"Don't go into the shadows! Stay right here in the lobby until I'm finished with work!"
Her father never trusted her and to be honest she doesn't blame him. She hated being confined to one space or having to sit still. The lobby was interesting or whatever was left of it. Last week there was a fire that had started during a performance and nearly burned down the entire theater. Her father was one of the detectives working the case, something about a ghost? She had laughed when she first heard about it; this is the 19th century, not the middle ages! Ghosts can't create such destruction, could they?
She walked around the spacious lobby, up and down the famous grand staircase, laughed at the nude female statues and then became ridiculously jealous of their beautiful figures.
She barely touched a statue of a small cherub when it fell over and smashed into a million pieces on the ash covered floor. She immediately placed her hands behind her back and walked away, guiltily moving her eyes across the ceiling.
She stood at the top of the staircase when she was tempted to slide down the banister, like she did at home. No one was watching, no one would laugh or scold her if she fell...
She smoothed the skirts of her gown before taking a seat on the rail. She slide down the long grey banister, giggling like the child she was at heart. She jumped off before the end of the rail and laughed at the thrill racing her limbs. As she turned to run up and do it again, she halted at the sudden change of the grey banister now suddenly a cream colored marble! She tuned to look at the back of her dress which of course had a long bar of ash across her bum. She sighed at her own ignorance and began to brush the dust away with her hands.
She heard something fall and break in the distance that made her jump and turn to it's direction. She walked across the lobby and down a dark hallway to find a fallen statue of an angel. That was something she had noted during her own inspection of the lobby; all of the angel statues had had their faces broken.
Even this fallen angel infront of her had it's face cracked in half. She heard a flutter in the distance ahead of her and followed it's sound. As she walked on, it became darker and harder to see but she had found that a piece of the wall was opened like a door. She walked through the door taking only one look back and continued on this new quest. Maybe today won't be so boring after all, she thought as she found a hidden passage way behind the walls of the famous opera house. She laughed, "Ghosts, ha! There are no such things as ghosts! It was probably just some ugly man, spying on the ballerinas and actresses or something or other."
"You don't say?"
She immediately turned and fled back to the open door that led to the safe familiar lit hallways of the theater. She ran as fast as she could but tripped over her own skirts and flustered steps, landing hard on her stomach and face. She looked and saw the doorway still open and quickly got to run to it's light.
Just as her hand had reached for the doors edge, it slammed shut in her face and left her in complete blackness. "What are you doing in my theater?" the ghost whispered in her ear. She was so scared she didn't move and tears began to stream down her face. "I asked you a question!" the ghost's voice roared.
"Please don't kill me, please!" she sobbed. She could feel a warm breath on her nose as the ghost said, "Are you afraid?" She felt a hand push her hard against the other stone wall and she cried harder, "Yes, I'm afraid! I'm scared!" she felt the breath again on her cheek as it whispered, "You'll find that ghosts are capable of so many things. It's a shame you're so young..." She heard a loud clank beside her and the ground moving beneath her feet. Her arms had suddenly thrust out infront of her, grasping onto what felt like... suit lapels?
The last words she heard the ghost say before the trap door gave way was, "Oh shit" before she fell down into a dark abyss taking the ghost with her. Down, down, down she fell into what felt like to hell as she screamed and heard a male scream next to her.
Suddenly she landed on her back, knocking the wind out of her body and leaving her light-headed. She turned to pick herself up but realized that she was lying on sand. She looked up and saw she was in a brightly lit room filled with mirrors and in the center, a tree. "Where am I?" she asked herself as if she could answer. She heard a deep groan behind her and turned to see a man lying on his side, facing away from her. She backed away from the figure and immediately stood on her feet, "Who are you?!" The man placed a hand on his head, "Please don't yell so loud."
The Ghost?! It was the same voice that had scared her to death in the passageway! She kicked the man's back hard as she screamed, "What the hell is your problem, Scaring me like that! I could kill you for what you did! I-" she never finished her rant.
As she spoke the man stood on his feet and turned to face her. He towered over her, just by looking at his physique, she knew he could crush her easily. His eyes shone brightly, one emerald green and one cobalt blue. He had black hair that was disheveled from the fall, making some of it fall over the the white mask he wore that covered his whole face except his bottom lip and chin. "I am so sorry I kicked you," she said. "Stop talking," he ordered.
He walked past her and went to a mirror, "This one should be the way out, but I have to find the other mirror that contains the switch behind it to open it." He saw her reflection in the mirror running toward him with a tree branch. He ducked away when she swung the branch, making it break the glass. "Idiot!" he screamed.
The lights grew brighter, and suddenly there was heat! An unbearable heat that came from every direction. The mirror she had broken, shattered and released a burst of hot air and steam. They both ran to the other side of the room but another mirror shattered and released hot air, just the same. Within minutes, the room had become an oven. She could feel sweat dripping down the back of her neck and dampen her hair. "What's going to hapen now?" she asked the masked stranger. He began to loosen his tie, "Well, to put it plainly, my dear," he said matter-of-factly, "we're going to die." She began to tie her hair back in a ribbon she kept around her wrist, "You don't seemed to be bothered by that." "I'm not," he said, throwing his tie aside, "I died a long time ago. Why do you think they call me a ghost?" She thought about it, "what killed you?" He wiped his neck with his jacket sleeve, "What can destroy a man so completely?"
"You're a priest?"
He laughed aloud, "No, I'm not though a priest and I do share some life aspects. Mine has nothing to deal with God though. I fell in love with a woman that could never be mine from the start, that I didn't deserve but I fought for her anyway. All my life I had known nothing from the world except hatred and cruelty because I was different and ugly. I gave the world my hatred in return. I wanted nothing to deal with this planet until I heard her sing. Her voice was the most beautiful I had ever heard, so pure and so wonderful, maybe such things did exist in this greedy world. I became her teacher, I trained her voice to it's full capability and she brought all of Paris to her feet, all including another man, a Vicomte. Handsome, normal, the things I could never be he was. She fell in love with him after all I had given her, I gave her my heart in the music I wrote for her and she put it aside for him. She saw my face and that was the end of all hope. I gave her a choice, choose me and you can have everything you ever desire and save the Vicomte's life, choose him and he dies. She chose me, she kissed me. No one had ever touched me before then, it was the greatest kindness I had ever Been shown. That kiss proved that she loved me enough to stay but I loved her too much to keep her locked away forever with me. So I let her go, with him. So she could be happy. Are you crying?"
She sniffled, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to cry. It's just so sad." He threw off his jacket, "It doesn't matter now. None of it does... You look familiar..." He wasn't sure if it was the heat affecting his mind but she had had a resemblance of someone he'd met before. "I just have one of those faces," she said, wiping her forehead. "What I wouldn't give to have a common face," he said, his white shirt was beginning to stick to his skin.
The heat was getting more intense, so much worse that she had taken off her heavy gown and he took off his vest and his mask. "Oh God!" she screamed. "Get over it!" he yelled, his rage growing from the heat. "Not you!" she yelled back, "my hair!" He looked at her and saw that her hair had began to gently curl on it's ends. "It still looks fine," he said, "if anything better." She didn't notice his face, "You're not... Afraid?"
She finally looked at him and studied his face, he had deep sunken eyes and pale skin that looked like it was pulled tight over his skull and a bloated upper lip that reminded her of a really big Shrimp. He had no nose, only two holes where air breathed in and out, he did very much resemble a ghost. "I'm already going to die, I don't really care." He nodded, it was getting harder to breath.
"Have you any regrets?" she asked him. He smiled, "A lot, too many to think of at the moment. You?" She shrugged, tossing aside her petticoats and corset, "Not really, maybe not taking violin when I had the chance and dying a virgin." Her words surprised the both of them but they both came up with the same idea.
No, he wouldn't. She wouldn't let him. Did she want to let him? Did he even want to? They both looked at eachother, questioning the other with eyes alone. They both stood, they were both already almost naked, she stood in nothing but a chemise and pantaloons and he wore nothing but his pants. She lifted a timid hand to his carved strong chest and continued lower to his stomach. His skin was slick from sweat and shined in the light. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him.
He was... Big and she wasn't thinking about his height or body mass. He caressed her neck and her eyes closed at the gentleness of his touch. He abruptly kissed her hard on her lips and she was the one to taste him almost instantly with her tongue. Their mouths tugged ravenously at the others while he guided her backwards toward the tree. He ripped her chemise down the center and off. He pressed his bare skin to hers making them moan together in a sound of desperate passion. He kissed her lips, bit her neck and moved lower to capture her breast in his mouth. She cried at the sensations she thought the heat had killed hours ago but he brought them back to life.
His hand ran up and down her spine and he licked her stomach eagerly before yanking her pantaloons down and out of the way. She saw him on his knees before her naked body and a twinge of fear entered her clouded mind, "What are you doing?" His answer was roughly pushing her legs apart and kissing the center of her where she ached the most. She grabbed his shoulders to push him away but his tongue tasted her and now her hands were keeping him close. He teased her with his tongue moving rapidly over her passion and she gasped and cried her delight. He watched her unbridled reactions and wanted to give her more.
He reached his hand up to pinch and tug at her nipple while he continued to devour her core. Pleasure with the heat of the room and the heat he created suffocated her when she climaxed so powerfully that she fell back against the tree. He couldn't back anymore; he stood to kiss her neck while he unbuttoned his pants to free his hardened desire. She ran her hands up and down his chest but one hand became curious. One hand continued lower and lower down his chest, his stomach and closed around the vast width of him. He moaned against her neck and sagged his body against her. She learned from his reactions how to touch him. He suddenly bent and caught her nipple in his mouth once more but sucked and bit hard.
Finally he picked her up against the tree and she wrapped her bare slick legs around his torso. She felt his tip push at her virginity, making the pain worse and worse until he gave up careful endeavors and thrust the rest of the way. "Fuck!" she screamed from pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he apologized between kisses to her lips and tears. After her body adjusted to him he began to move rough and hard. She kissed his neck and wandered her hands along his strong back. Harder and harder, faster and faster he moved until she suffocated again under the pleasure he created before he too, moaned his release. They were both so exhausted, his knees buckled beneath him and he fell to the sand letting her drop to the floor with him. Aside from the sex, the heat in through room was growing worse by the minute, they both felt their hearts racing and began to accept the fact of their fate. He pulled his pants back on and she tried to cover herself with whatever she grabbed. She asked "What is your name?"
"My name?"
"Well I would like to know who gave me such a wonderful experience."
He smiled his pride, "Erik. Yours?"
Just as she had inhaled to answer, a mirror shattered letting in a frigid cold gust of air and revealed another room on the side and... Her father? "Erik!" her father screamed. "Nadir?" asked Erik, recognizing his voice. "You know my father?" she asked sitting up. "Father?!" Erik shouted sitting up also. "Erik, you son of a bitch!" screamed Nadir. "Father, wait!"
"Didn't I tell you to stay in the lobby?"
"That's why you looked familiar!"
"Erik, I'm going to kill you! I don't care how long I've known you!"
