"Catherine," the actress who played Meg called angrily, "I need to talk to you."

"What do you want, Caroline? I have to be on stage in five minutes," Catherine said with an air of irritation.

"You overpowered me in Angel of Music again!" Caroline spat. "I know you're not as experienced as the rest of us, but the least you can do is put in some effort, okay? Okay."

"Excuse me?" Catherine questioned angrily. "You nearly pushed me over when you knelt beside me. Graceful ballerina, my butt."

Caroline opened her mouth slightly ajar in a small shocked gasp.

Cath almost thought she heard someone laughing.

Almost.

"If Caleb wasn't your boyfriend," Caroline muttered begrudgingly.

"You'd do nothing," Catherine finished. "You don't have the guts. The only thing you have is a weak voice and no talent. And I'm the one with the lead role, so I wouldn't go around trying to correct me, if I were you. Look at what happened to Joseph Buquet when he messed with Erik."

"Wow," a sound crew member laughed, coming over to adjust Catherine's mic. He gave a shake of his head and pushed the two apart. "I'd let her be, Caroline. Our Christine is in rare, top form today." He fixed his headphone set and sent a toothy grin in Cath's direction. "Really, though. You're doing great. Sounds amazing. Well...that's partially my doing, but you're giving me a lot of great stuff to work with."

Catherine blushed. "Thank you. You got a name, I.T. Guy?"

"Not one a star like yourself would remember," he grinned shamelessly.

Caroline gave a scoff and gestured for him to fix her mic as well.

"As my diva commands," he said sneeringly. "But give me a minute. Can't you see I'm talking to the famous Christine Daaé here?"

"I wouldn't remember your name, huh?" Catherine asked, looking the sound crew member up and down. "Try me."

The young man adjusted his glasses and grinned before giving a yelp of pain and putting a hand to his neck. "Geez, Matt," He winced under his breath, biting his lip and shaking his head. "You're on in two minutes," he muttered to Cath, before turning and walking to Caroline, his hand still pressed to the red welt that was forming on the back of his neck.

"Are you alright?" Catherine asked, gesturing to the back of the man's neck.

He gave an angry glance upward. "I'll tell you later."

Catherine sent him a flirtatious smile. "You promise?"

This time, the young man put a hand to his back as a small pebble came down from above, and pelted him once again. "I didn't say anything!" He yelled. An actor on stage shot him an angry glance and he moaned aloud in embarrassment.

"Who keeps throwing things at you?" Catherine asked curiously, glancing upward.

The I.T. guy's face went deathly white. "No one. I have arthritis. You're on."

The man quickly hustled her onto the stage.

Catherine quickly turned and said, "Meet me in my dressing room the second the show is over." She didn't know why, but she wanted to talk to the man.

He pretended not to hear. He removed his headphones and gestured for his friend to take his spot. Swiftly, he made his way through the hall and into one of the corridors that led to a steep staircase down. "What the heck is wrong with you?" He shouted down the staircase in irritation.

"I could ask you the same question," came the reply.

"So, I can't have friends other than you now. Is that it?" The young man scoffed, "Or is this about me forgetting to bring you popcorn last week? I said I was sorry!"

"Popcorn? No. You aren't to talk to Miss Daaé. Miss Daei. I meant Miss Daei," the deep voice said quickly.

"But she wishes to see me in her dressing room," the I.T. guy argued.

"Well," the voice said after a moment's reflection, "then I shall take your place."

"I'm not what you'd call handsome," the young man laughed. "How many chances to see some hot girl's dressing room do you think I'm gonna get?"

The deep voice scoffed. "Fine. You may go. But remember, I'm never far away."

"I could sue, you know, Matt," the tech support said in a high voice. "Emotional abuse. Lasting ailment by stupid pebbles."

"But, you won't," the voice replied, moving out of the shadows and into the light, revealing a face in a white half mask.

The I.T. guy gave a soft smile. "No, I won't, because friends don't hurt friends."

He gave a moan as Music of the Night came over the speakers. "Stupid kid's got the volume up too high again. I gotta go." He swiveled on his heels, giving the masked man a quick salute before turning his head back for just a second, his face grave and pale. "I hope you know what your doing, Matt."

"I always do," Matt replied with a devilish grin.