A/N: This is the first time one of my stories will leave the safety of my journal's leather bound covers to venture out into my world. Please be polite!
How torturous this past year had been for poor, unhappy Erik. Every day he sulked in the catacombs of the opera house, while the delicate song of Mademoiselle Daaè floated down from the stage 6 floors above. Matters became worse once he heard the horrible news that she had changed her name to Madame de Chagny. A deep stab went into his heart every evening at the opera when he heard Christine's name announced, as though the Vicomte was jeering, mocking him. Once, the thought crossed his mind that, in reality, all Raoul had ever done was love Christine, a crime he himself was guilty of, but the thought was banished almost at once, and his blind hatred for Monsieur le Vicomte bubbled back to the surface.
Now that his Don Juan Triumphant was finished, he had nothing to occupy his time. The managers were so frightened of him now, he needn't send his letters to them requesting his 20,000 francs or to keep Box 5 open; they just obliged.
Night after night, Erik lay in bed trying to push Christine from his thoughts, but her face always floated to the front of his mind.
"You must find something to occupy your time, Erik," the Ghost told himself again and again.
About 2 months after the year mark that Christine had left him, news came that the de Chagnys had given birth to a beautiful baby girl, and they had christened her Colette. It was the little girl that sprung an idea into Erik's genius mind. A child. He would take in a small boy and train him to become just like him. It was the perfect plan.
A/N: Ok so the first chapter sucks, it always does, but it gets so much better I swear!