"Where is Christine?" Paul said, whispering to Cece, one of the ensemble girls. She seemed like she had been rather friendly with Christine, maybe she would know.

Christine had been missing from this reherasal and from school that day. It hadn't taken Paul long to find himself seriously concerned about where his girlfriend had disappeared to. She had been acting so strange in recent days that he couldn't help but find himself panicky over the situation.

Cece, who had been flushing a little bit because Paul Chandler was speaking to her, shook her head. "Sorry, I'm not sure. I haven't seen her around lately. Maybe you should ask Meg. They are best friends, after all."

"I've tried that," Paul replied with a sigh. "Thank you anyways."

"You're very welcome," Cece giggled.

"Cast, assemble on the stage!" Mrs. Richard called out, halting their conversation at that point. There hadn't been too much more to say, anyways. Paul and Cece scrambled to get up to the apron of the stage and end this rehearsal without any problems.

"Here," Mrs. Richard said. "We have notes for your performance for how you can all improve. Now-" She looked down at the paper in her hands and suddenly her brow creased. Something was wrong. She turned to Mr. Montegomery who gave her a matching look back.

"Mine are gone as well," he said. "Replaced."

"This is strange, almost too strange. If this is your idea of a joke, I can assure you it's not funny." After sending out a threatening glare around the cast, she continued.

"Perhaps if I read it out loud the culprit will reveal themselves and face the consquences for stealing our notes," Mrs. Richard said in a demanding voice. "It reads, 'You have seen how Christine Daae can sing, yet you give Carly the role. She was past her prime ages ago, and no one missed her in the role of Cinderella.' Signed A.G."

Mrs. Richards shook her head. "We do not have anyone here who has the initials A.G. as far as I'm aware. Whoever wrote this will step forwards immediately or suffer for it."

Suddenly Carly jumped off of the stage, shrieking her head off, "Who would do such a thing? A.G.? Who would say this? I have a note as well! Says Christine Daae will be singing on my behalf, playing Clara Johnson instead of me. If I try to take her place there will be a disaster beyond belief! 'A great misfortune,' it says! What is this madness?"

In his shock, Paul had found himself beginning to blur the rest of the world out. He needed to think about what was going on. It was possible there was a connection between these notes and Christine's disappearance. In fact, he was sure it was related in some way. Although it seemed like a strange plot off of a TV drama, he almost believed that this A.G. had kidnapped his girlfriend.

"You're the one who sent this, aren't you?" Carly snapped at him, breaking him out of his train of thought.

"No, of course not! Where is Christine?" Paul said, bursting out in anger. "Do you know?"

"Well, you might," Carly replied. "I see you have a piece of paper in your hands that's just like mine."

"It's a note. I have a note too," Paul realized. While he had been busy trying to make connections in his mind, a note had been slipped into his hands.

Everyone watched keenly as Paul unfolded his piece of paper and read over it. "It's from A.G as well. It says that Christine is under the Angel of Music's wing and we should not find try to find her. What is this?"

Mrs. Leary came into the auditorium, and all of the chatter that had arisen immediately ceased. Her presence was simply too much. No one even dared to utter a syllable in fear of her glare.

"I have a note from this A.G. as well. Auditorium Ghost is what it stands for."

Meg immediately looked uncomfortable. How did her mom know so much about this? How was she so calm throughout this whole situation? Meg wasn't sure that she wanted to know the answers.

"Christine is back where she belongs, safe at home. She needs rest, it's what's best for her," Mrs. Leary said.

"Can I see her?" Paul immediately said.

"She will see no one," Mrs. Leary replied calmly.

Carly burst out, shrieking, "Will she sing?" Ian, her boyfriend standing next to her, grabbed her shoulders in an attempt to get her to calm down. But after seeing her fury, he started joining in the cries. Mrs. Leary gave both of them a look and they immediately quieted down.

"Now, I will read to you the note from the Auditorium Ghost."

Mrs. Leary cleared her throat and began to read. "I have now sent you several notes of the most amiable nature detailing how my theater is to be run. You have not followed my instructions in the past, hopefully you will going on. I shall give you one last chance. Christine Daae has returned to you and I am anxious her career should progress."

She took a deep breath and adjusted herself before continuing. "In the production of the Light of Piazza, Carly will be cast as Franca and Christine put in the role of Clara. The role which Miss Daae plays calls for charm and appeal, a youthful joy. Franca is a much smaller role, which makes my casting, in a word, ideal. I shall watch the performance from my normal seat in row five which as always will be kept empty for me. Should these commands be ignored, a disaster beyond your imagination will occur. I remain your obedient servant. A.G."

There was a moment of silence as the two directors of the musical tried to comprehend what was going on.

"Rehearsal is dismissed early," Mrs. Richard said, making her decision almost immediately.

"Unless, of course," Mr. Montegomery added in, "you have a note. If you do, please come with us to the drama room, where we will discuss this situation."

All of the cast members loooked at each other, not sure what they should do.

"Go!" Mrs. Richard said. "You don't have to stay here for a minute longer, just go!"

Att this, the cast scattered. They flew every which way across the auditorium and stage in order to scramble their stuff together. Carly promptly grabbed her boyfriend's Ian's hand and dragged him along with her. She needed somebody else to be her support when she went to the drama room about this whole mess. Christine Daae seemed to be taking over all of her parts, and she had something to say about it all.

Paul heaved a large sigh and pushed his way through the crowd of people darting back and forth. Since Mrs. Leary had a note and seemed to be rather involved in the matter, Meg was forced to stay along with her. The group of people bearing notes (and whoever else they brought along with them) made their way to the drama room.

Mr. Cade was standing there in the room already as if he had been expecting them. With him and Mrs. Leary in the same space, it became clear just how serious this matter was. There was no humor surrounding this, it had to be dark.

"Mr. Cade, what are you doing here?" Mrs. Richard said. The teacher who had grown to be famous for his ghost stories just shook his head, not even cracking the slightest hint of a smile.

"I need to talk to you two about this Auditorium Ghost," he said.

"Funny," Mr. Montegomery replied. "We were just about to talk about it along with all of these others."

"Perhaps we can all stay," Mrs. Leary said. Carly and Ian took this as their invitation to sit down in the first two comfortable looking chairs they could find.

"I know who sent this note," Carly said, looking prim as she completely ignored any other person's wishes and went straight to her own problems. "No matter what Paul said, he is Christine's precious little boyfriend. It only makes sense."

"I did not send it," Paul said. The two of them started bickering, and then Ian decided to join in because Carly gave him a glare. He wasn't going to deny her wishes, after all.

Mrs. Richard let out a sigh and shook her head. "This has got to be a joke." She made eye contact with Mr. Montegomery and both of them rolled their eyes.

"If I were you," Mr. Cade said darkly, "I would take this more seriously."

"The ghost sees, the ghost knows!" Mrs. Leary said, reinforcing what Mr. Cade had said.

"Listen to our warnings," Mr. Cade added in. "This is not a matter to be taken lightly."

But Mr. Montegomery and Mrs. Richard had stopped paying attention to Mr. Cade and Mrs. Leary. Over on the side, Carly had burst into tears. Paul had his head resting in his hands out of exasperation. Meg had moved over to his side, feeling most comfortable next to him. Ian had his arms around his girlfriend's shoulder, trying to comfort her, but it wasn't working.

"I give up!" she finally said, bursting out of her seat melodramatically. She cried the way people did in the movies, their faces still looking absolutely perfect as tears streamed down in a perfect little river. "You're going to replace me with Christine all because of this stupid ghost!"

"No, no no! That is not what we have planned at all," Mr. Montegomery said. Carly took a deep huffy sort of breath and raised her nose in the air. Ian rose up next to her and did the same, although it didn't work quite as well with him.

"Carly, you will be playing the lead, you will be playing Clara!" Mrs. Richard cried. "Christine will be playing Franca, the minor role."

Carly shook her head, her tears coming back just enough to make her seem like a damsel in distress. "There's no use trying, you're only trying to please me!"

Ian echoed right after his girlfriend. "Don't even try to please her now."

"Don't try to please anyone but this Auditorium Ghost!" Mrs. Leary hissed at the two arts teachers.

"You don't know what he's capable of!" Mr. Cade insisted. They knew more than they should and were only trying to prevent a disaster.

Paul, over on the side, was talking to himself. "Why would Christine leave to begin with? I need to see her," he decided. Meg stared at him for a moment, thinking herself about Christine's mysterious flight. She remembered that night after rehearsals, when Christine had been so excited about getting to meet the "voice," the Angel of Music.

Carly burst into another round of tears, and Mrs. Richard and Mr. Montegomery were focused on making her happy.

"Please, we want you, not this Christine!" Mr. Montegomery said. Carly turned away dramatically, her hair swishing over her shoulder in a way typically reserved for shampoo commercials.

"The world needs you and your wonderful voice!" Mrs. Richard said.

"We need you. Too," Mr. Montegomery added in. This caught Carly's attention. Her tears faded away into an understated sort of anger.

"Wouldn't you rather have your precious little Christine?"

"Carly, no. The world wants you."

Mrs. Leary and Mr. Cade shared a look. The drama and music teachers had completely ignored every word they had said against this. If they listened to the Auditorium Ghost, they could avoid so much conflict. But instead, they were inviting disaster in through the front doors.

Mrs. Richards took a deep breath and said to Carly, "You will be our prima donna!"

"First lady of the stage," Mr. Montegomery added on.

"You have devoted fans who will be on their knees for you just to sing for them!" Mrs. Richard announced.

"How could you possibly bow out, they'd be shouting your name!"

"Think of how they all adore you!"

Carly sniffled but looked down at the floor, a slight hand to her forehead as if she were about to faint. Ian didn't release his hold on her for a moment in case she actually did faint. Sometimes it was difficult to tell if Carly was acting or just being Carly.

"Enchant us once again, Carly!" Mr. Montegomery and Mrs. Richard weren't quite sure what they were doing, but it seemed to be working. She was beginning to look up and wipe her tears away.

"Think of your muse and of how far the lines for tickets would stretch, all just to see you!" Mr. Montegomery said, gesturing with his hands.

"Can you deny us the triumph in store?" Mrs. Richard used the more dramatic route to get her point across, and it was working, going straight to Carly's head.

"Sing for us, if it is only one more time," Mr. Montegomery said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.

The other people in the room had things of greater importance to speak about. Paul had gone over to Mr. Cade and Mrs. Leary, thinking that it was possible that they might know more about what was going on. Of course, they did. Meg had followed behind, worried that something was wrong concerning her best friend Christy.

Paul looked at them and said, "Christine spoke of an angel...the Angel of Music from her stories. From Little Lotte."

Mrs. Leary nodded gravely. "She heard the voice of the Angel of Music, that is what she said, correct?"

"Yes," Paul said, beginning to get worried. He had been afraid of this, that something fishy was going on. He wanted to keep Christine safe.

"I remember her talking about the Angel, the voice all of the time," Meg added in.

Mrs. Leary looked down at her daughter in amazement. "You knew about this before?"

"Christy made me promise to keep it a secret," Meg said, afraid she would get in trouble. "She's my best friend, so I did. But now I'm worried. Christine isn't herself any more. She is obsessed with her Angel, she called it a miracle."

"This Angel is not what he appears to be," Mr. Cade said. "He might be her tutor, but he's still hiding something."

Paul stared at Mr. Cade. "But is this Angel of Music real? Is it her Angel of Music?"

"He's real, that's for sure," Meg said. "She told me that she met him."

Now Meg had caught the group's attention. "She met him?" Mrs. Leary said.

"She met him," Meg replied. "Again, she made me keep it secret."

Paul closed his eyes for a moment. "Christine, my Christine, and her mysterious Angel of Music and everything surrounding him. I wish we could figure something out."

Mr. Cade shook his head. "Christine has heard the voice of an Angel of Music, but it is not real."

Meanwhile, Carly was beginning to become satisfied with the offers of being the lead yet again. The flattery went straight to her head, and she never doubted it for a moment. She was so full of herself that it all seemed real.

"My song will live again, will it not?" she said, putting an enormous smile on her face. Any sign of tears from beforehand were gone.

"Think of your public!" Mr. Montegomery said, offering another few set of words to engulf her mind with thoughts of herself.

Carly was talking out loud to herself. "I took a snub, but there is a public that needs me."

Ian stared at Carly for a moment, unsure if he should be worried or not. Carly tended to be rather impulsive, tended to randomly change her mind.

Hearing all the talks of an Angel of Music from the side, Mr. Montegomery stole an idea. "Those who hear your voice liken you to an angel!"

Carly turned to Ian and with stars in her eyes said, "Think of their cry of undying support, Ian!"

The two teachers were pleased. They had achieved the results they wanted with Carly. "We get our musical," Mr. Montegomery said with a smile. Mrs. Richards added in, "She gets her limelight!"

"I'll follow wherever the limelight leads me," Carly said, not hearing all of what the two directors of the musical had said.

"Leading ladies are such a trial!" exclaimed Mrs. Richards, laughing as she turned to Mr. Montegomery. "I would know, I was one myself."

Ian looked at Carly strangely for a moment and decided to join in on her celebrations of herself. "Your song shall live again!"

"I'll sing again," Carly began, allowing Ian to finish off with, "and to unending ovation!"

Ian put his hands on his girlfriend's shoulders and grinned as he said, "Think how you'll shine in the encore! Sing for us again!" Carly smiled, and then threw her arms around Ian who pulled her into an embrace.

The room was now split nearly in half. There was the happy side with the directors of the play pleased with how they had convinced Carly to come back even if it did just feed her ego. Then there was the dark side, filled with talk of a mysterious Angel and ghost who was capable of doing terrible things.

For the moment, the dark side was continuing to have problems as they thought. Paul shook his head, wondering just how this could all work out. "This ghost can't be her Angel of Music."

"But it very well could be," Mr. Cade said.

Meg looked up into space, thinking out loud to herself for a moment. "Is this ghost an angel or a madman?"

Paul stared at her for a moment and then repeated after her. "Angel or madman?"

"Maybe it's both," Meg said with color draining from her face. "A voice from Hell and a voice from Heaven at the same time."

Mr. Cade put a hand to his head. "Heaven help you, those who doubt in the powers of this ghost."

Paul was thinking about all that had been happening, all the things that the Auditorium Ghost had been issuing. "Why are there all these orders, these warnings, demands that only a crazy person would issue?"

For a moment, the dark side began to bleed over into the happy side.

Mrs. Leary shook her head as she realized that Mrs. Richard and Mr. Montegomery were not going to budge. She had to warn them further, try to persaude them to change their mind if she possibly could. "This miscasting will invite all sorts of problems, can't you see?"

"There have been tears...oaths... crazy demands...but they have all become regular occurences!" Mr. Montegomery said to Mrs. Richards, ignoring Mrs. Leary. They pushed her right back into the dark side of the room.

"Christine says she's in bliss but it's almost like she's being brainwashed," Meg said worriedly. "Which has taken over her?"

"But this is not any sort of Angel!" Paul said. "He has a dark drive. I must see that these demands are rejected!" Paul turned to Meg and said, "Surely something can be done for her sake, for Christine."

"Christine must be protected," Meg said, looking right at Paul with fear in her eyes.

Paul nodded, realizing right then and there just how serious the situation was. "None of the others care or understand, but you and I...we can help her."

"Surely he'll strike back when they don't do anything," Meg replied. "If his threats and demands are rejected than who knows what might happen!" Meg said, carrying on. Her Christy was in trouble, more trouble than she thought was possible. They were just high schoolers, laughing and playing around no matter what was going on. Suddenly everything had taken such a nose dive that it was hard to believe it was all true. But all Meg had to do was look around her and see just how much damage was being caused before a single thing had physically been broken.

Mrs. Leary, who had begun to notice this darkness a long time ago, turned to Mr. Cade, who seemed to be the only one listening to her. He was the one person who didn't have to listen, as he already knew. "They fools to have ignored his warnings!" she said to him. Then Mrs. Leary whipped around to face the two teachers again. "Please, rethink what you are doing here!"

"I doubt there'll be further scenes worse than this! All we've been getting is publicity," Mrs. Richard said happily. "Everyone in the school is talking about what is going on with the musical, everyone will want to come see it."

Mr. Montegomery leaned over and whispered in Mrs. Richard's ear. "I think I know where Christine was. Even if Paul refuses to say anything about it, he must have been with her!"

Mrs. Richard looked at him for a moment and then whispered back, "What exactly are you implying there?"

"Well, you know what high schoolers like to do when they're alone."

Mrs. Richard let out a laugh that caught everyone's attention in the room because it was so loud. That is, everyone's attention except for Carly's. She was still too focused on herself to care about much of anything else, no matter what was going on.

"They are not abandoning me, not today!" Carly said happily. She clapped her hands together and did a little spin. Everything was coming together just the way the leading lady wanted it to. Ian was happy because Carly was happy. That was the way everything went in the relationship.

Mrs. Richard had a funny little idea that she just had to share with Mr. Montegomery. "You'd never get away with this in a play, but if it's loudly sung it's just the sort of story audiences adore. In fact, it would be a perfect musical!"

"Ah ha!" Mr. Montegomery replied.

"His game is over!" Paul announced to his side of the room. "It will be over soon, I know it."

"This is a game you cannot hope to win!" Mr. Cade said. "You do not know his power."

There was a moment of silence on the dark side of the room before Paul carried on. "And in Row Five a new game will begin..." Paul said.

"What are you playing at?" Mr. Cade said.

Paul just shook his head. "It's like the chapters of a story. One is done, but now a new one is beginning."

"If his curse is on this school then I fear the outcome," Mrs. Leary said. Meg bowed her head in agreement with her mother. The two men, Paul and Mr. Cade, shared a look. These four were afraid, grim about the future. It was such a strange contrast from the compliments being yelled out at a Carly who looked so happy that she might even just fall down and laugh.

"The world is at your feet! The school waits for you to appear on stage once again!" Mr. Montegomery cried, his voice pouring with a false sort of flattery that Carly just could not pick up.

Carly smiled at her teachers' words, then spoke to Ian once again. Her smile fell a serious line across her face as she said, "The stress that falls upon a famous singer! Diseases with everything from sneezes to coughs!"

"Still, your vocal cords will always reach the high notes," Ian replied. "You will find the perfect song from within."

The subject of the other side of the room was beginning to affect Paul. He was now thinking about the musical. In all of the fuss about the Auditorium Ghost he had almost forgotten what had brought him to the whole ordeal in the first place.

"Christine plays Franca just like before, Carlotta plays Clara Johnson, my love interest," Paul said, scrunching up his nose. It was a good thing that Fabrizio did get to kiss Franca once. Just once. The two of them were surely going to make this work.

"Carly, sing for us once more!" Mr. Montegomery exclaimed, his voice carrying over everything else in the room. Soon everyone stopped and the room dissolved into silence.

Then Carly said, "I'll do it!"

"Yes!" Mrs. Richard and Mr. Montegomery called out simulatenously. For a moment, it seemed like everything would be peaceful and fine from that point one. But they could not have been more wrong about this.

Just a matter of seconds later, a voice boomed throughout the room. It was like it was coming from everywhere at once. It seemed to every person that whoever was speaking was right behind them, yelling into their ears.

"So, it is war between us! If these demands are not met, a disaster beyond your imagination will occur!"

They all heard the voice but only felt scared for a moment. They had all made their decisions already. That didn't mean that Mrs. Leary would not give up on trying to convince Mr. Montegomery and Mrs. Richards to follow the orders of the Auditorium Ghost.

But the choices had been made. The consequences would follow soon after.

A/N Finally, yes! Updating on a normal day. It's a nice long one, too. You've got the entirety of Notes/Prima Donna wrapped up into one little package right here. Except...it's not so little. I hope this makes up for former chapters that have been just a little under par in my opinion. Over on the side we have the songs that were major inspiration for this chapter. Hope you enjoy!