The next day Luc called the staff to discuss the schedule for the new season, and introduce the new singer he'd chosen for the female lead in the latest production. He knew that most of the older members were skeptical about his abilities to manage the Opera Populaire he intended to prove to them that he had it in him to do the job. Although, he'd already hit his first snag, there was no leading female soprano among the very small cast that remained at the opera. A good number of cast members had left upon hearing that Moncharmin was retiring and as business had dropped greatly over the last decade, many had gone to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Luc had thought that it might help his career to bring the former soprano, Christine Daae, back as the female lead, Marguerite, for the upcoming month's production of Faust. Daae had played the role before and he had hoped that she would be willing to return after her ten year absence from the theater. She had blatantly refused, Luc hadn't really understood why, she wasn't very old, only around thirty or so, and that put her at fifteen years the junior of the still highly active La Carlotta. He had so wanted to be the manager that brought the Opera back to it's past glory. After the incident with the Phantom and Christine Daae's departure the Palais Garnier had never had the same kind of business again. He'd been unable to get Christine Daae, but he had managed to hire a young Dutch singer named Klara Hauer, although the girl was all but unknown Luc had been amazed by not only her voice, but her versatility on the stage and her skill as an actress. While he understood that opera was all about the music and the voice Luc felt that there was no need to sacrifice a good performance on vocal talent alone. Although it seemed a reckless move, hiring an unknown when he was still new, Luc's instincts had told him it was the right move. Klara had the charm and appeal to back up her remarkable voice and he had complete confidence in her ability to rise to stardom in his Opera House.

The staff gathered around Luc as he made his way across the lavish red and gold themed auditorium to the front of the stage, some of them watched him with interest, others with consternation and the rest appeared bored. Among the disinterested was the aged Madame Giry with her daughter Meg, Madame Giry had seen managers come and go and it was unlikely this one would be much different. He was young, the only reason he had this job was because his uncle had been one of the previous managers. She didn't have high expectations and she sat in one of the front row seats idly inspecting the head of her cane. She didn't even raise an eyebrow when Luc started to speak.

"Thank you all for being here. As you've probably heard I have been unsuccessful in convincing Christine Daae to return to the Opera, but, I have found a soprano that I believe will be suitable," said Luc, "Allow me to present Mademoiselle Klara Hauer."

The gathered crowed stirred in mild interest as a beautiful young woman crossed the stage to stand before them. She looked like an angel, her long golden hair fell to her waist in loose curls, her pale face was delicate with a narrow chin and softly pronounced cheekbones. She stared serenely back at them with liquid brown eyes framed by silky golden lashes. A common thought ran through the minds of the staff members, she was truly very beautiful...but could she sing? It was the conductor, Monsieur Reyer, who voiced the question aloud.

Luc smiled and gestured to Klara, "If you will, Mademoiselle," he said.

Klara gave a small nod of her head and began to sing a few lines from Marguerite's aria from the third act.

Ah, je ris de me voir

si belle en ce miroir,

Est-ce vous, Marguerite, est-ce vous?

Répondez-moi, réponds-moi,

Réponds, réponds vite!

Non Non! ce n'est plus toi!

No. .. non, ce n'est plus ton visage;

C'est la fille d'un roi ..

The staff looked from Klara to each other, that had been impressive. Her voice was clear, sweet, and it had a strength that many previous sopranos' had lacked. While it was not as grand or splendid as the golden tones of Christine Daae it was a beautiful voice in its own right. There was a collective murmur of assertion the Luc took as the staff's general approval of his decision, so far so good, there was just one last order of business left.

"As Mademoiselle Hauer is new to Paris and currently unknown I've decided that in three weeks time we will host a gala to mark her debut as Marguerite in next month's production of Faust."

"Are you certain that's wise Monsieur?" said madame Giry idly twirling her cane between her long slightly crooked fingers. Amongst the curious and eager cast and crew members, who had been very impressed with Klara, the thin, ancient, woman in black looked merely bored, "This opera house is not all that is appears to be and it's unwise to tempt fate,"

"What on earth do you mean by that? What harm could possible come from hosting a simple gala?" demanded Luc.

"Surely Monsieur Moncharmin told you of the Opera Ghost?" said Monsieur Reyer chewing his lip anxiously.

"Oh, I see what's going on here," Luc's brow furrowed. "Alright which one of you did it then? Who left that letter on my desk? Which of you has the nerve to demand that I leave 20,000 Francs in box five for you?" he glared at the crowed as though one of them would step forward and confess.

The staff members shifted about anxiously and Monsieur Reyer put a hand to his pallid face in a gesture of despair. Like Madame Giry, he was one of the oldest members of the staff. He knew and feared the Phantom more deeply than anyone else present. He had been in the orchestra pit on the day the chandelier came crashing down, it had landed just a few feet away from him, and he'd seen with his own eyes the dark shadow darting across the rafters with inhuman agility. He couldn't bring himself to believe that someone like that could drop dead a mere week later. The only reason he'd never resigned was because this place was all he knew, he didn't wish to search for another position at his age. It would be nearly impossible. He wrung his hands helplessly, but then he caught Madame Giry's eye, she was quite collected and she gazed at him calmly. He felt his moment of panic fade, a truly unflappable woman. She wasn't panicking and she never would, he admired that iron will and when she was nearby he always felt a little calmer. She lifted the corner of her lip in the barest hint of a smile and he returned it with a shaky one of his own, as long as Giry was calm he'd be just fine...just fine.

Luc and the rest of the crowed seemed completely unaware that anything had passed between the two senior members as Luc continued to rant about the letter and anyone having the audacity to do such a thing.

"For the love of God, this is extortion! I could turn someone over to the police for this!"

"So he's still here, just as we suspected. Except now he really is a ghost," said one of the crew members.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Luc nearly shouted, "This joke is wearing thin! Who is responsible for such ridiculousness?"

"The Phantom of the Opera," whispered one of the young dancers tremulously.

"What? That man's been dead for years; if you're trying to pull one over on me you're doing a poor job of it! I'm not a fool!" cried Luc

"You're a fool if you don't do as the note says," said Madam Giry leveling her gaze at him. She'd remained longer than all of the so called "managers" that had tried to fill Luc's current positions, if they didn't leave right away they bent to the Phantom's whims and lingered on for a few years, just the same, they never lasted to retirement, and the more time she spent around the one the more certain she grew that he would not remain past a month.

"Was it you? Surely a woman of your years knows better than to blackmail her employer," said Luc.

"Don't threaten me boy," Giry pointed her cane at Luc's chest, she tilted her chin up defiantly, daring him to contradict her, "I've been here since before you were born, and I know more about the Phantom than anyone else here, believe me when I say that he is very real. If you want to survive this job you'll do well to take my advice and do as he requests. If you don't he is sure to make you pay, perhaps with your life,"

Luc's fluster left him for a moment, but he gathered his nerve and refused to be cowed, "We'll see, I'm not some spineless coward and if this Phantom really does exist then I'm certain he is a man and not a ghost. I will find a way to be rid of him in the end,"

With that Luc stormed away, he motioned for Klara to follow him. Monsieur Reyer and Madam Giry exchanged glances, Brace yourself, they seemed to be saying to each other, there's a storm not far ahead of us.

...

Hello me again,

I promise not to litter this with to many author's notes, but I would like to inform you that I cannot confirm the accuracy of the lyrics for the famous "Jewel Song" from the Opera Faust by Charles Gounod. I do not speak French, I had to look up the lyrics and hope they were accurate. I have a sort of compulsion about making my fictional works as accurate as possible; if the story takes place during a certain time period I try to keep things true to a historic time line and Faust was an Opera that was reasonably popular during the late 18th century. Being that I am anal about accuracy I actually took the time to watch Faust and learn the names of the characters and write down a list of their vocal ranges from Marguerite's Soprano to Mephistopheles Bass. I also took the time to watch the Phantom of the Opera (2003) film, the only thing I'm taking from it is the film's interpretation of Madame Giry, as much as I liked the film and Andrew Lloyd Webber, I want nothing else from it. My main inspiration is the original novel and the Susan Kay version of the novel.

If any of my Princess and the Frog readers have wandered into this fic, I'm sorry, that fic is on hold for right now. I need to do more research on depression era New Orleans and watch the film again, I only saw it once, in the theater when it came out and don't trust myself to keep writing until I see it again.

Yes, I know this is a ridiculous amount of effort to put into Fanfiction, but it's summer vacation for me...and I'm bored out of my skull.

I am still working on my grammar and punctuation, I will find someone to beta for me if I don't work that out myself, so hopefully the quality of this piece and my other works will improve for you. Until then, I'm truly very sorry to give you mediocre work.

Cheers

Enos

P.S. Please review...pretty please with sugar on top?