Merry Christmas everyone! Things should pick up again after the holidays and I'll be able to update about once a day, every couple of days at most. Except for the 30th, when I go to see the Phantom A G A I N! Woooooooo!

Oh, anyway - it's been two days echo? Taps toe

Dampness was the first thing she noticed. It seemed so moist that every breath was like taking a drink of water, and even the clothes upon her body felt heavy - as though they were soaked with the moisture. The girl stirred, and found that the noise echoed dangerously off of the closed space. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she realized that she was in some sort of tunnel. It seemed to run only in two distinct directions - up and down. A sense of discomfort and fear gripped her heart, though she could not explain why. She turned toward the path that led upwards and only half a minute's journey revealed that massive pieces of earth and stone from above had crumbled, caved in, and now blocked her path. The only way she could go was down.

Down she went, cautious step by cautious step. The tunnels seemed to go on forever, and the girl felt as though she would faint from exhaustion. Suddenly, however, in the far distance the bleak darkness gave birth to a point of light. Her heart raced at the thought of salvation from this dreary fate, and her steps quickened.

"Hello?" She called, lyrical voice tinged with uncertainty. "Hello!" Again, and only echoes returned her cry. The light grew brighter as she neared. "Please!"

Suddenly, her approach was halted. An oddly colored lake blocked her path, and as she cast an anxious gaze over the shore before her - she found that a gondola was lazily bobbing on the barely existent waves. Surely this was her only means of escape! Her exhausted form hurried to it, reaching to release it's tether. Suddenly, a horrifying truth shattered the hope in her mind and made her fingers stall in their task. She glanced again to the murky waters, and a single thought penetrated her mind.

The siren.

The girl had never been told of the siren who swam in the waters, but it was a truth somehow embedded upon the tablet of her mind. She shuddered, instinctively knowing the fate that awaited those who came across the siren. A glance over her shoulder confirmed, however, that she had little choice. This was her only means of escape! Careful that her skirts did not disturb as much as a drop of the siren's precious water, she hauled herself into the boat and with little skill began to row. Toward the light.

Before long, the thick mist which had subdued her vision began to thin and wane. She could see an elaborate, almost decadent home revealed before her. It was silent, seemingly abandoned.

"Please," she whimpered again, an unexplainable fear causing a lump to form in her throat. If no one were here, how would she ever find her way out of this cursed place? The gondola bumped against the landing, and she stepped from it - clumsily sloshing the shallow waters. Her heart leaped, and she quickly scampered further up and further in.

A rich and melodic laughter taunted her fears. It seemed to be everywhere all at once, and yet right in her ear at the same moment. She could feel the amusement laced in the mocking sound, and her face flushed.

"Who's there?" She demanded, gaze cast about quickly. "Show yourself!"

"It's a miracle, really, that she didn't get you. The siren, that is."

The girl shuddered. The voice was playing upon her fears, trying to frighten her - and though her mind realized this truth, it was dangerously effective.

"Please," she called out, this figure of a woman reduced very much to a frightened girl. "I am lost. I will.. pay you... if you only help me find my way."

"Why do you expect that I know the way?"

Still the voice echoed, first seeming to come from just behind her - and then from the gondola itself. The girl was distraught, and simply slumped into the pile of material her dress provided. She began to weep. The voice seemed agitated.

"Why do you come here, child, and weep for yourself? Why have you come!"

"I did not intend to! " The girl scarcely looked up, instead burying her face deeper in the solace of her own hands. The voice spoke again, and it seemed it's tone had changed. Softened, even.

"Ah, sometimes our fate is not in our own hands." Suddenly, the voice did not seem so disembodied. It seemed tangible and dangerously close. The girl looked up, toward the gondola. Somehow, in it's once empty bow, there stood a man. Dark and richly dressed, with an air of elegance about him. Only a portion of his face was visible, but it was strangely beautiful. Wrinkles that creased the corner of his eye and lip were the only evidence that he was quite a bit older than she - perhaps older than her father even. Otherwise, his skin was smooth and pale - and his sharply blue eye had a dangerous glint to it. The girl felt instantly enamored and horrified. She started, scrambling back a few feet. The attractive man moved, stepping from the boat as well.

"Christine," he breathed, in a singsong voice that echoed about in her head - in the same fashion that Nicholas' always had, only more intense. It was dizzying.

"No," she managed meekly. "No!"

The man did not seem to hear her, his intense stare fixated on her. She trembled beneath it's weight, as he approached.

"Oh, Christine..."

"No!" Elizabeth screamed, her voice seeming to finally shake the man from his reverie. The softness that had filled his eyes vanished, and they were fierce and frightening.

"Who are you?" He demanded, grasping her wrist.

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" Was the only thing she could manage through her fright and tears.

"Ahh. A child," he had murmured, smiling darkly. "A penance, perhaps, for her sins against me!"

His words made little sense in the chaos that was her mind. She struggled against his hand, attempting to free herself.

"Tell me, little Beth, can you sing?" A vicious sort of pleasure flashed across his face at the look of fright in her eyes. She shook her head frantically, and mouthed the word no.

"Well then, if you are to be mine, you must learn!" With that, he laughed aloud - an almost maniacal sound that caused Elizabeth to tremble. The beastly and beautiful man before her turned his head, and for the first time she could see the cool white that shielded a portion of him from her. A name churned within her mind, though her tongue struggled to give it breath. He began to hum, and a song was born in her mind. The voice that imparted it to her was sweet and familiar; her Mother's!

"You're... you're..." Elizabeth struggled against the melody threatening to consume her. "The.. Opera Ghost!"

Again he laughed, so rich a sound that she was tempted to join in - and so terrifying and deviant that she wanted to weep. The song continued, until her eyes felt heavy and she allowed them to close.

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!"

"No!" Firm hands grasped her shoulders, shaking aggressively.

"Please child, wake up!" The voice was familiar, that of her mother. Elizabeth struggled toward the familiar sound, finally able to open her heavy lids enough to realize her location. She was safe within her own bed, though her body was drenched with the sweat of her nightmare.

"Oh, Mama..." she exhaled with relief, so delighted to see her familiar face that she had forgotten the strife between them.

Christine's countenance was one of worry. "Nightmares?"

"Yes," she replied weakly, pulling her covers tightly up over her shoulders. She felt so exhausted, and yet she was fearful to return to the world of dreams. "Will you sit with me until I sleep?"

Christine smiled at her only child, and nodded. She began to stroke the moist locks at her daughter's temple, and would have thought her already asleep if it were not for the soft melody that began to ensue from the trembling form.

Elizabeth, who had never hinted at musical ability, began to sing in a most appealing tone.

"I remember there was mist..

Swirling mist upon a vast glassy lake.

There were candles all around and on the lake there was a boat..

And in the boat there was a man..."