Rachel shifted uncomfortably in her sleep. A cold draft was being emitted from the stone walls surrounding her. She kicked the blankets off in restless frustration, and sat up. The other workers slept peacefully around her, each one reeking of whiskey and sweat.

"Celui qui soit arrivé à l'élégance et à la beauté du Français?" She murmured while wrapping the blankets around her shoulders. "This place just screams out how ugly Paris can be."

Rachel stood up and left the sleeping quarters with light feet. She quietly shut the door behind her and turned to continue down the hallway but—

"Madame Giry." She gasped. "You frightened me." Grabbing her chest, she broke into an awkward laugh. "I was just on my way to the—"

"I know perfectly well as to where you were headed." Her scrutinizing tone pierced Rachel's ears. "And I strongly advise against it."

Rachel pulled the blanket closer to her neck. "And why do you?"

"You are so young, you have much to learn. You should give up your childish dreams before they turn to strike you." She quickly reached out and snatched Rachel's wrist to observe the purple tint using the light form her candle. "I see he already has."

She pulled her hand back and tucked it within the folds of the quilt. "That's absurd. This is from securing the ropes."

"I see." Giry lifted her chin to flaunt her superiority. "Your decisions are your own. Just know that flames are marvelous to look at, but once you get too close, they will consume you."

Rachel nodded solemnly and watched as Giry stalked off into the darkness of the night before turning to go to Christine's room once more. If Madame Giry was right and Erik was the equivalent of a fire, it couldn't hurt to go one last time. Besides, Rachel still hadn't received a good reason so as to stop seeing him. Whenever they visited each other, it was filled with nothing more than discussions about how Erik could better his music. Nothing like that one dreadful night had ever threatened to happen again. She shook that memory from her mind as she pushed the door open.

There he stood, waiting like a faithful pup for his master to return. Rachel laughed aloud. "Hello."

"What is so amusing?" He stepped towards her, brushing his hand across his mask to secure its place.

"Nothing. I just was thinking about something." She gestured to the floor before sitting down. "So, why did I have to come tonight? You're note sounded so urgent."

"I completed the opera—"

"Oh that's wonderful!" She tugged on his arm so he would sit as well and he followed her instruction obediently. "Did you bring it? Can I read it?"

"Wait." He turned his head away from her confused gaze. "I don't want to send it to them. I would rather you did. And," Rachel took Erik's hand, the differences of their body temperatures clashing violently until it reached a common ground. "I want you to be the lead."

"I can't sing!" She jumped up. "That's absurd!"

He remained sitting, but kept his watch on her. "I've heard you sing and you're magnificent—"

"But I'm just a concierge! I can't sing."

"Christine was just a chorus girl." His tone was sharp and annoyed.

Rachel took a deep breath before continuing. "But at least she was already somewhat involved in the opera. And this was also before you betrayed everyone's trust. How can you just expect me to walk in with a beautifully composed opera and make them believe I wrote it?" She put her hands to her face in exasperation as she fell to her knees. "Not to mention Madame Giry knows."

"How did she—"

"What doesn't she know? She's as devious as you."

Erik stood up, slightly disgruntled at her last remark. "Shall I take that as a compliment?"

"Oh hush up. My mind is racing, I can't think."

He crossed the room to the mirror, and, keeping his back to her, said, "Follow me. There is much to see."

"What?"

"If you don't believe you can sing, I will teach you."

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Ok so the French part is supposed to mean "Whatever happened to the elegance and beauty of the French?" But I used Microsoft Word to translate it, so it's probably wrong.

And I know it's sort of a cliffhanger, and it's very short, but hopefully this means I will update faster. I have a tendency to write more frequently late at night and I have a week off of school so this can only mean good things.

Read, enjoy, review.