I emerged from a small cabinet in an empty and dark room. I stretched a bit, completely exhausted. I had kept myself busy all night familiarizing myself with my new home. I had investigated every square inch of the lair, except for Erik's private quarters, which I was never to enter. But that seemed completely fair to me, for he agreed not to enter my quarters without permission in return.

My quarters were small, but far larger than what I was accustomed to. I had all the essential things inside, including a fairly large bed with a dark maroon and black and gold cover, a dark maroon and gold desk with a matching chair that I found to be quite comfortable, and a small maroon and black and gold dresser where I had just enough room for all my ensemble, which consisted of a black dress that's hem was far above my knees, leathery black boots that molded around my legs and feet, black gloves with which I had trimmed off the finger slits so as to have some sort of sense of feel, and tight-woven black netting covering any bare skin, apart from my face, which was usually hidden behind my long black hair anyhow. And around my neck was a black ribbon, tied tightly so it would not fall off, and on the center of it was a lovely blue-black pearl. Erik had given the necklace to me when I was made his apprentice the night before, and he had told me that it would me a sign of loyalty to him for as long as I lived, and that I should never take it off. And I didn't plan on it.

Coming back to the morning after I had completed the final test and had been officially stated the Phantom's apprentice. I walked forward and peeked out the door into the hallway, which was empty except for a maid whom was by now walking out of my sight. I opened the door the rest of the way and sank into the shadowy corridor. I had to find something to do, for Erik had made it clear that I was to help his image at any time in return for his hospitality and mentoring. Therefore I decided to explore the stage, where everyone was running about busily making last preparations for tonight's gala. I had not yet heard what they would be performing, but Erik had told me that morning that La Carlotta, the leading soprano, was ill and would not be able to perform. I knew he had been giving teaching lessons to a young lady at the Opera House for some time, so I had a feeling that he was behind La Carlotta's illness and that this young lady would most likely be taking her place.

I was able to blend in almost perfectly with the crowd of singers and dancers and prop-mechanics who were all too idiotic and busy to take notice to the little dark girl standing amongst them. I made my way through the confused mass of workers until I was in another empty hallway. I stayed against the wall so I could be absorbed in the shadows, and I walked along until I came across a staircase. I began my decent up it and entered another hallway. I stalked along in the darkness and found a door, where I could hear tiny voices of little girls squeaking about the Opera Ghost.

I shrugged and continued on my way down the hallway, but got too close to the wall and made the lightest brushing sound. The girls' high wails stopped in the same instant. I could hear a low murmur, then footsteps.

"Who's there?" came a shaky voice. I knew it had to be Sorelli, trying to seem braver than the little dancers. I sprang upward and clung to the ceiling. I heard a squealing little dancer say something to Sorelli, who made another attempt at bravery. "Is there anyone there?"

"Yes, yes! It's the ghost!" I heard a little voice say. I knew in an instant that it was Meg Giry, Mame Giry's daughter.

Suddenly, there was the knocking of a key inside its keyhole, and the door swung open. Without hesitation, I scrambled through the open door as Sorelli peered around the dark hallway. I situated myself in a dark corner where I could listen to the little girls.

Sorelli closed the door and sat back down with the others. "There is no one there."

"We still saw him!" peeped little Jammes. "He must be prowling about now! Oh, I shan't go back to dress! We should go downstairs together, and come back together as well!"

After fiddling with the ring Sorelli had around her finger, she said, "Come on now, children! After all, it isn't as if anyone has actually seen the ghost."

"Yes, yes, we did just now!" cried the little dancers. "He had a death's head and a dress-coat, just as Joeseph Buquet had described him!"

I had heard of Joeseph Buquet. He was the chief sceneshifter of the Opera House. I remembered reading something about him as well in some papers on Erik's table, but it had been too illegible for me to follow.

"Yes, and Gabriel saw him too!" cried Jammes. "Yesterday afternoon, in broad daylight!"

"Gabriel, the chorus-master?"

"Yes! And he had his dress-coat on in broad daylight!"

"Who? Gabriel?"

"Why, no! The ghost! Gabriel told me so himself!"

And then little Jammes went into a description of the night before, and the "accidents" that Gabriel had gone through. Apparently Gabriel had bruises all over, and the fall down the stairs had caused his face to bleed something awful. The poor oaf. I felt so proud!

When she finished her story, Meg Giry began explaining to the others about the ghost's box, and how it was never to be sold. I usually stayed in the box with him or without him to watch some of the galas, and I had even before my becoming his apprentice. After a while, there was a knock at the door. Sorelli answered it and a lady, whom I knew to be Jammes's mother, standing in the doorway spoke to all of them in a hurried tone. "Joeseph Buquet is dead!"

I lowered my head. So that was what the papers were about.

"He was found hanging in the third-floor cellar!" said she.

The girls all made a big fuss and ran out the door together, leaving the room empty except for a shadow that was now creeping over to lock the door. I shut it tight and began looking around. I rummaged through some paperwork on Sorelli's dresser, but found nothing of interest. After a while I grew tiresome of searching the dancer's room, and I began to head for the door. But suddenly, the doorknob turned and a strip of light poured in as the door open a bit. I panicked and did the only thing my instincts told me; I leapt up, through my arms out, and held myself up on the ceiling, though not in the best spot to hide. But I had no time to move, for the door swung open and revealed a young man, no older than I, peering into the room. He took a step in and turned to close the door behind him. I began crawling across the ceiling, hoping to make it out the door in time. But I stopped as I reached it, for I saw something that caught my eye.

I hadn't seen his face before, only shadows. But now that the light was on him, I could see him perfectly. He had untidy black hair, all matted atop a pale face. His eyes were like a dark hole in the middle of a landscape of ice and snow. His chin pointed out intelligently, and his nose was rounded and not nearly as rugged as most young men’s'. I had no idea what had overcome me. There was a strange feeling inside my stomach, as if there were two wild boars fighting over the territory of my intestines. Though I had never felt this before, I knew what it most likely was: Attraction.

I tried to shake the feeling away, knowing my dedication to Erik was far too important to through away for some human. Still, though, I was urged forward by some invisible force, and before I knew that I had even moved, I found myself walking in a hovering sort of way across the room towards the young man. I stopped just in time to dive behind a chair as he turned around in my direction. I must stop this nonsense! I'll be caught for sure if I keep this foolishness up! I scolded myself, trying to think about my own words, but too distracted by the boy' presence to really listen. I knew I could not just jump out of the darkness and befriend him, for I had sworn my life to Erik, and he would certainly object. And on top of that, if I got to know him, I would only be endangering him, for if he found out my dark secrets then he would have to be killed, with no hesitation to it at all. And looking at his beautiful face, I knew it would be too much of a shame to risk someone like him dying.

Apparently, while I was tossing these thoughts around my head, I lost concentration and, with it, my balance. I threw my hands forward just in time to catch myself, but as they hit the ground, they made a slight smacking sound. I decided that any normal human would not have been able to hear the sound. But, unfortunately, this boy was no normal human.

He swung his head around at me and at the same time as a small bit of light hit the pearl on my necklace and made it shimmer for a moment. I threw my hand over it to keep it from shining, but I was in so much of a panic I flipped over and did a sort of somersault out from behind the chair. For just an instant, the two of us just stared into each other’s eyes, trying to anticipate the other's next move. I decided that staring was doing nothing, so I leapt up and grabbed onto the ceiling, then crawled speedily into a corner.

"Wait!" the boy shouted, his voice firm and strong and yet gentle and loving at once. He ran back to the door and swung it open so that a bright light came pouring into the room like a river that had just burst from its dam. It overwhelmed me and sent me hurdling to the ground, but as a cat might do when it falls from its perch in a tree, I flipped over onto my belly and landed gracefully on my hands and feet. I glared at the young man as he watched me, completely astounded by my trick.

To his surprise and to my advantage, I leapt up and darted at him unexpectedly, and perhaps I did not even anticipate this move. But the next moment I was behind him and had him down on the ground with on foot on his back and one hand shoving his face into the carpet. "You will listen to me and you will do as I say or suffer the extreme agony that comes with disobeying," I whispered threateningly in his ear. "You will walk out of this room and you will go back from where you came and you will forget that you ever saw me. You will tell no one of this encounter and you will never return to my presence again. Do you understand this?"

I heard him mumble something into the ground and I grinned. "Good," I said as I lifted him by the hair-such prefect and lovely hair-and tossed him out the door. "Go-NOW!"

He gaped at me from his position on the ground, then stood as though he was completely unharmed, and turned to walk away. I slid out into the hall and climbed up the wall, hiding in the shadows of the ceiling, following behind him longingly, thinking about how wonderful and handsome and graceful he was, and about how stupid I was to have treated him as I did. But part of me tried to fight these thoughts and tell me that I did the right thing and that I was only following him because I wanted to ensure that he did not turn around and search for me before he made it outside. Once he turned the corner and went down the stairs, I dropped down from the ceiling and half-skipped down the hall towards a light on the wall that, when pulled the right way, would reveal a secret entrance to my master's lair. I did not know what I was feeling. My stomach was turning around as though spiders and other little insects that crawl were invading my insides. At first, I didn't like this feeling, but once I began thinking about the boy again, recalling all his remarkable features, his perfect complexion, his smooth, fine hair, and his deep eyes that engulfed me in warmth in comfort, as I thought of all this, I knew the feeling could not possibly be bad. I wandered down a dark passageway, letting my vivid memories fill me with strange sensations and happy feelings, not knowing what my emotions were telling me. But I did know in the first instant that my eyes met his, that this boy would soon play an important roll in my life.