AN: Well, let us delve into the world of the Phantom of the Opera. This tale shall be set shortly after the disaster that was Don Juan. Reviews are, of course, welcome and encouraged. Without further ado, I ask you to join me in this new tale I shall spin for you.

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The Paris Opera House. The once grand opera house now stood empty, destroyed by the hands of the infamous Opera Ghost. The destruction was wrought by the evil specter falling in love with the gorgeous Christine Daae. The destruction was wrought by unrequited love and by the interference of one noble who sought the hand of the one he knew from so long ago. Or so the rumors went.

A young woman stood in front of the opera house now. As it had no one living inside, it would be the perfect place for her to take up temporary residence from the biting cold of winter. The opera house would certainly provide more heat than the simple black dress and black cloak she wore. Even the small blanket in the pack on her back, she knew, would provide little comfort against the elements at night.

The woman, Eloise, was not one to believe in rumors. She did not have the time nor the luxury for such things. The opera house would provide her a relatively warm place to stay. The world had been hard to her. She had been abandoned at birth, and she had been taken in by the gypsies. By some odd trick of fate, little Eloise had been favored. None of the men tried to harm her in any way. The gypsy leader, Markus, had always kept her close. Still, the time came when she was made to leave the camp. She had become too much of a burden to the camp. Food had been scarce, and Markus could not afford to keep supplying her with food since she was unable to work for him. From that point on, the young woman had been alone. That had been nearly twelve years ago.

Finding her way to Paris from her home country of Germany had been anything but easy. Eloise had very little money, and she refused to sell her body for the money. Her body, her innocence, was the only thing that she truly could call her own. No one could steal that away from her. No, she had managed to sneak aboard trains and backs of carriages all the way to the City of Love. It had taken quite some time, and she had hoped to see an opera at the opera house. Sadly, it seemed that she would not be able to hear the angels of music sing in this place. Still, it did not deter her from slowly making her way towards the music center.

It also did not deter the two men who had spotted a young woman all on her own in an unpopulated area of the city. It appeared that they would finally get to have a release.

xxx

How long had it been since she had left? How long had it been since the total destruction of everything that he had worked so hard to craft? Was she happy with him? Why had that boy not spoken of his location to anyone? It would only be a matter of time before the fop would say something. Maybe she was protecting him? No, no, he could not go down that path again. No, that had taken a harsh punishment to his mind, thinking that the angel could love, or even care for, the beast.

The once Phantom quietly strode through the abandoned opera house, lost in his thoughts. He did not know what there was to live for at this point. The once proud man did not bother to hide behind his masque any longer. He did not bother with the wig. For who was there to present himself to? There was no one left. Everyone had gone. What point was there to looking presentable? Still, he kept himself dressed well-a standard gentleman's attire of slacks, dress shirt, and dress coat. It was something he did more out of habit than anything else, he guessed. Maybe it had something to do with his cracked and probably long gone psychology. Something broken in his head probably made him dress well so his mind would not slip back to the memories of the gypsy camp and how they had dressed him. Well, sometimes they would not dress him at all, spouting something that the Devil's Child did not need clothing or something of the sort.

Oh, but there he went again, the Phantom realized. His mind was quickly sinking back into the memories that caused him the most torment. When that torment would become too much, he knew all too well what he would do to silence the thoughts. The Persian had come only once since the incident with his-no, with the singer. That was what he had to call her. But yes, the Persian had come once and had taken away those mind altering drugs. Surely, the Persian knew that he had more? But, the man had said very little and had only given him a sad look before disappearing from the ruined lair. It was no matter. The Phantom knew where he could get more of those drugs. It was not as if he had not found some since the Persian had left him.

His thoughts had distracted him and led him to a side entrance of the opera house. The Phantom had not been outside since before the night of Don Juan. He had no reason to leave this place. His lair's traps had been built up. No one could get to him, except the pesky Persian. He had to wonder how that was possible, but, if he were honest, he didn't really care. Nothing mattered anymore. He could very well walk outside right now, be captured, and end his pitiful existence. He did not want to live as it were. The torturous memories his mind concocted were enough to drive him insane. Or, was he already insane? He was not entirely sure any longer.

That thought of ending it all seemed all too appealing to his damaged mind. Without another thought or care of who might be outside, the Phantom pulled the door open. The sight that he found in front of him snapped him out of his mental abyss. Everything became clearly focused once more, and the anger that he felt pool inside his core felt most wondrous compared to the normal numbness in his heart.

There, in the side entrance where no one was able to see from the street, was a woman held captive by two men. She was stripped of her dress, though her cloak somehow remained in place. A rope was tied about her mouth, effectively gagging her. One man stood behind her, holding her firm so that she was unable to escape. Her arm was held twisted behind her at an awkward angle. It was a wonder that it was not yet broken. The other arm lay limp at her side, sadly broken. It was the other man, though, that was causing more damage than this one. He was…one with her. The woman clearly was not a willing partner in any of this.

xxx

Eloise had just come to the entrance of the opera house. It appeared to be a side entrance. From the street, no one would be able to see her. It was all too perfect. She would be able to slip in and have a place to stay for the night. Who knew? She could end up staying here longer than that. There was no telling how long it would take someone to decide to repair this place of music. All she had to do now was break in. That was as simple as picking the lock. She crouched in front of it and removed two pieces of slim metal from her pack.

She was not aware that she had been followed until she heard someone clear his throat. She quickly turned to see two men staring down at her. One was muscular and stocky. The other was lean and tall. Could these men work at the opera house? Had they worked here? She would need to come up with a quick lie. The last thing she needed was for these two men to report her. It had taken far too long to get here only to end up arrested. She would not fare well in prison. But, before she was able to start her explanation, she noticed the way the men were looking at her-like she was meat.

Quickly, Eloise stood up and brushed off her dress. She did not say anything to the men as she quickly tried to push by them. The slimmer to the two men leaned his hand against the wall, his arm supporting his weight and cutting off one of her escape routes. The larger man stood to the right of his partner with his arms crossed. There went her other escape route.

"Excuse me," Eloise stated flatly. She was not going to deal with these two men. She would simply find a means to outsmart them and run away. She would come back later, when it would be safe. Yes, she would have to remain in the cold for the time being, but it was better than-

The taller man laughed. "You aren't going anywhere, pet," he stated with a smile curling upon his lips. "See, Gus and I haven't had a good time with a lady in a while. You fit the bill." He snapped his fingers and the larger man, Gus, grabbed the woman and bent her arm painfully behind her back. Gus would make sure she could not escape. The tall man laughed again when he saw the fear in the woman's eyes. "You don't have to be scared. I hate it when people look at me all scared, don't you, Gus?"

"Sure do," Gus replied. With his other hand, he pulled down the hood of her cloak and grabbed her hair to force her to look at him now. "You don't have to be looking all scared in those eyes." With a harsh move of his other hand, he broke her arm. Her scream brought pain to her eyes. Gus only laughed at her. "Your eyes say too much." With his now free hand, he fished in his pocket as his partner watched and she squirmed. She sure was weak if she wasn't able to escape when only being held by the hair. From his pocket, he pulled a sewing needle. It would be enough to blind her with. And blind her, he did.

The pain was something Eloise could not possibly describe. These two men were torturing her, in clear public. It was the evening, and shadows had covered this entrance. To add to it, this entrance was far from the street, so no one would hear her. Worse still, if someone did hear screaming, the person would likely never come near, due to those damnable rumors. Someone would simply think it was the forgotten ghost, screaming its lament and haunting melodies.

And then, it began. It was the inevitable. Eloise knew that it was going to happen, though she tried so desperately to believe that it perhaps would not. But, the dress was torn from her body, along with her undergarments. All that remained in place was the cloak. Well that, and Gus holding her stiff to him by her still functioning arm. Another thing came into place, though. It was the lighter man's lips against her neck. When she tried to blindly kick out at him, she felt her foot connect with something. She did not know what, but it earned a hard slap to the face. It was then that she felt herself be violated. That caused her to try and scream again, but she suddenly felt a rope tie around her mouth and behind her head, gagging her and cutting off her cries as this monster raped her.

Eloise did not know how much time had passed, but suddenly a door opened from behind her and her attackers. She did not know what to expect, but she quickly found that the man behind her had been pulled away. The rope was yanked free from her mouth. She fell in a slump to the hard ground when her other attacker was ripped from her body. Eloise could not see anything that was going on. All she could do was listen. Her savior did not speak a word, but she had a feeling that he did not have anything to say to her attackers. It had to be a man, she thought. A woman couldn't take on these men. Next, she heard two thumps against the ground. She did not know what to expect next.

Disposing of the filth had been easy enough. They had provided their very own murder weapon. The rope gag had been just enough to strangle the larger of the two men. His own hands had been enough to cause the smaller of the men to fall unconscious. The Phantom had plans for this rapist. But that would have to be done later. The fallen woman on the ground before him would need more help. Still, how was he supposed to help? She would scream and run as soon as she looked in his face. For the first time since Chris-no, the singer-the singer left, he regretted not wearing the masque. And here he was, once again worrying about his appearance. Would it never end?

The woman did look up, though. She did not look right at him, he noticed. The blood about her eyes did not escape his notice either. Had she been made blind by the men? Oh, the one he had left alive would certainly pay for that. What right did these men have to harm another being? Then again, had he not just murdered another living being? That was different. He would have to dispose of the body. He could not leave a dead body on the doorstep. That would certainly not look good for the opera house. It would bring people looking for him.

His swirling thoughts were interrupted by the woman attempting to stand up. Her legs went out from under her, and she fell to the ground again. She looked about blindly. "Who's there?!" a scream ripped from her mouth before she crumpled to the floor in fits of sobs, her face hidden in her one good hand.

"I saved you," he said simply. He would need to bring her inside-and the bodies too. Someone was bound to notice. He was not going to be blamed for what had happened here. As he had told…the singer on the night of Don Juan, he had never experienced the joys of the flesh. He would never partake in them if the partner was unwilling. He might be a monster in some respects, but he would never sink as low as that. Slowly, he came to kneel beside her and reached his hand out. He would not touch her if she did not want it. "Will you come inside?"

Eloise tried to look at the person who was in front of her. He had to be in front of her, she guessed. That was where his voice had come from. Blindly, she reached out toward the voice. He had saved her. She could only hope that he too would not rape her. Her hand met with something strange and uneven. Her fingers also felt something hard, almost like bone. When she heard a sharp intake of breath, she quickly pulled her hand away only to have it come in contact with the person's hand. So, what had she just been touching? She couldn't see, so she had no way of knowing.

His face. She had touched his face, his deformed face, and she had not died or screamed. She had not rejected him. Sure, she did not know what she was in contact with, but the Phantom was about to allow himself this ever so small victory. He pulled her upwards as he stood. Again, she nearly fell and used him to support herself. He was all too aware of her exposed form. Oh, but what was he thinking? She had just been raped for God's sake! Did God exist?

Shaking his head to push away the scrambled thoughts, he led the woman inside the door. He brought her to a painting just a few paces from the doorway. A simple flip of a hidden switch turned the painting into a door. He led her inside, practically having to carry her. It seemed that her mind was going back to recent events as sobs came from her again. It was only a matter of time before she would break entirely. He hoped that she could somehow avoid that. And, he still had to move the dead body and the unconscious one.

He would have to leave her for a moment to go and retrieve the bodies before some unlucky soul was to stumble upon them. It was tedious work, and he did not want to leave the girl alone, but it was something that had to be done. For now, he could leave the dead body just inside the painting doorway, and the unconscious one could be locked away in a broom closet.

Eloise felt her savior stop and help her to sit, and then he was gone. He mentioned something about needing to take care of something, that he would return shortly, and that she should remain in this spot and not move. She had no idea where she was. The area smelt damp, and she could hear the slight crackle of a flame somewhere. So, they had to be somewhere in the opera house where it was dark. She used her good hand to feel around her. The floor was made of hard stone. Where in the opera house had floors like this? When they first entered, she was able to tell that the floor had been carpeted. Still, she had become disoriented as thoughts of what happened came to her mind. That reminder put the torture fresh in his mind. A wail came from her mouth borne from the deep pain pulsating from within her soul. She was a fallen woman. The man had saved her life, but she was now utterly worthless. Who would ever want a beast?

AN: And that is the end of chapter one. Please let me know when you think.