Forever and Always

Chapter 1

I walked in and half smiled then sang "Christine, Christine..." She turned around and smiled. I could never understand why she wanted to be with me. Maybe she did not. Maybe she is secretly meeting up with Raoul behind my back. I shook my head, as if trying to forget that night. The night I can not forget... When she betrayed me, left me, and broke my heart. I have never gotten over that. But we are engaged now, and our wedding is planned to be in three days. It is interesting how dramatic things can change overnight. I still do not believe she is very loyal to me... But I try to push that aside. It is just me being paranoid. "Erik...?" She said to me, as if trying to get me back down to earth. "What?" She smiled. "I asked if you were ready for the wedding tomorrow!" I nodded. To be honest, I was scared to death. Of course I was happy, but more nervous then anything. She said hesitantly, "I have to go get my dress fitted..." And left. I sighed and sat down on the bench then took off my mask. Christine never let me take it off around her, and I do not blame her. You see, I was deformed on the right side of my face since birth. No one ever got near me because of it. Even my parents hated me, and sold me to the circus for free when I was only 6 months old. I have been abused, mentally and physically, for my whole life. The last thing I remember my mom saying was, "You can have him for free!". That still hurts to this day, and it is not easy to life with. So I spent 18 years of my life in the circus, until I had enough of it. I killed my cage-keeper. You can not say he did not deserve it. He called me names, whipped me, and more things a kid should never experience. He called me "the Devil's Child" which I still believe today. Then this lady, Madame Giry, hid me beneath the Opera Populaire in Paris, France. I have lived here all my life, and I really do not know how else to live. I stood up, starting to get angry because I was thinking too much. I kicked the bed and sighed. I wanted to get outside. I threw on a black coat with a hood and put my flesh colored mask on and walked up, trying to avoid everyone. That was, until, a girl about came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around angrily and glared at her. Noticing it was one of the dancers, I softened my gaze a little bit. "Yes?" I said coldly, and obviously irritated. "Sir have you seen my father?" She said innocently. She was not that much younger then me, and for sure not bad looking at all. "And who would your father be?" I said in a dark voice, hoping to scare her. I did not feel like being talked to right now. "Monsieur Andre, sir." Well, that caught my attention. I did not know he had a daughter. Poor girl, having to live with him. "Your father is Gilles Andre...?" I asked curiously. She just nodded and looked at me with a tint of fear in her eyes. I could tell I scared her a little bit, but then she held out her hand "My name is Marie..." I hesitantly shook her hand and she stepped back, almost unnoticeably. I studied her. She had brown hair with a tint of red. It was more straight then curly. She had green eyes and blue hidden in there somewhere. I looked in her eyes and I could tell she had a whole background story to her. Instead of introducing myself, I said "Your father does not like me very much." She laughed and said "He does not like anyone." I almost had to smile at that. It is true, he did not. He especially hated me though, since I demanded a salary from him and killed two of his cast members. She got a little more serious. "Do you know why he does not like you?" I looked at her curiously. Why is she still talking to me? I shrugged "Yes I do." "Why is that?" She looked at my face, or the half that was not covered. I was starting to get angry. "Because I killed two of his cast members, and demanded a salary from him." I almost yelled at her then turned around. I slowly felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw that she had wide eyes. "Monsieur.... Are you...--?" I cut her off. "The famous "Phantom of the Opera? The Opera Ghost? Then, yes." For some reason, she did not react like I expected her to. She did not seem afraid. "I am not scared of you." She looked like she was trying to convince herself. "I think you have just had a hard life." She said, as if she was trying to figure me out. I just nodded and said "You have no clue." She nodded sadly. "Well I have to go... I will talk to you later, Erik." She left without me able to ask how she knew my name. I sighed and started to walk outside before I heard my name. I rolled my eyes and thought "Why do people not leave me alone?!" I turned around and saw Christine running towards me. "Erik! Erik come quick!" I ran over to her and wanted to see what was going on. She dragged me along and I saw Monsieur Andre pointing a gun at Marie. I got wide eyed as he looked at me. "Ah, so I see you brought the Phantom to come help you!" I started to get furious as I glared at him. "Put. The gun. Down." I demanded. Marie looked at me with pure terror in her eyes. I walked towards Monsieur Andre as he glared back at me. "I am not scared of you." He said to me. Only not in the same sweet way Marie did. He said it as a joke. I got closer to him and I heard a shot go off. I jumped and quickly turned towards Marie as she fell to the ground grabbing her leg. I turned to Andre with pure anger in my eyes as he said with wide eyes, "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Then he dropped the gun and another shot went off. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my right side and grasped my side. I looked at my hand that was covered in blood and fell to the ground in pain while someone yelled my name. I looked around and noticed Christine gone and thought "Wow, thanks a lot..." I could feel myself losing consciousness as someone put me in a vehicle. I looked around and saw Marie holding my hand and repeating my name. I tried to smile at her but winced in pain instead as I managed to say "H-How is your...leg?" She just shook her head. "It is fine... You are the one who is hurt more." I could tell she wasn't fine, but I couldn't say anything because of the pain. I saw a bright light as they brought me through a door and slowly lost consciousness.