The Phantom of the Opera had been quiet, some could say too quiet, for the past five years. After the scandal about the Opera Ghost and Christine Daae, the young soprano had proceeded to marrying the Vicomte de Chagny and retiring her only budding opera career for that of a societal house wife and Vicomtesse. When the police investigated the lair of the Phantom of the Opera, they found no sign of the man and later left the Opera Populaire concluding that he had escaped or been killed, closing the case indefinitely and encouraging those affected by that night to rest easy that the Phantom was gone.
Little did they know, that beneath the Opera House, in the seventh cellar - the Phantom of the Opera lived. Despite his life of pain and suffering, he remained. Depressed in a new level of solitude, he confined himself and allowed himself to embrace darkness once again as he left the Opera House alone during its renovation and reconstruction, giving the managers and staff time to recuperate from his last appearance and furthermore give himself time to think and mourn the loss of what he believed to be his great and only love.
This was all of course, until he heard the sound of her voice..
Faline pulled the lilac shawl over her body tighter as she felt a draft come up from behind her as she got down from the carriage that had transported her and Madame Compte to the Opera Populaire. While she did not know much about how the Opera was run, she was in awe of the structure in itself, from the grand marble staircases to the red velvet of the curtains and the intricate details of the carvings on the wall, she could not believe she would be fortunate enough to take all of it in on a daily basis.
"You will be residing here for the duration of your time here mamselle." Madame Compte announced, opening the door to a lovely room that had clearly been renovated and made smaller, just the right size for an assistant to a costume mistress, and Faline did not need much to be comfortable.
"Merci madame." she said, walking into the room and looking at the staple piece, the mirror which was built into the wall.
"Do not worry my child. Although this is in fact the room where it all happened, I assure you that the ghost that haunted this Opera House is long gone." Madame Compte said, referencing the infamous legend of the Opera Ghost, but Faline just shook her head and smiled softly at her new mentor.
"Oh I was not worried, the Opera Ghost does not frighten me. I don't believe that anyone capable of making such beautiful music could ever do any real harm, I've actually always thought the newspapers and media to be quite harsh towards a man who seemed merely misunderstood." she said, speaking plainly.
"Well you are certainly more brave than any of the other girls I've met in this place. Rest now child, I will come to collect you in the morning when we will start your instruction in the art of fashion," she said, placing a comforting hand on Faline's shoulder as she made her way out of the room, leaving Faline with her trunk of clothes and personal possessions. The young girl sighed and flipped the latches on her trunk to open it and begin hanging up her dresses in the closet, humming a simple tune that she ventured as far to add her own lyrics to.
"No one would listen... no one but her, heard as the outcast hears." she sang softly, the haunting melody filling the room with warmth along with the candles that she was lighting and scattering around to make the room her own, not noticing the man behind the mirror that her voice had coaxed out of hiding.
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Song: "No One Would Listen" from the Phantom of the Opera Soundtrack (2004)
Hello everyone! I hope that if you've stumbled on this story and read this far, you've enjoyed the first chapter! I would love some reviews so let me know what you think! - B