Kim ran as quickly as she could and very swiftly opened the door with both hands. It lead to a great stone staircase spiraling down, down, down. She took the first few steps before having enough room to close the door above her head. She listened closely and heard quick faint foot steps not so very far away. She raced down the staircase as fast as she could, holding on to the handrail for support. Soon she reached the bottom and listened. She could hear nothing. She was puzzled and scared and curious. She took a few cautions steps forward, and then a few more, and then a few more, until she found herself in a brilliant laboratory. At least, that is what it looked like. She wandered around, dumbfounded. At one side of the room was a huge organ, with pipes dozens of feet high. The rest of the room was filled with bottles and potions and steam and lights and broken mirrors and overturned furniture. She walked over to the organ and it towered over her. There were pages of music scattered everywhere. She picked one up and read it. She could hear the music in her ears. It wasn't something that she had ever hear before- no, this was an original piece written by someone who lived down there. Someone tormented. This page held pure beauty.

"You found me"

The voice startled Kim and she jumped letting out a bit of a scream. She turned around, and saw a man standing there. He was tall and wore all black, expect for a white mask that covered half of his face- the white she had seen in the rafters.

"I knew you would"

The shadow man smiled.

"This is where I live. And study. That music you were reading, it's mine."

"It's beautiful" was all Kim could think of to say.

Suddenly, the door that led to the shadow man's laboratory was heard being open. There were angry voices and cries of "I saw her go down here." Kim recognized the voice to be that of the actress who played Juliet's nurse.

"But what would she want down here? It's only where we keep the organ."

"I don't know! How would I know that? Don't ask stupid questions! All I know is that I just saw her go down here"

Kim looked at the shadow man, a pleading look on her face asking him, pleading with him for his help. The shadow man grabbed Kim's arm and pulled her into the darkness of the shadows. She didn't ask any questions- she was confused, but there was an essence about him that told her not to be afraid, to trust him. The small mob entered the room and searched.

"Are you sure she went down here?"

"Yes, right down that door way."

"What is with all of the experiments?"

"This must be where they where they work on new make-up. I heard they had some sort of laboratory some where."

"But the girl, where is she?"

They searched, and searched, but they could find nothing. The shadow man smiled. The other mob couldn't either. Soon enough, the frustrated security officers and Juliet's nurse left, the actress cursing herself and swearing that she had seen her go down here. As soon as they were gone, the two emerged from the shadows.

"That was wonderful," Kim exclaimed. "How did you.?"



"I have considerable expertise in escaping mobs". The shadow man smiled, laughing slightly to himself.

"Well, thank you. I don't know what would have happened if they had caught me."

"Yes, well, you've been through enough."

A chill ran through Kim. What was he talking about? How did this man know about her? How much did he know about her?

"Excuse me?" Kim asked, trying to keep her voice steady as possible, but none the less, it shook slightly.

"There is no need to be afraid child. There was a reason I was watching you. I can help you. I can help you both."

This frightened Kim. Help us both? But his voice was soothing, and she trusted him- he had saved her. The shadow man led Kim away from the organ, past a table of bottles and potions, and around an overturned chair to where a black curtain stood. The shadow man took the ends of the curtain in his hands, but stopped to look at Kim. She looked back at him and they stared at each other silently for a moment. Then, the shadow man pulled back the curtain. Kim looked- she couldn't believe her eyes. There before her stood a box- a clear box on a podium. The box contained the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her entire life- a pair of beautifully shaped, perfectly formed hands.