Of Masks And Roses

All I Ask Of You

Tears streamed down my face as I sped down the stairs towards the stage, my dress billowing behind me. I could barely see where I was going, tears blinding me as I rushed towards the direction of the stage.

'Please, no.' I thought to myself, 'Please let this be a dream. Please, please, not Simon. Not him.'

I gasped as my foot slipped as I ran down the stairs. I tipped forward and felt sharp stings as I rolled down, hearing a sickening pop and my shoulder suddenly feeling like it was on fire. I yelped at the pain I felt, but shook my head, ignoring it as I stood up. I kept running but was stopped when I ran into Madame Giry and Meg, my shoulder flaring in pain.

"Simon!" I shouted, trying to get past her, "Move! I need to get to him!"

Madame Giry began to push me away, Meg grabbing onto my outstretched hand and attempted to pull me away as well, "Mademoiselle!" Giry shouted at me, "You must stop, you don't want to go out there!"

I shook my head wildly, trying to throw them off of me, "But, Simon! I need to help him! He needs me!"

"You can't help him!" Giry stated, gripping my hands tight, "You can't. Not anymore."

My lip quivered as I turned to her, "W-What?" I whispered.

"He's gone, Scarlet," said Meg, tears streaming down her face as well, "He's dead."

I shook my head, speechless, 'No. No, this couldn't be,' I looked ahead towards the stage, trying to see him, half expecting him to come from behind the curtain laughing and telling me everything was going to be alright, 'Not Simon. This wasn't supposed to happen.'

"Scarlet, you need to tell us what happened," asked Giry. I shook my head and ripped my arms from her hands.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," I muttered, backing away, my ears beginning to ring.

"What?" Madame Giry half shouted, as the backstage started to get crowded with people who were panicking, some trying to leave the scene and others rushing to get a better look.

"Oh my. Scarlet, what happened to your arm?" Meg asked, reaching out to me in worry. But I could barely hear her. Her voice sounded muffled as my head spun. I felt like I was about to keel over and pass out.

I shook my head and sped on my heels, rushing off into the opposite direction, cradling my injured shoulder as I sped through the halls, up stairs, and through doors, wanting nothing else but to be alone, and most of all, for everything that has happened today to be a lie. To be just a silly dream. A nightmare. To wake up and find that nothing, none of this night, to have ever happened. Simon wouldn't be gone, Erik wouldn't be upset with me, and I wouldn't be incredibly lost in this labyrinth of an Opera house. But I kept going, kept running, kept climbing up stairs. It never seemed to end. But I didn't care. I had to get away. From everything and everyone.

I kept running until I was on one of the huge balconies of the Opera House, alone with just large statues of horses. Tears stung my eyes and ran down my cheeks as I walked over to one of the statues. As the snowy wind whipped my hair, I crawled underneath a rearing horse, facing the city of Paris. I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my head in between them, scooting under the horse even more to hide myself from everyone and everything.

Suddenly the door to the balcony opened and I heard Christine and Raoul enter, arguing about the Phantom. My blood chilled. This was when Christine and Raoul would proclaim their love to each other. And the Phantom would hear it all. But where was he? Before I could look around everything went black, and for a second I thought I had gone blind, but when I looked up, I realized that someone was just standing in front of me.