Today was the day before the opening performance of IL muto. Everyone was paranoid about this performance. and when I say everyone I mainly mean the staff. The managers and Carlotta were not worried about anything phantom related, just worried about how many tickets were sold. The whole time the Staff was rehearsing the opera I have been spending as much time as I can with Gustave, We have been going out any time we could. Gustave is similar to the phantom but then again also so different in many ways. For the past 2 months the most information i have learned about Gustave is that he enjoys the performing arts very much, he has a very skillful hand at painting, also he rides horseback, and he writes for a living. He is truly a wonderful man. He also is such a gentleman, like Erik. What I love most about him is that he treats me equally, he believes that women should have all the rights and opportunities men have.

Christine was very upset that she did not get the role of countess, Raoul had to comfort her till she stopped crying. I was in the fitting room to try on my costume before the big show. I really do love my costume, it gives me more room to breathe and I can easily run around in it, unlike my normal dress. I also had to have my hair curled with a hot iron because my hair is as straight as a pin. I detest curling my hair because of the hot irons, when i was a kid I was watching all of the older ballerinas curl their hair when one of them lost their grip on the handle, the poor girl had dropped the extremely hot iron right on her shoulder and then it landed straight on her foot! It was very scary to watch when you're a nine year old girl. The woman had burned herself so bad that the manager would not let her perform again because of the scarring. I still do not know what happened to that girl ever since that day. I was quietly sitting on a chair while the hairdresser curled my hair. On the outside I was calmly reading a book, but on the inside I was in sheer bloody panic! whenever the iron would get closer to me I would freeze and turn pale. And I spent about two hours sitting on that bench waiting for the man to finish, it then took another hour to apply my makeup. When it was all done I looked at myself in the mirror, I had to admit I looked bloody awesome in men's attire! my raven black curly hair was pulled back by a blue strip of silk and i had lots of white makeup on my face, but not as much as the other actors, they looked like ghosts! my small lips were now a rosy red color and finally i had a fake mole on the left side of my upper lip. 'Why a mole?' I thought to myself. I thanked the hairdresser and the makeup artist. I made my way to the stage to see that almost everyone was here for rehearsals. "Alright everyone! we are starting with act two scene one!" M. Reyer exclaimed. As I walked to the set the skirt was tied around my waist and I was thrown a feather duster, I quickly took the fake mole off and threw it, it landed in Carlotta's hair but thankfully no one could notice. The props were brought out and then Carlotta started to belch out her part. Christine was suddenly pushed by Carlotta when she accidently stepped on her dress, but she kept acting her part as the maid, like nothing had happened. Well that honestly was what happened all day, and also me and Carlotta pretending to kiss each other. That woman is so infuriating! Sometimes I would see Christine dancing in the corner of my eye, but she wasn't dancing like her usual energetic self. I instantly knew why she was like this. She was upset that she did not get the part of countess. I feel bad about that, if it wasn't for me she would have the role of countess. After practice I looked all over for Christine, not on the roof, not in her room or in the ballet dorm. The only possible place she could be is the church.

I slowly made my way down the spiral staircase to see Christine sitting in front of the picture of her father. she changed out of her costume rather quickly and is now in a dark green day dress. "Christine?" she looked up in response. "I saw you looked a little upset during rehearsal...what's going on?" She took a deep breath and told me everything that happened, from when Erik took her down to his lair to when she took off his mask. "Emma, his face...I can not get the image out of my head! It was not even a face..." she started tearing up. I do know what she is talking about, after all when I first saw Erik's face it did scare me a little. Though there still was part of his face that was normal, the deformity never scared me again when I saw it all those years ago. "Hey, it's ok! Christine look at me." I knelt down beside her and grabbed her hands. Wanting to comfort her so badly. There was an aching in my chest whenever i saw her like this. "I am so frightened Emma. What if the angel hates me now? After what I have done...no wonder I did not get the role of countess, The Angel, no The Phantom will never forgive me for betraying his trust." I sighed and replied

" You did not do anything wrong Christine. You...You were curious and I can understand that. But one thing you must always remember, it does not matter what a person looks like, it's what's on the inside that truly counts Christine. The Phantom will forgive you!" She sniffed and smiled. " Thank you Emma, and I will be sure to remember what you said. Have you ever met The An- Phantom yet? I am not sure how to tell you this, but Emma, he is our Angel of music."

I squeezed her hands a little (might as well strike while the iron is hot) and said, " Yes I have, and yes I do know he is our angel."

Christine looked so confused. " How could you have-? Wait, you were gone for three days after I had returned from The Phantom's lair." Christine was a very smart girl but sometimes she had trouble processing things. Her eyes widened and she gasped.

"How long have you known?" Christine let go of my hands. I hesitated, should I tell her that I have known for six years? I'm scared that this could ruin our friendship. " I have known for .......for six years That The Phantom was posing as our angel. But Chrissy you must understand-" she stood up and met my eyes with a burning hot glare. "what!? what must I 'understand'? that you have lied to me for six years! that you knew that our angel was a hideous man- no - beast!! that is living in the catacombs of the opera house!? you lied to me Emma!" my eyes widened the moment she called Erik a beast. My heart was drowning in guilt as she continued to ramble on and on about how she thought we were friends, and that she could not believe her best friend would lie to her for six years. "Christine, you have to believe me, that I did not want to lie to you! The Phantom made me promise that I would not say anything to you about this! if I did not make that promise I would have told you straight away!" I inched closer and tried to take her hands in mine. My heart is breaking slowly. she stayed quiet as she started to think to herself. She did not let me hold her hands instead, her hand slowly making its way to her stomach. ever since we were children Chrissy would absentmindedly place her hand on her stomach whenever she would feel upset in any way. " The Phantom had you promise not to tell me?" I took a step closer to her. "yes." she looked at me with a skeptical gaze but it finally broke, "you promise?"

"Yes" I said back and looked back at her. She sighed and kept thinking in silence. Looking at the picture of her father. She then looked back at me and said, "no more secrets, Promise me this Emma" I nod quickly and take her hand in mine, she smiled a bit and I couldn't help but smile back at her. "No secrets I swear on my lucky pair of pointe shoes!" she chuckled and smiled. I never noticed before, but she looked stunning standing there in the candlelight. It made my heart race and my cheeks flushed a bright red. What the hell is happening. Christine looked at me and put a hand to my cheek touching it. Her skin was soft. "You ok Emma? You aren't running a fever are you?" she bit her bottom lip and looked worried. 'Uhm I'm fine, I am fine don't worry ahaha" i laughed awkwardly stumbling over my words. All I could think of is what the hell. Her face melted into a relaxed smile and she patted my cheek. "Alright if you say so" she hummed and took my hand in hers leading me away out of the church. While we were leaving I couldn't help but notice a chill in the air. I still had that feeling, as if the hair on the back of my neck was standing up. wherever I would go, I would feel like this.

Later that day when we were in Cristine's room, I told Christine all about my three days in The Phantom's lair. Of course I told her about Gustave. Christine almost bounced on the walls when I told her how he made me feel strange. I never told her that she had the same effect on me though. That would probably end very badly. "You're meant to be Emma! I can see it now! You and Gustave living in a cozy apartment with two children! One boy and one girl!'' I was stunned at the thought of having kids with Gustave. A man I've only known for a short time. my face easily turned scarlet.

" Easy there Christine! you are getting way ahead of yourself." she frowned. "But don't you want that Emma? you do love him don't you? It's every young woman's dream to marry a man and have a family, I know it's mine" I shook my head and then sighed, "no there has to be more than that Chrissy, More than spitting out babies and taking care of the husband and kids till the day you die." I said and then looked at her, she looked a bit confused, maybe it was too much for her brain to handle. I then say "it's just a crush, and plus it's gonna take a lot more than horseback riding to win my heart Chrissy. I need to really know him before I dive in" she still smiled like a kid on Noël. "but you do like him right?"..." yes like him Chrissy." I mumbled. But i like you the same way... " Then there is a chance! Imagine your wedding! It will be in the spring! and you will be married in a field of flowers! oh, just think of it Emma! Mr. and Mrs. Leroux '' right when Christine said "Mr. and Mrs. Leroux '' the candles flickered and one of the mirrors smashed out of nowhere. Christine screamed and I jumped a foot in the air. She ran over to me and grabbed my hands in a steel grip. The only light leaking through the windows. A deep voice interrupted Christine's sniffling. My heart had made its way to my stomach. I slipped my arms around her protectively and looked around.

"you will stop all of this nonsense about weddings my angels. you both belong to me no one else! If you two desire your precious Fop and writer to live...you shall never speak to them again. I really do hate making my angels upset but you left me no choice." Christine started sobbing now at the thought of Raoul Dying. My anger starts to boil over, and finally I burst. " we do not belong to you !!! you do have a choice Erik! All of your actions to make us stay with you are just pushing us away!!" My hands were balled up into fists. My face was red.

The phantoms' voices got even louder to the point Christine and I had to hold our hands over our ears. "You will always belong to me!!! Even if I have to force you both to stay with me!!" more things broke like the windows. It scared Christine so much she fled the room with tunnel vision, closing the door behind her. I stood my ground, head held high looking around at any possible entrance he could appear in. All was still... I let my guard down now that the phantom had finally left. I turned my back to walk out the door, my hand gripped the handle of the door when a pair of cold strong hands grabbed me from behind and threw me on the king sized bed. I was silently crying, hot tears ran down my cheeks as the phantom wrapped his gloved hands around my neck after straddling me down to the bed. his eyes were a terrifying bright yellow as he applied more pressure on my neck he started growling. My vision began to get fuzzy, I could also see black spots in my vision. my grip on The Phantoms hands around my neck. 'no. I can't pass out!' I let out a sound that was supposed to be a scream but turned out sounding like a dying cat. When I saw the phantom I looked as if he was coming out of a trance. As soon as I made that attempt of a scream, his eyes turned back to those beautiful blue eyes I had come to love. He let go of my neck like it was on fire. I fell off of the bed and onto the glass covered floor, gasping for air. The glass cutting open my palms. as soon as I had caught my breath the phantom crouched down in front of me, tears brimming his eyes. I scooted back from him as much as I could, which wasn't much. now on his knees he started crying and grabbing at my pant leg. "Oh god what have I done!? please forgive me Emma!! Your angel could not control his anger! my angel please forgive me! I am a horrible monster for doing this to you!! I will do anything for your forgiveness!"

I couldn't talk at all. My throat was sore and quickly bruising, I was terrified of him, the way he groveled at my feet just made it worse. He looked at me as I scooted away from him, he could see it, the fear. Something changed when he saw that. His tears stopped and his face went stoic. He stood up and went over to me, I kept backing away till my back hit the wall. "Dont" I said in a raspy voice. He stopped and his expression softened a small bit but just as quickly it turned to stone, like two personalities were inside him. He sighed and fixed his suit and walked to the only mirror that wasn't broken, the one leading to his home. "I will not repeat myself. See the writer, and he dies." he said and walked away, the glass crunching under his shoes. Once he was gone I looked at my surroundings to see all of the mirrors in Christine's room broken. pieces of glass were all around the floor also. I fled from the room on my own and collapsed on the floor in my own bedroom yet again, my breathing picking up speed and I lost control of everything, I couldn't breathe. I cried and hugged myself tight and whimpered, calling and praying for my mother. This panicked state lasted for what felt like hours as I slowly started to calm down and sat there looking dazed. Tears streamed down my face and ruined the makeup I had on from rehearsals. I went and picked myself up and trudged to the pitcher of water and grabbed a rag, pouring the water in the basin and scrubbing at my face. I felt dirty and stupid for thinking I could see through to him. He was insane. I could finally see it. I went to my dresser and looked at myself in the mirror. My lower neck was swollen and was turning black and blue, thankfully I could hide it with my ascot. I stood up and went to my bathroom and took a long hot long hot bath soaking my bruised neck in the hot water. when I got out it was freezing cold. I rushed to wrap a towel around me and walked out of the bathroom and over to my changing screen to change into my nightdress. Not long after I started my ritual of brushing my hair and braiding it. Then a black box finally caught my attention when I was walking over to my bed. It was thin and small with a red ribbon. and had a note on the box as well. I untied the card from the ribbon. the card said,

Wear this necklace to hide the bruises

, O.G.

my hand subconsciously went to my neck touching it gingerly. I opened the box to find a large black choker necklace that was accented with diamonds. it was so beautiful. I closed the box and placed it on my vanity. I tried not to have another one of the episodes I had earlier as I forced myself to move a chest in the room to the mirror and pushed it up against it so he could no longer get in that way. I then covered the mirror with a dark black shall and pinned it in place. eager to get a good night's sleep I blew out all of the candles except for the one on my nightstand next to my bed. Once I was in bed, I blew out the candle and let myself fall into a deep sleep.