Behind The Mask
The Face In The Shadows
Authors Note: I have this placed under the stage show but I want to let everyone know ahead of time that there will be elements from both the original Leroux novel and the stage show. I know that this is a totally different story from that which I had posted under this same title almost a year ago, but I believe this is much better. Actually, I know it is much better and I hope you enjoy it.
Introduction
Erik stood, his clothes clinging to his body. Drops of water dripped onto the cobblestone street. Despite all that had happened in the past several hours his mask had not been shed from his face. Not once.
Angel stood, mirroring his position. Her clothes were as well clinging to her body from the rain that had just fallen. She let her hair hang in her face, keeping her eyes locked on Erik's. She knew what lied beneath that mask. She had in fact crafted the very scrap of concealment for him. Only she knew what he truly looked like, inside and out.
"Go…" her voice was strained. "Go live your life and leave me here to rot in these streets for which you plucked me from when I had no one to care for me. You've made it clear you'd prefer the star than me. Let her sing for you. My voice can no longer carry a tune. Now go!" Angel turned her face and shut her eyes in pain at her last exclamation.
Erik straightened his back and turned, facing Christine, his star. He had made something of this girl when she was destined to be nothing more than a ballerina. A diamond in the rough is how he described her once to Angel. With enough effort, he was able to make a diamond from coal that no one would look at twice.
Christine ran to Erik, clutching him tightly to her. "Erik, my dear, I love you." She pulled away from him then pressed her lips against his.
Angel's stomach churned and her heart ached. Christine might know what lies beneath the mask as well but she could never know what lies beneath the surface. Anyone could see beauty in his face but beauty is only skin deep. Christine has only scratched the surface of Erik's beauty.
"My Christine," he whispered into her ear, "I thought you had left me again."
"Never again, my dear. Now, take me home." Christine didn't move an inch away from Erik as he lifted her into his arms and began walking down the street, leaving Angel behind.
She watched as they disappeared down the cobblestone street. A carriage turned a corner and headed straight for Angel. She jumped back and landed in a large puddle of water and runoff from the filthy streets. She lost her footing when she took a step forward and slid on the slick stone. Water and filth splashed around her. Angel had lost her wings.
And with that, she was back to square one. Back to where she was before everything had happened. But what she would give to do it all over again! If only just once. To feel the sun upon her skin again without being shunned back into the shadows and the coldness.
Oh to feel beautiful again! Angel sighed and laughed at herself at thinking such a silly thing. There was no possible way she would ever get another chance to feel the same way again. Erik had chosen Christine and she would have to live with that fact, no matter how awful it made her feel in the pit of her stomach where her heart resided at the moment.
Could she dream though? Erik had once said that even when you are kept in the dark and cold, dreams will be there to warm you. Even for just a night. But a night was enough to keep the demons at bay.
Perhaps that was what Angel needed. A dream. In these familiar streets, she could sleep if she wished to do so. The cobblestones had been her bed when she was a child and the day old newspapers her blanket. A dream could keep the demons at bay indeed. At least until the sun rose again.
Angel shut her eyes and curled up against the ice cold wall of the Paris Opera. She put a pale hand to her chest and felt for the necklace but it was no longer there. No! It was around that little beauty, Christine's neck!
Anger welled up inside of Angel but she forced it down and tried to force sleep upon herself. Shaking back and forth, she sang to herself. "Turn your face away from the darkness in your soul. Don't forget the part you play, in the opera. The most important role…"
Turning on her side, Angel felt an object inside her thin wool sweater. She reached inside and removed a mask, half finished. The mask she had been making for Erik most recently. Tears fell onto the white article of clothing and she clutched it in her hands as she let sleep overcome her and in turn, dreams.