The threats from the so-called Auditorium Ghost had not been taken seriously. Nothing he had said had processed through the director's ears. Despite the constant warnings from Mrs. Leary and Mr. Cade, they had gone on with rehearsal as normal. Nothing had changed for anyone. As was often said in the theatre, the show had to go on!

Christine's disappearance hadn't affected many people except for those immediately close to her. It had turned out that she had fallen ill in a sudden but violent matter. Her voice had mysteriously escaped her so that every word that spilled out sounded like gears grinding against one another.

She had claimed (by handwritten notes) that she had underestimated the music of the night's effects and oversung, causing the damage. No one around her seemed to understand what this meant, but when pressured to answer she would just shake her head. This was not a matter that anyone else could truly fathom.

But now the soprano had regained her voice and returned back to Garnier High School. Meg had explained to her the scenario with the notes in a rush, trying to fill in the gaps from what she had already texting her best friend. Paul had been very quiet about it, seeming almost jealous for some strange reason. Even Bridget Hadley had brought it up-no one seemed to care about her sickness.

Since she could very well still sing and act for rehearsals, there wasn't any reason for anyone to care for what had happened to Christine's voice. It had been restored back to its usual glory. Just like everything else, it had been returned back to normal.

Mrs. Richard had decided to take her chances sitting down in Row 5, depsite the clear directions from the Phantom not to do so. This Auditorium Ghost was nothing but a student who had gotten themselves onto a wayward path. They would be able to deal with it, and that was the important part.

All the students who weren't a part of the current or upcoming scenes were allowed to sit in the seats of the auditorium. Christine pulled Meg and Paul as far away from Row 5 as possible. She didn't explain why so her two companions questioned her odd behavior. However, she was stubborn about it. They decided it was best if they just went along with her strange whims.

"Oh, Christine, I'm sorry, but I have to go up onto the stage," Paul said. "I have my duties as Fabrizio to fulfill." He leaned over and pecked her on the cheek as Christine stared at him with big eyes. "We can go out sometime afterwards." With that, Paul walked away. Meg leaned in towards Christine with a happy smile on her face.

"You two are too cute together!" she squealed. "I'm so glad you two are dating. Christy and Paul. Paul and Christine. Let's make a couple name out of it, shall we?"

Christine wasn't paying attention to her friend. She had been doing this more and more lately, falling into little dazes where she was stuck in her own thoughts. There was always a hint of fear in her eyes, no matter what she was doing.

But within that fear was a kind of enchantment, a curiosity that could never be quenched. There was always so much that Christine would wonder about. Her thoughts always seemed to be consumed by a single someone, with his voice and his face. She only wished that it was Paul instead of her so-called Angel.

"What about...Paully? Like Polly. Paul and Christy, isn't that great? No. I don't like it either," Meg said, going on by herself. "Christul. Like Crystal. That's kind of cute and kind of horrible as well."

"Mm-hm," Christine said absentmindedly.

"Pauline!" Meg said with a laugh escaping her. "People are actually named Pauline, so that's what it'll be. Pauline!"

Christine actually heard this one. She let out a laugh that was just a bit too loud as indeed people on stage were trying to rehearse. Mrs. Richard gave her a hard look, and she covered up her mouth in case any other noises would end up coming out. The people up on stage had already gotten a fair amount into the first act. They were still very much at the beginning, but Christine was surprised at how fast time had glided away from her.

"Pauline, I like that," Christine whispered to Meg. "I just don't want people calling us that."

"Well, I'm calling you two Pauline and there is nothing you can do about it."

Christine shook her head and looked up at the stage, where Carly stood with the script in her hand, attempting to remember her lines and blocking as much as possible without Mr. Richard's guidance. Christine thought she was doing a rather good job, no matter what else she thought about Carly. Bridget was doing slightly better, of course, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about that.

The scenes rolled forwards as Christine leaned back in her chair, subconsciously raising a hand up to her throat. It was still rather sore from her illness, but since it didn't carry over into her singing she decided to keep that to herself. She was keeping far too many secrets, and they seemed to accumulate like autumn leaves on the pavement.

Mr. Montegomery placed his hands on the piano and started playing the introduction for The Beauty Is. His fingers bounced up and down as he played. Christine pressed her mouth together, trying not to imagine herself in Carly's place as she always did. It was a very bad habit of hers, but it was one that was as addictive and as hard to get over as any drug.

"These are very popular in Italy," sang Carly, sounding just as good as she normally did. Her voice never changed and for many it was starting to get boring hearing the exact same version of The Beauty Is over and over again.

"It's the land of naked marble boys!

Something we don't see a lot in Winston-Salem!"

"Did I not instruct that Row 5 was to be left empty?" a voice roared over the auditorium, interrupting Carly's solo. She tried to keep on singing, but everyone was too preoccupied with the voice to do much of anything. Mrs. Richard turned around to look at the tech booth and see who was messing around back there. But there was only one girl, and she appeared frenzied as she rushed around the booth. She was trying to fix whatever had gone wrong.

"He's here!" Meg said quietly. "Our ghost is here!"

Christine shot up as if she was possessed. The look on her face was one of sheer terror, one that looked as if it could be from a movie.

"It's him!" she cried. "I know it's him!" Carly immediately stared at Christine with a glare of pure loathing.

"Do you have something to do with this?" Carly thundered at Christine. "Who is this 'he' you are talking about? What gives either of you the right to interrupt my solo? Sit down, you little-"

Carly spotted Mr. Montgomery and Mrs. Richard, both of whom looked very perplexed but also were warning Carly not to say anything bad.

"You little toad!" she finally finished after a few seconds of thinking.

"A toad? A toad you say?" the voice said, still overtaking all of the sound in the room. Everyone was hushed when the voice would speak. They were all afraid and curious, but none were more afraid and curious than Christine. She knew much more than most of these other people. She had seen things she never wanted to see. The lights in the auditorium started to flicker, just a little bit. It was just enough to make people gasp in fear.

"Perhaps you are the toad," the voice finally said. Everyone was quiet for a moment, waiting to see if the voice would show up again. But it was now silent.

"Mr. Montegomery, from the top of the number," Carly said, leaning over. Mr. Montegomery nodded dutifully. Mrs. Richard, who had been on the edge of her seat trying to decipher what was going on, was able to relax herself and lean back in the chair in Row 5. She just assumed that no more would be going on now that the voice had gotten its fury out.

Carly began singing again, this time slightly stiffer and more precise because of her anger over the past few minutes' events.

"These are very popular, in Italy.

It's the land of naked marble boys!

Something we don't see a lot in Winston-Salem!

That's the land of corduroys.

I'm just a someone in an old museum.

Far away from home as someone can go.

And the beauty is I still meet people I-" Carly's nearly too perfect voice suddenly cut off and was replaced be a loud "CO-ACK!" Everyone was at first too stunned to know what was going on. Carly had just randomly croaked, just like a toad.

Mr. Montegomery stopped playing the piano. Soon people began to giggle a little. If Carly heard them she would look over and give them the evil eye. It was all very subtle, but there was certainly a ripple going throughout the cast of the Light in the Piazza.

Carly cleared her throat and looked down at Mr. Montegomery. She recovered herself fairly quickly, or at least that's how it looked from the outside.

"Let's just start again at the top of the piece, shall we, Mr. Montegomery?" Carly gritted her teeth and tried to smile but it came out as more of a grimace.

Mr. Montegomery's face was rather expressionless. He just nodded and started playing the bouncing intro to The Beauty Is once again. Carly shook out her hair and adjusted her posture. Whatever that croak had been, it would not be happening again if she had anything to do with it.

"These are very popular, in Italy,

It's the land of na-" Her voice was interrupted yet again by the croak. But Carly was determined. She was going to keep going on until her vocal cords fried. She kept on trying, over and over and over again, and it soon became evident that she was getting frazzled. But as Carly kept singing and "CO-ACK!"-ing on, a voice, the same one from before, came on over the sound system.

"She is singing today to bring down Chandelier!" it roared. Everyone started to panic, the tension in the room increasing by tenfold. There were shrieks echoing from every corner of the room, people jumping out of their seats and trying to get out their fear by moving around as much as possible.

"Everyone, please, stay calm!" Mr. Montegomery said. His voice wasn't enough on its own, so Mrs. Richard joined in. For the most part, this was a fairly calm and good group of students. But so many strange things had kept on happening. Now they never seemed to be able to do anything but start freaking out.

Carly had finally decided to stop singing. Even she was afraid, which was really saying something. She stood there, breathing heavily, looking out at everyone in the audience and around her who had begun to panic.

Mr. Montegomery leaped up onto the stage just as Carly ran off into the wings and off the stage. She wasn't going to come back, not for a while. She was mortified, afraid, confused. For a second, she could almost relate to what Christine was feeling.

"Everyone, please stay calm! We're just going to move on, move on to the next scene. The next scene. Mrs. Richard...what is the next scene?"

There was a sound of Mrs. Richard frantically flipping through her script to find where exactly they could start the next scene. Finally, everyone was starting to calm down and stop their panicked chatter.

"Okay, Paul. Il Mondo Era Vuoto, let's go on."

Paul poked his head out from the wings, his face twisted in a frown. His mind had been nothing short of reeling as soon as the voice had echoed over the auditorium. That was the very same voice that had been warning them of a disaster beyond their imagination, he was completely sure of that. Even though he was fearful of what might happen next, he only hesitated for a few moments. This was show business, and he had to roll with it.

"Just sing it, is that all?" Paul asked, creasing his eyebrows as he tried to clarify the situation.

"Just sing it," Mrs. Richard confirmed. "Mr. Montegomery?"

With a nod of his head, the music teacher began to play the piano accompaniment for Paul's song. The actor still felt a bit of apprehension about what was going on, but then he realized he had the answer to his problems. His eyes fell onto Christine, who was shaking ever so slightly. He would sing this song to her.

But before he could begin, here was a shriek from the wings. It was the sound of a male voice calling out. Many people immediately jumped up to go see what was going on, including Mrs. Richard and Mr. Montegomery. The safety of the students was always supposed to be the most important thing. Christine was frozen in place as everyone else came rushing past her.

"Someone, anyone in the wings! Tell us what's going on this very instant!" Mrs. Richard called out. Her voice was firm, keeping the authority in the room. If something had gone wrong, it was of the utmost importance that it be fixed as quickly as possible. With potential danger for the students, there was no questioning the urgency of the situation.

"Joe has broken his leg!" a voice piped up. Bridget Hadley stepped out from the wings, her faced blanched nearly pure white. "He keeps on saying that it was sabotage, that something from the shadows did it. It's fairly gruesome...please, come quickly!"

Christine's face drained of all color in a matter of seconds. She had a feeling that she knew exactly what was going on, and it frightened her. She had suspected that this would be the case, and sure enough it was.

The Angel of Music was not a benevolent being straight from Heaven, she had realized it a while ago when she had noticed the glint of pure fury in his eyes. He may have given her the music of the night, but he must have been involved.

Mr. Montegomery and Mrs. Richard vanished as they ran into the wings, attempting to get a hold on the situation. As this happened, Christine reached over and grabbed Meg's hand. She needed some sort of way to get her nerves out, and unfortunately it ended up being her best friend. Nevertheless, it was a form of support that was completely necessary for her.

"Everything okay, Christy?" Meg asked, her voice concerned. The only response she got was a hard squeeze on her hand that made her wince. She decided to take that as a resounding no, as she didn't end up getting an audible reaction.

Finally, Mr. Montegomery and Mrs. Richard reappeared on the stage. Christine was anxious to hear what they had to say, but it seemed that very few others were interesting in the situation. She eased her grip off of Meg's hand as her teachers began to speak.

"Joe is going to be okay. We've got the situation under control, do not worry. Do not panic," Mr. Montegomery said, attempting to have his voice carry over the mayhem that was erupting throughout the house. With a melodramatic sigh, he turned away from the students and back towards Mrs. Richard.

The two directors appeared to be bickering like an old married couple. Since the issue with Joe and his broken leg had been resolved and pushed aside for the moment, their minds had strayed to other issues. Even with the chaos that engulfed them, there was one thing in particular that stood out to them.

"Everyone, shut up!" Mr. Montegomery roared. Beside him, Mrs. Richard stood triumphantly. He could do the dirty work of getting everyone's attention. Unfortunately, it didn't end up catching them quite as well as they wanted. There was only a brief moment of silence before the drama teacher began to announce what was on her mind.

"We have made...a very big, difficult decision." Mrs. Richard said, her voice not demanding the presence that was needed. She cleared her throat loudly, wishing that she had been able to immediately grab their attention the way that Mrs. Leary could. But, nevertheless, she continued trying to get their eyes and ears.

"Excuse me!" she yelled. Finally the nervous chatter ceased and everyone turned to face Mrs. Richard and Mr. Montegomery, their two directors.

"Due to recent events," Mrs. Richard said, "recent events that you are all aware of, we have decided to change the role of Clara Johnson. Clara will now be played by Miss Christine Daae."

Christine's eyes widened as Mrs. Richard said these words. She cowered away as everyone's eyes turned to face her. She was glad that Carly wasn't there to see all of this, because the drama queen would not be happy about this development. Yes, Christine had been wanting to be Clara Johnson, but not like this.

Christine was being pushed in the role of Clara, a role that everyone knew she hadn't originally gotten. She felt her eyes beginning to well up with tears. This is what she had wanted so badly. Just moments ago she had been pining over it. But now that she had it, she had learned to hate it. This wasn't a role she had earned, it was one that had been given to her through threats and manipulation.

The Angel of Music had cast his shadow over far more than just the sophmore soprano. Now everyone in the Light in the Piazza would be directly affected by his presence. He was now the puppet master of everything going on within Garnier High School.

No matter where Christine turned in the auditorium, she always saw people staring at her through the cracks in her fingers that covered up her eyes. With nowhere else to go, she suddenly understood there was only one way out.

Hands still covering her eyes, Christine backed out of her seat and bolted out of the auditorium. She didn't dare to look and see if anyone was following her. Adrenaline was coursing through her, and she was definitely following the latter side of the fight or flight reaction that came with it. She had made the decision to escape this all, even if it were only a temporary fix. Temporary was better than nothing.

A/N And thus comes the fun parts. Like, the really fun parts. This has been one of the biggest joys in terms of converting it all to modern day. There's so much that can be redone, and it's all so much fun. Yes, yes, yes. And don't ask me about how the whole croaking thing works-it's never explained. But it does happen.