First things first:

I'd like to send the biggest thanks out to my first (and so far only) reviewer: Mademoiselle Justicia. You're review was very helpful and honestly made my day. I'm using one of those story breaks in this chapter when it goes into Erik's POV and I hope it'll help you:)

This chapter does have a little bit of Erik and Loralee interaction but definitely nothing big.

Enjoy!

MaskedDreamer

Chapter Three: Lost and Found

"No no no! It's not that high, Senora, remember!"

Loralee watched as Monsieur Reyer worked with la Carlotta who had just come back to take her place at the Opera, her first time since the Opera House burnt down. She was having trouble with the one song she sang at the end and it was taking up all after noon to get it finished with. Loralee had to stifle many yawns as she sat off to the side.

Just as la Carlotta got another mistake and Loralee was about to go berserk, someone came walking towards her. She looked up and recognized the person as Meg.

"Hey Beth!" she said, plopping down besides her. Loralee was about to say "Hello Meg" but it ended up as a chance for the biggest yawn to come tumbling out of her mouth. Closing her mouth quickly and covering her mouth with her hand, Loralee blushed and looked around to see if any one saw. At the far side of the room a woman with hair a bit darker than Meg's and a very sharp face glared at her for almost disturbing the practices. Shamed, Loralee looked down, hoping she didn't get on that woman's bad side. Meg sensed her dread and just patted her back reassuringly.

"Don't worry, that's my mom, Madame Giry. Somehow she found out about your scars and has taken pity on you. She does that rarely."

"I must be special," Loralee said with a joking tone. Meg giggled which granted them another glare from her mother. Both stopped and looked on at Carlotta's singing. When she started working on a very high part, both had to cover their ears. Loralee was amused to see Madame Giry also flinch and cower a little at the unwelcoming sound of Carlotta's horridly high screaching.

As soon as practices were over, Meg grabbed Loralee's hand and rushed her off the stage and into the chaos of backstage. Meg pulled her through it and into a corridor where they entered a room Loralee didn't recognize.

The unfamiliar room had mirrors lining one wall with make up scattered all over the tables. There were many dressing screens and people filled the small space, fighting over which blush to wear when they got out of their costumes.

"This, Beth, is the dressing room."

"Mayhem at it's finest. . ." Loralee muttered to herself as she was shoved none too graciously out of the way of a tall ballerina. Meg heard her and couldn't stop a giggle that came out. One of the ballerinas heard and turned around.

"Meg darlin'! How goes it with you?"

"Just fine, Jammes. Just showing the new chorus member around."

Jammes, a pretty little girl, even younger than Meg, turned towards Loralee, a large pumpkin smile breaking over her flawless face. Her voice rose a few octaves as she said, "Welcome, my dear! I'm Jammes, and you are. . ."

"Beth McLay."

"My dear Beth, you have just come to the finest place in all of France. Best wine, best shops, best parties, and, of course, the best men!" She giggled and hiccuped, clearly a little drunk.

"Oh, Jammes, you should know!" said another girl besides her with bright red hair. "Who now are you lovin'?"

"Umm. . . Dear Monsieur Barker left a week ago for work in America but I have been eyeing the handsome chap in the orchestra!"

"Who? Edward? Taylor?" Meg asked, sitting down in a chair and combing her hair out. Loralee just stood behind her, looking quite out of place.

"No, no, no! I think I'm in love with Quincy!" Jammes said dramatically and all the girls giggled, oohed, and ahhed.

The talk went on and Loralee found herself getting more bored by the second. Soon she decided it was best to leave before she blew the top off, and she told Meg she was retiring to her room.

Stepping out of the mayhem, Loralee sighed as she shut the door behind her and felt welcomed by the dark of the cold corridor. Shivering, she pulled her shawl around her shoulders tighter and hurried off towards what she thought was the direction of her dressing room.

The way she thought was correct only led her into smaller and colder passages that she had never seen before. Her quiet feet padded silently along the halls as she started to get scared: face pale, eyes wide, and heart beating fast.

Along her way through the halls she didn't know, Loralee didn't pass anyone and only some doors with multiple laughs issuing out. She was too shy to go over and knock on any of them. In fact, she just got more scared at the sight of them and started running, hair falling out of the bun she had been wearing.

Soon, a large wooden door loomed over her. Loralee opened and walked through it and immediately recognizing it as the chapel Meg had been talking about. With this room in mind, she knew which direction to go to get to her room.

Turning around swiftly, she made to run back out and only collided with a shut door. Loralee fell to the ground, eyes straining not to roll to the back of her head. Blinking furiously to get the stars away and clutching her head while clenching her teeth in pain, Loralee raised herself by supporting herself with the wall.

That's funny, she thought, brow furrowed. I didn't shut the door when I came in.

This fact only made her panic more. She let out a strangled cry of confusion and fright. While hurrying forward to open the door and run out, she stopped short, something catching her eye as if it moved - no, more like melted - out of the shadows.

Gasping, Loralee whirled around, eyes coming to rest on a pair of flaming green eyes.

A large figure, definitely over six feet, loomed in front of her. It was clad all in black. She made to scream but couldn't because suddenly her attention was drawn to the right side of his face where it bore a white porcelain mask.

It was the Phantom of the Opera.

Too much confusion, stress, fright, and tiredness swept over her and her eyes finally won, rolling into the back of her head, leaving her to crumple to the ground unconcious.

Before she did so, she felt two hands catch her body.

For the past year, Erik had been craving for his lost love Christine. There was a deep void in his heart which was left ever since Christine left him to be with Raoul.

Damn fop, Erik thought, growling to himself as he paced around his lair. Turning towards the organ, he stared at it's keys, longing to make music out of it.

No, I promised I wouldn't make a single noise from that thing ever since Christine left me. . .

Sighing, Erik sat down only to jump back up again quickly, longing for movement and something to do. Running his hand through his hair, he thought. Finally he grabbed his mask, his cloak, and gloves and jumped into his gondola, swiftly steering it through the water.

Jumping out at the other end, Erik started walking along the dark and damp passages, not minding the rats that were scurrying all over the ground. Coming up to a trapdoor that opened up into the storage room, he got out quickly, and melted into the shadows.

Additions had been held the past day for the three vacant spots in the chorus and he thought he might go check the new singers out. It wouldn't be hard to find them They usually radiated with nervousness and fear.

Walking utter silently through the halls, he went to the hall where the dressing rooms were. There he found two of the three girls. They were in their rooms and going to bed, not yet ready for the life in dressing rooms. Both seemed fine to have, although they didn't seem like they'd have the best voices. Both he guessed were hired out of pure need to fill in two of the three spaces. There was a newly opened bed room in a different hall way but no one was inside.

Ah good! he said. This room has a mirror. Maybe, I'll catch a glimpse of them later. . .

He went away from the room to go and just have a nightly stroll through the dark hallways of the Opera house. As he got farther and farther away from all the life that was in the halls, he searched his mind for something to entertain himself with.

Erik only stopped thinking when he sensed utter desperation and fear radiating out in the next hall way.

Slipping farther into the shadows he waited until a girl came stumbling silently into the hallway. He watched her, slightly amused, as she looked around in fear. Not recognizing her, Erik decided she was the third new singer. He was about to leave, his task of seeing all the new singers completed, until he noticed that the fear around her wasn't just from being somewhere new.

No, this new little chorus rat was lost in the deep clutches of the Opera House.

Her hands ran across the wall, her blue blazing eyes searched for a familiar sight, and her dress was starting to crumple. Even her hair was coming out of the tight bun it was in. Her face was also paler than he thought any one could be.

It was a near white!

She ran down the hallway and he followed her out of pure interest. Her foot falls were silent as she quickly raced down random halls, only managing to get herself even more lost. She only stopped when she came across the large wooden door Erik recognized.

The door to the chapel.

Clenching his jaw tight and shunning away the memories he remembered from this room, he followed her inside, deciding to have a little fun with her frail and confused figure.

Understanding of where she was and a faint flicker of hope shot through the girl's eyes as she realized she was in the chapel. She was breathing a sigh of relief as Erik softly shut the door behind her, an idea coming on. Melting yet once again into the shadows, he watched as she turned around and ran smack into the door. She staggered backwards, clutching her head in pain and then crumpled to the floor. The girl slowly got back up on her feet and looked confusedly at the door. Soon a look of deep fear, desperation, and confusion dawning on her face as she let out a strangled cry. As she stepped forward to open the door, Erik made his entrance, making sure she was able to see him.

Indeed she did and she whirled around at him.

Her blazing blue eyes swerved onto his green eyes and he stopped walking towards her. Fighting past the blue fire in her eyes, he saw a girl with a horrid past and a few other feeling he couldn't place.

They stared at each other for a while, Erik not sure what to do. His mind was yelling at him to move his muscles but they just stayed frozen in place. Instead of his own confusion and anger showing, he cleared his face of all emotion and looked down at her.

The girl looked at his profile, her eyes piercing his in a way that made him uncomfortable, as if she could see past any of his boundaries or walls. She didn't notice his mask at first for which some reason made him even more angry, and instead she just looked at the rest of him. Finally, when eyes slid back up to meet his, she noticed the mask and to his thrill, she lost control and fainted.

He would have just let her crumple but for some strange reason he felt connected to this girl. His arms automatically shot out and caught her frail figure before she could cause more harm to her than needed, and he just stood like that for a moment, amazed at his own actions.

There was the so called dead Phantom of the Opera saving a girl from hitting her head on the ground. Shunning away the thought, Erik got a better grip of the girl and started walking again through the halls.

As he walked, he observed her. She looked a lot better than she did before seeing that her face turned at least a healthier shade of white and she was now relaxed in dreams of a wonder land.

He only stopped, frightened out of his wits, when in her sleep a hand of hers sneaked up and about his neck, her head snuggling into his chest. He was about to drop her, surprised at the act of any human willing to be closer to him but he just reminded himself over and over again that she was asleep and had no control over what she was doing.

With that thought in mind, he managed to get her back to her room and laid her down on her small rickety bed.

He felt he couldn't just leave her like that on the bed for some strange reason, and so he took out her hair, letting the black strands fall out over her shoulders and back. She looked a lot more care free and beautiful that way with her hair down and Erik couldn't help but finger one of the silky locks of hair. Then he braced himself as he took off her dress, seeing it was the only one she had and she wouldn't want it crumpled up for the next day. He took it off and her corset, letting her lay in the bed with only her under dress on.

He was about to pull the wimpy woolen blanket up over her now peaceful frame when he noticed something that made him gasp involuntarily.

Showing just above the neck line on her dress and on her wrists were bruises, cuts, and scars. Some were old, maybe about five years, where as some others were almost a day old. He ran a leather clad finger down one on her wrist and she shivered, curling up and cradling her hand in her sleep, a look of fear spreading over her once peaceful face.

Realization dawned over him. This new chorus girl had must of had a horrid back ground and was coming here for shelter and a safer life.

Good luck, he thought to the girl as he pulled the woolen blanket up and over her. She still didn't stop shivering and after much debating with himself he took off his own heavy velvet cloak and draped it over her small frame. She stopped shuddering immediately and went yet again into a peaceful stage of dreams.

Before he left, he made sure to leave his own signs that he had visited.