1972

by DetectiveOfTheOpera

Erik is institutionalized by his mother at twenty years old to Bethlem Royal Hospital where he is left at the notorious care of Dr. Gangle and the nurse, Miss Fleck. There he meets Christine, 16 at the time, the hospital's most beloved nurse, and Dr. De Changy's fiancé.

1. Chapter 1

Story

Erik POV (1972)

I woke up to the smell of chloroform and cement. The bright fluorescent lights were at it maximum and I noticed I was strapped to a table of some sort. "Where-" I managed to sputter before a strong hand held me down by the chest. I blinked and found the man before me quite strange. His high cheekbones and orange hair stood out the most and I was once again dowsed with chloroform. "It's almost over, just stay still". I slipped into unconsciousness with those last words ringing in my mind.

Dr. Gangle POV (1972)

The operation was such a success! I am sure to make medical history. There was some snags, mostly because the beast woke up and didn't remember where he was, but all in all, this is enormous. I need to contact De Changy and bring him down as soon as possible. "Miss Fleck! Get in here, look at the beautiful progress we have made" I shouted. As she entered, she screamed in horror and fainted. Oh please I muttered to myself and rushed to Miss Fleck, His face is not that bad; sure, he's deformed with yellow scales across one side of his face and no cartilage on the same side on his nose and he has just one hollow eye where you can see pure bone, but it is not as bad as if it were the same on all his face. That boy is lucky, well, as lucky as a twenty year old man can be with a deformity. At least he gets to wear his mask.

Erik POV (1972)

A few hours (I have a feeling they were hours) later I found myself in a completely different room. Now this one was padded with just a wooden bed with white, almost deathly pale, sheets and a sink. I tried to sit up, but the pain searing through my head made that obviously not possible. I tried to make it stop, but it went on and on for what seemed like ages. I closed my eyes and tried to remember the opera house I saw once in my dreams and which I continued to draw and think about in my teenage years. Almost instantly I was there, sitting in my favorite box, The Box 5 listening to their newest production, Hannibal, and I saw the detested Carlotta who sang and acted like a pig. Oink, Oink, I sang as she opened her mouth. It was utterly hilarious mimicking her and I let out a laugh like I haven't in ages. I leaned in closer as I found that the nice old manager was sadly being replaced with new managers, Firmin and André, if my hearing had not been mistaken. Hmmm, this was going to be interesting I thought to myself as I was being snapped out of my dreams.