Uncle Henri immediately burst out laughing, which was extremely out of place, considering the fear that was filling the room.

"You all can't possibly be serious, is this your idea of a joke?"

"I assure you Monsieur, it is no joke, you would've found out about it sooner or later, as I have no doubt in my mind he will make himself known to you." The Manager told him seriously before turning to Monsieur Reyer. "Please calm everyone down and resume rehearsals as usual."

Mr.Reyer sighed, but nodded his head, beginning to try his best to calm the series of anxious voices.

As we walked away at the corner of my eye I thought I saw a shadowy figure peeking out from behind the curtains, but when I turned my head to look there was no one there, but the ominous swinging of the curtains proved that there had indeed been someone.

"Anna, keep up," My Uncle ordered me as he grabbed my hand, quickly dragging me along.

"Monsieur Lefèfvre, you do not seriously believe that there's a ghost running around here, do you?" Henri said and I could tell he was trying to contain his laughter as we entered the foyer.

The manager turned his eyes looking cautiously around as if searching for this Opera Ghost, then seeming satisfied took a deep breath.

"I don't expect you to understand what is going on here or to even believe it, but I do expect you to respect the Phantom, for whether you believe it or not he is real, and he is not one to be very...forgiving."

A scoff came from Henri as a smile of amusement tugged at his lips.

I didn't share his amusement as much, I found myself being intrigued an overwhelming sense of wanting to learn more about this Phantom coming over me, momentarily forgetting about any plans of escape.

"How do you know that this ghost is real, Monsieur, have you seen him?" I asked curiously.

"No, but he does send letters,"

My Uncle burst out laughing at that.

"A ghost that writes, oh that's just too good, and just what are these letters?"

Mr. Lefèfvre sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

"They are more like notes, filled with critiques about the plays and how the Opera House is run, he's a very demanding ghost, but as long as you do what he asks you'll have no issues, speaking of which you should know that Box 5 is permanently reserved for the Phantom's use, and another thing is he has a salary of 20,000 francs a month."

My eyes widened at the mention of that, perhaps these people were a bit nutty to be paying a ghost.

"20,000 francs, you can't be serious?" Uncle Henri exclaimed raising his hand to his head.

I forced myself to hold back my smile at my uncle's exasperation, feeling a little bit satisfied in seeing it.

The manager only shrugged.

"It keeps him happy for the most part, really it's not much, besides we wouldn't want to anger a ghost, now would we?"

I could see a frown forming on my uncle's face as he slowly nodded.

"I supposed not."

---------------------------------------

Once Monsieur Lefèfvre was done giving my Uncle all of the necessary details, he left officially making Henri the new manager of the Opera Populaire.

"It is clear to me there's going to have to be some drastic changes around here, starting with this whole ghost situation, I wasn't aware how much of a nutcase people at this opera house were." 

I could almost laugh at him saying that when he was the one who kidnapped their niece, all because of his twisted sick idea in his mind that he was to be my husband. If anyone was crazy it was definitely him, even those who believe in Opera Ghosts weren't as crazy or crazy enough to do the things my uncle has done, no sane person was.

He sat behind the desk looking through the piles of papers.

I sat anxiously in the seat looking towards the door, wanting to run out, but knowing it wouldn't be wise to do so. I needed an excuse to leave, there was one pricking at the back of my mind, the only one that I could possibly think of.

"Henri, I need to use the bathroom."

I was waiting for his suspicious stare and even for him to say no to my request, but he only absentmindedly nodded his head, his eyebrows furrowed as he was writing something down.

"Oui, go ahead."

I all but leaped to my feet as I quickly rushed out, not wanting to give him time to change his mind.

I rushed down the hall, running down the grand staircase, and just when I was at the door to exit the Populaire, I stopped as I heard my uncle's words echoing in my mind.

"There's nowhere for you to go and no one for you to go to."

He was right, I was miles away from home, there was nowhere I could go, I had no money, I would just be wandering the streets with no direction or way to get home.

Panic filled my chest as tears overflowed my eyes.

I didn't want to go back to my Uncle, I couldn't, I could feel the overwhelming memories, of being locked in the basement, and the sound of my uncle's voice as he yelled or hit me over and over. No, I had to get home, I wanted to go home, that's all I wanted, I just wanted to go home.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I turned sharply around quickly holding back the rest of my tears as I saw one of the girls who had been rehearsing earlier, standing there with a concerned expression upon her face.

"Oui, I'm fine," I said as I tried my best to compose myself.

She looked at me curiously for a moment then smiled softly.

"Are you the new manager's daughter, I saw you coming in with him?"

"He is not my Father," I snapped.

"He's not?" She looked at me with a quizzical stare filling her face.

I didn't know what to say, could I tell her the truth, perhaps she could help me in some way if she knew.

Before I could decide she shrugged.

"I supposed I'm being a bit nosey, I apologize, I haven't even introduced myself I'm Christine Daaé."

"I'm Susanna Wells," I said, knowing that I could trust her to help me.

"Pleasure to meet you, I don't know if Mr. Lefèfvre has shown you around the Opera house or not, but I would love you give you a tour if you're up for it?" She said with a soft smile.

I shrugged, not seeing the harm in getting a little tour, especially since I didn't want to be anywhere near my Uncle.

"Sure, why not?"

I followed Christine around the Opera house she showed me around all the while filling me with stories that she had from previous years, and it seemed that she had lived here her entire life. As much as I tried to listen out of respect for her kindness, my mind kept wandering around in a frantic spin with thoughts of going back to my Uncle. The fear and anxiety filled me at the thought of facing his wrath after he found out I had lied to him.

"I know you've seen the theatre, but I would like to show you something that is my absolute favorite," Christine told me, dragging myself away from my thoughts.

I looked at her curiously my mind momentarily going away from thoughts of Henri to what she could be leading me to.

We were behind the stage where Christine guided me up the winding metal staircase up to the wooden flooring of the fly loft, where all sorts of ropes were hanging around us, some for the curtains, others for the props that would be put onto the stage.  

The floorboards creaked beneath our weight and I clenched my fist, never knowing how scared of heights I was until now, all the while Christine rushed on ahead with no fear at all. 

Towards the end of the fly loft before it turned to the right there was a metal ladder that led up to what seemed to be the ceiling with a small black metal latch hanging at the center above the ladder.

I grasped the metal railing taking a deep breath as I saw Christine begin to climb.

She glanced over her shoulder as she got to the top, her hand on the metal latch.

"Are you scared of heights?"

"What gave you that idea?" I told her sarcastically as my grip tightened on the railing. 

"Don't worry, once we're on the roof it'll be all worth it, I promise," She assured me with a smile.

"If you say so, Christine," I said as I walked towards the ladder.

"I do."

She pulled the latch and I could feel the cool air outside as it came rushing out, blowing through my hair and against my face. Christine lifted herself up the bottom of her dress disappearing as I placed my hands on the ladder. I was gathering up the courage to climb when I felt a chill going down my spine as the feeling of being watched came over me.

I turned sharply around, finding nothing but the ropes swinging from the wind.

"Susanna, you must come up, it is wonderful up here!" Christine called.

I turned back around shaking the feeling and quickly went up the ladder to the roof.

Once I was up I walked over to where Christine was near one of the golden angel statues that had greeted me when I first came here with my uncle. I gasped as I came beside her, holding onto the side of the statue as I looked in the distance seeing the bright purple and pink colors, spreading across the sky and the city as the sun set behind the buildings.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Christine whispered beside me.

I began to think of my Mother, how she would've loved to see this and I thought of the memory of my Father playing Liebestrum on the piano his voice filling my mind, then my Mother's soft voice as she hummed a gentle melody in tune with the piano.

Christine glanced over at me with a sympathetic expression on her face.

"Susanna, I know we just met but you can tell me what's wrong, maybe I can help."

I burst into tears as panic overflowed me.

"Please, Christine, I don't want to go back to my Uncle, please don't make me, please."

She hugged me tightly as I cried into her shoulders all the while consoling me, reassuring me that she wasn't going to do that.

"Susanna, whatever is going on, I promise I'll help you any way that I can, okay?" She told me as I pulled off of her.

I wiped the tears from my face as I tried to compose myself, shaking my head.

"Sorry, you don't have to do anything, I'll-I'll figure something out."

"No, I'm going to do something, don't worry, now you just wait right here and I'll be back."

"But-"

"Wait here,"

Before I could protest anymore she was running off disappearing back underneath the roof.

I took a deep breath as I rubbed my eyes, hating feeling and looking so pathetic and vulnerable in front of people. I was never like this before but ever since I was kidnapped, it's all I seemed to be. 

I hated it.

My thoughts were interrupted when that feeling of being watched came over me again.

I clenched my hands tightly.

Don't be pathetic.

I turned around, my eyes darting all over the rooftop, seeing no one, but knowing that someone was certainly there, feeling their presence.

"I know someone's there, come on out creep!" I yelled, trying my best to swallow back the feeling of panic and fear that it might be my uncle.

I heard movement coming from the corner of my eye and ran in that direction, hoping that I would catch the creep who was watching me, but of course, when I got to the other side of the roof no one was there.

I sighed sharply, feeling more annoyed than scared now.

"Fucking asshole."

"Who are you talking to?" 

I jumped startled as I saw that Christine had come back.

"No one, I guess."

She looked at me confusingly for a moment then shook her head as she smiled.

"Well, I just talked with Madame Giry and she said that you could stay here in the opera house."

"Here, I can't stay here, my Uncle is the manager, he'll find me easily, and I don't want to stay here, I want to go home," I said with a shake of my head.

"I know, but train tickets are quite expensive, especially this time of year, if you stay here and become a dancer you'll be paid a salary, that way you can save up to get a ticket," Christine explained as she gently took my hands into hers.

"Okay, but my uncle is still the manager here, how will he not recognize me?" I asked, not sure how this would work.

Christine smiled widely.

"We have all sorts of products for that, we'll make you unrecognizable."

"What about just going to the police?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"I talked with Madame Giry about that and she said that the police here aren't ones to believe anyone, especially any women."

I took a deep breath, knowing that this was the only solution I had rather than crawling back to Uncle Henri. It was extremely risky hiding right underneath his nose like this, but it was the only way that I could have any hope of seeing my parents again.

"Very well, make me unrecognizable."