The Final Aria (Discontinued)

3

Chapter 3: Too Many Years

Roselyn seemed to be dazed and confused. Her mind was racing. Her throat was burning. The first day of vocal lessons with her angel seemed to be tasking, dare she say, draining. It seemed so familiar. The voice the masked man had was from another world. Another time, even.

She felt him always looming over her. Always following where she went. She always felt his judgment. She could always feel his gaze. She could sense him, even when she wasn't singing. She wasn't a student there. She was just a mere costume designer.

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Erik seemed to be pacing. No, he didn't seem to be pacing, he was pacing. He could not shake the image of Christine from his mind. He longed to be at ease. He longed to be in the one place he couldn't. All he wanted was for his Christine to be returned to him.

He did not want the cheap imposter known as Roselyn. Roselyn seemed to pale in comparison to his angel of music. The girl Erik had trained many years ago was gone. She left him on Coney. Erik could no longer be there. It was his choice. Every night he could hear her. In every sound he could feel Christine.

Then again, Roselyn did match every single detail of Christine. If she had a birthmark in the same place Christine had taken a bullet, he would know that Roselyn was his sweet Christine. Erik's beliefs were that if his beloved were reincarnated, a bullet hole would be replaced with a birthmark. He would only know at that point.

"Too many years have I lived in this darkness," Erik began as he stole over to the piano that he had found himself playing aside from his beloved pipe organ. "Too many years have I live alone. My family's dead and gone, and I have done no wrong. The only sin I have is loving you." Erik began to pace. He seemed to be going off the emotions Roselyn had used in her audition, seeming to add to her opera.

"Too many years that I have heard your haunting voice. Far too many days have I heard those ravishing refrains. They tear at my mind and yet I want them to stay. A mocking angel toying with my heart, my patience no longer tried. Perhaps I can make a change. Then I wouldn't hide."

Erik seemed to be memorising each word he uttered. His melodic voice seemed to echo through the theatre. A woman's voice seemed to be singing. A soprano. From what he could tell it was Roselyn. Her voice was still slightly uncontrolled, yet it was getting better. "Too many years you've been alone," Roselyn's voice added sweetly. "Too many years have you been left to roam. Is there any God that will show you mercy? Is there any love that the heavens would give?"

"There is no love for one shrouded in darkness. I have been cursed by the hands of the devil himself. Everything is hotter as I burn in a dwelling that to the world is unknown," Erik seemed to respond. Roselyn seemed to know what words to sing. She seemed to know that the aria she sang for her audition was incomplete. "Gently you wonder what life will bring to you. Slowly you wonder what your heart has yet to give. What chance do you have? What love do you share? How far away must you go and must you travel so far? Why do you leave me alone? Why do you even try to make it up to me? What love do you dare give? What love do you show? Is there anything in your heart, or is there just HATE? Why do you bother to make it up to me? Why do you ever get these ideas and fancies in your head? Just take your affection... just take these chances... just take it all from me and leave me alone with all these years that we've put to WASTE!"

Erik responded, "The wait is over and the task has just begun. Only a few more moments 'til I know what's still undone. Save your worries, child, for your spirit is wild and free..." Roselyn and Erik, though separated, ended in unison, "For too many years... I've longed for someone such as thee..."