Thanks for the review. I was really happy when I read it :)

Chapter 1

"Mademoiselle Giry!" she heard someone shouting after her. She turned around and saw one of the previous stagehands running at her. "Mademoiselle Giry! I have a message for you, from Monsieur Reyer!" The boy told her. "He wants to meet you and your mother tomorrow morning."

"Why?"

"Monsieur Reyer has found a new patron!" The boy exclaimed and seemed very happy with the news.

"That quick? It all has happened on Friday and now it's Tuesday."

"For his age Monsieur Reyer is working very fast." The boy giggled and bowed, before he made his way back.

Meg sighed, but couldn't wait to tell her mother the good news.

"Maman, are you home?"

"Yes my dear. Have you gotten everything from the market?"

"Yes. I met one of the stagehands, he gave me message from Monsieur Reyer. He wants to meet as tomorrow morning, for he has found a new patron."

"A new patron? To rebuild the Opera Populaire?" Madame Giry was as surprised as her daughter, but also as happy about the news.

"Isn't it wonderful? I will dance again and you will bee dance instructor again too. And Christine …" she stumbled in her speech. Yes, what about Christine? Christine was away with Raoul. Meg didn't even know where, she just knew they were away. Maybe abroad or outside of Paris, but away was away.

"Meg she'll come back!" Madame Giry assured.

"I didn't even get a letter from her. Maybe she didn't think of me as a friend."

"It's been four days since the incident. Give them time my dear!"

"I am sorry Maman! I am just a little worried about Erik."

"Erik's perfectly fine. I met him in the morning. He's repairing the organ at the moment."

"Good. How did you get to know Erik?"

"It's a long story. It's like twenty years ago. I didn't know your father then, but I was one of the chorus girls. One year later I was chosen to be prima ballerina. At that time Erik already lived under the Opera. He was twelve years when we first met. A bunch of gypsies were in the city and I and some of the other chorus girls went to see them. They had an attraction. They named it: The devils child. It was Erik. They tormented him by showing his disfigurement. He was just a little boy and I felt so much pity for him, so I stayed behind. I thought he wouldn't make it alone, but he … he killed that cruel man who punished him and then … then I helped him to run away. I hid him in the cellars of the opera. He helped to build the Opera and he was my protector."

"Your protector?"

Madame Giry smiled. "Yes we are friends. He's a wonderful friend. If he opens up to someone than he gives everything."

"Did he open up to Christine?"

"I think so. He didn't speak with me about Christine very often."

"He was in love with her!" Meg seemed a little jealous. It had always been Christine. Christine who had been chosen from the phantom as a student. Christine was the choice to sing, after Carlotta left. Christine. Everywhere Meg went it had always been Christine. Yes true, Christine was her friend but some people lifted Christine in a higher position and that was something Meg couldn't understand. After all they all were just human beings and no one was better than the other.

"Perhaps, you know Meg: Erik doesn't really know what love is. Maybe he mixed desire with love. Maybe it was just desire. Desire for a companion. Maybe he just didn't want to be alone anymore."

"He won't be alone anymore. Now he's got the two of us. You and me." Madame Giry could see her daughter's eyes sparkling. Could it be that her daughter was fond of Erik? "Maman what will happen with Erik if they catch him?"

"They'll judge him. But Erik's got one big advantage: No one has really seen him. Except for some persons, but I think Christine and Raoul won't tell anyone."

"It's possibly that they won't return anyway" Meg said.

"I told you they will and now you should go and rest. We have to get up early in the morning" Madame Giry told her und shooed her young daughter out of the room.

While Meg Giry was sleeping in her bed, Erik worked on the organ. It would take two more days to repair it fully and Erik was slowly growing frustrated. Not just because of the organ, but also because of Christine. She was always there in his mind and he really hated himself for this. He would wake up at night and see her, although she wasn't there. In his dreams she was with him, not with Raoul. Yes, in his dreams she dumped Raoul to be with him. With Erik. He growled and threw one of the organ pieces away. He stood up from his work and went to his room. There was no point for him to repair the organ while he was angry, he would just make it worse instead of better. So he laid down and tried to sleep and not think of Christine.

But he dreamt of her. But tonight the dream was different, there weren't just Christine and Raoul, no there was another person. A familiar person, it wasn't Madame Giry. It was little Meg Giry. What was Megan Giry doing in his dreams?

"Christine" he mumbled softly in his sleep, but this time Christine didn't choose him, she chose Raoul and he, Erik was alone again.

"You're not alone." He heard a voice and saw Meg coming nearer. "I am here with you. I will help you through this darkness." She twined her arm around his waist and held him close as he began to cry. She just held him as he wiped and he felt so warm and comfortable in her arms. He recognized how little she was. She was even a little smaller than Christine. But she seemed stronger than the other girl. Emotionally stronger. "I won't let you drown in this darkness!" She whispered and hugged him even tighter. He was about to say something, but suddenly he startled and woke up.

She sat straight in her bed, her breath a little faster than normal. She had been with Erik. In her dream she had been with Erik, she had held him and he had cried. Cried for his lost love Christine. And she had just hugged him and told him, that he wasn't alone, that she would be there for him. He had wanted to say something, but she had woken and hadn't heard what he had wanted to say. "Pity" she mumbled. It would have been interesting. Meg yawned and snuggled deeper into her pillows. Minutes later she was asleep again, dreaming about a dancing career and the most famous opera of France.

Erik recognized that he hadn't just cried in his dreams, but also in real. His cheeks were wet because of the tears. Erik stood up and walked around. He knew that he couldn't sleep anymore, not after this dream. He longed for love. Christine denied him that love and Erik didn't think that any other woman would grant it him. He took one of the books from his bookshelf and looked at it. Even reading could not distract him. He threw the book against the wall and knocked his fist into the wall. But that too didn't satisfy him, it made him just angrier. "Christine!" he shouted, although he knew that he couldn't hear him and even if she could, she wouldn't come back to him. She didn't love him. Nobody loved him. Nobody needed him. He had no friends. Maybe he should end his life? Maybe this was the best thing to do. With this thought he went back to bed, although he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep.