Disclaimer: I do not own POTO
Rated: PG-13...for the time being
A/N: This Prolog has been called a "copy" of the novel and it might be, I don't think so. But please don't judge my whole story on this Prolog that I may not even keep. Also, extra brownie points to the person who can find the tribute to "The Hours" in this stoy.
Prolog
As the second or third Historian to study "the strange affair of the Phantom of the Opera" I feel it my duty to tell you whereabouts I came upon the information that I have tried to convert to an excisable (and easier to read) writing form. I also think I should mention that the first written account of "the Opera Ghost's tale" contrasts a more 'romanticized' version written years later. Since I think both authors to have been trustworthy, one can only assume that the truth of the tale lies between the two accounts. So I have done my utmost best to stick to the historical facts but the facts still leave holes and I have tried (as scientifically as possible) to fill them. It is also my duty to inform the reader that this work covers the "strange occurrences" that happened many years after the infamous fall of the Chandelier and the fantastic disappearance of Christine Daaé, the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny (both of which reappeared as husband and wife years later), and the tragic death of the Comte Philippe de Chagny.
This work is based mostly on the dairies of one Vicomtess Claire Daaé de Chagny (also the one and only entry from a book thought to be the Vicomtess Christine Daaé de Chagny's dairy which will be shown bellow), Mademoiselle Madeline Giry (the Singing Mistress of L'Opera Populaire), and the somewhat eccentric (as my work colleagues believe) accounts of Amelie Pinon Destler.
An entry from the Vicomtess Christine Daaé de Chagny's dairy:
I do not know the date or the month. Raoul won't allow me even the comfort of knowing the time. I am kept locked up in the East Wing of this house. I cannot leave, I cannot do anything. I cannot even see my daughter! Ever since Raoul brought me back after I left him I have become his prisoner. He is afraid I will leave him again for Erik.
I'm scarred that he'll force me to have a miscarriage. He is insanely jealous! He knows it is not his child, I fear he has gone quite mad with his jealousy. I am surprised he allowed me something to write on. I think he's trying to catch me sending letters to Erik. Poor Erik!
The above is the soul insight as to what went on inside the Chagny Estate before Miss Claire Chagny began to record her own thoughts onto paper. The book containing Miss Christine Chagny's dairy was found shortly after the fire that burned the Chagny Estate to the ground. Many said it eerie that this "one cry of an insane woman for help" was the only thing to survive the fire unburned. Claire Chagny's dairies were found hidden in the walls of L'Opera Populaire when the building was torn down to make way for the new industries of the age. Mademoiselle Madeline Giry actually came looking for me when she had word that I was researching about the Chagny family. She told me all she knew of what had happened to Claire Chagny while she was at the Opera. And as for Amelie Destler her name was given me by Mademoiselle Giry and I found the woman in a "Mad House" (which I have been asked not to name). So you can see why my colleagues doubt her word on the matters. I however do not believe her mad. I think of her as a tragic woman disparate for her father's love but I will save that story for this book to tell. And so I leave you to read this, my interpretation, of the sad story of the Vicomtess Claire Daaé de Chagny.