Erik:
Christine has been gone from my life for years now, yet I still feel the pain as if she had left just yesterday. She has gone up to the world above where she can laugh and dance with him in public forever. I feel so lost without her, but at the same time, my heart is being pulled towards a new singer at the opera.
She arrived quite suddenly, from England, so much a mystery to us all. In her eyes, I see a haunted, hunted look, as if she has come here from the fires of Hell. She never speaks of her past, yet I sense a tragedy greater than anyone else can ever know. She moves through the Opera House silently and quickly as if there were someone waiting in the shadows to snatch her.
This creature first caught my eye when she auditioned for the managers. In her voice, I could detect a feeling of sadness. Of course those two foolish managers could not hear the beauty in her voice, and they dismissed her without a second thought.
It has been years since I have intervened in the affairs of the Opera. I thought it better to let them believe that I was dead and gone. For her, I shed my invisibleness, and sent a note requesting her placement in the corps de ballet to them. I daresay I gave them quite a scare, and before long, my nightingale returned.
I wish to learn about her, understand her fright, but I myself am frightened. I scared Christine away with my horribly disfigured face and terrible temper, I do not wish to frighten this one away. Ah, I should stop fooling myself, I am old now, time moves faster, and the dreams I once had fade in the light. I stay down here in my Palace, hiding from the world and awaiting for the day Death will come and take me away from this painful existence. The only happiness I now find in my life comes from her.
I have never even spoken to her, yet I feel as if I already know her. I know her every movement, every gesture, I know her completely, but I ask myself, do I really? Do I know why she fled from London? Do I know why she has a frightened look on her face all the time? Do I know why she sings with such sadness? These are the unanswerable questions. Oh, how I wish I could speak with her, but I dare not scare her away...