Erik was tired. The incident at the opera was over and Christine was gone. What would he live for now? His life was gone; he no longer had his muse to help him write his music.
Yes, he was lonely. With the lasso in his hand he pondered what to do next. Should he end it here? Was this really what his life would end as? His life was miserable enough before Christine left and now he felt like each of the mirrors he smashed earlier represented his life.
But he knew he could have a second chance. That machine he built last year! Maybe it would help him find a new life with people who would accept him for who he was - and possibly - he could find someone to love him.
He decided - he would go to a new time, a new world. Erik would leave every memory and every single thing that reminded him of Christine. The past is the past and he need to find a new future.
That's what he was looking for: a future. He wasn't very old, only the age of thirty-two. He still had some good years left in him. He still had a chance in life. Erik strode over the organ and pulled a lever disguised as a candle. The organ slid open to a medium-sized, dimly lit room. Inside the room was a strange metal box. You would think it was another torture device that he created; but it wasn't. This was something that not even the modern world had succeeded in yet: a time machine.
As Erik entered the narrow door in the side of the Time Machine, he felt a cold shudder go through him.
2011
Erika felt a cold shudder go through her as she put on her costume. "Probably a draft in here," she murmured.
She looked to her left as she felt a tiny breeze. There was a man. His clothing was horrendously old-fashioned - a white shirt opened at the chest, black tight pants, a cape, and the one piece that intrigued her - a mask.
It wasn't a large mask; it wasn't even normal. It was a white half-mask. It covered exactly half of his face. Erika recognized him somehow - she felt an inner connection. She felt drawn to him, as if a cord was attached in her mind and his. His gaze met hers and she felt some feeling rise up within her. What was this feeling? Déjà vu perhaps?