Down deep in the bowels of the Opera House, the opera ghost lay dying.
His love, his muse and his light was gone.
All want of life had left him.
He lay in his coffin awaiting death to claim him.
Until a voice jolted him awake, and he sat up to find a woman he never expected to see in the fifth cellar.
"Stop pitying yourself, Erik."
Light flooded the room as the older woman set her candle aside and flipped on his electric lights.
They blinded him and he squinted against the pain. Odd, he hadn't expected to feel any more pain.
"It's time for you to get up!"
His dark sockets stared at her. His dimmed yet still glowing eyes were wide in shock.
"You are an idiot."
She crossed her arms, her lace sleeves rustling as she did so.
He winced, "Erik does not know how you have come to his home but you should leave."
She ignored him.
The woman was ignoring him!
Instead of leaving she drew closer and brought a cup of tea to his bedside. A cup of tea that was hot and no doubt prepared in HIS kitchen.
No, Erik thought he was too tired to be angry.
He was supposed to be dying.
"Leave!You old hag."
The woman did not even bat an eyelash and instead took his arm firmly and sat him up.
This couldn't be the same superstitious woman that had gushed over Christine, telling her not to anger her Angel of Music. This woman did not seem so easily fooled.
His head hurt with the thoughts that compounded his mind. He winced, he wasn't supposed to be thinking. He was supposed to be dead.
"What if I offered you something that you wanted?"
He clambered out of his coffin his thin body no longer holding its feline-like gracefulness. His muscles cried out from misuse, "I doubt there is anything you can offer me. The damage has already been done."
"Christine was not meant for you."
He's teeth grinded together.
"You know nothing!"
"On the contrary, I know everything! And I'm here to offer you a second chance."
He let out a dry laugh that quickly turned into a haggard, gasping cough.
"There is no such thing."
"It is only impossible if you believe it is so. I am offering you this chance but I'm also giving you the opportunity to give Christine a second chance as well."
As his golden glowing eyes shot up and met her amethyst, his fate was sealed.
