The Darkness of the Music of the Night {A Phantom of the Opera Fanfic}

Chapter 1

"Stupid Raoul!" a blonde haired girl paced the floor of her room, "That little fop!"

The aforementioned "fop" had told her that she couldn't go exploring in the labyrinth beneath the opera house.

"Estelle, please come out." Christine's soft voice came through the door. The girl didn't answer.

"Your father-"

"He's not my father." Estelle interrupted. She didn't hear Christine's voice after that. Perhaps she had left.

Estelle had been all too young when she was given to the caretakers at the orphanage. She was an accident. Her parents hadn't wanted a child. They decided that if the child were a boy, they would keep it, since it could carry on the family name. But when the midwife told them it was a girl, they decided to take the child to the orphanage.

There, Estelle met Raoul, who came to help the orphanage with his family. He was like a big brother to her. Then, one day, when Estelle was around the age of ten, he stopped coming. Estelle became depressed, to say the least. She slowly got better, with help from the orphanage caretakers. That was when it happened. Raoul came knocking on the door of the orphanage, saying he was there to adopt Estelle.

The girl had already spent seven years recovering from the pain he had caused her, and now he was dragging her away without asking if she wanted to go. So, here she was, the adopted daughter of Raoul and Christine De Chagny, fuming as she paced the floor.

"Poor child." she heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Who's there?" she said with courage that was no more than bravado. She grabbed her flute off her bed and held it, ready to attack the intruder.

"I am a great teacher. I taught your adoptive mother how to sing." the voice said to her. The voice was so hypnotic, it took all she had in her not to follow it.

"I meant, what is your name?" she replied.

"Erik." the voice answered, "I live in the tunnels under the opera house."

This caught Estelle's attention. She set her flute down slowly, and all good judgement went "out the window", so to speak.

"Really?" she asked excitedly, taking a step toward the voice.

"Yes. Would you like to come with me and explore them?" the voice asked in reply. The girl nodded. "Then come with me." he said as a secret door opened in the wall. Estelle timidly walked over to the entrance. When she was through the opening, Erik grabbed her hand. She felt a mix of alarm and calm rush through her. He led her through the labyrinth of tunnels, until they reached a lake. He helped the girl into a boat and rowed over to a house he had built under the opera house.

"Is this your house?" Estelle asked excitedly when they had entered.

"Yes." his deep voice replied. He stepped into the dim light of the house and Estelle finally saw what he looked like. Estelle's curiosity almost got the best of her when she saw that he was wearing a mask, but she forced her questions out of her mind, deciding it would be rude to ask. Maybe another day, but not today.

They spent several hours in the house across the lake, playing music, talking about that fop, Raoul, reading books, and playing games. Estelle checked the time and saw that it was very late.

"I suppose I must go now." she said with a yawn. Erik led her out the door and into the boat. Estelle fell asleep during the short boat ride and Erik carried her the rest of the way to her room. He laid the blonde haired girl on her bed, tucked her in, and left the room.

Estelle woke up a few minutes later when Raoul and Christine came in. When the couple saw Estelle laying in her bed, they ran over and hugged her.

"Where were you?" Raoul asked with concern

"I just went exploring." the girl replied.

"I told you not to go-"

"I wasn't in tunnels." Estelle lied to her adoptive father.

"You didn't hear us calling you?" Christine asked. Estelle shook her head 'no'. Christine sigh, "Well, at least you're safe."