A/N: Okay, well, I'm just to say from the start that this is going to be a slow burn romance between the phantom and an OC of mine. Reviews are welcome, appreciated, and encouraged but not required for one to read the story, so, without any further ado, ON WITH THE STORY!

Chapter 1: The Purchase

I strode into the abandoned building, the dust and ash muffling my steps and clinging to my riding boots. "As you can see, mademoiselle, the Phantom did quite the number on the opera house in his rage," one of the owners, André I believed his name to be, stated as he followed closely behind me with his companion and co-owner at his side.

"Nothing that I shouldn't be able to have repaired. This must have been the grand staircase into the opera house itself," I assured him offhandedly as I quickened my step and raced up a flight of once beautiful marble stairs.

"Mademoiselle Jekyll, please, do not make so much noise! The Phantom might still be here! Alive and seeking revenge!" The other man in my company hissed in alarm.

"Nonsense, man! You are a paranoid fool! The Phantom who brought down the chandelier was merely a mad actor who paraded around under the guise of some Opera Ghost before he met his untimely demise in the fire last year. Now come, I wish to see what I can of this place before I decide wholeheartedly to buy it from you." The two men who currently owned the building stared at me in shock before sharing a glance and following me as I giddily skipped into the opera house where the stage been destroyed by a gorgeous, crystal chandelier and rows upon rows of seats had burned in the fire.

"It must have been beautiful before the fire," I gasped in surprise as I gazed at the room, images of how it must have looked once upon a time flooding my mind. "I'll buy it."

I turned to face the two men with my face set with determination. "The repairs will begin before the week is out, and you both will not come here for any reason other than to enjoy a production. Am I clear on my terms?" I asked, my hands clasped behind my back to keep them from shaking with anticipation.

The taller of the two men, Firmin I thought his name was, glanced at André before nodding decisively. "You are quite clear, Mademoiselle Jekyll. Do you wish to buy it now or..."

For some reason, these two men were getting on my nerves, and I cut him off before he finished his sentence. "I will buy it now. My offer to the both of you for this establishment in its current state is fifty thousand francs," I stated calmly, silently hoping they would accept the offer before my nerves got the better of me.

"Fifty thousand francs? That is hardly worth this grand establishment!" Both men shouted indignantly.

Fear gripping me that they would not really sell, I forced myself to smile and laugh at their outburst. "Monsieurs, forgive me. I do not believe that you understood me," I lied smoothly,"Fifty thousand francs to each of you. That would be one hundred thousand francs in total."

The owners of the Opera Populaire shared equal looks of surprise before André began to babble on about the Phantom again. "Enough of your paranoid blabbering, man! I have heard plenty of it," I snapped with authority I did not previously know I had possessed,"Will you accept my offer or not?"

The two men glanced at each other before nodding vigorously and handing me the deed to sign and several other forms before watching me expectantly. Realizing they expected their payment, I quickly pulled a wallet from one of my pockets and counted out the money for the two men before shooing them out, so I could explore without them hanging back and whimpering in fear of some ghost.

Once the two men had exited the ruins of the Opera Populaire, I grinned and darted into the rows of burned seats and made my way to the stage. The chandelier had long since been moved away, but I had no doubt that I could pay to have it restored and returned to its rightful place in the grand opera house.

Carefully, I pulled myself up onto the stage and strode as close to the center as I could without falling into one of the many holes in the planks of wood. Then, turning to face the nonexistent audience, I began to picture more vividly how grand the building must have been before the fire.

"Good morning, Mademoiselle, and welcome to my opera house," a rich, baritone voice called out, the walls practically humming with the dark tone.

I jumped in surprise at the unexpected greeting before swallowing my fear and standing tall with my hands once again clasped behind my back. "Good morning, Monsieur, but I believe you are mistaken. I am the sole owner of this opera house now, but I thank you for the welcome," I responded coolly, shifting my weight to my right to battle the urge deep inside me to flee from this unseen man.

"Oh really? And who might you be, Mademoiselle, to make such a claim? Don't you know that I, the Opera Ghost, rule the Opera Populaire!" the man boomed, his anger-filled voice echoing in the ruined opera house and bombarding me as I tried to pinpoint the origin of the voice.

Shaking my head to clear it, I smiled to give the impression that I was unafraid. "My good sir, you are quite mistaken. That is how things were handled in the past. You cannot push me around like the past owners of this once-fine building," I laughed at the Phantom wherever he was hiding,"My name is Amelia Ann Jekyll, and I hail from London, England. If you think you can simply order me about like one of these Parisian folk, you are sorely mistaken, Monsieur Phantom."

He did not respond for a moment, and I took a deep breath to slow my heart beat and calm my mind. For some reason, this man who I could not see was making my heart race and my mind blur just with the sound of his voice, and I did not particularly enjoy the sensation of being hypnotized by this "Phantom".

"Very bold of you, Mademoiselle Jekyll, but I think you'll find things in France quite different to how things are done in England," he chuckled in response, his tone of arrogance igniting fury in my heart and clearing my mind instantly.

"Not really. Things are more or less the same with men still thinking they own or control me in some manner, but the people here will soon learn that I am not some porcelain doll to be displayed and posed for all to see," I snapped, descending into the audience to make a quick escape. Fear and anger driving me not to remain in the same building as this man for much longer,"You would do well not to interfere with the repairs that will be underway, Phantom. I have little patience for those who purposefully make things go awry." I had no idea why those words had tumbled from my lips, but they were the truth at the very least, and I allowed myself a small smirk as I quickly made my way back to the grand staircase.

"And I have little patience for women who do not know their place!" the Phantom roared as I reached the first marble step, and a shiver of fear ran down my spine at his voice behind me now.

"Farewell, Phantom. I hope you trip and break a leg on your way back down to hell!" I roared back as I reached the front doors and stormed out into the cool, mid-December air. Snowflakes flurried around me as I quickly made my way to the nearby stables, but my heart refused to calm down after my encounter with the infamous Phantom even though I was now a fair distance from him.

My heart was still racing when I entered the stables and strode over to the stall where my beautiful, dappled, blue roan mare awaited my return with my cape thrown over her as a blanket. "Hello, Luna," I said softly as I entered my mare's stall and pulled my cloak from her back and wrapped it securely around me,"Are you ready to head home?"

I moaned in agony as the grandfather clock in my bedroom chimed nine times, rousing me from where I lay slumped across my organ, pieces of sheet music scattered across the floor. "Stupid, monstrous device," I muttered venomously as I sat up, straightening my stiff back. Then a thought struck me, and I jumped to my feet. "Today is the day those fools must relinquish ownership of my opera house!" If they don't already have a buyer, I added in my head bitterly.

Filled with new vigor at this revelation, I leapt to my feet and dressed myself to intimidate the two fools upstairs. Placing my mask on my face and slicking back my raven hair, I quickly and effortlessly made my way to the surface and smirked to myself as I heard the voices of the two fools in the grand hall. "Mademoiselle Jekyll, please do not make so much noise! The Phantom might still be here! Alive and seeking revenge!" one fool shouted as I drew close enough to see a young woman sprint up the grand staircase.

I stared in shock for a moment because this woman, quite against social norms, was wearing riding pants and boots as well as a white, long sleeve shirt, and a brilliant-red vest. "Nonsense, man!" she laughed over her shoulder at the fools at the base of the staircase,"The Phantom who brought down the chandelier was merely a mad actor who paraded around under the guise of some Opera Ghost before he met his untimely demise in the fire last year. Now come, I wish to see what I can of this place before I decide wholeheartedly to buy it from you."

This woman was going to buy MY opera house? I staggered back into my place in the shadows as the woman grinned and darted into the opera house itself. I faintly heard her gasp of surprise before she murmured something to herself and set a determined look upon her young face. "I'll buy it," she stated firmly, turning to face the fools as they approached her cautiously,"The repairs will begin before the week is out, and you both will not come here for any reason other than to enjoy a production. Am I clear on my terms?"

The taller of the two fools, I had quite forgotten their names since the incident last year, glanced at his companion before turning back to the young woman and nodding decisively. "You are quite clear, Mademoiselle Jekyll. Do you wish to buy it now or..."

"I will buy it now. My offer to the both of you for this establishment in its current state is fifty thousand francs," the woman stated simply, her hands clasped behind her back as she sized up the two men before her with fierce, golden-brown eyes.

"Fifty thousand francs? That is hardly worth this grand establishment!" both men objected in unison.

"Monsieurs, forgive me. I do not believe you understood me," she chuckled,"Fifty thousand francs to each of you. That would be one hundred thousand francs in total."

My eyes widened behind my mask. This woman was willing to pay that much just to buy this place? Incredible! Not to mention the fact that she obviously intended to restore the Opera Populaire to its former glory. "But what about the Opera Ghost? The Phantom could..."

"Enough of your paranoid blabbering, man! I have heard plenty of it," the young woman snapped with such authority, I almost applauded her,"Will you accept my offer or not?"

The two fools glanced at each other then nodded profusely. Anger swelled up within me as the woman was handed the deed to the opera house and in turn paid the two men before shooing them out, so that she might explore the ruins of the Opera Populaire on her own.

Once she was alone, the young woman made her way to the stage and grinned as she stood as close to the center of the stage as possible with the large hole in the wooden planks. "Good morning, Mademoiselle, and welcome to my opera house," I called out, my voice reverberating in the grand room.

The woman jumped slightly before regaining her composure and sweeping the room with her eyes carefully. "Good morning, Monsieur. I believe you are mistaken. I am the sole owner of this opera house now, but thank you for the welcome," she replied coolly, shifting her weight to her right leg.

"Oh really? And who might you be, Mademoiselle, to make such a claim? Don't you know that I, the Opera Ghost, rule the Opera Populaire!" I boomed, my voice echoing in the burned room.

The woman simply smiled at my words and shook her head. "My good sir, you are quite mistaken. That is how things were handled in the past. You cannot push me around like the past owners of this once-fine building," she stated calmly,"My name is Amelia Ann Jekyll, and I hail from London, England. If you think you can simply order me about like one of these Parisian folk, you are sorely mistaken, Monsieur Phantom."

I gaped at this woman in shock as her eyes by some miracle locked onto my hiding place in the shadows, but she did not seem to notice for her eyes moved away after mere moments. "Very bold of you, Mademoiselle Jekyll, but I think you'll find things in France quite different to how things are done in England," I stated smoothly, pausing to take a breath.

"Not really. Things are more or less the same with men still thinking they own or control me in some manner, but the people here will soon learn that I am not some porcelain doll to be displayed and posed for all to see," Jekyll snapped, her eyes blazing with anger as she descended back into the audience,"You would do well not to interfere with the repairs that will be underway, Phantom. I have little patience for those who purposefully make things go awry."

"And I have little patience for women who do not know their place!" I roared back as she stormed into the grand hall and down the grand staircase.

"Farewell, Phantom. I hope you trip and break a leg on your way back down to hell!" she shouted as she departed from the building and left me alone with her final words echoing in my head.

Her words burned for some unknown reason, and I could not understand why. Rage filling my entire being, I descended back to my lair beneath the Opera Populaire. Once I was safely back in the sweet solitude of my home, I sat down at my organ and began to play. My emotions pouring into the instrument through my fingers as I expressed myself in the best way I knew. Through my music.