Synopsis: Chapter one
The setting begins just outside of Paris, in the mansion of Raoul de Chagney, and his wife, Christine. (Do the names sound familliar yet?) It is four years since Christine last saw Erik, her Phantom of the Opera. In her bedroom, she dreams of how he had tutored her to sing. She remembers how he had loved her, and berates herself for being such a horrible person in return. She would gladly have gone back and done things differently, so as not to hurt him as badly as she had.
She cannot sleep that night. Sighing, she goes downstairs, and begins to play on the grand piano in the library. She imagines Erik playing a violin along with her . . . or does she? The next thing she knows, the violin is outside the window. A voice calls to her, bidding her to sing. She opens her mouth to obey - for the strength of the voice gives her no other choice. Unfortunately, Raoul, back home from a business affair, calls to her from behind, not having seen the shadow outside the window. He brings her up to the bed, and falls asleep.
The following day, Christine remembers that the voice of her Erik had called to her the night before. Raoul is on a business trip again, and she is alone in the mansion. Afraid she will not hear from Erik again, she searches the property, and finds him up in a willow tree. They sing together, and while her eyes are closed, he kisses her, and quickly disappears. Later, Christine finds his old mask up in the attic, and quickly calls for him, giving him the mask so that he may wear it yet again.
As in the past, Erik expresses his love for her, and begs for her to return to the Opera House with him. Christine says that she honestly would, but she does not want to hurt Raoul. Erik begins to hypnotize her, and then kidnaps her.
Christine wakes up in a small apartment, where Erik pleads to her that he knows deep down that she loves him. She MUST love him, for she treats him so kindly. Hypnotizing her yet again, Christine is given no choice but to marry him. Erik promises her one thing though. She asks him that they never share a marraige bed, which Erik readily agrees to. They marry, and then suddenly, Christine is released from her spell. She begins to sob, begging Erik to take her to Raoul, so that she can be sure that being married to him is what she wants.
Christine is brought to a hotel in Paris to find Raoul. She finds far more than Raoul, however. She finds Carlotta, the former Opera House diva. Carlotta walked out of Raoul's bedroom in the middle of the night, just as Christine was about to knock on the hotel room door. Unable to bear her heartbreak at having seen Carlotta walk out of the hotel room, she runs to Erik, having not confronted Raoul about his affair. Erik sooths her, and they go back to the Opera House together. Back to the lair.
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chapter two