Christine woke up at the sound of her door was opened. Without so much as a knock her eyes fell on a somewhat flustered Madame Giry in over the threshold. When she caught sight of Christine, who slowly sat up in bed after being awakened, the older woman's eyes lit up. Her face showed now only relief when she took a few steps towards the bed and she sat down at the edge. Then she laid a hand on Christine's cheek and said , "It's good you're all right. " But then her gaze fell on her unnaturally red eyes. They could not have turned this color just by sleep alone. The girl had definitely been crying.

Erik you fool, she thought to herself. She knew well, of course, where Christine had been held throughout the evening and night, but it had not stopped the poor madam from being worried. She had put two and two together when Christine was not in her room earlier the previous night, and the soprano usually didn't walk around the opera late at night. She had kept her disappearing act to herself, but then the old woman had caught Meg in snooping around in of Christine's room and had, to her mother's fright, found the secret passage way through the mirror. Madam Giry could not say anything to her overly curious daughter, than that Christine would soon return. Luckily Meg question her, even though she probably pondered her own theories about her best friend's whereabouts.

Madame Giry had sent Meg to bed immediately, and asked her to keep quiet about the mirror.

Christine had been gone all night, and the day was just beginning when she was finally found in her bed with large, blurry doe eyes.

oO0OoO0Oo

"You are unharmed?" Her voice had suddenly taken a sharp turn , and had changed to an almost menacing tone. Christine blinked a few times, not quite knowing what her foster mother was talking about, but then memories from the previous night returned in a blink of an eye. Christine felt tears welling up but she held them back. Madame Giry could no, under no circumstances, be told what had occurred.

"Yes, everything is fine." Christine replied, " I ... I just ..."

"You do not have to explain, my dear, " she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled in a comforting manner, "As long as nothing happened to you, all is well." Christine was a bit confused about this response. It was not like Madame Giry at all, but ... then again ... She felt tears of both gratitude and sadness press in corner of your eye.

"Thank you, Madame," she whispered gently and now she could not hold back a yawn. Just as the sound left her mouth, the door suddenly opened loudly again. This time it was Meg who stormed in and practically threw herself in the arms of Christine .

"Oh, Christine, I've been so worried. I could not sleep at the thought that you were missing. Where have you been? Are you hurt? Have you...?" But in one moment a quiet but firm hand was put on the blonde's shoulder and Meg turned to her mother.

"Let it be Meg. Can you not see that she is exhausted?" Meg turned to Christine again and looked at her face. Christine blushed slightly. She had to look like something the cat had dragged home. Then Meg smiled warmly and gave her a gentle hug.

"You get some rest, dear Christine." She then said.

oO0OoO0Oo

"... The Angel of Music has her under his wing . Make no attempt to see her again. " André read out loud clearly from the letter in his hands. All the bystanders looked at him with concern and an easily hidden interest.

The Angel of Music? Raoul questioned thoughtfully. It sounded familiar... Then he thought back to the night before, when he paid his childhood friend a visit. She had repeated her late father's last words, which referred to this particular character sent from heaven. She had told him that she had been visited by the angel. Her expression when she had told him that she did not doubt her own words, though he himself had pushed them away without further thought.

Then an angel had visited her, an angel who had taught her to sing and had now decided to take her under his wing. But it was nonsense! There couldn't be any...

"If you did not write it, then who...? "

"Where is he?! " Their short silence was now interrupted by a loud and too recognizable voice from the not so little dissatisfied Carlotta. She came stomping up the stairs to greet them when she cried out once again, "Where is he?"

"What is it now?" Asked Raoul with an irritated tone. Christine was the only thing he wanted to concentrate on right now and he had the feeling that it would be a bit of a challenge now that Carlotta had made her entrance.

"I have your letter. A letter which I'd rather resend." She said outraged, handing out a small scrap of paper.

"Did you send this?" Asked Firmin, and Raoul, full of indignation, replied loudly, "Of course not!" Why would he send Carlotta a letter at all? He did not even know what the paper contained, and held no theory of why the soprano was so upset with the written word.

"You didn't send this?" They all asked again and Raoul was impatient.

" Of course not!" He almost shouted again.

"What's going on?" Firmin wanted to know and his partner stood and looked just as confused.

"You dare two tell me that this is not the letter you sent?"

"And what is it that I've meant to have sent? " Raoul took the letter from the woman's outstretched hand and held it up for him to read. Now he would get to the bottom of what had been the cause of all this drama.

"Your days at the Opera Populaire are numbered. Christine Daae will be singing on your behalf tonight. Be prepared for a great misfortune should you attempt to take her place."

What?

Everyone looked confused and disoriented. Raoul again let his bright eyes run over the words on the parchment thoughtfully. Why would he send such a bunch of nonsense?

"Miss Daae has returned." The sound of another voice was suddenly heard in the great room and Raoul recognized it immediately. Madame Giry and her daughter had just entered and were now waiting to get the confirmation that their statement had made it through the chaos.

"Where precisely is she now?" Asked André, a bit of concern showing in his voice.

"I thought it best she was alone," she replied and Meg added, "She needed rest." Raoul felt his heart beat a bit faster by their words.

"May I see here?" He asked with a hidden anxiety. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of his childhood sweetheart. Where had she been? Was she safe? And what about this angel matter?

"No monsieur, she will see no one," was her answer, and disappointment washed over the viscount. When he had received the letter about Christine's disappearance, he had stormed to the opera house to investigate the information further. Now she was back again, and he let out a silent sigh.

But I wonder what all this fuss about an angel is about... he thought.

"Will she sing? Will she sing? " Asked everyone talking at once, and Carlotta's big eyes impatiently needed answers.

"Here, I have a note. " Madame Giry handed another one of today's small pieces of paper, and Raoul cursed to himself of the horrible person who seemed to bring chaos everywhere in the opera. He was so terribly worried about Christine. His Christine...

"Christine Daae has returned to you and I am anxious her career should progress. In the new production of Il Muto, you will cast Carlotta as the pageboy, and put miss Daae in the role of countess. The role miss Daae plays calls for charm and appeal. Role of the pageboy is silent – which makes my casting, in a word, ideal.

I shall watch the performance from my normal seat in box 5, which will be kept empty for me. Should these commands be ignored, a disaster beyond you imagination will occur.

"I remain, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, O. G."

To hear Carlotta cry out again about Christine was no surprise when the intolerable woman's jealous nature called for constant praise. This diva was certainly out of control, but Raoul could not concentrate on something this moment, other than the thought of seeing his own beloved soprano.

As the rest of the crowd chose to follow the enraged Carlotta, the viscount selected chose to withdraw.

His legs quickly found way to Christine's chambers, the one she had been transferred to at her success on the stage. It was not far from her dressing room and Raoul subconsciously picked up the pace as he closed in on his desired destination. However, he stopped abruptly when he reached Christine's door.

He suddenly felt nervous and hesitated a moment before he softly knocking on the hard wood. First, there was no answer, so he knocked again, and then he heard a gentle voice on the other side.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Raoul." There came a loud sound of movement and the door was opened, but only slightly to Raoul disappointment. When his eyes locked on her dark, curly hair that fell in messy locks, he felt a relieved smile on his lips. When their eyes met though, it was quickly wiped off his face. Her chocolate eyes looked so haunted and exhausted, and it was clear that she had been crying. The enamored man felt a stab to the heart.

"Christine, I am so glad to see you."

It was as if she froze for a moment but her weary smile was sincere.

"It's also nice to see you, Raoul." She looked to either side of the hallway, and found herself satisfied that there was no one in sight. Then she opened the door further to make room for him to pass. He took a few eager steps inside.

As soon as the door closed, he took her in his arms.

"I received a message that stated that I would never to see you again."

Christine seemed to mutter something and Raoul reluctantly let go of her.

"What do you mean that you would never see me again?" Raoul frowned at the thought of the ominous message that came into his possession earlier today.

"I'm not trying to scare you, dear Christine, but I am certain that a madman is trying to hurt you." Her eyes widened. Then she looked away as in shame.

"You know who I'm talking about? " Raoul asked and he got a swift response when his beloved eagerly avoided his gaze. He had a hand finding her chin and brought her face up so he could better see what she was hiding. Her eyes were almost lifeless.

"He wishes me no harm."

Raoul's eyes were now big too.

"You know him?" Guilt stood out like an aura around her and she left his arms and went to the large window of the room. Outside the weather was clear, so unlike this strange situation. She was standing with a small blanket around her shoulders as she drew it closer around her.

"I thought I knew him."

The viscount stood as nailed to the floor.

"So you know where he resides?" Christine was silent but the answer was obvious. Raoul rushed to her side and with a hand on her shoulder, he assured her, "I will do everything to ensure that you do not get hurt."

She was so beautiful as she stood and looked at the busy streets of Paris. The season called for warm coats and comforting moments in front of the fireplace, but the chaotic life in the opera called on her. And now yet another obstacle stood in the way of her dream, which he knew was full of music. She turned to him and he was filled as with a sweet warmth when her eyes melted his anxiety.

"I know." He returned the smile and gave her shoulder a light squeeze. She placed her hand on his and the man's skin was on fire. He longed so to kiss her but it would not be fair to act according to his wishes when she was in such a fragile state. Their first kiss was going to be equal, he decided.

"Tell me where he is, and I will make sure he never bothers you again." She froze and Raoul frowned.

In a split second his special someone had a wild and desperate look in her eyes and it was like something Raoul had never seen before.

"I cannot." He pulled his hand away.

"Why not?" She looked down.

"It... I just cannot. Raoul, please understand-" Why on earth wouldn't she share her knowledge? If it could free them from that horrible thing...? He interrupted her, but with a mild tone of voice as he spoke to an uncomprehending child.

"Christine, whoever he is, he must be stopped. He is not to be trusted. Perhaps he - "

"He will not hurt anyone! He is not dangerous. He's just ... just ... " Her voice died away. She tried to sound convincing but hesitation could be clearly heard behind the façade. Raoul could feel the impatience press on. Had the girl no thoughts and feeling regarding her own safety?

"Christine, he has committed several crimes. It sounds like he has maintained a false persona to lure you into his scheme but listen to me when I say that you, that you do not have to do as he wishes." He reached out a hand and laid it on her arm in a reassuring gesture, but was startled when she abruptly pulled away.

"It's not like that...!"

"I beg of you, Christine. Now just tell me where he is, and I-"

"I will not tell you!"

"Come to your senses! He is nothing but a scoundrel! A villain who-"

"He is my angel!"

The last comment both confused and cleared the mess in Raoul's mind. The silence was thick between them, and he was speechless. So it could be confirmed that the phantom of the opera was the very same as Christine's musical angel. Maybe denial had something to say too but Raoul felt a hit to the guts. Knowing that the woman he longed for would do so much for a man who was not Raoul himself.

"He's important to you." It was more a conclusion than a question really.

" Yes." She replied.

It did not take more than a minute before Raoul turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, but not without a strange feeling that there had been eyes on them during the entire conversation.