"Let her sing for you monsieur, she has been well taught," Madame Giry raises one black eyebrow, her bony hands gripping my right elbow in an authorized fashion. Just that one touch keeps me grounded on the stage and not high above the heavens.

Andre and Firmin give me a narrowed glance, furrowing their eyebrows in deep thought.

"Very well," Andre agrees while Firmin lets out a very audible sigh.

"From the beginning of the aria then," he continues as they walk over to the piano. Meanwhile, a short man with a curved mustache shows me the score for 'Think of Me'. However, I only get to glance at it for a second before he slams the folder closed and walks away. 

The audience lets out a small wave of chuckles.

Meg hands me the ever well known scarf that I perform the aria with, making nervous eye contact with me. It is in this moment where I feel the most like Christine Daae. We are both nervous newcomers to the spotlight; anxious yet exuberant. Meg nods at me once, then squeezes my hand comfortingly.

Looking at the near shear fabric in my hands, I offer a tiny nod to the piano player. He begins the introduction to the aria.

"Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye-" I whisper, breaking off the note quickly and then turning to dart off the stage. However, Madame Giry smacks her cane firmly on the stage; freezing me in place. Looking around the theatre uncomfortably, I continue to the next line.

"Remember me, um, every so often.. Promise me.. you'll try-" The last note comes off as a croak, and I shake my head disappointingly into my hands. As much as it is an act, it all feels so real.

"Andre, this is doing nothing for my nerves.." Firmin warns.

"Don't fret, Firmin," Andre shoos away his concerns with the wave of a hand.  

Closing my eyes, I fix my posture so that I stand perfectly upright. When I open my eyes, I stick my leg out with my toes pointed so that they barely graze the stage, and start to caress the scarf so that it becomes more like an accessory than a burden in my sweaty hands.

"On that day, that not so distant day, when you were far away and free. If you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me..." I move my hands outwards towards the audience with a glittering smile, and then collapse back to where the stage dressers are. They are to wrap the beautifully heavy Elissa skirt over my current slave girl costume.

While this occurs, the music floods around me. With every cymbal crash and sweet violin harmony, I get engulfed more and more onto the stage. I am no longer a person playing a character.

 I am Christine.

---

My eyes are fixated on the face before me, half of it covered by a porcelain-like mask, and the other half covered in a dark shadow. The duet is not between Jeremy and I, but between Christine and her angel.

"Come to me strange angel!" I vocalize, throwing my arms out towards the masked figure in the mirror. Obeying, the mirror slides open and a pale hand reaches out towards me.

"I am your angel of music, come to me angel of music.... I am your angel of music, come to me angel of music..." my angel of music croons. Fixated on his heavenly voice, I grab onto the Phantom's hand and he pulls me through the mirror into his mysterious world. I hear Raoul burst into the dressing room; but of course, like always, he is too late.

Now, up until this moment I have only seen what lies behind the famous mirror once; that was during rehearsals. However with the adrenaline of performing live racing through my veins and the hurry to the boat so that we are there in time for our cue makes this memory one that will not be fleeting my mind anytime soon. The music blasts excitedly over my thoughts, reminding me where I am.

I follow Jeremy around the set as he tugs me along gently, my hand in his. Thank God he knows where we are going because I cannot see a thing in the pitch black theatre. As we make it to the front of the stage, he clicks on the lantern dangling in his hand. This gives the appearance that we just appeared out of nowhere. Very mystical like the Phantom himself. I turn to look behind me as the Phantom leads me to the staircase that emerges from the trapdoor in a glowing orange light. We descend it artfully while the trapdoor closes behind us, sealing our fate.

Smiling to myself, I hike up the skirt of my negligee and race Jeremy  through the hallways beneath the stage and eventually to the stairs. Nudging my out of the way with his elbows and hip, my "angel of music" and I fight to climb each step to the top. He wins, of course. He is the Phantom, after all.

"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came..." the recording of my voice blares over the speakers and rings throughout the theatre. I can only hear it dimly from where we are, since the speakers are pointing towards the audience and not the back of the wings. It is odd to think that there is a double up there pretending to be me. For a second I stare blankly at the cement wall of the place where the boat is kept. Frankly, this is the first time I am hearing the recording of my voice. It sounds so... odd. 

"And do I dream again? For now I find, the Phantom of the Opera is here, inside my mind..."

The music roars from the orchestra pit and it is truly magical as Jeremy's recorded voice begins the duet,"Sing once again with me, our strange duet! My power over you, grows stronger yet.."

A stagehand wearing all black and a thick pair of headphones taps me on the shoulder. I blink a few times and turn to where Jeremy is, awaiting patiently next to the boat.

"Get in," she directs.

"It's me they hear..."

I climb into the boat and arrange my negligee so that it rests innocently upon the Persian cushions of the boat. Meanwhile, Jeremy gets handed the paddle/stick thing. A different stagehand holds his thumb up in confirmation and Jeremy and I return it eagerly. The boat starts to slowly move forward as the stagehand steps off to the wings.

Our voices unite to voice the line, "My/your spirit and my/your voice, in one combined... The Phantom of the Opera is here/there, inside my/your mind!"

The chorus sounds as the smoke unveils us in the boat, the candelabras moving to make way for Jeremy and I. I have to fight back a smile as the crowd gasps audibly in amazement.

"In all your fantasies, you always knew.. that man and mystery-"

"Were both in you!" I turn back to face my captor daringly. His face, though it is an act meant from the Phantom to Christine, is impressed and offers a slight upward turn of his lips. His little ingenue can be just as dramatic and challenging as him.

"And in this labyrinth, where night is blind! The Phantom of the Opera is here/there, inside my/your mind!"

The boat comes to a stop and Jeremy steps off of it, offering his hand to help me up as well.

"He's here, the Phantom of the Opera..." I lip sync to the shy tone of my voice. It's a crescendo from Christine's timidness to her confidence in her voice. Here's where Christine lets her voice be free.

"Sing!" Jeremy yells. His recorded part is over so now he can use his actual voice.

I 'vocalize', even though I am really just opening my mouth to the 'ahhh's.

Our mics are turned on now, so any noise I make will be amplified to the audience. Therefore, I am careful to be silent and let the recording to the work. I kind of wish I was singing these gorgeous notes live, but I know my voice would be too weak for the rest of the show. It is every Christine's duty to lip sync this cadenza. So I brush the guilt off of my shoulders and look at my angel with a look that pleads for acceptance. May my voice be as good as his?

Before long and not too many shouts of "Sing for me!"'s later, I open my mouth wider and act like I am hitting the hardest note in the history of music. Of course, it is not the hardest note, and I didn't actually hit it (thank you Elizabeth for lending me your classic voice for the last note), but the crowd bursts into rapturous applause anyways. Ah, how little they know about what really goes into this magical production.

As their applause dies down, the Phantom is suddenly by the organ, playing a smorgasbord of notes that clash and echo in the most hauntingly enchanting way, all while his voice fills the cavernous space. I turn lackadaisically to look at the man that has taken me. However he is no man, he is an angel. My angel.

"I have brought you, to the seat of sweet music's throne. To this kingdom where all must pay homage to music.. music.. I have brought you, for one purpose and one alone! Since the moment I first heard you sing I have needed you with me to serve me.. to sing.. for my music.. my music.."

And thus, my fantasy of being sung to sleep from the words of the sweetest lullaby to ever exist by the voice of a handsome Broadway star becomes reality... 

---

[What do you guys think so far? How do you like Annaleigh's thoughts as she goes through the night believing she is Christine? Thank you all for being such awesome and loyal readers :) Hopefully I will update soon!]