It Was Always Her

Chapter 4

Yvette's POV

I was looking around for the source of the voice when all the candles in my room went out. I felt my heartbeat speeding up as a frantically reached around to find some matches. I eventually found a box and a candelabra and lit all of the candles. Turning around, I saw a dark figure standing in front of my door. I let out a small yell and almost dropped the candelabra, but the figure reached out and caught it before it hit the ground.

I looked up, my eyes wide. He stood up holding the candelabra, illuminating his face. He had dark brown eyes and sleeked back, black hair. On the right side of his face, there was a white porcelain mask. He was almost a head and a half taller than me. I gazed up at him, into his dreamy eyes.

"Mademoiselle Yvette, how nice it is to finally see you again." His voice smooth like velvet. I recognized that voice though...the man from the theater, he had heard me singing! I gasped and quickly regain my composure.

"I can say the same for you Monsieur." I grab the candelabra back from him and set it down on a table nearby. I picked up the box of matches and went to work on relighting the candles that had gone out. I felt his eyes on me as I moved around the room.

"Mademoiselle" I hear him say and I turn around to face him. "How long have you been singing for?"

"My whole life monsieur, but my sister is a much better singer than me so she was always in the limelight while I was just off to the side." I say and move my curly blonde hair to cover the left side of my face. He watches my movements and stays silent.

"I thought you were an amazing singer mademoiselle, if you want to be better, I'd be willing to teach you." He says with the hint of a smirk dancing on his lips. I take a step towards him.

"First off, my name is Yvette. Not mademoiselle Yvette or mademoiselle. Just Yvette. And second off, what is your name." I question him and take another step towards him so we are about three feet away from each other.

"Okay Yvette, would you like me to teach you how to improve your singing?" He raises his eyebrow on the right side of his face. I look deep into his eyes and feel a shiver go down my spine.

"Oui monsieur." I say in a whisper. He reaches out and offers me his hand. I hesitantly grab his hand as he pulls me towards the large mirror in my room. The mirror magically slides open and reveals a large tunnel that is lit by candles. It is all so beautiful. I hear myself start to sing, as if my mind isn't controlling me but the tunnels around me are.

In sleep he sang to me
In dreams he came
That voice which calls to me
And speaks my name

The masked man turns around to look at me and keeps walking down the long tunnel

And do I dream again?
For now I find
The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside my mind

Sing once again with me
Our strange duet
My power over you
Grows stronger yet

I close my eyes for a second and relish the amazing sound of his voice.

And though you turn from me
To glance behind

He sings as I turn around and see the mirror far behind us now

The Phantom of the Opera is there
Inside your mind

We get to the end of tunnel, and there is a lake covered in mist. On the shore of the lake, there is a small boat. The man gets on and offers me his hand once again. I take it and he gently pulls me into the boat and I sit down. I feel the boat start to move and I turn around to see the masked man paddling the boat with a large pole.