HELLO EVERYONE, I RECIEVED SUCH NICE REVEIWS I WAS SO HAPPY, SO FAR NO FLAMES AND I HOPE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY. IF THERE IS ANYONE WHO DOSENT LIKE MY STORY, SIMPLY STOP READING INSTEAD OF SENDING A FLAME IN THE FORM OF 'CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISM' BECAUSE I DONT WANT IT. PEOPLE TELLING ME MY SPELLING AND GRAMER SUCKS DONT COUNT, BECAUSE I KNOW IT SUCKS TOO

I DONT OWN PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, BUT I DO OWN THE LYRICS OF THE MELODY

CHAPTER FOUR

ONCE AGAIN

"Elizabeth? You're drifting off again" Abigail called.

"Huh" Elizabeth blinked and shook her head.

Her mother frowned "Elizabeth, young ladies do not say 'huh', it is most unbecoming."

"Yes mother" she said without thinking and went back to her watercolours. There were seated in the gardens together, painting. Although, she would have preferred to be inside, with a good book on her lap instead. But there was no arguing with mother once she decided something. Elizabeth sometimes hated how submissive she was towards mother, was it really so hard to say no?

"Elizabeth, don't slouch"

"Yes mother" she replied immediately, apparently it was that hard. Elizabeth simply did not know how to say 'no' to her mother. And it wasn't hard because she was one of those charaters who was so wonderful and sweet, instead she was quite to opposite actually.

Elizabeth snuck a glance to the side at Abigail's painting and realised without any surprise whatsoever, that it was a thousand times better than her own. Abigail simply had a flair for art. Embroidery, pencil drawing, water colours, you name it and Abigail could do it to perfection. She already had one of her paintings up in a gallery somewhere.

It wasn't that Elizabeth was jealous, still, one did get tired from being overshadowed by ones sisters all the time.

But then Elizabeth gave a small smile in satisfaction, Abigail couldn't sing.

Elizabeth had not told anyone of what had happened in the opera house, not even the baby charlotte who could not speak a word. This was her secret.

"Elizabeth, that looks nothing like a rose garden" Abigail commented.

That was because it wasn't a rose garden. It was fire.

With the song of yesterday still in her mind, painting a simple rose garden had just seemed so bland.

But compared to the complex painting of Abigail her work looked like a child's drawing. Was there anything she could do right?

"No, I know it isn't, but thought that a rose garden would be a little too hard for me, so I went for something simpler." She replied.

"And yet you managed to utterly destroy a simple fire painting, it looks atrocious." Sophia said with obvious disgust.

That comment stung, Elizabeth knew how bad at painting she was, but her mother didn't have to be so blunt.

Instead she nodded "I apologise that it's not to your liking." She stood "If you'll both excuse me, I think I'll retire to the drawing room for some tea, do either of you wish to join me?"

"Elizabeth, don't disturb your sister when she's practising" was her mother's only reply. Abigail smiled, but then returned to her painting.

Elizabeth tried not to allow the fact that she sister didn't protest against her mothers treatment of her eldest sister bother her as she left.

After all, it was the same with everyone. No one ever bothered to speak for her or to stand on her side, so Elizabeth had to learn to take the insults quietly without a word since she was alone in that aspect, no one would ever try to defend her or help her.

As they shouldn't, she decided, she wasn't worth it anyway.

Elizabeth sighed, really, when was she going to grow out of being this pathetic?

As she walked, she heard the sound of the piano playing from the drawing room, Verity must be practicing.

I was something complicated which she didn't know the name of, or perhaps it was one of her own.

She leant against the wall and closed her eyes as the sweet sound of music washed over her. But it didn't last long as after a few moments she frowned with slight distaste.

Elizabeth used to think that her sister's piano player was better than anyone else's, that it was perfect, but right now at this moment it somehow felt off. Like something was missing.

The piece Verity was playing was supposed to be sad, about a woman who had lost her lover. And here there was nothing in the music, as if it had no soul. Elizabeth longed to hear a spark of something to set her heart racing like it had in the pipes when she heard that organ.

That beautiful, consuming, passionate music that made her feel like no music had made her feel before. Elizabeth longed to meet the man to have composed such amazing music for they were surly without a doubt the most spectacular genius to have walked the earth since Mozart.

Then it occurred to her. The man from yesterday, the one who had almost killed her, he was playing it so beautifully. Perhaps he knew who had composed the music?

It was dangerous, especially since she knew what he was capable of, but Elizabeth felt like she had to know no matter what.

"It should be here" Elizabeth murmured she had hand traced over the wooden planks along the opera house, looking for the loose planks that lead to the tunnels.

She had ridden here instead of using a carriage since William wasn't there and none of the other drivers took bribes and would have reported her to her mother.

It wasn't as bad as it sounded, Elizabeth was quite known for going about the town on a horse. Since she was quickly approaching spinsterhood, no one was so strict about how she conducted herself, in a way; it gave her a sort of freedom.

Eventually she found it.

Behind some tree's she tied her blue roan mare, Moonlight, to a tree with a bag full of apples to keep her occupied. "Stay quiet please and I'll have a juicy carrot from the kitchens as a reward for you" she whispered as she patted the nose of her mount.

The horse whined and butted its nose into its mistress's hand. Moonlight liked her mistress, she was kind and didn't use spurs like her previous mistress, plus she was always giving her treats. So for Elizabeth the horse was willing to wait patiently.

With one more pat for measure, Elizabeth moved aside the planks and went inside. It was darker than she remembered, and colder too. Somewhere far along she heard a dripping sound. Elizabeth ran a hand though her unbound hair. She wore no bonnet today as she never wore one while riding moonlight. Bonnets always made it hard to see properly, so instead she used a boys hair tie. Only it had fallen out while riding today and so now it fell down her back in waves and curled at the ends.

Really, it bothered her. Elizabeth had inherited her father's hair. It was wavy with a few kinks in it and curled in ringlets which was pretty in its own right but compared to her sisters curly doll-like hair, hers looked so plain. Everything about her was plain in comparison to her sisters, the only advantage she had to them was that she was smarter.

It was petty to say it but it was true. She had always been smarter...not that it was any good to her. As mother always said, no man likes a smart woman.

Well, that in itself didn't matter. She was as good as a spinster now; she could do whatever she wanted. She had completely given up on the whole idea of marriage.

Eventually Elizabeth found her way out of the tunnel and into the music room. She almost imagined him being there, playing the organ. But he wasn't, the room was empty.

The dust had even re-accumulated on the piano; it was as if he had never been there.

She sighed heavily.

Perhaps it had all been a dream?

Elizabeth walked up to the organ and traced it slowly, her gloved hand picking up a layer of dust which she didn't mind. She removed her gloves and put them aside as she pressed one solitary key on the organ. The low sound richly resonated around the room, a low sound like darkness.

For some reason, a song popped into her mind. It was an old lullaby she used to listen to as her child. Because her mother wasn't around all the time, as a girl, Elizabeth had been mostly raised by a nursemaid.

Elizabeth loved that nursemaid. She was a widow with children who were already grown, her name was Maria. With tanned skin from some Spanish relative and dark brown hair, glasses that were too big for her face but a deliciously smooth voice which would sing her to sleep each night before she took ill.

And the best thing about Maria; was that she was the only person who liked Elizabeth more than her sisters. Whenever Elizabeth would succeed in her studies she would pat her on the head and call her, her 'little darling'. She was more a mother to Elizabeth than her real mother. She always favoured her which made her sisters angry so they rarely listened to her, but Maria saw how lonely the little dark haired child was and felt she deserved at least one ally.

Whenever Elizabeth would have nightmares or simply could not get to sleep, Maria would always sit by her bed and sing this lullaby. And when she left, Elizabeth was left completely alone, so those memories with Maria were some of the most precious memories she had.

"When the sun begins to set

When the sky is filled with twinkling stars

A fateful dream, awaits you in sleep

A gentle story only for you"

Elizabeth smiled as the words to the song came do easily to her, it was one of the few wonderful memories from her childhood, one of her favourites.

"Close your eyes and drift away

I'll hold you in my arms till you wake

My Darling child

Sleeping so sound

I'll treasure, the times that we have together"

The high part of the song resounded around the spacious room beautifully.

"When you are smiling

Even when you're crying

I'll love you, enough to

last us, a lifetime"

Smiling, she sighed. "What am I even doing here?" she murmured to herself "I must be out of my mind. I am nearly killed and so I return to mostly likely be nearly killed all over again. Oh great, I'm not making any sense, now I know I'm out of my mind." she sighed.

Then suddenly she stood to attention when she thought she had heard the soft sound of someone chuckling.

"H-hello?" she called out, a little afraid.

No answer.

"I-I know you're there, C-come out and speak to me face to face" she cried weakly. What was she doing? Did she really want to die that badly, the man was obviously a little out of his mind; he tried to strangle her with a noose!

"You must be extremely brave, or entirely stupid to come back here." A smooth, velvet voice suddenly called out.

Elizabeth spun round so suddenly she accidently tripped over the hem of her dress and fell back. "Ouch" she moaned and looked up.

There he was, white half mask and all. The eye that wasn't covered surveyed her with mild interest and confusion, also a hint of...amusement? "Or perhaps you were correct in your assumption of you being out of your mind. Then again, you may just simply want to die?"

At the mention of dying Elizabeth's heart began to speed in fear as her head bowed. 'I can't be scared now' she thought to herself 'not after I've come all this way'

"I...Sir I apologise for intruding on your privacy last time and also today, it was rude of me" what was this nonsense she was blabbering on about now? Why couldn't she simply arrive to the point?

"But I . . . I wanted to ask you something"

This seemed to confuse him "Ask me something?"

"Yes, who was the composer of the music that you were playing?"

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