In the Presence of an Angel (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 30- Torture

Chapter 30- Torture

His surroundings were warm and the surface he was lying on was hard. Nadir realized these two things before anything else, but he was quickly coming to realize something else, as well. Upon opening his eyes for the first time, the sound of harsh, terrible music thundered all around him. It was beating against his ear drums, and his senses were initially all a blur, due to the noise. It was a piano, yes, and it was a violent tune unlike anything Nadir had ever heard before.

He closed his eyes tightly, shook his head several times, and reached up to cover his ears. Nothing seemed to help diminish the sound, though. He moved to a sitting position, and once he opened his eyes again, was greeted with a tall screen that looked like it belonged in a movie theater. A film was playing, and Nadir cringed and immediately felt nauseous because of what he saw. There were animated people, objects, and scenery on the screen. The animation was so realistic looking that it was just as bad as if it were real. What the animated people were doing was causing Nadir's mouth to gape open slightly. Endless killings filled the screen. People were murdering other people in shockingly violent ways using various weapons. The murderers seemed to like what they were doing while the victims begged for mercy, to which none was given. It was worse than the worst horror movie he'd ever seen.

Nadir stared unblinkingly for a few horrifying seconds before having to look away. He couldn't bear to see anymore. It was just too cruel… When he did look away, however, he was stunned to see the same violent acts occurring all around him involving man-made people, both young and old. It looked as though the 'people' were electrically wired to move as if they were real. They were tearing each other to shreds. His hand rose to cover his mouth. Where am I? What kind of place is this?

Suddenly, when he thought it couldn't get much worse, the insane music changed into a drum roll. Nadir knew something was about to happen. A spotlight lit down upon a single figure.. a figure that looked exactly like Erik… except, without the mask. Nadir blinked once before staring at 'Erik's' corpse-like face with wide eyes. He'd never seen it before, and he now knew why. His eyes watched as the 'people' who hadn't been murdered proceeded to gang up on 'Erik'. This isn't real, this isn't real, his mind reassured, although it wasn't helping.

Nadir gasped at what he saw next. Within the blink of an eye, 'Erik' raced forward with a knife and a rope in the shape of a lasso and began massacring every 'person', chopping heads off, strangling them, and slicing off limbs. He was also laughing.. maniacally.

The insane music returned louder than before, and Nadir winced. The violent killings continued to happen before his eyes, and he forced himself to turn away from the scene. It was just too horrifying. There was so much blood… I must remember that it is not real blood. Nadir wasn't sure if that was actually the case, though. All of this seemed very real: Erik, the dead people, the film, the music, and the heat. His surroundings he was now beginning to notice also looked very real. It looked like he was outside. Run-down warehouse buildings that looked completely realistic were painted on walls. There was real grass surrounding him, and he was sitting on a sidewalk. Above him was a blue sky with a few birds and a sun. He had to blink to make sure it wasn't real, for it certainly looked it.

This is all Erik's doing. Of course, Nadir already could have guessed that, based on what had occurred before waking up in this new place, but facts were all around him, as well. Never before had he seen such well-produced art, as only Erik could create. Also, the 'people' were too realistic to be anyone else's doing. Erik had obviously locked him in some kind of… room, to which he couldn't describe in words.

Nadir stopped as an enormous heat wave washed over him. He'd been so busy focusing on everything else that he had forgotten one of the worst parts. It was terribly hot in the room, and it was getting hotter every second. The temperature had to be surpassing 100 degrees Fahrenheit, he knew. Sweat began to pour from his body.