My devious plan becomes a little clearer in this chapter. Muhahahahaha! It's brilliant! Brilliant I say – genius!

Okay, I'm done.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Erik or Christine. They are the wonderful creation of Mr. Leroux – but ALW gave them depth and humanity – as did Kay. I do not own any lyrics that are used; they will be credited at the end of the chapter in which they appear.

I do however; own the plot and any original characters, which appear from the dark caverns of my mind.

Character portraits:

Erik – Gerard Butler (There is no other – not for me!)

Christine - Scarlett Johansson (with violet eyes, and a little more of a mature look)

Meckenzie -Emma Karwandy (from Butterfly on a Wheel)

Vince - Pierce Brosnon (slightly shorter)

Karen -Bette Midler (only about ten-years younger, seven inches taller, and long, brown hair)

Ms. Jennison-Samantha Bond (Miss Moneypenny from the latest Bond movies)

Mr. Lynch - Bruce Davison (Senator Kelly from the first X-Men movie)

All other original characters, you can use your imagination.

Enjoy.

CHAPTER 3

Two weeks later…

"Ms. Daae, you must have a personal invitation from a member of the Board of Directors or from a teacher before you can be considered for the scholarship program." Ms. Jennison emphasized. "Trudeau's School of the Performing Arts for the Blind only accepts the finest students with the greatest potential."

"Is there a way that I could speak with Mr. Trudeau?" Christine asked, desperation seeping from every pore in her body.

The woman gave Christine a sympathetic sweep of her eyes, "My dear, Mr. Trudeau sees no one. He gives individual vocal, piano, and violin lessons to the students – that is as much contact as he allows."

"Why?" Christine inquired, shocked that a man - who had envisioned this school and had an intricate part in its development - would be so reclusive.

"None of us have ever actually meant the man, but it is rumored that he is severely deformed – that is why he founded a school for the blind." Ms. Jennison replied.

Christine shook her head in understanding. Society was still so "dark ages" when it came to people who were different. She could imagine the ostracizing and castigation he had been through all his life; she empathized with the man, and she didn't even know him.

"I am sorry, my dear…you seem to have made the trip for no reason." Ms. Jennison stated.

Christine had searched databases, websites, newspapers, magazines…everywhere…for the names of the best schools in the United States for a child as gifted as Meckenzie, but who was also blind.

Trudeau's School of the Performing Arts for the Blind, always ended up at the top of the list; then she heard that you could get a scholarship to attend. She was so thankful to find that the school was not far, only a two-hour trip from her apartment in Connecticut.

Now, it seemed that the trip had been for nothing. "Thank you, Ms. Jennison, for seeing me." Christine stated as she stood to leave.

"You're welcome, dear."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Christine normally did not get involved in sitcoms on television, reruns, reality shows…none of those – and she never listened to radio talk shows and such, not until "Music of the Night" entered her life.

The devastation of her meeting at Trudeau's School was eating at her and she felt a new bout of depression sinking into her bones. She felt much older than her 27 years; she hadn't been on a date in months – she wasn't even sure she wanted a man in her life again.

Her last attempt at dating had ended badly. Dylan had been a nice looking, outwardly kind, man with good morals and a nice smile. Christine had enjoyed his company very much.

Everything seemed to be going great…until he found out about Meckenzie. He adamantly refused to take her anywhere, did not want to meet her, but still wanted Christine to continue seeing him – he even started pressuring her for sex.

For Christine, sex was out of the question. She refused to degrade her morals just because some guy thought sex was the only way to show love; she refused. Dylan didn't take it well.

He was becoming increasingly agitated and borderline violent. She was not going to get into an abusive relationship, so she broke it off; besides, any man she got serious about was going to love Meckenzie as if she were his own flesh and blood.

Before Dylan, there had been a few dates, but nothing notable. Her relationship with Dylan had ended over a year ago; she missed being in the company of a man, but she was not willing to settle. She had old fashion morals ingrained into her because of her father, and she respected herself enough not to move her boundaries.

So tonight, she found herself on the phone calling the only man in her life right now…

OOOOOOOOOO

"We go now, to a caller from Connecticut...Christine, are you there?"

"Yes."

"You are on the air with 'The Phantom'…I'm listening…"

"Your voice has been one of the few high points in my life these past few months; I just wanted to let you know that."

Christine could not believe that she was actually talking to this man. Just the sound of his voice soothed her aching conscience and made her lack of success with Meckenzie's schooling seem a little less painful.

"That is appreciated, but I hear a great deal of pain in your voice…perhaps you have something you need to share…"

He heard quiet sniffles on the line and knew this woman was desperately trying to contain her emotions. He also could sense the deep need she had to talk to someone.

"Christine, let me listen to your need and if that is all that I can do, then that is all I will do…but if there is any way that I can ease your pain, I would be grateful for the opportunity to try…"

Her gentle, melodious voice seeped over the radio waves as she started her story, "My daughter, Meckenzie, is the most gifted musician I have ever seen…for her age. She has perfect pitch and can perfectly recite a melody from the radio onto the piano – and never miss a note."

"How old is your daughter?" The heavenly voice asked.

"She's five."

Erik was surprised by her age; to be so young and have such an incredible gift. He was certain her gifts were intrinsic.

"She was born blind and all attempts at restoring her eyesight have failed…there will be no more attempts."

Erik heard her sniffling again, and knew she was wiping away the tears, "I have lost almost everything I owned trying to regain Meckenzie's eyesight; only to be told that there was a less than 20 percent chance that the procedure would work."

Christine tried to compose herself, but the years of pent-up tears just seemed to flow from her like a river. She had not allowed the therapeutic luxury of tears to cleanse her pain – she needed to stay strong for Meckenzie.

"I'm sorry, I thought I could get through this without embarrassing myself, but that is obviously not going to happen."

"Don't apologize, child, simply allow me to listen to what it is that bothers you." He enticed with a lulling, seductive tone.

In truth, Erik enjoyed the sound of her voice. She had a calm assurance in her tone, confidence which spoke of training and practice. He felt a funny twist in the pit of stomach…a feeling he had only had one other time in his life with another woman…it had ended badly.

"For months, now, all I have wanted was to get my daughter into the best school for children who advanced in music, perhaps one that even catered to the blind."

She paused for a moment, once again perplexed that she was baring her soul to this complete stranger; but over the last few nights, he had become her closest friend.

"There was only one school that kept coming up every time I searched the internet or talked to people, Trudeau's School of the Performing Arts for the Blind. I tried to get her accepted…but I do not know anyone from the board or a teacher…" her voice was distant and soft, letting Erik know that she distraught with emotions, again. "…my daughter is doomed to waste her gift because I have made some stupid and selfish decisions that have affected her."

Erik found himself entranced by her story. This mother blamed herself for her daughter not having the opportunity to develop her gift. She wanted what every good mother wants – the best for her child.

He sent them to a commercial break and could not believe the next words that came out of his mouth.

"I happen to know the founder of the school, Christine…I will speak to him and set up an appointment for you.."

"You know Mr. Trudeau?" Christine surmised with shock in her voice, "Personally?"

A soft, masculine chuckle came sensually across the phone line; he had no idea how many female hearts melted at the sound.

"Yes, I know him quite well." He responded with a chuckle. "Leave me your name and address and I will have someone contact you as soon as I work something out."

Christine hesitated, "I don't give out my name and address, not even over the phone…could we meet somewhere and I'll give it to you then?"

Erik balked – his nightmare was coming true. For his part, Vincent had a strange look on his face, too. Neither one of them knew what to do.

"You want to meet me…in person?"

Erik realized how ridiculous that sounded, but his genius brain was turning to a pile of malleable goop right now.

"I'm not so sure that is a smart idea." He voiced to Christine.

"Please, I want to meet you so much; your voice has sustained me over these past few weeks."

Erik's mind was working frantically, trying to come up with a solution. He laid his eyes on Vincent and immediately knew what he had to do.

His brain kicked back into gear and a beautiful, rare smile graced his face, "You're in Connecticut, correct?"

"Yes, just outside of Hartford."

"I'll meet you on the corner of Carrington Ave. and Third Street, there is an Irish Pub there that I enjoy very much – how about 5:00 tomorrow afternoon?"

Christine was ecstatic, the man new Hartford! She didn't know why she had butterflies in her tummy, she didn't even care what he looked like, his voice was enough to spark her interest.

"That sounds great…how will I know how to find you, what do you look like?" She asked.

If possible, his smile grew broader as he stared at Vincent, "I'm 6'1"; I have dark brown, slightly graying, medium-cut hair; I have blue/green eyes, and an athletic build…mid-forties – I'm hard to miss."

Erik smirked as Vincent realized he had described him. He immediately started shaking his head in denial…he was not going to do this. Erik glared at him, indicating that he was indeed going to do this.

"Great, I'll find you." She said with a smile in her voice.

The phone line went silent after Christine had hung up, leaving Erik staring into the phone until Vincent's voice broke the spell.

"What are you doing?" He exclaimed. "You gave her my description."

"Wow… it's hard to get anything past you." Erik uttered with a slight smirk.

"Erik…" There was a controlled fear in the tone Vince was using.

"Look, Uncle Vince…this entire ordeal is your fault. I warned you that this would happen. You insisted that no one would want to meet me…" He watched as Vincent lowered his eyes, knowing that what he said was true, "…and see what has happened?" Erik could feel the anger rising…he just wanted to avoid the whole encounter.

"But why don't you just meet with her and get this all cleared up?" The older man suggested, hoping Erik would set the record straight.

"No, absolutely not." Erik stressed. "The poor girl has been through enough, she doesn't need some hideous masked stranger frightening her into hysterics in the middle of a pub in Hartford."

Vincent could not believe the self-loathing he still heard in Erik's tone. He had hoped they had gotten past this point, but Erik seemed hard pressed to change his opinion of himself.

"You caused this, Uncle…you fix it."

Vincent watched him walk off and get into his car. He now had to drive to Hartford tomorrow and meet this young woman. He had to make her believe he was the man with the voice that could melt stone…

'No problem.' Vincent whispered to himself as he felt the panic rise in his chest.

Vincent felt as though he was going to be sick; and he still had to tell Karen.

TBC