I sighed and turned in my chair to find a more comfortable position.

I had only half believed anyway. It wasn't so bad knowing that Leroux's book was completely fictional. It just proved that he had had a vivid imagination.

I found myself facing the mirror now. The mirror reflection the décor of my room under the eerie light of the single candle in my room. I squinted my eyes a little. I thought I could just make out the outline of something in the mirror. Probably just my tired mind playing tricks on me, except that the outline looked like the outline of my bed. My bed! My eyes shot wide open and I stumbled over to Ashley's chair.

"Ashley! Ashley wake up!" I shook her and I think she cussed at me before rolling over and falling back to sleep. I growled and shook her again. "Ashley wake up! It's here, we could be home tonight."

That woke her up and she ran to the mirror. "After all that searching the damn thing was right here all along? I grabbed a candle so that I could see the mirror better. The intricate metal vines reminded me of the vines and birds on my own mirror. My fingers roamed over the surface of the mirror trying to recreate the actions I thought had triggered my mirror. I traced the vines and leaves as Ashley hovered right beside me. "What's the hold up? Shouldn't we be home by now?"

"Shhh." Something gave way beneath my fingers and I thought I had broken off a piece of the mirror when suddenly the mirror turned on its pivot like a morbid revolving door and left us standing in a cold dark passage. I gasped as I realized where we were.

I raised my candle over my head and peered down a long stone passage. I was amazed. To think they really existed...to think he really existed. Ashley however, did not share in my overwhelming joy.

"Where the hell are we. Oh god..."She grabbed my arm franticly. "Ember look, the mirror we're on the other side. Come on help me, just run and ram it with you shoulder, bam we'll be back in the good 'ol opera house in no time."

I released myself somehow from her death grip and shook my head. "Fine I'll do it by myself." And to my great amazement she started ramming the mirror from its backside. I sighed and looked around some more.

The mirror would not break so easily, I was sure Erik had made sure of that. I turned around to see Ashley out of breath at the base of the mirror. I could hear the sound of her French porcelain nails as she tried to claw her way to the other side. I reached down to pick her up. "Come on Ash." This was just too good an opportunity to miss.

Half an hour, and many wrong turns later. We reached the lake. Erik's boat bobbed up and down on the water as calmly as could be. I had read to her and told Ash about the legend of the phantom enough that she knew the significance of that boat and what we had to do to proceed next. Quite calmly and with as much lady like composure as she could muster she said simply...."OH HELL NO!"

I had expected this. I got into the boat anyway and looked back at Ashley. "Fine you can just stay here by yourself then."

I have never seen in my whole live, nor will I ever again, a human being move so fast as Ashley did in that moment when she got into the boat. Hell my candle almost went out!

That was definatly a hitting offense. Fortunately Ashley was out of the room at the moment. I think she went to get some more unhealthy snacks for us, but I assure you I will get beat as soon as she reads this.

I will never forget that ride across the lake. I imagined that Erik had sat where I was sitting now, and shivers ran up and down my spine. The water seemed pitch black as it slapped lovingly against the sides of the boat. It seemed as if it was welcoming back a long-lost friend. And above it all was Erik's false sky with a thousand twinkling stars. It was magical in a world where nothing was anymore. I loved it, and had that boat ride never ended, I don't think I would have been too disappointed.

Ashley on the other hand...well...if I didn't know her so well I would have thought she was seasick. She ignored the beauty around her and kept looking back over her shoulder as if she regretted the impulse decision to jump into the boat.

Finally I felt the transition in the motion of the boat from softly rocking to dead stop as we reached the opposite side of the shore. I rushed eagerly out of the boat to inspect the shoreline. Not to far away were the remains of what used to be a secret door. It looked as though it had been busted through, knocked off its hinges and then placed back into place leaning against the sides of the walls. This was it. I had to wonder would anything have survived. Would anything still be there. Surely...the Persian would have taken care of the body... I shuddered to think. Poor Erik.

"Wonder what we'll find. Gonna be pretty neat huh ash? Ash?...Ashley...?"

I looked over my shoulder only to find that Ashley was not following behind me as I had thought, but still sat cold and shivering in the boat.

I sighed and went back. Things went rather well if I do say so myself. It only took half an hour of coaxing, literally, and Ash was following me into the abandoned lair.

I could just make out the remains of surviving furniture. The Persian rugs where gone, probably stolen, but the couch and armchair remained. I figured they were probably too big to bother with. A table and some other odds and ends of furniture stood around the room and in the corner was the great pipe organ. The center piece of the room if you will. I had to go in for a closer look of course. The keys where polished ivory and the wood had been painted black and glossed over. I remember thinking it must have been expensive. Sheet music stood on the stand as if someone had been playing, but then the sheets where dusty and looked fragile so I knew it couldn't be so. On either side of the organ candelabras stood strategically to illuminate the music when lit. The candles where still there just as he had left them that day...

"Well I guess this isn't so bad." Ash said behind me, testing a table for dust with her fingers before wrinkling her nose in disgust. "It is a fixer-upper though."

Something caught my attention and I took a closer look at the candles, but it was hard to see in the dim candlelight. I squinted as Ash continued.

"Ugh...look at all this dust."

There was smoke rising in telltale spirals from several of the candles.

"Still, it is pretty nice. Oh, look at the-"

"Shhh..."

I was trying to concentrate. Listening for any sounds. "Maybe you where right Ash, this was a bad Idea. Let's go."

"I'm afraid I can't allow that, mademoiselle." A man's voice spoke and grabbed me from behind. I heard Ash scream just before my candle was blown out, and knocked to the ground. I could feel a length of rope being tied around my wrists, and before I could regain my senses enough to speak sensible words, I was gagged and placed in the chair in front of the fireplace. I heard the strike of a match and then the light of a single candle illuminated the room. Ashley had fainted dead away and lay in a heap on the floor.