Okay, so this was an idea that popped in my head while I was watching Beauty and the Beast recently. Throughout the whole thing, I was plotting this whole scenario and I thought, 'I have got to write this!' so I did. I was considering posting it on here, but I wasn't sure, so I let a friend read it first. Then she told me to post it, so I did. So here it is! :)

Prologue: A Strange Visitor

Thunder cracked like a whip in the night; the lightning roared. Rain poured down unmercifully onto the cold pavement in front of a tall edifice. Long shadows cast along the ground like snakes weaving their ways through the gates. The structure rose high into the sky and stood tall and proud in all its glory. To the untrained eye, it appeared to be a castle. However, it was only a large mansion.

Paris was only six or seven miles away, but the inhabitants of this mansion did not wish to live in such a crowded city. They enjoyed the peace and solitude that was brought by being the only home for a few miles. They went to the city occasionally and sometimes friends would visit them, but that was not often.

The only people who lived here were a master and his servants. This man had many servants, probably a hundred or so, to serve him and keep him company. The only people allowed in his mansion were his servants and his friends who lived in town, but even they could only come if invited.

On this particular night where the rain lashed upon the residence, a visitor waited at the shut doors. This person could hear a soft, sweet melody fill the air. It seemed so unnatural that someone should be playing such music on a night such as this. The visitor crept up to the door and let the knocker bang against the cold metal.

Inside the mansion, a servant ran towards the grand piano in the west wing informing, "There is a visitor at the door, master."

The music ceased. The master, who sat at the grand piano facing away from the servant, told him curtly, "I know. I didn't invite anyone. Perhaps if we wait long enough they will believe that no one is here and will be on their way."

The servant knew his master too well to believe that he would simply ignore any visitor at the door. He knew that this was the master's way of saying that he didn't want any servant to answer the door. It was possible that on a night such as this, he did not want any of his servants to become pitied for any strange visitors at the door and let them in. The only cold hearted person in the household was the master, so only he could turn away someone on a night like this.

"You may go now, Remy. I'm sure this will all be taken care of", the man in charge said as he brushed past the unmoving servant. Remy was momentarily paralyzed. No one liked the master to be near them and even for a moment, it could scare anyone to death. There was nothing wrong with the man, really. It was only his dark, cold heart that made all under his roof fear him immensely.

He watched with saddened eyes out the window as he saw the man open the door to the visitor.

Outside, the visitor saw the man who answered the door. He was a very tall man, about six feet tall, and had dark hair that appeared to be black. His cold, green dismal eyes glared at her even though he attempted to compose himself in a gentleman's façade.

The visitor let their cloak fall just a little to reveal their face. It looked tired and worn, but slightly insane. Her long straggly gray brown hair fell along her hunched shoulders and her eyes stared at the man in desperation, screaming for help.

"Good evening, Madame", the man greeted, though both could sense the ice in his tone. He wasn't completely taken aback by her appearance, after all, he had seen much worse.

"Good evening, Monsieur", she replied. He only stared at her until she continued, "I'm terribly sorry to be bothering you on such a night as this, but you see, I have no place to stay and keep warm. It would only be for this one night, Monsieur. Please let me keep shelter in your house for one night."

The man raised an eyebrow, "Do you have anything to give me for such a favor?"

She nodded and revealed something that was hidden in her cloak. In her hand, she held a long-stemmed rose. It didn't appear to be out of the ordinary and the master was slightly displeased, but not very surprised in the least.

"It is all I have! Please, just this one night", the poor woman cried when she noticed the man's look of unease. "I will not trouble you at all. If you wish, I could even help scrub the floors or cook"-

The man shuttered at the thought of this ugly creature cooking his food.

"No, Madame, it is not enough", he disregarded, scowling at the woman as he turned to shut the door.

"Wait," the woman commanded. The man froze momentarily, slightly interested and annoyed at this woman. She continued, "True beauty lies within. Do not judge someone by how he appears, or you may regret it someday."

He showed a small smile as he said sardonically, "Thank you, Madame, I will try to keep that in mind. Please, I cannot afford to waste my time at such a petty request. Good night, Madame." As he was about to shut the door, thunder roared more closely to his ears and a light seemed to explode on the other side of the door. The man opened the door wide once again to no longer find an old beggar woman standing before him, but a young beautiful blonde woman.

"I am disappointed in you", she told him. The man stood in awed silence.

The master of the mansion looked closely at this young woman.

"Who are you?" he asked, bewildered.

"A gypsy", she answered simply. "But does that really matter now?"

"Please, mademoiselle", he pleaded. "I did not know"-

"You were not supposed to know who was asking you to stay", she interrupted with a penetrating glare.

He ran to her and grabbed her hand, kissing it fiercely.

"Please forgive me, mademoiselle. This will not happen again."

Still looking at him through her dark blue eyes, she countered, "You will need to prove that to me."

The man looked up at her, though his eyes betrayed that he did not honestly mean a word of apology to the girl.

"I've seen what you have done to others", she paused. "Erik."

The man tried to hide his surprise. No one except some friends from Paris would know his name, but if the woman was an enchantress or gypsy, then surely she would have to know his name.

"You must find someone to love you for who you truly are by the end of the year."

Erik scoffed, "That won't be too hard for me to do. I could easily go anywhere and find a woman who would fall in love with me." He felt a cold draft hit his face as he said this, and he couldn't feel the air go into his lungs through his nostrils. His hand instinctively went to his face to find that his nose was no longer there!

"What have you done?" he gasped.

The woman gave a sly smile, "There's more than just a lost nose, Erik. When you look in the mirror, you will see. Not only will you be cursed, but so will your whole mansion. You have a year, Erik." She handed him the rose.

"This will help you keep track of how much time you have. After each month, a petal will fall. Keep it safe", she explained.

With a voice laced in agony and worry, Erik asked, "What if I don't find love by the end of this year?"

She looked at him with pity as she told him, "Then you would remain this way forever."

Then, she was gone, leaving Erik to his doomed household.

Oh, just to let you know, Erik's deformity is really bad. Like, it's the combo of the Leroux, musical, and 2004 movie deformities. The musical and 2004 movie deformities are on both sides of his face instead of just the right side, and he looks like a corpse and still has death's head. Basically, that gypsy made him look really really bad!

I'm just going to warn you that I have to finish some other stuff before I actually post the next chapter, so be patient! But can you please do me the favor of reviewing until then?

Please...?

Thanks!