Lysette glanced at the walls, which cascaded shadows from the water being lit by the lantern on the front of the boat. The strange thing was that she had seen this place before in dreams. She even remembered specifics such as a particular stone, which had a scratch on it. Erik spoke not a word as he continued their journey down the lake. Finally, the boat came to a rest on what appeared to be some kind of shore. The boat moved slightly as Erik placed down his gondola and stepped out, extending his hand to Lysette.

"Come with me, Christine."

Lysette stared back at him for a moment before slowly raising from the boat and taking his hand. She then found herself being led up a few steps into what appeared to be some kind of underground dwelling. As she entered many candles lining the walls and various candelabras on the ground greeted her. Different kinds of paintings could be seen against the walls as well and her eyes fell upon a particular one of some ballet girls. "Degas." She whispered.

"Christine."

Lysette turned to find Erik sitting at massive pipe organ. She marveled at the pipes, which extended into the ceiling. She had never seen something so beautiful. "Exquisite." She breathed.

"Come sing with me."

Lysette walked toward the pipe organ, which was on some kind of embankment. She then felt the ground tremble as notes escaped from the organ. As she heard the notes played, she felt as if she somehow knew the piece being played though she did not know how.

"Sing for me."

Lysette took a deep breath and began to sing 'Desdemona's Death Scene' from Otello in flawless Italian. She then opened her eyes as she heard a haunting voice join her and realized it was Erik's. The organ crescendoed as the two voices continued to sing, filling the underground lair with notes of despair. When the piece was done, she turned to Erik. "Why….have you brought me here?"

"To advance your lessons even more, Christine. To make you my protégé."

"Protégé?"

"In your dressing room I could only teach you the notes and words. Down here, I can teach you much more than that, Christine. Singing is much more than just notes and words, it is meaning, expression. A true performer bears their soul when they sing."

"Their….soul?"

Erik moved away from the organ and stood walking toward her. "Of course. One might say…that a performer sells their soul to appease the Angel of Music."

"The Angel of Music?" Lysette asked as she looked straight ahead.

"Would you be willing to sell your soul, Christine?" Erik asked as he came up behind her and whispered in her ear. "Sell your soul to become the greatest singer the world has ever known."

Lysette took in a breath. "I…"

"One must be willing to make sacrifices in order to achieve what they desire, Christine." He turned her around to face him and traced her choker with his fingers. "And desire is something that a true artist must have." He ran his finger across her jaw line. "You have that desire within you, Christine. You just have to release it."

Lysette looked back at Erik and was instantly drawn into his eyes. "Release it."

Erik once again moved behind her. He slowly moved his hands down until they were encircling her waist. "I feel it within you, Christine. Can feel it longing to be released." His hand started to slowly move up toward her chest. "If you were given a choice, what would you chose, love or music?"

Lysette trembled. "L..love or music?"

"You can not serve two masters." Erik replied as he started to trace his fingers across her collarbone. "You must be willing to devote your entire self to music, Christine. Love shall only keep you from it." His hand slowly trailed down her arm. "Ever since I heard you sing, I knew that you could save me."

"Save you?"

"You see how I hide myself away in this darkness, Christine. You….are my light in the darkness." He raised her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it gently. "You…..are the angel saving me from this hell."

Lysette was completely mesmerized by his touch. It was like it spoke to her in the depths of her soul. She leaned her head back against Erik's chest and took in deep, shallow breaths.

"So, tell me what you would choose, Christine?" He placed soft kisses on the side of her neck.

Lysette closed her eyes as she felt his lips on her tender skin. "Music." She breathed as she leaned her head to the side. "I would choose music."

Erik took her hand and brought it to brush against his mask. "As long as you do not remove this mask you shall be free." He kissed her ear. "And I shall help you now that you have given me your choice. All you need…is to give me your soul."

"My soul?"

Erik turned her around to face him and then took her hand. He led her toward an opening that was covered by a curtain. He opened the curtain to reveal a wedding dress. "Your soul."

Lysette stared at the wedding dress before her and her eyes widened. She could feel herself becoming light-headed until her body went limp in Erik's arms.

Erik carefully picked up Lysette's unconscious body and carried her toward another curtained area. He pulled the curtain back and gently laid her on the bed inside of the room. He took her long hair from under her body and let it spill down her side. He then placed his thumb to her cheek and caressed it gently. "You shall give me your soul, Christine. And in return I shall give you the world." He whispered. "And none shall stop me this time."

Mulder stood on the staircase of the opera house as dozens of officers could be seen milling about. He couldn't stop thinking about Lysette and the voice he had heard in the dressing room. He knew there was no mistaking in that it was the same voice he had heard in her motel room. But where had he taken her? The entire dressing room had been searched and had resulted in nothing.

Phillipe came up beside Mulder and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Brother, you should return home."

"Not until she is found."

"Brother, they are doing everything they can to find her. There is nothing you can do here." Phillipe answered. "Please Raoul, you should rest. Should they find her, they will contact you."

Mulder reluctantly nodded. "I guess you're right." He looked over at Madame Giry. "Madame Giry, should you hear anything in regards to Miss Daae do not hesitate to contact me."

"Indeed I shall, Monsieur." Madame Giry replied. "Do not worry, she shall be found."

"I certainly hope so, Madame Giry." Mulder replied back. "I certainly hope so." He then turned and walked off with Phillipe, heading out of the opera house. As they walked to a waiting carriage, he turned around briefly to glance at the massive opera house. "I shall find you, Lyssa. I promise."

Lysette slowly stirred and moaned as she opened her eyes. She found herself lying on what appeared to be a bed. Reaching up her hand, she rubbed her eyes as she rose up. "Where am I?" She whispered. She then turned as she once again heard notes being played on an organ. As she placed her feet on the ground and stood up, her memory slowly started to return. She remembered walking through the mirror in her dressing room, walking down a park passageway leading to a mysterious lake and then crossing on the boat. And she remembered….there was a masked man. She pulled back the curtain and made her way back into the area where Erik was playing the organ.

Erik stopped playing as soon as he saw her emerge. "I see you have awakened, my angel." He gestured to her with his hand. "Come."

Lysette walked toward the organ as if she were in some kind of trance. She was gestured by Erik to stop just before reaching it. The organ began to play the 'Prison Scene' from the final act of Faust.

"Now sing for me."

Lysette closed her eyes and began to sing the role of Marguerite. In her mind she could picture the cell and Marguerite lying in it singing to her love, Faust. She could hear Erik's voice matching hers as he assumed the role of the lover. As the music progressed her voice soared to new heights as she pleaded to God for forgiveness and to take her soul to heaven. At that very moment, she felt as if indeed she were pleading for her very soul. As she reached her last high note and desperate plea, she struggled to catch her breath as she trembled. "My god." She whispered.

"That is what true passion is, Christine."Erik replied as he turned to her. "It is what separates all the great artists of the world from the amateurs."

"Play something for me." Lysette replied as she looked back at him. "Show me….your passion."

Erik paused for a moment and then pulled out a manuscript from under his Faust score. "Ever since I heard you sing I have been composing this, Christine. And now….with your inspiration I shall finish it. It shall be our personal duet. An opera in tribute to the dedication of your soul to me." He then turned back to the organ and began to play. The notes that escaped from the organ were not at all lively as some pieces but rather dark and foreboding. Almost as if it were some kind of prelude to some dark event which had yet to occur. But as he played those notes, he did indeed play them with passion like the great composers who performed for their audiences.

As Erik continued to play, Lysette walked up behind him. Her eyes glanced at the notes on the score and she sang along on a simple ah. She could tell that her voice was mesmerizing Erik in his playing, causing him to lose focus of everything else around him. Her hand slowly started to come around to the side of his face that was covered by the mask as she continued to sing. The mask had heightened her curiosity. Why would a man as talented as this feel he had to hide behind such a façade? She started to grab the mask but Erik quickly moved causing her to lose her grip. Not wanting him to know what she was trying to do, she quickly jerked her hand back. She continued to sing her obbligato as her hand once again slowly crept toward the mask. She decided to try a new tactic and began to caress it tenderly with her hand. As she caressed it, her hand slowly made its way down to the bottom of the mask, where she grabbed a corner. She then took a deep breath and as she hit a high note, pulled the mask up and off.

As soon as his mask was removed, Erik stopped playing. At first he had felt Lysette's caresses on his skin not covered by the mask. And then she had done the unthinkable. He kept his back turned to her. "What have you done?" He asked in a low voice. "Oh my dear, Christine what have you done?"

"My angel, show me your true self. I am not afraid." Lysette replied with a smile.

"You have broken your promise to me. The only promise that I asked of you." Erik took a deep breath. "Have you unmasked me because you long to know the truth of why I live such a cursed existence? Why I must live down here alone in darkness encased in my own tomb?" He slowly turned to her and pointed to his face. "THIS is why."

As Lysette gazed upon his face her smile faded and turned to one of terror. She could feel all the color draining from her face as she trembled. She slowly backed away from Erik knowing that she had to escape from this…monster's clutches.

"And now you can not bare to look at me." Erik replied. "Now your angel has become a devil!" He moved away from the organ and walked toward her. "Look at what society has done to me, Christine! What it has made me become!" He reached toward Lysette and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her to him. "Gaze upon my ugliness, Christine! My curse! Your fate!" He then pushed her to the ground. "Why, Christine? Why did you choose to disobey my simple request?"

Lysette cowered as she turned her face away. "Please, my angel. I…I did not mean to anger you."

Erik raised his hands in the air in despair. "How could you deceive me, Christine? You were free as long as you never removed the mask! And now….you fear me!" He then slowly lowered himself to the floor grabbing onto his face.

"No….no my angel." Lysette whispered as she turned and looked toward him slightly.

Erik's body shook as he sobbed. "Do you hear these cries of anguish, Christine?" He whispered as he gazed toward her. He took his hands away from his face. "These tears of pain that I cry for you, Christine? Pain for you seeing me for the monster you believe I am? I am no monster, Christine. I am a child who was born into a world of hate. My mother….was the only person in this world who had ever loved me. And when she died….I died with her. I felt as if I was doomed to live in darkness forever until…that day when I heard your angelic voice call out to me from the surface. I truly felt as if my soul had been saved. It is you…who are the angel, Christine. Who is my light in the darkness; the beauty to my beast. In time…you can learn to see beyond the monster and see the love that burns deep within me, Christine. Save me…Christine."

As Lysette looked at his face, she felt a sense of pity overcome her. She no longer saw a monster but a human being in torment. The disfigurement of the face seemed to echo that anguish that Erik had spoke of. Turning around, she saw the mask where she had dropped it. Making her way over to it, she gently picked it up. Crawling over to Erik she handed it to him with a look of sincerity.

Erik looked back at her for a moment as tears tricked down his disfigured face. He then reached out his hand, taking the mask from her. He then placed it over his face and carefully secured it once again with ties. Slowly rising to his feet, he glanced down at her. He then took a couple of breaths before holding out his hand to her. "I must take you back now."

Lysette took his hand. "Back?"

"Yes. Back to that cruel world up above." Erik replied as he helped her to her feet and re-adjusted his mask. "I shall take you back but soon I shall come for you again." He started to lead her back toward the boat. "You belong to me now, Christine."

"But….but you said…"

"I said I shall return you to the surface. But I also said that I would come back for you. You have unmasked me, Christine and in doing so have now completely given your soul to me." He stopped just before the boat. "You must promise me that you shall see no other. Nor shall you speak of me. The Vicomte de Chagny who spoke to you so lovingly in your dressing room shall be but a faint memory should you pursue a relationship with him."

"I…I promise." Lysette replied as she looked back into Erik's eyes.

Erik paused for a moment before taking her hand and leading her into the boat. He then picked up his gondola and started the boat off once again back through the dark waters.

As the boat made its way back toward the ascending stairs leading into the opera house, Lysette stared into the darkness with apprehension. She could not get Erik's face out of her mind. She never thought it possible that nature could produce such deformity. She glanced up at Erik's masked face and now wondered what fate she had sealed for herself and for Fox. Fox…..Fox Mulder, he was the one who had come with her, right? The one who had been in her dressing room? She blinked her eyes as she felt as if her memories of he and who she was were starting to slowly fade away. She could almost feel her mind becoming clouded by the similar mist that surrounded the underground lake.

When the boat at last came to a stop, Erik helped her out and walked her back up once again placing her on the back of the white horse. Helping her down from the horse, he then led her back through the passageway until they came to another door. He opened the door, which revealed a coach waiting.

"The coach shall take you back to Madame Valerius." Erik replied as he let go of her hand. "Now go."

Lysette gazed back at Erik for a moment before walking to the coach and climbing inside. The driver then urged the horses on and the coach drove away into the streets of Paris. Lysette closed her eyes as she rested her head against her seat. "Fox." She whispered. "Please keep him safe from harm Oh, please make him forget about me." She then started to sob and put her hands to her face.

Erik followed the coach with his eyes until it disappeared from view. "Soon your memory shall be more and you will be my Christine forever. And your precious lover shall perish." He then let out a maniacal laugh before closing the door and heading back down the passageway into his darkened abyss. But he could now head back into his prison knowing that soon he would no longer be alone to spend eternity in it.

Note: I just wanted to apologize that it took so long for this chapter! I have been going through many life changes these past few months which had made writing difficult. After writer's block and going through these changes, I am hoping to remedy this situation and try and update more! So, to my devoted readers thank you for patience and there is much more to come!

Dana