A Love Unending
By: Shannon O'Brien
PROLOGUE
The tragic and mysterious events of the Opera Populaire had bestowed dark impressions upon the young Christine Daaé and Raoul de Chagny. The ordeal had left the two with scars which would never fully heal. The darkness they believed they had fled from,fervently pursued them. It had seeped its way into their pores, clinging to the very fibers of their souls. It refused to be blown asunder and denied to be brushed lightly to the side to be forgotten. Constantly, they were reminded of the very time in their lives that both endlessly sought to wash from their memories. Memories however, were something that Christine and Raoul would have to contend with for the rest of their waking moments.
For the first year of their married life, Raoul and Christine tried desperately to achieve happiness, hoping that the past would remain behind them, where it would never shadow their days. Both longed for the marriage which they had been so certain was destined to be theirs. They could not allow themselves to accept that they would never grasp it.
The events of the Opera Populaire, and the struggle Christine and Raoul had to endure for their freedom, for their love and life, had ultimately left its impact upon the young couple. They were ensnared, in what resembled some horrific gothic fairytale that would not relinquish its icy hold. What the two had endured changed them. So changed, that the little Soprano and the young Vicomte, who had ardently promised themselves to each other, were regretfully no longer the two innocent children they once had been. Those children were lost forever . . . they had died far beneath the Opera Populaire, somewhere within its vast labyrinth of darkness.
They had set off to a fairy tale beginning. Their youthful love whispering glorious promises to each of them, engulfing them with sweet dreams of what was to come. Their marriage now, was nothing more than a shattered dream. A beautiful dream, but shattered just the same. Fate and circumstances had changed their paths, and yet they had still refused to succumb to the reality that was right there, before their very eyes. Christine and Raoul were determined to prove, that all they had undergone and had struggled for had not been in vain. It was demonstrated by the way they diligently tried to salvage their marriage and in turn, save their lives which had traveled so utterly off track. For Christine and Raoul, the ending to their own fairy tale was nothing at all how they had envisioned it to be. . . .
There was another party to this twisted tale.
A man whom created the events that forever altered the fate of the young couple. A monster who experienced but one loving touch in his life, and it was from the hand of an angel. This poor, shell of a man, suffered from the same hollow life that stood before the formerly happy couple. He was the shadow of doubt in their marriage, just as they were the shadows which haunted him. He believed when Christine left, the tale was over.
He was wrong.
The end to their tortured tale was still to come; for all fairy tales, even dark ones, must come to an end. . . .
*Author's Note:
Hey guys!
Okay, so this was the first ever fan fic I wrote, and was going to post here, but never did. I wrote this in '05 so you'll see my writing style is a bit different than now (I've read A LOT since then). This would never have been shared with you all if my dear beta, GraySkies29, hadn't looked it over and condensed the prologue (it was originally like 11 pages, now it's 3, lol). I have 3 chapters written and GraySkies29 is going to look them over and edited them for me. I can't promise that I'll finish this one, but I hope you like what I've got ;)
xo
-Shannon*