Prologue –

After nearly six years of solitary suffering in his home, Erik was ready to leave it. He wanted to get out of there. Although he knew he could never be like other men who traveled, visiting the sights of the world, he still wanted to go.

"Where will you go?" Madame Giry asked him when he somehow showed up at her door. It had been quite a shock for the old women, but she never was one to question Erik. He showed up out of nowhere when he wanted to be seen.

"I do not know. Away is all I can tell you at the present time," he replied looking around the old lady's home. "You have a nice little set up here; I have not heard you speak of Meg, though."

"It has been over five and a half years. Erik, Meg is married and living in London." Erik just sat there contemplating the statement. The world had very much been going on without him. He even doubted the world cared that he the Phantom was still alive and physically well.

"Oh, well, what of other people from the opera house?" He asked slyly, wondering if she would catch on.

"Christine is fine," she replied, not fooled for a minute. "She and Raoul are happily married, and they too have left the country. Although, I believe, they happen to have gone to live in America. I do not hear from them often, but Meg tells me they are well."

Erik nodded. His first thought was that straight away, he needed to jump on a ship to America to find her, but America was a big country, very far away at that; and he was trying to start a new life, not have it ended by the boy. Madame Giry worried about the awkward silence, wondering if Erik was making plans in his head to go to America. "What will you do? Where will you go?" She asked again.

He thought for a minute. "Maybe I shall go to England. There must be somewhere worth staying there, I just need to get out of this country." Madame Giry nodded. She worried about him. He was still a wanted criminal after all, but she could do nothing. He was not one to listen to reason.

Erik considered going back to the old Opera house and getting some of his possessions, but he had very few he wanted to keep. They all held bad memories for him. So, instead, he snuck on a ride going down to the docks. In Calais, he pulled a hood over his head and approached the ticket counter. Then he began to laugh at himself. Since when was he one to buy a ticket and ask permission to do anything? Instead, he turned around and made his way to the actual boat that would be taking him away. He got on, no problem, but afterward he had no idea where he was supposed to go. He wandered around the ship until he came across a small room where he could easily hide.

They soon reached England. It was a new existence for Erik, but he knew if he ever needed to go back, he could. He got off the boat and stood for a while looking at the city of Canterbury. He did not really want to stay there, but he was not in the mood to see London. He visited a local café and sat for a minute. He overheard a conversation between two men, a few tables over, talking about going to Liverpool.

Erik considered it for a minute and thought that it might be worth a try. It was not the center point of England, but it also was not a rural community that he would despise. Therefore, he decided he would go to Liverpool. Hopefully, it would bring him a new life.