Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries or Phantom of the Opera

Chapter 6

"Stranger than you dreamt it, can you even dare to look?"

Isobel stormed into Elijah's office, throwing the morning's newspaper down on his desk and standing in front of him with her hands on her hips expectantly.

"How may I help you this morning, Isobel?" he asked, sitting back in his chair and crossing his legs, hands resting on his chest with his fingers interlocked.

"The morning news."

"Ah," Elijah said, leaning forward to read the headline, 'Two Bodies Found. Murder Suspected. No Suspects as of yet.' "I did read that, Madame. Very unfortunate, indeed. I do hope that none of our viewers get too scared from this incident and stop coming to the opera for a time."

Isobel rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. "Monsieur, did you even read the article?"

"Of course not, Isobel. I fail to see why it is of such importance."

Isobel shut the door and sat down, "There are three reasons why this is so important, Elijah. There are things about our ghost that I have withheld from you simply because you do not believe our ghost to be a real. And now, I have but no choice to tell you these things."

Elijah rolled his eyes but allowed her to continue nonetheless. The sooner Isobel said what she had to say, the sooner he could go back to blissfully ignoring the Ghost.

"Firstly, Monsieur, if you would take a look at the murder victims. One of the men had a hole in his chest; his heart had been pulled clean out of the cavity," Isobel paused in order to gauge Elijah's reaction. She breathed a sigh of relief when his eyebrows pulled together in a concerned expression and his interest in the matter at hand was, seemingly, piqued. "Our ghost is not just any bully, Elijah. We have suspected, for some time now, that he is, in fact, a vampire."

"And what makes you think that?" He asked, neither confirming nor denying the Isobel's unspoken question about whether or not he believed in vampires and the like.

"It is the nature of his attacks. They're bloody and ruthless…you saw Katerina Petrova's on your first day here, Elijah. Now, I had never seen Katerina injured like we did that day but she would disappear for hours only to come back with a fuzzy memory and odd stories of where she had been and why she had been there, she wouldn't act herself, shying away from even Trevor's touch and avoiding backstage and darkness at all costs. I know it is not much to go by, Monsieur but you must believe me when I say a vampire was victimizing Katerina Petrova."

Elijah was silent for a moment as he considered this. "How do you know so much about vampires, Isobel?"

"I've always had a fascination with the supernatural, starting from when I was very young, Monsieur. And when I became the head of the ballet here, I made an acquaintance in one of our doormen. His name is Slater and he has a vast knowledge of the supernatural. Slater and I, along with Mason Lockwood, have been monitoring the situation ever since it began three years ago. There've been a handful of murders in this opera house over the past three years and they all fit the same category as these two. It's always been a broken neck, a heart pulled straight from the victim's chest, or a body with two puncture wounds in the neck- completely drained of blood."

"So what does this have to do with these two murders? They took place several blocks away from here."

"Because the other victim, the one who's neck was simply broken, happens to be a coach driver who has been employed by Mason Lockwood for several years now."

"Ah, so now we've come full circle to the issue of Box Number Five," Elijah said sarcastically.

"Elijah," Isobel said, a weary tone in her voice. "If you have had any contact with the Phantom, that is of utmost importance and I implore you to tell me or just acquiesce to his requests, no matter how trivial. I'm begging you because I fear for the fate of the Opera Populaire."

"And why is that? There's more to the story, isn't there?"

"The Phantom is incredibly intelligent. He victimized Katerina because Liam Grant idolized her, gave into her every whim. The Phantom knew that if he had control of Katerina, he had control of Monsieur Grant and the Opera House."

"I still fail to see how this is relevant to the here and the now, Isobel."

The woman took a deep breath and looked into Elijah's eyes, her own filled to the brim with worry.

"Caroline Forbes has gone missing."

"What do you mean by 'missing'?"

"She never returned home from the night. She had gone out with Tyler after the performance. I thought that perhaps it had been so late that she had just accompanied Tyler home and spent the night there and I went to check this morning but no one was home. The fact that Mason's coach driver is one of the bodies worries me."

"I'm not sure if this is enough evidence to go by, Madame. I still fail to see how the two entities are related, no matter how credible your accusations seem. We shall notify the police of Caroline's absence and let us up hope she turns up."

"Very well, Monsieur," Isobel said, turning to leave his office.

She was long gone before Elijah stood and put his coat on. If a human suspected the supernatural at play then it was his job as an Original to investigate.

The few officers still standing guard around the crime scene were easily taken care of upon Elijah's arrival, leaving him to his business with a little Compulsion. He moved swiftly, looking from body to body sprawled out on the street. Elijah had no doubt that this had been some sort of supernatural brawl, just as Isobel had suspected. Little offenses, such as the scene that lay before him, went against the unspoken rules of secrecy in the supernatural world.

For an indiscretion such as this, Elijah would have been merciful seeing as there hadn't been much harm. The whole situation was an easy fix in his mind. However, something told Elijah that his brother would not be merciful in the least, not that Klaus usually exhibited such a trait.

Enforcing the rules through less than amicable means was a favorite past time of his brother. Niklaus had created quite a reputation for himself. It was no secret that he was the most feared and hated of the Originals and he reveled in the control it gave him. He enjoyed the tight leash he could keep people on and the same could be said for his hybrids. None of which, sire bond or not, ever disobeyed their maker.

Which was why Elijah was a bit concerned when he realized the last body was that of his brother's right hand hybrid.

Deep beneath the Opera House, Caroline quietly walked through the curtains separating the Phantom's bedroom from the rest of his lair. She looked around to curiously take it all in once more.

Her fingers trailed along the clutter-filled tabletop as her eyes took in beautifully drawn sketches of Paris and landscapes from many other far off places only existing in Caroline's dizziest daydreams. There were portraits of people and animals, recreations of famous pieces, and still lifes, all gorgeously depicted in their own right.

Tenderly, she picked up a piece of a woman and studied it intently, her gaze caressing the page for a moment.

"Did you do these?" she asked in an astounded whisper.

The Phantom walked up behind her to see what she was studying. "Yes," he said, looking at the drawing over her shoulder. "Actually, one of my landscapes is hanging at the Hermitage, not that anyone would notice."

The silence hung between them once more as Caroline studied the other sketches, the Phantom watching her with interest.

"Have you been?"

Caroline's brow creased as she let out a frustrated sigh. "I've never really been anywhere besides for here and across the channel. Back home."

"I'll take you. Wherever you want."

Caroline scoffed at his offer as her eyes continued to rake over his drawings, taking in beauty through his eyes. Suddenly, she felt his breath on the back of her neck, the hard planes of his chest pressed flush against his back as his hand gently took a sketch out of her small one. Part of her knew she should be scared but part of her yearned for him, for his attention. Part of Caroline was daring him to give her a chance

"There's a whole world out there waiting for you: great cities, and art, and music. And you can have all of it. All you have to do is ask."

'Turn your face away from the garish light of day

Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light

And listen to the music of the night.'

Caroline let her fingers trail along the thick, charcoal-filled pages that seemed to gleam in the abundant candlelight as she thought about the previous night. Despite everything she knew, all the stories she'd heard of how destructive and brutal the Phantom was, Caroline found herself thinking there could possibly be more to the man behind the mask. After all, how could the hands of a murderer, of a heartless villain, create something so beautiful?

She turned slowly to see him sitting on the piano bench with his back to her, his head bent as if he was concentrating intently on something. Watching him curiously, Caroline slowly made her way towards him. 'Who was that shape in the shadow? Whose is the face in the mask?'

Closing her eyes, Caroline took the last step and felt the material of her dress brush against the material of his jacket. She let her hand rest upon his shoulder for a moment, suddenly realizing how tense he was. Her brows creased when she swore a low, animalistic growl resonated deep in his throat. With bated breath, her hand slowly made her way to his face, caressing his cheek, her fingertips meeting the smooth, glossy material of his mask.

Caroline's eyes snapped open and looked down at him to see a nearly lifeless woman laying across his lap, her only support being the Phantom's iron grip as her head lolled back and exposed her neck to his mouth. Caroline couldn't rip her eyes away from the rivulet of blood running down the woman's neck. Caroline screamed and quickly turned, her hand dragging back across the Phantom's face and tearing his mask away as she went.

She fled back towards the bed she had woken up in. She collided with a hard chest and strong hands wrapping around her arms. She did her best to fight against the Phantom's grip but it was to no avail.

"Damn you, you little prying Pandora," he growled, shoving her away roughly. "You little demon! Is this what you wanted to see?!" he yelled.

From her spot on the ground, Caroline looked up into his face, clinging to his mask tightly. She took a shaky breath as she looked into the terrifying yellow eyes and the black veins protruding from the Phantom's face. Her eyes trailed down to the four large fangs sitting threateningly in his slightly opened mouth, the blood dribbling down his chin. Caroline couldn't move. She was frozen on the ground as this monster loomed over her. She had no idea how long the sat there like that, in complete, tense silence but suddenly the Phantom's face started to change.

Caroline looked on in frightened curiosity as the gold in his eyes morphed into clear blue, the ugly black veins and the menacing fangs faded and retracted. She swallowed as he continued to stand over her in a threatening way.

But the thing that surprised Caroline the most was the fact that she was no longer staring into the face of a stranger.

"Monsieur Klaus?"

A/N: muwahahaha cliff hanger:P

I'm mean. I know. and it's super short...comparatively. sorry about that! I'll make up for it with the next chapter or so. I just wanted to get this out to you guys since I promised another update within a few days. It's my goal to update regularly every week (give or take a day or so given my school schedule) from now til the end of the story...not that I know exactly how many chapters this will have.

thanks for reading and maybe review if you have a minute? pretty please? I'd appreciate it, even if all you do is tell me how God awful I am for leaving you all on that ending:)

oh and...TVD'S BACK TOMORROW (WITH KOL AND REBEKAH *SQUEALS*)! Enjoy the long awaited new ep, friends:)