It was driving me crazy; the more I tried, the worse it turned out. Maybe it was because of my hands shaking so much that I could not open the lock. And even when I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, I did not feel any calmness, only fear and despair. What would my Angel feel? I did not want him to get angry, otherwise the whole staff would face his rage... how far would it push him? Who would he kill this time? The director? Madame...?

Trying not to think about such grim things, I did my best to open the door once again. Having given the pin a soft push, I suddenly heard a quiet click. Did it mean that it worked? My heart beating frantically, I caught the knob and tried to open the door; it did not twitch even a little bit, however, there were no doubts some progress had been made. It was not the right moment to give up, therefore, I was not going to stop.

With my tongue between my teeth, I tried once again. And again. Every now and then I could hear the same quiet clatter when the pin found the right spot in the lock. I began feeling dizzy. Maybe I could actually make it.

But even if I did make it, then what? Where to go? What to say? That was something I had not thought about; the only thing I actually cared about was to get out of this cursed room. The one that kept me imprisoned, trapped away from the rest of the world, from my dreams... and most importantly, from my Angel.

One more quiet click and I knew I had finally made it. I reached for the knob but before I could twist it, the door swung open.

With a quiet gasp, I stood up, moving away from the doorway, my eyes widening in shock, especially as I realised there was someone standing on the other side of the treshold. My heart skipped a beat.

"There you are, my Angel," I heard a relieved voice and before I knew it, I was already hidden in my Master's embrace. Never before had I been this happy; now the whole world could not exist and I would not be sad. Right now he was all I needed. "I thought they would try to keep you away from me but... but not to this extent..."

"Forgive me," I whispered, finally feeling a wave of relief slowly spreading across my body, calming down every cell of mine. "I should have been more careful."

"It is not you who should apologise," he replied in a voice I could not quite define. There was some strange stiffness in it, and I understood that he tried to restrain his fury. Probably he had already got to know at least a part of the truth. "Come now, we need to bring you to the rest... as much as I would rather like to take you with me... I believe you deserve to shine tonight, and they are looking for you."

I nodded. Yes, serving to his music was my priority now – besides, it would be a lie to say I did not want to perform. In fact, I wanted it more than anything ever... I wanted to stand there, on the stage, all of the eyes set on me, all of the ears ready to listen to my voice...

After that, I would go back with my Angel and stay with him. I did not want to live in the world of the day anymore, not when I had got to know the pleasures of his kingdom. Now I finally knew how deceiving the world of the day could be. How full of lies and pain... not like the world my Angel had shown me...

Our steps seemed to fill the whole silence between us as we walked; he dared not say a word, and I decided it would be better to keep quiet as well.

"Oh, good Lord..." The director's voice was so low that I would swear he was an inch away from fainting. Never before had I met him this worried. "I've already started losing all hope of meeting you today..."

I turned back; my Angel was nowhere to be seen. He must have disappeared on our way there without me noticing that. And it was better like this, I did not want him to get irritated with the people around me, otherwise he could get furious once again and the wonderful gala would turn into something terrifying. I only hoped that he would not meet anyone on his way back to his box... I knew how much strength he put into trying to contain himself, so just a little thing could push him into another killing frenzy...

"Keep the audience occupied, Maestro, just a while longer," said one of the managers and I felt his hand on my shoulder. "We need to prepare our star, and we shall begin."

The young man nodded once and returned to the stage. I could hear the audience's furious voices. Threats that they were going to leave if the performance would not start in a minute's time. The poor young man tried to explain that the problem had finally been fixed and the play was going to start very soon, and now, if they would please enjoy another piece of music...

Even there we could hear their protests. No, they did not want another piece of music; they had paid for a certain performance, and that was what they wanted to see and hear, and if the curtain would not go up at that very moment, they demand their money back...

"Good God, can you not hurry up a little bit," said the manager, his voice full of irritation as he scolded the makeup artist who was just trying to put some final touches on my face.

I had no idea when the dress had been put on me, I was as if in some kind of trance. It was like a second before I stood up and was led towards the stage, and another one when the curtain finally went up...

There were so many lights around me... they were all set upon me. Just like the people's eyes. It was as if there was no-one but me. However, I knew that I just needed to cast my sight up, towards the right box, and the other half of me was there. The half that wielded my heart in his gloved hands. The half that could destroy me if he only wanted...

It was not the audience I sang for; it was him. My Angel sitting right above me; my eyes could not leave his, and I could see a soft smile upon his lips. I just wished he could be there, with me, on the stage...

His voice was something so beautiful that I could not compare anything to it. Even though the opera house was full of wonderful singers, none of them could be any match to my Angel. It was not just about his voice; it was also about the emotion he put into it when he sang. He was not playing a role. He was the character, as if it was there, alive, standing right in front of me. That was why I loved practicing with him. During our long practice hours I always forgot that it was just a play, not real life...

But with him, every play seemed to turn into reality. It was something none of the actors nor singers could achieve. That was why only he could be called a true artist. A genius. An Angel.

I knew there were some kind of reactions from the audience; gasps, burst of laughters, every now and then someone let out a soft shriek of shock. But all of that seemed to be missing me. As if I was in some bubble that kept me away from the people around me. It was more as if I were the only real one there, and all of them... they were just a puppets in some theatre. They were playing their roles: roles of actors, of spectators...

It was nothing like I had thought it would be like. I was not afraid anymore, I felt no stage-fright. It filled me with some kind of thrill and excitement, but it was not like the fascination my Angel could put inside my heart.

I had already made my choice.

The bubble around me slowly began to disappear when the performance had been finished. There was a great roar around me when the audience stood up and filled the building with applause. Finally I began to realise that a part of those ovations was for me... that I had somehow managed to delight them...

Probably that was why my eyes started burning with tears and I could not help smiling as I looked around. There were flowers thrown to me, beautiful ones, but I only caught one, one I recognised easily as it fell from above.

My fingers gently caressed the black ribbon. With a soft smile I glanced up and my eyes met my Angel's sight. He bowed his head slightly, and I knew he was pleased with me. I had finally met his expectations. I had made both of our dreams come true. I gave life to his music. I had done exactly what he had wanted from the very beginning. It was so easy now, as he had taught me everything; why then had it seemed to be so difficult to the ones he had tried to convince to do it for him before me...?

I just wished I would be with him the second the curtain went down for the last time, but I could not. As I entered the dressing room, I put the rose aside and looked at it with a smile. It was so humble, and yet it had expressed so much more than the most beautiful of all the bouquets I had received from the others.

The bouquets had already been put into the room, and now I was surrounded by their sweet scent. Finally, I was completely alone. That was when someone knocked on the door.

"Arlette!" I heard a familiar voice and the smile on my lips widened as soon as I saw Meg. Not thinking much I threw my arms around her, hugging her close. "I was so afraid when you were gone... I went to see you but your room was locked and I... Good God, Arlette, I'm so glad you're fine. You sang like an angel tonight."

I could not help but chuckle quietly. Slowly, I moved back and took her hands into mine. Our eyes met and only now did I realise how much I missed her. Just standing like this with her, talking to her... hearing her voice.

"It is not something I did, Meg," I told her but she quickly shook her head.

"No, Arlette, it was you tonight. Your teacher might have done a lot for you... but tonight it was you. He was up there, I could see him. And I know that it was all thanks to you that you sang tonight. He even went to get you from your room when my mother had locked you in it, for what I apologise sincerely, Arlette, had I only known..."

But I stopped her. Just like my Angel had told me earlier that day, it was not her to apologise. She had not done anything bad.

Gently, I put my hand against her cheek caressing her skin softly. She looked at me like back then, when I had still been sure that the story of the Opera Ghost was nothing but a fable. As if those months of our separation had never existed. We were sisters, like back then, and I hoped it would never change. Meg smiled a bit more and put her hand atop mine.

"What are you going to do now, Arlette?" she asked, her voice gentle.

I bit my lip and averted my sight, sighing a little. What was I supposed to tell her? Of course, I knew that I would not stay there. She and Madame were the only ones keeping me there... but there was so much more that pulled me to the world I had lived for those months... I wanted to come back to the kingdom of music.

"You are not staying, are you?"

Meg did not need my answer. There was that kind of certainty in her voice that betrayed she already knew about my plans. Whether she had got to know about it just now, or she had suspected it before, I was not sure, however, she undoubtedly knew. Nevertheless, I could also hear some sadness to her voice, sadness I would have never wished to have caused to her.

"No, Meg," I whispered finally shaking my head. "I could not stay... no longer do I belong here. My place is somewhere else..."

"With your Angel," she said and the tone of her voice told me she understood. Leaning in, she kissed my forehead. "I know this is where you belong and as much as I would like to keep you here... so selfishly, just for me... I know I couldn't. Even if you stayed, your heart would be with him. You wouldn't be happy here."

"I'm sorry, my sweet," I replied gently, letting our eyes meet again. "We will definitely meet again, even if we belong to two different words."

Meg let out a small chuckle which was not really happy.

"I would love to believe that, Arlette, my dear. But I don't think this is ever going to happen."

I saw tears in her eyes just a moment before she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close to her.

"I'm going to miss you so much..."