Chapter 1- Point of No Return
Don Juan (Phantom) Aminta (Christine) BOTH
You have come here/in pursuit of/your deepest urge,/in pursuit of/that wish,/which till now/has been silent,/silent/I have brought you,/that our passions/may fuse and merge/in your mind/you've already/succumbed to me/dropped all defences/completely succumbed to me/now you are here with me/no second thoughts,/you've decided,/decided/Past the point/of no return/no backward glances/the games we've played/till now are at/an end/Past all thought/of "if" or "when"/no use resisting/abandon thought,/and let the dream/descend/What raging fire/shall flood the soul?/What rich desire/unlocks its door?/What sweet seduction/lies before/us?/Past the point/of no return,/the final threshold/what warm,/unspoken secrets/will we learn?/Beyond the point/of no return/
You have brought me/to that moment/where words run dry,/to that moment/where speech/disappears/into silence,/silence/I have come here,/hardly knowing/the reason why/In my mind,/I've already/imagined our/bodies entwining/defenseless and silent/and now I am/here with you/no second thoughts,/I've decided,/decided/Past the point/of no return/no going back now/our passion-play/has now, at last,/begun/Past all thought/of right or wrong/one final question/how long should we/two wait, before/we're one?/When will the blood/begin to race/the sleeping bud/burst into bloom?/When will the flames,/at last, consume/us?
Past the point/of no return/the final threshold/the bridge/is crossed, so stand/and watch it burn/We've passed the point/of no return/
Point of No Return
Alina looked up at the building it was a magnificent structure the architecture astounded her in its beauty; the grand Opera Populaire. She had been in Paris for a few weeks and lately it seemed that all people could talk about was the opera house and its notorious ghost. People spoke about the Phantom in whispers no one could seem to bring themselves to speak of him aloud, as if they thought he would appear if they uttered his name loud enough for him to hear. She found all of this ridiculous she knew of the spirit world being an Ungaritza her people knew well of the spirits and how they came and went and the chaos they could cause but it was nothing like the stories she overheard these occurrences and the payments, the payments that must be made to a living man not a dead one. Her mother had the gift to see spirits of the dead as well as hear them and she could smell the stench of death, a gift that she was thankful she didn't receive. She remembered peeking through the tent watching her mother deal with the gadje, those that were not gypsy who were both frightened of the gypsy magic and also in awe of it. Her mother dabbled in pen-dukkerin for the gadje as a fortune teller reading their palms for a piece of gold or silver. Sometimes she would hear from the spirits even those related to the gadje whose fortune she read and it would aid her in her readings. She admired her mother for she was able to accept her gift and see it as such. She didn't know if she would be as accepting of having it, maybe it's why she never received it. She kept walking around the side of the building heading towards her lodgings.
Her thoughts traveled back to those of the Phantom if he was a man pretending to be a ghost why was he doing so why would he chose to walk in the shadows to be as a living dead. She wondered what terrible thing had happened to him or he had been through in order for him to feel he must live such a life. She understood his plight she also walked in the shadows and was a walking living dead, but for her it was because she was in marime' she had been banished from her community she was no longer a gypsy in their eyes she was dead to them. Now she traveled the land belonging nowhere she could not go home she was not accepted by the gypsies and she was not accepted by the gadjes either, so she lived as though she were a shadow and could not imagine choosing such a life. Sure the gypsy life could be a little claustrophobic and you rarely had any privacy but to shut yourself off completely from the world living by yourself wasn't something she could fathom. She felt sympathy for this man and wondered what kind of man he was to inspire such fear and such awe in these men and women of Paris. It was like her mother before she was killed she too inspired fear and awe with her gifts. Maybe this man, this ghost was just misunderstood.
She was passing by the stage door when it burst open and five young girls almost fell on top of each other to get away from whatever frightened them so badly. Some were crying others were pale faced and in shock. They were wearing dark black dresses and red roses in their hair they were dressed similar to her Spanish brethren the gypsies who danced the Flamenco but most of this high society wouldn't know of that. She was probably mistaken she was going to press on but their fear seemed so genuine and she wondered if there was anything she could do to help if they would even think of taking her help. Suddenly a dark figure appeared out of the shadows, it was a woman in a dowdy black dress her hair was tied back into a braid her face had an air of authority to it surely she was the ballet mistress. Now the girls had someone to watch over them she was about to continue on as the ballet mistress spoke. "Mademoiselles the opera ghost will not harm you, you must get to your places at once the show is about to begin I will not hear any pretexts." This was the first time Alina had heard anyone refer to him aloud and with such comfort as if she knew the opera ghost well enough to know what he was capable of this intrigued her to think that he has let someone get close enough to him he must not be a total recluse. The dancers hung their head eyes still wide with fear and headed back inside. This time she really was going to head off to her rented room for some much needed rest. She hadn't walked but a few steps when a hand grabbed her around the wrist and pulled her back. "Where are you going Mademoiselle? We have a show to do, the opera ghost has worked very hard on this opera and we mustn't disappoint him by not fulfilling our duties to rouse his genius." She looked at this woman incredulously, "But I do not…" The woman held up a hand to silence her. "I know you are frightened as am I.", then under her breath "I fear for his safety and his sanity."
Madam Giry looked at her and realized that she could not recognize this beautiful young woman, 'Based on her looks the managers must have hired her based on sight alone, I wonder if she can even dance. No matter she will perform for him. I pray that he discovered the trap that has been set.' Before Alina could even realized what was happening the older woman pushed her through the stage door and soon she to make sure no more dancers escaped that way locked it. She was upset by the predicament and the woman's bossiness but soon that was replaced by awe as she looked around her at the inner working of the opera house. There were people coming and going, sets wheeled about, dancers practicing, her awe was cut short by a woman wearing a long black dress with flowers and a wire headpiece in her hair pushed past her without so much as a pardon me. She wanted to see if she could find another exit in case someone found out she was trespassing not that it was her choice but she knew what gadjes thought of gypsies that they were thieves and liars. She did admit to herself that this wasn't a bad predicament to be in she had wanted to see an opera at the famous Opera Populaire since she first heard of it. Now the words of the ballet mistress sunk in, 'the opera ghost has worked very hard on this opera' meaning that this opera about to begin was in fact written by the opera ghost himself now she was really intrigued by this information. She wondered if she tried to be inconspicuous if she could stay and watch the opera and then sneak out afterwards, but how could a gypsy blend in with this opera staff.
Just then she saw a young girl with blond hair piled on top of her head walk a few feet in front of her wearing a white blouse red vest and long black and red skirt except for the colors of the clothing they were dressed similarly. She too wore a white blouse with a dark blue vest and skirt of black, blue, grey and white fabric overlays, and her long curly hair hung loose and wild instead of piled neatly on her head. There was another dark haired girl dressed almost the same. 'No wonder the ballet mistress thought I was part of the production and not an outsider. But how could the opera ghost know how to write about us gypsies, maybe he had seen one once.' Soon dark music began to play and the woman who brushed past her earlier was now on stage singing with a group of people the woman's voice grated on her nerves. As she looked out at the audience through a small opening of the curtain from where she stood they didn't seem to like her voice either. The blond girl danced on stage, which in her opinion was quite good not up to par with a gypsy dancer but good for a gadje, she was tossed a bag of coins by a man and danced offstage. This ruffled her feathers I hope this opera ghost does not think all gypsies sell their bodies for money, maybe he doesn't know gypsies the way I had thought. Two rather rotund singers now sang onstage followed by a smaller person dressed similarly. 'Hrmph, now these two men sing how they plan to trick a woman by pretending to be each other, I still don't see the genius in this opera.' She was trying to be patient she realized that she would not like everything she saw but until she found an exit she would have to make the most of it. She soon heard a man gasp in fright but thought nothing of it she headed to the other side of the stage hoping there would be an exit.
An exquisite soprano voice filled the stage for but a moment and she looked to see where the voice originated. It was a beautiful young female sitting on the stage with a basket of flowers maybe a few years younger than she was. Alina used to wish she could sing like that with such grace and beauty such a high vocal range but she was comfortable with her contralto range which couldn't compare to this young woman's. But she no longer wished that she could sing beautifully for she could dance like no other and had a way with animals that astounded many people she was glad for the skills she did possess that she thought not of those she didn't. Suddenly a smooth sexy baritone voice rose out above the crowd it was seductive and full of emotion. The man onstage looked nothing like the first rotund fellow; this man was of a more slender, muscular build. His face seemed well chiseled and she wished she could see him without the mask. She watched the woman on stage that seemed to, in fact succumb to him as she herself was beginning to feel as well. No man had made her feel so powerless to him, just from hearing his voice. She felt herself lose control of her senses, but she couldn't help but notice what was going on around her.
There were police stationed all around at first she worried maybe she had been found out for trespassing but she saw the man look up to the spot the woman had seconds before and there were policemen hiding poorly in a private box with another well-dressed gentleman. But the woman didn't seem to be fazed by it soon she turned back to the man and seemed to be taken by his singing spell once more, walking up to the higher platform making the policemen gather closer as if they were nervous of what might happen. She thought maybe she should leave before something did happen but the man's voice glued her to the spot and she watched as he wrapped his arms around the woman and held her close and a deep primal part of her wished he was holding her in that way. She shook her head to try to clear the image, no man had ever touched her in such a way. She knew she shouldn't be thinking such thoughts as if finding happiness could be possible for a marime' it would mean being with a gadje and she didn't think she could do that without a clear conscience not with her mother watching over her. But this man and his voice so full of emotion made her dare to dream, that a happy love filled life could be possible for someone used to living in the shadows. The song went from dark and seductive, to sweet and romantic.
He was declaring his love for this woman who seemed to love him as well until the unthinkable happened and she ripped off his mask and wig to reveal a severe deformity underneath. People screamed and fainted in the audience and people backstage screamed as well. She didn't know what the whole fuss was about his deformity wasn't the worst that she's seen, indeed she had seen one worse in a neighboring gypsy community, that of a young girl. Then chaos ensued as the rope to the chandelier was cut and it began its high speed descent onto the stage and the man and woman soon disappeared through a trapdoor in the floor, which made all the police rush forward to the stage but the trapdoor had already reset itself forcing them to find another way to reach them.