Wow...I was finally allowed to upload my documents. Thanks to all who review...only 2 people, but that's alright. You guys are my heros.

This chapter is one of those weird spiritual/supernatural element ones. Please bare with me...lol. Slight cursing, that's about it on the warning.

Preview: Rehersals and mayhem. And Erik has a new secret.

Disclaimer: Romeo and Juliet song belongs to Charles Gounod. The english translation was taken from a site but I dont remember the link. So the translation wasn't my work either.


Phantoms of the Past

"Ok everyone…" Monsieur Reyer yelled. "Please can I have your attention..."

The crowd still chatted away. The ballet girls were ready for practice and the chorus decided to start anyway which caused more chaos in the Opera House. But it still seemed empty without Carlotta screeching her head off. Christine was informed that she would play the role of Juliet. She wasn't sure on singing again since she hasn't had any training since the night before Il Muto.

"Ladies and Gentlemen…." He yelled louder. "PLEASE!"

The crowd still talked to each other and sang.

"I give up." Reyer said throwing his papers in the air.

Madame Giry laughed and came up to him, "We all know you missed this."

"Oh, of course. I don't know how I could live without it." He said in a sarcastic manner. They both laughed but Madame Giry stopped when she saw something fly down from the rafters.

"I'll be right back." She said and walked over to the small paper. It was an envelope with a red skull on it. She almost laughed out loud when she saw it.

Andre and Firmin walked onto the stage to talk to Reyer about the new play. Madame Giry walked over to them and held out the note.

"Jesus, Mary, and Sweet Joseph! You have got to be kidding me." Andre said as soon as he saw the note.

Firmin laughed, "Just great."

Madame Giry opened the letter and smiled. "It simply says: I'm back. From your eternal obedient servant, O.G."

"Let me guess, he wants box five empty…" Andre said.

"P.S." Madame Giry cut him off by continuing the letter, "You know my orders of box five." She shot a glance over to Andre. "I also remind you that my salary is due, and you owe me another 20,000 francs from the last time you didn't pay me."

Firmin rolled his eyes. "Of course he wants money."

Reyer was in the background still trying to get everyone's attention. Madame Giry helped him out by hitting her cane against the floor and wall. The crowd started to calm down.

"Thank you Madame." He said. "Now, please can we rehearse properly? Ok. Now the chorus has had practice with this piece already but the ballet hasn't started yet. So Madame Giry I'm sure you'll be right on that."

She shook her head and motioned the girls to go over to the back to practice some dancing moves and to stretch.

"Ok, now Chorus if you would please move to the side while I get the main cast out in front."

They did as they were told and Christine walked with others to the front.

"I know Signor Francesco Tamagno, our new leading tenor, has already rehearsed his part." Reyer pointed out. "Now Mademoiselle Daae, you have not performed your part yet, have you?"

"No Monsieur I have not." She replied.

"Have you practiced it though?"

"Yes I have briefly looked over the work." She answered.

"Ok well I would like to start with your parts in the opera. How about the Aria from Act I, where Juliet is singing of living in her dreams where it is eternally spring."

Christine nodded and begun the aria.

"I want to live
In this dream which intoxicates me
This day still, Sweet flame
I keep you in my soul
Like a treasure!
I want to live……I want to live!
This intoxication of youth
Lasts, alas, only for one day!
Then comes the hour when one weeps.
Far from the morose winter
Let me, let me slumber
And inhale the rose,
Before plucking its petals.
Ah! - Ah! - Ah!
Sweet flame! Stay in my soul.
Like a sweet treasure
For a long time still.
Ah! - Like a treasure
For a long time still.
"

When she was finished everyone applauded her performance. But she felt nothing, she knew that this wasn't her best performance and she knew the reason why.

"Brava! Well done, Mademoiselle!" Reyer exclaimed.

"Thank you." Christine said with some disappointment in her voice. She looked towards Madame Giry for approval. Madame Giry already told the girls to warm up and was watching Christine sing.

She smiled to the young soprano, "Very good, My Dear."


Erik listened to the performance from above. He knew she was doing great, but not as good as she can be. She had a lot more potential. But thoughts of teaching her again disappeared when Erik remembered all that has happened so far. 'It was her decision to leave, and now she has to face the consequences'.

Being on the catwalk made him nervous because of his past encounter with the ghost of Joseph Buquet. But Erik was a rational man. He didn't believe in God or religion, or so he told himself. He doesn't believe in ghosts or the supernatural. He came to the conclusion that his mind was playing tricks on him. Though Joseph wasn't the first 'ghost' that had come back to haunt him. Many times he had dreams of the people he killed in Persia for the Shah. A few times he could have sworn he saw them face to face, but this was the first to get physical with him.

'Is that even possible?' He questioned. 'Can a ghost physically harm you?' He shook the thoughts out of his mind. Erik had been on the rafters for an hour and nothing has happened yet. He laughed at his irrational fears and climbed down to the backstage area.

He headed towards a trap door when something caught his eye to the left of him. He saw a replica of the Don Juan mask he wore by the curtains. 'Maybe it's the one Christine ripped off.'

A rope fell behind him. Erik looked down at the noose lying right beside his foot. "Not again." He said out loud.

When Erik looked up he saw no one above him. "Just my imagination." He said to himself.

Movement from behind the curtain appeared. Erik ducked down in the shadows making sure whoever was behind the curtain wouldn't see him if they came out. But after a minute of waiting no one went through. He got up and walked towards the curtains. He took a moment and reached out to it. Quickly he opened the curtain and looked behind them. No one was there.

He walked through and looked around. 'I need to get some sleep.' He thought to himself. Erik laughed again at his silliness but his laughter stopped when he realized where he was. This was the spot where he killed Ubaldo Piangi. "Shit."

Suddenly a backdrop fell next to him. Erik jumped away in time. He heard a crowd of people heading towards the area. Erik got up and ran away to a hiding spot.

"What in the world?" Andre said as he walked through the curtain. He noticed the backdrop and thought of only one person -- one thing that would do this.

"I guess the ghost really is back." Firmin stated. Madame Giry walked past them.

"How do you know it was the ghost, it could have been something else." She said.

"Yeah and maybe something else burned down the opera house!" Firmin laughed. "We all know his tricks! Andre, don't you remember what happened to La Carlotta when we first came here?"

When he finished his sentence a gas lamp close to them blew up.

"What the hell?" Andre exclaimed.

Firmin now looked frustrated. "We know that you have connections with him. If you know what's good for you and your daughter's careers then I would suggest you tell him to knock it the hell off!"

Madame Giry held her ground and kept her chin up. "Monsieur, I don't know what you're ranting about."

"You know damn well!" He yelled but Andre stopped him from continuing.

"Come on Firmin, let's all talk about this later." He said becoming the mediator. After Firmin stormed off to his office Andre looked to Madame Giry. "Listen, please give him that message! I am not forcing you to do so, or threatening your career. But if you know what's best for all these people you would do well to tell him we are not going to take this anymore."

She gave a slight nod and walked away. Once Andre left Erik came out of hiding. 'Who the hell do they think they are? I didn't do any of that stuff!'

A voice then appeared out of no where.

"Here's my hat, my cloak and sword. Conquest is assured, if I do not forget myself and laugh." The phrase was soon followed by a laugh. The figure of Piangi walked through the curtain.

"What the hell?" Erik said out loud.

In front of Erik was the ghost of Ubaldo Piangi.

Erik stood still and looked around. He didn't want to talk out loud in fear of someone seeing him talking to nothing. "You're not real." Erik stated.

Piangi hovered from the ground. He stayed in one spot looking at Erik with bloodshot eyes.

He closed his eyes and tried to block out the ghost. 'It's just my imagination. My conscience is coming back to haunt me. That's all…there is no ghost haunting me, just my conscience.'

"Why?" He heard the Italian man ask. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Nothing." Erik replied.

"I had dreams, Monsieur Le Fantome! I dreamed of living my life with Carlotta! The week after the performance was our 3 year anniversary! I dreamed of having kids, and growing old with her! But you…. you ruined it! You ruined my dreams!"

Erik fell to the ground. The state of mind he was in was making him think he was crazy.

"Why did you have to kill me? Was it really necessary?" Piangi continued.

"I'm sorry!" Erik finally yelled. "If I could go back I would change everything! I've felt guilty everyday for everything I've done. I've tried to kill myself in redemption, I've turned myself in! I gave up my love…because I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy because of what I've done. I'm not worthy to live. And If I could I would take it back in a second."

Piangi just stared at the man on the floor. "I hope for your sake you find redemption."

"Why would you care about mine?" Erik asked.

"You won't live a good life like this." Piangi stated. Erik sat with a confused look on his face.

"I've come to terms with my fate and that everything happens for a reason." Piangi sighed. "My dreams were not meant to be. But I do know that my death will bring about a change in you."

"How do you know that?"

"I just know." He said simply and then continued, "I also know that I must move on from this Opera House and move on to the other side. But I wanted to be sure that my love, Carlotta, will be ok."

He paused before continuing. He looked down to Erik with a serious face. "I'm going to leave soon. But you must promise me one thing."

"What is it?" Erik asked.

"Stop picking on my love, Carlotta. No more backdrops and sprays that messes up the vocal chords. No more tricks."

Erik nodded his head in understanding. "Of course."

"And let her be a star, please. You have no idea how much she loves the stage." Piangi paused. "Don't worry; my death will change her as much as it will change you. She won't take anything for granted and she won't be a stuck up Prima Donna anymore." He laughed and had a sad look in his eyes. Erik knew that look himself. The need to just speak to the one you love. Just to hold her one more time.

"I really am sorry." Erik repeated.

The older Italian man smiled and added, "Believe it or not, you should always forgive people for the things they have done." Piangi looked off into the distance. He saw a blindingly beautiful white light.

"That's my cue to leave." Piangi said. He then turned away and disappeared. It felt as though a thousand pound weight had been lifted off Erik's shoulders. He let out a sigh of relief. Erik then headed to the chapel. His ideas on religion and the afterlife changed a bit.


Christine walked off the stage after a long practice. She walked over to Madame Giry who was picking up things after the girls.

"What was that loud noise earlier that everyone went to go check out?"

"Oh, just a backdrop that fell." Madame Giry replied. Christine looked concern but Madame Giry dismissed it. "It was most likely an accident."

"Since when has anything in this Opera House been an 'accident'?" Christine said.

Madame Giry thought about it and agreed. "Even if he did have something to do with it, he didn't harm anyone. I don't see what the point in it was."

Christine nodded and then asked to be excused. Madame Giry continued to get the ballet girls to clean up and to go back to the dormitories. Christine headed to the chapel to pray to her father. She walked threw the long hallways and headed past the dormitories to the small gothic chapel.


Erik sat in the spot where Christine always did. If it helped her then maybe it would help him. He heard someone heading down the hallway. Erik got up and walked out the door of the chapel and walked into a hidden door just in time. Christine walked past without noticing he was there. He went through the maze to where he would always sit to talk to her and give her lessons.

Christine walked up to the candles and lit one for her father like usual. She stared at his picture. Tears formed in her eyes as she stared. "I've failed you father." Christine said softly.

"But I wouldn't have failed if you actually sent me an angel! Not a Phantom." She cried. "Why would you do that papa…how could you lie to me like that?"

She sat in silence awaiting an answer that would never come. "Why didn't you keep your promise?"

Silence flooded the room again and Christine became outraged. "You're a liar!" She screamed at the picture. Erik witnessed all of this and left his hiding spot, he went back through the tunnels, he went out the hidden door, and into the chapel.

"Don't call your father a liar, Christine." He whispered. She turned around to him. Her face was wet from tears, and she was sobbing.

"Why are you so upset?" He asked.

"I failed. I'm not good at all!" She cried.

"What are you talking about? You were great."

Christine was shocked. "You heard me?"

"Yes, and you were good." He replied. She gave a light smile. But it soon disappeared.

"Why did you lie to me?" She now asked him.

Erik became uneasy. "…Christine."

"Why did you lie to me?"

"It's complicated." Erik replied.

"Well you better explain because I have a right to know!"

"Fine." After a moment Erik started. "…When I was younger, around the age of 9, Madame Giry brought me here. I became bored living underneath the Opera House with no one to talk to. I occasionally talked to Madame Giry and construction workers. That was because they were planning on adding on and remodeling the Opera House and they wanted to use my sketches."

"…Wait….What?" She gasped. "You designed the Opera House?"

"Well not all of it. I designed the interior and the additions that were added on then. But that's not the point I'm trying to get at. I had very few connections, but one day Madame Giry told me about a great musician residing in the Opera House. This person was a genius of their art, and I heard them! I wished to share my knowledge with them, and to teach them new things. Imagine a 10 year old boy teaching an adult." Erik laughed. "We became good friends though. He respected me a lot, and we had many great discussions. But when I was 12 years old I left the Opera House in search of a new life. I never talked to this person face to face again."

"What happened?" She asked.

"I came back to the Opera House at age 21 and I heard that while I was gone my friend married his sweetheart, who was a chorus singer in the Opera House. And that they had a beautiful and healthy baby girl named Christine."

Christine paused and her eyes grew wide. "Oh my God."

"But good news turned bad and I found out that he had lost his wife, and he himself was on his deathbed. I wrote to him many times. Madame Giry would visit your house often, right?"

Christine shook her head in reply.

"Well she would bring the letters to him."

"Wait a minute!" Christine exclaimed, "I remember when I was younger Madame Giry came over and left a note on the counter. I walked over to see who it was from and on the front it said…Erik! Oh my God." Flashbacks flooded Christine's mind.

She remembered playing in the living room when Madame Giry came to visit. She put the note down on the counter and walked into Christine's father's room. Christine grew curious and went over to see who the letter was from.

"Erik." The younger girl sounded out the word.

"No my dear, that is for your father." Madame Giry returned from the room. The older woman took the note and went to put it by her father's bed.

Erik laughed. "And he wrote back to every one of my letters. He told me so much about you. It was actually almost all he wrote about. He rarely wrote about his own well being."

Christine smiled and felt tears forming again.

"He told me how you went into a depression, almost like you knew what was to come. Gustave cared so much about you. He was so worried about what you would be like after his death. That's when he came up with the idea of the Angel of Music." He paused realizing Christine was crying. He handed her a handkerchief.

"Thank you." She said with a slight laugh.

"He asked me to teach you and I was honored. But I didn't know how to teach you because of the fact that I wear a mask. I would've preferred teaching from behind the walls like I did. And I didn't know how I could do such a thing without scaring you. He told me that he wanted to make your life brighter by bringing your dreams to life. He told me of the Angel of Music and said it would be perfect. At first I wasn't too thrilled about the idea but it was his last request."

"I'm sorry I accused both of you of being liars."

"It's ok. I need to say…" Erik paused, "…I'm sorry for saying all those things about you're father not being in heaven because there is no heaven or God. That's not true. I know he's watching over you and he's proud."

Christine smiled and hugged Erik suddenly.

Erik stared at her; she seemed to liven up a little bit since he told her the truth. "I didn't know what to do though. When you got older I didn't know how to tell you the truth. It's like I already past the point of no return." He continued, "…and then I…" He stopped himself. He wanted to say that he fell in love with her but he refused to do so.

"You what?" She questioned.

"Nothing. If you ever want to read the letters your father sent me you can ask."

"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed.

Erik smiled and got up. He made his exit through the chapel door but Christine called out to him. "Wait. May I please see them now?"

Erik stopped and turned around. He replied, "I'll go get them in the lair. I'll be right back." Christine was about to suggest she go with him but he already left.