Hello dear readers!
I have finished this story and have begun to edit it. Here is the revised first chapter.
Please take a look at my book "Sight", which is finished, at fictionpress . net (my username is the same as this one).
Anyway, sadly I do not own the Phantom of the Opera, but all other characters are mine.
Enjoy!
Ch. 1
Her legs burned with a fire that spread down to her toes, her vision blurred by her fearful tears, her ribs ached, but still she kept running. She could not look back, she could not pause; she could stop for nothing. She had to escape.
The street lamps cast an orange hue upon the slickened cobblestone streets that bore the remnants of the evening's rain. When she wasn't directly under their glares, the pitch-black darkness of the night sky made it impossible to see.
Despite her better judgement, Alinah cast a quick glance over her shoulder to see how well she had distanced herself from her pursuer, but she instantly collided into something.
"Oh, my!" an elderly woman exclaimed in surprise as she stumbled backward and steadied herself.
Alinah laid on the cold wet ground in a painful mess and the woman helped her up.
"I am s-sorry!" Alinah stuttered, looking at the empty streets behind her in fear. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest and her fingertips began to tingle. At any moment, she expected him to emerge from the shadows.
"Whatever is the matter, dear? Why are you running? And at such a time of night as this?"
Alinah turned back to look at the woman in earnest, and a few tears had escaped her crystal-blue eyes. "He's coming! He's going to get me!"
"Who, dear?"
"He hurts me! He's going to hurt me!" she shrieked hysterically, unable to comprehend anything that the woman was asking her. Her already-labored and rugged breathing turned into hyperventilating and she felt her world begin to close in on her. Her head pounded with a dull ache and she felt dizzy, steadying herself as the ground began to spin beneath her.
"Come inside, dear! Do not cry," the old woman cooed, gently ushering her to the doorstep of a nearby house.
After giving the oak door a few swift knocks, another elderly woman with grey hair opened the door.
"Annette, may we come inside? It is a matter of urgency."
Annette nodded her head and quickly brought them inside.
Alinah's pale and flushed face was met with the welcoming warmth of a nearby fireplace and once she had heard the door close behind them, her shoulders visibly relaxed. Still, she could not rest completely until she knew that he wouldn't find her.
"Come, sit," her savior urged her, gesturing to a rose-colored divan next to the fire.
Once seated, the two women looked genuinely concerned as they noticed how her hands trembled, but more importantly; the lighting gave them an ample view of the swollen bruises that had marked her neck, just above the ivory-colored chiffon neckline of her dirtied lilac-colored dress. Alinah did not notice their stare, as she continued to eye the door suspiciously, feeling as if it would burst open at any minute. He would not stop his pursuit of her until she was found.
Annette shot the young girl a look of sympathy and the other woman asked,
"What is your name?"
"A-alinah."
"Who has done this to you, Alinah?" Annette chirped in.
Still fearful, Alinah glanced nervously at the front door, half-expecting him to break it down and to find her. She had to remind herself that she was in a stranger's house, and that because he did not live in town and had simply been visiting, he would most likely not know the kind neighbor who had taken her in.
"My husband," Alinah responded. "Walter."
After the adrenaline had left her veins, she found herself washed over with a wave of utter exhaustion, and her puffy red eyes wanted nothing more than to shut in a lull of sleep. Confused, scared witless, and fatigued, she buried her face in her hands and wept like a child.
The older woman gasped and placed a hand on Alinah's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"Do not worry, dear; for you are safe now. We will not let him find you, right, Annette?"
"Oh, yes, Elinor."
"Does he hurt you often?"
Alinah took a deep breath and licked her lips, thinking of what to say. She did not wish to discuss the matter in great detail, and so she could only nod her head.
"My husband is very angry with me," she said. "For I cannot bear any children!"
She began to cry hysterically again as she was reminded of her failures in both her marriage and her life. How she had to suffer for her disadvantages, and so cruelly at the hands of her husband.
"Oh, you poor thing, so shaken up!" Annette shook her head in sadness.
"We must take her in! We cannot let the poor creature suffer!" Elinor exclaimed.
Although Annette agreed with her friend, she had no resources to have another person in her household. As it was, she already had three daughters of her own, who were now fast asleep in their beds. "I am afraid that I do not have a spare bedroom, as I have but limited means-"
"Oh, do not fret, for I have more than enough room for the both of us!"
This promise from Elinor brought a small shard of hope back into Alinah's youthful face, and she now only sniffled.
"Really?" she asked in disbelief. She brought her face up to meet that of the old woman's.
She was a gentle-faced woman with wrinkles at the edges of her mouth and hazel-colored eyes, and her long white hair was piled on top of her head with tiny white pearl pins. She was rather short and stout and wore a dark grey dress.
"Yes, you may stay with me until you find a better situation-"
She was cut short by Alinah's arms suddenly being thrown around her in an embrace.
"Thank you!"
Elinor rubbed the young girl's back and gave it a soft pat before they parted.
"Yes, now, let us find something for you to wear-ah, that shall do!" she stood up and walked over to a coat hook, where a dark hooded cloak had been hung.
The coat was placed around Alinah's shoulders and her face was mostly covered by the large hood. It was just the sort of thing needed in order to keep her safe in the shadows as they made their way to Elinor's carriage. As the hour had been past ten o'clock, the streets were very silent and empty.
The ride was short and the two were promptly set before a small cottage located on the outer city limits. Elinor assisted Alinah out of the carriage and showed her inside. Alinah could not help but to glance around her, worried that she would be caught at any moment. Still, only silence in the darkness.
The house was somewhat small and humble, but very comfortable. Anywhere away from her husband would have been more than enough for her.
A few candles were lit, and because of the darkness and the searing pain in her head from crying, she could not see much around her of the rooms inside, but her mind was too weary and tired to pay attention, anyway.
"This will be your room," the elderly woman announced, opening the door to a small bedchamber. A quaint bed occupied the center of the room, along with a small fireplace, a dressing table and a chaise. Elinor smiled proudly as she watched Alinah make her way to the bed and collapse onto it with exhaustion.
Closing the door so that her guest may rest, she smiled to herself as she thought of how, after years of solitude, she would at last have a bit of company. If only it hadn't been under such pitiable circumstances, she thought.