Author´s note: Please pay attention to the dates! This chapter takes place long before the first one. I apologise for jumping around in time like that, but it´ll become better in the next chapters.

Chapter Two

November 11th 1880: Erik

It was a completely normal night. For the fifth or sixth time in this month, my voice had woken up Christine long after the girls had fallen asleep and led her from her dormitory to an unused room at the other side of the building. No one could hear us there. And even in the unlikely case that somebody noticed the light: Who´d dare come in and disturb the Opera Ghost?

Christine had sung very well tonight, but of course I wasn´t foolish enough to tell her so. Praise could easily spoil a young girl, and I enjoyed her naturalness. She wasn´t as vain as the other members of the chorus, at least not yet. "We´ll end this lesson for today. You may go.", I said, and obediently she started gathering her few belongings, the coat she had worn to keep out the chilly air in the corridors and the song book that had mysteriously turned up on her bed one day. I watched her through the rectangular window I had built in the wall. It looked just like a mirror from the other side. Admittedly it wasn´t half as good as its bigger version. Yet that one was inaccessible at the moment. After all, I couldn´t teach the girl in another singer´s dressing room. The big mirror was reserved for later. If I´d ever use it at all, that was…

Her voice pulled me out of my thoughts abruptly. "Can I ask you something before I leave?", she muttered. I could see her fingers move through her long hair nervously; it didn´t seem to be easy to address me that directly. "Certainly.", I replied. "What do you want to know?" She hesitated for a few moments, then blurted out: "What is it like to be in Heaven?". I was taken aback by her question. Christine was a very quiet girl, and we hadn´t talked about anything but music yet. So far, she had blindly accepted that I was an angel sent by her father.

My whole body tensed. So it wasn´t surprising that my voice sounded a little harsh as I said: "I thought the priests told you more than enough about this topic every Sunday.". Her answer came very slowly, and it grew so quiet that I could hardly understand her anymore. "Yes, but… I wanted to hear it from you because… you´ve lived in Heaven for… forever, haven´t you? And I… well, sometimes I try to imagine what you do when you´re not with me… Do you go up there after every lesson?"

Although I was relieved that she didn´t question my identity, I also reminded myself of being wary. A wrong word could easily shatter the illusion I had built so carefully. "I do not live in Heaven, child.", I told her. Before the puzzled expression on her face could turn into a curious one I continued talking. "I own an entire world at a secret place only I know the way to. It is very beautiful. You have to understand that I can no longer be in Heaven because I have to take care of you. I´m always at your side."

Watching her pretty cheeks flush was a pleasure. "Thank you. I´m very grateful for that.", she whispered. Her next question seemed to take a little longer to form in her head. I waited patiently. As long as I was in control of the conversation nothing could make me nervous. "And you live there… all alone?", she finally asked. Coming from any other girl this sentence would have sounded suggestive, but not from Christine Daaé. Her naivety made it sound as if she wanted to know whether the horse wasn´t lonely in its stable.

For a fleeting moment I was caught in a daydream about bringing her to my underground world. Yet the rational part of my mind interrupted it much too soon. I couldn´t show myself to her. She only knew angels from pictures and the windows of churches. Seeing me would probably cause her to pass out. And even if she´d survive the shock that I was quite the opposite of a heavenly being, it was too risky for me. I could already sense that my feelings for her were more than those for a gifted student, and I couldn´t allow myself to become even more attached to her.

"Yes, I live alone.", I replied. "But that´s what I´m used to. It´s just…" An idea hit me so suddenly that I jumped slightly. I didn´t have enough time to think about it more carefully. Such an ideal occasion might have never come back. "…I don´t have anyone who´ll inherit everything.", I went on with a well-placed sigh. "Inherit?" Now Christine sounded even more confused than when I had admitted I didn´t live in Heaven. "You cannot… angels cannot die."

"Some of us can.", I disagreed. "When our protégé leaves us and goes out into the world…" "Oh, I´ll never do that!", she called anxiously. My heart contracted painfully as I watched her grip around the song book tighten. Yet for my idea it was necessary to make her upset. I couldn´t spare her. "You will.", I said flatly. "One day you´ll marry and go to live with your husband."

It seemed that the topic was a little delicate for Christine began to chew on her bottom lip. After some moments she told me: "The other girls say I won´t ever marry. I´m just an orphan; I don´t have enough money to buy pretty dresses. No man will notice me.". "Oh, they will notice you.", I muttered, with just a hint of bitterness in my voice. "One day you´ll be a wonderful wife and mother." I tried my best to ignore the small part of my mind which shouted that one man had already noticed her. The only problem was that she didn´t know I was a human being.

And then, quite suddenly, she uttered the sentence I had waited for. "If I really have children one day, you shall have one of them… as an heir. Then you won´t ever forget me, even though I won´t be with you." I could hardly believe how easy this had been. "All right, Christine. On your first son´s fifth birthday I´ll come to get him. Do you promise that you´ll allow me to take him with me?" "I promise.", she whispered. Her large brown eyes had a serious glance. "So shall it be.", I declared solemnly. It was done.

"But let us not talk about this subject anymore.", I went on. "It is years and years from now… Besides, it is time to return to your dormitory. When you´re in bed I´ll sing you a lullaby, so that you´ll fall asleep quickly." The last thing I wanted was her lying awake and pondering about what we had discussed. The girl seemed to have no idea of how important her promise would be, and I intended her not to realise it until the day when I´d visit her.

Christine nodded and left the room. I followed her, using my secret passageways through the building. She was such a good girl. Maybe I´d be able to risk showing myself to her and telling her the entire truth one day. In the unlikely case that she´d actually develop some kind of feelings for me, her promise would be invalid. And if not, I´d at least have an heir, even though it wouldn´t be my own child. Both ways were acceptable. I quickened my pace. My angel was waiting for her lullaby.