After the crash of the chandelier and the disappearance of the powerful Comte de Chagny, Erik's refuge behind the mask of the Phantom of the Opera has grown more dangerous. Commissaire Mifroid has vowed to hunt him down, in whatever depths of the Opera Garnier he hides. Grieving the departure of Christine Daaé, Erik finds it hard to care about the policeman's threat, and a slowly growing friendship with Meg Giry seems like only a minor distraction. When Christine left Paris, Meg thought the hole in her life could never be filled. It only makes it worse that she's known far too much as "Christine's friend." But conversations with the Phantom and flirtations with a handsome gentleman in the Dance Foyer mean the chance to seek a new role-and to stop feeling like a secondary character in her own life.