Chapter Six: Memories Unforgotten

Erik delivered his letter and returned to the surprisingly quiet lair. 'Meg should be up by now shouldn't she?' he thought. It was well into the morning and she is used to getting up for rehearsals. 'Where could she be? What if she left?' At this thought, he was filled with unexpected rage. He began to storm about the lair looking everywhere for her.

Meanwhile, Meg was investigating a hallway that she didn't see before. There were only three doors. One room had a desk and a couch in it and the other room was completely empty except for a Persian rug that lay in the middle of the room. She didn't look in the next door but instead went into the empty room and sat on the rug. As she sat there, she remembered her time at the Opera House. Ever since she was a little girl, the only thing she ever loved was dancing. At the age of four, she started getting lessons from her mother. She would dance for hours, wishing that she could perform in one of the operas. At the age of twelve, her mother had her audition for a part in the corps de ballet. She got the role of one of the leading dancers and ever since then, she has been working her way up. Just a month before Don Juan's Triumphant, she became Prima Ballerina. Just remembering those thoughts made her long to dance again. Slowly, a tune started to play in her head. It was a tune from the first opera she ever performed in, which was Faust. She stood up and started to do some of the basic positions and gradually started dancing her own dance. She was turning, leaping, jumping, and gliding, letting all her emotions spill through her dance. She danced for what seemed like hours, not noticing the dark figure that stood in the doorway. She fell to the floor moments later, having use up all her energy. She started to cry silent tears, thinking once again about not being able to see any of her friends or her mother ever again. She will never perform in operas anymore and her only home was destroyed in the fire. Erik noticed her crying and finally let his presence be known.

"Why are you crying, Meg?" he asked, walking over to the sulking girl. Meg looked up and saw him standing in front of her. How long had he been watching her?

"No reason. Were you watching me?"

"Only towards the end. It was quite a performance."

"Thank you," she said, blushing deeply. He held out his hand to her and she took it hesitantly. He took her to the music room and she sat down on the floor next to the organ. He raised his eyebrow as he watched her sit on the ground.

"Will you play something?" she asked with a smile. He only nodded and sat on the organ bench. He sat for a minute in thought before he moved his fingers about the ivory keys. His fingers produced such beautiful music; it was hard to believe that he was the murderous Phantom of the Opera. She watched his fingers move effortlessly among the keys. They were long and slender, perfect pianist fingers. Meg was in a trance like state as he played. She let his emotions flow through her. She heard his anger, passion, sadness, and hurt through the music. Erik was no Phantom, he was a man. He had feelings just like everyone else. He was more human than any other person she met. Even as the music stopped playing, she could still hear it play in her head.

"Erik, that was…beautiful," were the only words she could get out. He smiled down at her as she yawned.

"Are you tired?" he asked, surprised. She had slept for a while.

"Just a little, but there is no way I could fall asleep now. Uh…Erik?"

"Yes, Meg?"

"May I go up to the Opera House and look around? Please? I just want to get a few things if I'm going to be staying down here," she said uneasily, afraid of his answer.

"Yes, you may. This will be our first test at friendship."

"Really?" she asked, astonished.

"Yes, you may go up to the Opera House anytime you like."

"No, not that. I mean, we could actually be friends?"

"Only if you wish to."

"Of course I do. I'll be back in a little while. Oh, thank you so much, Erik. You have no idea how much this means to me." With that said she scurried out of the music room and made her way to the Opera House. All the while, Erik thought if he made a wise decision to let her go up there. She may never come back. He decided to follow her, just in case.

Meg went through the mirror and into Christine's dressing room. The fire hadn't touched her room, so maybe there was a chance that her room wasn't touched either. She walked into the hallway and headed towards the ballet dormitories. Just like she suspected, the dormitories weren't touched by the fire. She entered her room, which was still the way she left it. She went over to her wardrobe and collected the things she needed. Then she took a picture of her mother and her father. She found a bag that she could carry her belongings in and started to pack. When she was through packing, she made her way to the stage. She was depressed at what she saw when she entered the stage. The once beautiful room was now covered in ashes and the chandelier had not been moved. There were seats missing from the first three rows and the orchestra pit was completely destroyed. The velvet curtains hung in ragged pieces and the stage was half as big as it was before. She was making her way through the auditorium when she found a newspaper. She picked it up and looked at the date. It was the day after the performance of Don Juan. The heading read 'The Phantoms' Destructive Opera'. She flipped through the article until one section caught her eye. It was a list of names of those who had died in the fire. She scanned threw it until she fell upon one name. She stared at it with wide eyes, not fully taking in what she saw. She dropped the paper and ran back to Christine's room with tears running down her cheeks. Erik saw this and hurriedly made his way down to the lair. He wondered what had made her so upset.

Sorry it took me so long to update. I had a busy couple of days. I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next one will be better, I think this one will be just a filler. Okay…now for replies:

Charity: Good guess, but not quite. You will see what he did very soon. Thank you for reviewing. I'll try to update more sooner next time.

Faith: Thank you. I'll update again really soon.

-HOT TOPIC FREAK-: Thanks. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's not as good as the others, but the next one will be better, I promise.

Musicofthenight5: LOL. Thanks. I'll update again soon. I try to keep them in character as much as I can. Erik is hard, but don't get me wrong, Meg's character is hard to write as well. I'm glad you enjoy my stories so much.

Phantomlover22: Thank you.

Well, that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will be updating again soon. Now, you know what to do. Review please!