The Ghost of the Opera

Chapter 3

When I step out from the dressing room I find that the door that had once been closed is now wide open. No doubt the masked man wants me to keep playing his sick and twisted game. But all games must come to an end at some point. And he cannot keep me here with him forever.

The only problem is, without him I can't find my way out. And he doesn't want me to leave. I could try to explain to him that I am not my mother, but I don't think he will listen. He is obsessed with her, and if he thinks I am attainable, he will cling to any hope he can get.

So the only thing I can do for now is play along until he gets tired of me or sees through his obsession and realizes that I am not my mother. I walk through the door with my head held as high as I dare.

It used to be a bedroom, that much I can tell. There are photos of my mother hanging from the wall, and the purple walls and bedding lead me to believe that this room was hers. But where a bed might have once laid, there is now a large black door.

"I taught you to sing in this very room. Do you remember?" The masked man asks.

I rush forward and throw open the door, and there he stands in the mirror. He watches me with curiosity, but he doesn't move or say anything. On wall across the room there is a picture of him, and carved into the pain above him is the work 'Erik'. That must be his name.

Funny how I never thought to ask his name before.

"Are you ready to escape this place? Hand me the black rose before you and I will take you from this house." He says, his hand held out.

I look, and sure enough there is a black rose lying on the ground surrounded by other black rose pettles. I pick it up from the ground nd dust it off. This is the end. No more games it seems. He is truly going to let me walk out.

Placing the rose in his hand I step back and wait. This time the memory will be welcomed, because it will be followed by freedom.

The glass shatters and he stands there. His eyes fill my vision until there is nothing more to see but blackness.

"On that day you broke my heart. But now, you have made me whole again." He tells me, voice low and elated.

And then the vision fills my mind. I see my mother and father on the rooftop. My father is down on one knee, a ring in his one hand and my mothers hand in his other. She is crying and smiling so wide I cannot believe it is the same woman! Father looks happy too. The only one who does not look happy is Erik, who is watching from the shadows.

"I had given her everything! And she chose him over me. The pain I felt then would pale in comparison to the destruction that would follow." He tells me.

When the vision ends he is standing in front of me, the glass of the mirror gone. He looks back at it, a sad look in his eyes.

"Through this very mirror I taught you how to sing." He tells me.

"Why did you bring me here?" I demand.

He turns to look at me. "Destiny brought us both here. Come with me."

He takes my hand and pulls me through where the mirror had once stood. There is a staircase behind it leading down into a black unknown. 

"Wait!" I cry out, "Where are you taking me? I am not who you think I am!"

He doesn't turn around to look at me, but his voice sounds sad. "Have you forgotten your angel of music? I will show you everything and make you remember!"

At the bottom of the stairs is a lake, in an underground cave! A single boat lies in the water, waiting for us. I try to refuse but he lifts me from the ground and places me in the boat. I make a leap for the docks again, hoping to escape, but he drops in beside me and forces me to sit back down. Then he pushes away and begins moving us deeper into the cave.

"Welcome to my realm," He says, "Here out lives will begin anew. This time... You will stay with me forever."

Heartsick for his beloved, the phantom attempted one last time to win back Christine. Yet fate is not without irony. For it was Evelina, the daughter of the woman he loved and the man he had sworn to kill, who was spirited away by the opera ghost. For him this might prove the perfect revenge. By keeping Evelina he would have his love, while causing those who betrayed him to suffer. Would Evelina be able to warm Erik's heart and earn her freedom?

Or would he remain her angel of music forever...