Within Temptations©
Chapter One: Dark Contentions
By Genevieve Lee

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And Goodness knows
The Wicked's lives are lonely
Goodness knows
The Wicked die alone
It just shows when you're Wicked
You're left only
On your own

No One Mourns The Wicked, Wicked the musical

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I had planned everything out so carefully, using all my thoughts and skills. It had only taken a short time to put my plans into action, to get those blundering fools of managers to obey my rules. To obey the way I wanted to play the game. It was all quite simple, really.

Then I learned of their plans for me. That they would play my game, but knowing I would attend their performance, would be sure of my capture. They figured that Christine would bait me, and that entranced by her, I would accidentally reveal myself to them. The gendarmes would be waiting for me in my usual box: box five. If only they knew I was going to do much more than watch.

Oh, how those fools underestimated me.

What I did not realize at that time was that I was also underestimating Christine's entire control over me. The way her complete and utter innocence and naiveté drew me in like a fly to the preying mantis. It was ironic, really. Usually I was the one to draw forth my prey, to keep them utterly fascinated until they died at my hand so quickly they didn't even know what hit them. Perhaps it was better that way; to be lured away from life by absolute wonderment and curiosity and being killed so quickly that they had no idea what hit them. At least I would prefer that rather than knowing I had been defeated.

But that night, I was determined to not be defeated. My plans had been completely different until she had decided to do the thing that would hurt me most: rip off my mask. Rather than being filled with embarrassment and remorse, as I should have been, I was filled with anger. Complete, uncontrollable, anger.

It was not the simple fact that she had revealed my most hideous secret to an entire theatre filled with people of high society, not that it quite mattered, but that she thought she could rid of me that easily. To simply embarrass me and run away with her precious Victome. The thought filled me with such rage; I took her from under everyone's careful gaze. Trick me, would they? It was taking much longer than necessary to prove I was not a person to be reckoned with. I could not so easily be tricked and brushed aside as if I had never existed.

But those imbeciles did not understand and so they would have to learn the hard way.

I forced her to put on the dress, the wedding dress I had bought her to contribute to my crazy dreams of one day taking her as my wife as a normal man would. It took me quite some time to realize this would never happen, even when I kidnapped her and took her to my world below on that fateful night. I knew exactly what I was going to do to get my way, to get her. All I had to do was wait…

And of course I did not wait long. The Victome arrived in very little time, barley allowing Christine enough to try and commit suicide. I caught her of course, laughing at her feeble attempt of escape. When the boy showed up, I could see the hope sparkle in her eyes, and I almost felt remorse about what I was going to do. Almost.

I forced her to choose. I was very generous, giving her two different choices rather than just taking her; now realizing that is what I should have done. She either was allowed to go free, and her young man would die, or she could stay with me and he would leave unscathed. Either way, I got something satisfactory out of it, though quite honestly if she had chosen me I would have probably gone out and killed the boy later so he would not pose as a threat for any time in the future.

My plan was flawless. There was no way out of it. I had the upper hand, and I was determined to keep it. Though that conniving snake of a woman wasn't done with me yet and she used her most powerful force against me.

Her love.

And she kissed me! It was the first kiss I had ever received in my life, and now thinking back, it will probably also be the only kiss. She kissed me with such passion; I felt it hard to believe that she was acting on the boy's sake. I pulled back and ordered her to go, and I thought for one fleeting moment that she did love me, and would stay with me. But when she obliged to my commands and left, I knew she had been, indeed, acting. I was foolish to believe she would ever love me.

My first thoughts when she was gone were I should just kill myself and end my useless existence. There was nothing to live for now that she was gone. But there was a little voice in the back of my mind whispering not to do it, to keep living, to keep trying.

And so I did.

I stumbled through the tunnels away from the mob, knowing I would never come back. I was on the first ship across the English Channel and within a week, I had a new home in the country alone. The quiet existence was nice. I could live alone with my music. But after over a year, I grew quite bored. One thing I did to keep from going insane was read the social column in the Paris newspaper I had especially delivered to my home quite often. I frequently read things about the balls and parties they attended, how happy they were, and many other trivial things.

It was only when I read they were expecting a child that I cancelled the paper and went into a drunken rage for almost a week. I stopped finding out about their life for good, only finding the excruciating hole in my chest rip open every time I read the words Christine de Chagny. I went numb to any kind of feeling for quite a few months after that. I did not leave my home, and instead had everything I needed be delivered. I never spoke. I never sang. I even abandoned my music.

It was exactly two years after Christine left me that I was finally tired of being alone. Yes, I had figuratively been alone my whole life, but those two years were probably the loneliest in my life. It was that night that I vowed I would not be alone anymore. I had plenty of money, and I might as well put it to good use. An idea began forming in my head before I could stop it, and then I knew exactly what I was going to do. Only a choice, a letter, and a little more planning would be required.

I was going to find a wife.

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