The whole building was asleep. It was always like this before the premiere; afterwards, there would probably a party to celebrate the success – and everyone believed that this play was going to be a great success, although at the beginning the majority had seemed to be quite reluctant and doubting. Once the real preparations had started, though, many things had changed and now everyone was asleep in their bed, full of faith and excited.

Or, at least, one could believe so.

It was dangerous to play with the Angel of Music this way, the woman knew, but if it was the only way to protect her student, who was like a second daughter to her, she would not hesitate to risk her own life. After all, she... she was just an old woman. She had already lived her life. On the other hand, though, Arlette was a young girl who still had her life to live. It would be such a shame to lose this chance.

Even if it meant that the girl needed to sacrifice her dream, even if it meant she needed to give up singing... there had to be a way to convince her to do that, for her own sake. She was too young to give all of her life, her heart and talent to a person she hardly knew. Who was capable of everything... who could hurt her in any way possible.

Lying in her bed, Madame sighed and stared at the dark ceiling above her. Back then, when it was all about Christine... there had still been Raoul. He was a good man. He knew how to protect his beloved. Right now, there was no-one to help the old woman... what was even worse, it seemed that while Christine had fought against having her soul captured by the mysterious angel, Arlette allowed him to enslave her completely.

The key seemed to be strangely cold against the skin of her palm, despite the fact she had been clenching it for a long time already. It was as if her conscience had decided to torment her for her deeds, even though she could not regret what she had done.

Because what mother would let something like that happen to her child? And Arlette was her daughter, even though they were not related. There was no-one but her – and Meg – the poor orphan could rely on. No-one else she could ever trust. That was why the teacher needed to protect her, even if the rising star did not want that help.

It was so late... the following day was going to be really exhausting, and she was not as strong as she had once used to be. She needed sleep, and yet... somehow it did not want to come, no matter how hard she tried.

Was Arlette asleep? She must have been... there was no doubt, she must have used the medicine that would leave her oblivious to the fact that she would never perform. That her angel would never see her again – and thus she would be rescued.

Of course, Eric would be heartbroken. Probably even furious. Madame remembered every time his fury had taken over him because something had not gone the way he had wanted it to... What was going to happen now would definitely hurt him, but if she was to choose, she would choose the young girl's good and happiness over his own. And even over her own life, if it was going to end this way.

Even though I used the medicine, I did not have a peaceful night. I tossed and turned in my bed, as if it was made of fire and would not let me rest, burning every inch of my skin. What was strange, since I had slept in it for so many years and never had I found it uncomfortable. It must have been something else than the bed, then.

My dreams were strange. I could not even understand them... but I somehow knew that they were not a good omen right before the premiere. No, they did not show me failing as a singer. Actually, they had hardly anything to do with the picture of me singing... but there was something about them that would not let me rest.

I could see my Angel in every picture that showed up underneath my eyelids that night. But his face... the look upon his face made me feel sick. Never had I seen him that disappointed. Scared. Aching. As if something had happened between the two of us, something I could not remember, but what seemed to be haunting him. Seeing him like that caused physical and mental pain to me, too, even though it was just a dream.

A dream...

As I woke up, I had a feeling it had been ages since I had fallen asleep. My head ached and I did not quite know where I was – at least for a while, before I remembered I was no longer in my Angel's kingdom.

Slowly, I got up and walked closer to the window. I could not explain it, but I had an unpleasant feeling that something was wrong. Soon, I learnt why.

As I moved the curtains aside, hoping to feel a warm touch of daylight upon my face, I saw something completely else.

"Sunset...?" I whispered to myself, feeling my heart begin to sink to the bottom of my stomach. It could not be... if it was that time already, I was expected to be getting ready with the others...

Not only that, but it would mean I had slept all night and day long.

I did not care about having my hair done well. I only managed to put some clothes on, just so I would be able to walk out, before running towards the door. They were not open, as I expected. But there was also no key in the lock.

"God, please, no," my voice sounded as pitiful as it had never sounded. My hands trembled as I desperately tried to open the door which, I knew, was locked and without the key I would not be able to get out. "I must... I must..."

To be honest, at that moment I regretted I had never learnt how to open the door using a hair pin; there were people who could do that, but in my case it simply seemed to be unnecessary. Or at least it had, until now.

"Please, someone help me! Let me out!" I shouted over and over again, at the same time looking around in hope of seeing a key... or actually anything that would help me out of the trap of my own room.

But why did it all happen? I could not understand. It was not as if the door could lock itself, so there had to be someone who would have done that. However, I could not remind myself hurting anyone so much that they would try to take revenge in such a way. Besides, there were still so many people... Meg, Madame... if I did not show up, they would start looking for me, right? And they would find out what had happened.

And yet, now, no matter how hard I tried to open the door, or how much I cried out for help, there was no-one to help me. I even thought of the window, but my room was way too high to climb down the outer wall.

At that moment, I remembered that there was just one more way out – through the corridor, right to my Angel's kingdom. Maybe he was somewhere in there... with his help, I was sure I would find a way out of this hopeless situation.

Without a second thought, I let go of the handles and rushed towards the curtain, behind which I knew there should be the entrance...

...but there was none.

I placed my hand on the bricks that obstructed the way, but it seemed that someone had got rid of the pathway leading to the dungeons. Was it my Angel himself?

At the thought, I shook my head. No. It could not be him... he was not capable of doing such a thing... Besides, did he even have a reason to do something like that? He loved me. He needed me, and he knew that I needed him just as much.

Only then did I realise I was crying; tears running down my face covered my pale cheeks, but that could not help me. But then, there was actually nothing that could help me at that moment. Maybe a miracle...

"Eric, my Angel..." I whispered numbly, leaning back against the wall that should not be there. Hardly did I even know what I was saying. "I need you so much right now..."