Chapter One
A young woman in black stood on the steps of the Opera Populaire. The November wind tugged relentlessly at her veil, as if trying to pull it away and reveal the beneath it.
She looked up at the desolate theatre and sighed. It had been five years since her last visit and then it had been a glorious temple of shining marble and gilded statues. A lavish place swelling with life and music.
One heavy door, sagging on its hinges, swung open slowly when she pushed on it.
It was chilly inside and she pulled her fine cloak tighter around her body as she hurried across the ruined lobby.
Startled pigeons skittered out of her way and took flight as she carefully picked her way up the steps to the auditorium.
The great space was empty, the chairs and statues that were not destroyed after the chandelier's terrible crash were long since removed. It was like a man-made cavern with a crumbling arch and a stage at its center.
Gathering up her skirts with one hand, the woman stepped up onto the rough wooden ramp that led onto the stage. She walked carefully, afraid that the boards might break beneath her.
A shadow watched as she lifted her veil. A shadow in a white mask stood in the shadows of Box Five and looked down at the lady on the stage.
His hand tightened on the edge of the box, ignoring the splinters that drove into his palm.
Can it be…can it be Christine?
He did not let himself breath and edged further back into the sanctuary of darkness, afraid that she might vanish like all the other…like the other Christines who visited him each night.
It was not Christine. He did not recognize this woman. And he felt as if he would weep again, though he could not say whether it was from despair or from relief.
He watched her…she stood so still in the center of the stage, but her eyes seemed to be searching…
Not for me…I don't know this woman…
He leaned back against the wall, trying to remember how long it had been…how long since another human being had ventured into this cursed place…
He drew his cloak close and moved into the passageway.