Disclaimer!: I don't own Phantom of the Opera or anything in relation to it! I'm open to any suggestions for this story or another!

Chapter 1: Past The Point of No Return

I paced back and forth, passing away the hour I had remaining until I would make my stage appearance during my own opera, Don Juan Triumphant. I removed my white mask and set it upon my organ before reaching for the black mask I was to wear.

I contemplated my plan. I planned on this all to play out the way it currently was. I smiled at the part I was to play. Don Juan was intended to be a seducer. And I intended to seduce my Angel out of the betrayal they were plotting. A perfect match. Unlike that ham of a man, Piangi.

I listened as the last note rang out through my dungeon. It was time. I grabbed the prepared noose I had created to strangle the fat lard currently playing my role. I had taken the passageway behind a mirror to a room backstage that many did not use. I exited the room cautiously and hid, waiting for the right moment to approach Piangi.

I listened to the pompous fool struggle with his part and slaughter it before he appeared behind the set. I approached him silently and prepared my lasso.

"Bravo, monsieur." I whispered in his ear before squeezing the rope tight around his neck, blocking his airway. His shaking body fell to the floor as he struggled to try and loosen the knot. I listened to Christine's angelic singing before I left the man to silently die. I turned to take the stage, concealing my face with my cape.

"Master?"

That was my cue. I walked out of the tent prop serving as a bedroom and approached the man playing Passarino.

"Passarino—Go away for the trap it is set and waits for its prey." I sang, glancing in my Angel's direction. She was picking at a rose.

I lowered my cape and walked away from the tent towards Christine.

"You have come here in pursuit of your deepest urge. In pursuit of that wish which till now has been silent," She glanced at me over her shoulder and I put my finger to my lips. "Silent."

Her heart faltered slightly and she turned away once more and glanced up at Box 3 - at her lover, the Viscount, before turning slightly to face me. I surfaced all of the passion and intensity my soul held and tried influencing her a little more with the sound of my voice.

"I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge."

She closed her eyes. I felt her lowering the mental wall around her mind, for she couldn't resist me.

"In your mind you've already succumbed to me," I flipped my cape back out of my way so it flowed behind me as I walked out into the open stage. "Dropped all defenses completely succumbed to me. Now you are here with me. No second thoughts."

She turned completely and looked at me. "You've decided…"

I flipped my cape once more, just for effect this time. "Decided…" She had a slight look of awe on her face as she stood up and observed me.

I slowly walked towards her as she stood, frozen, the look of awe still plastered on her face. "Past the point of no return – no backward glances. All games of make believe are at an end."

I closed my eyes briefly before looking back at her. I had reached her and started to walk circles around her as if stalking my prey. I chuckled to myself at my metaphor.

"Past all thought of 'if' or 'when'." I noticed the straps of her dress kept sliding off her shoulders. I felt a strange jump in the pit of my stomach every time they fell. "No use resisting. Abandon thought and let the dream descend."

"What raging fire shall flood the soul?" I sang a little more intensely, trying to lure her in once more. I was now behind her, holding her neck. She closed her eyes and leaned into me. "What rich desire unlocks its door?" I lowered my voice slightly and sang with a more seducing tone, slowly increasing in intensity. I trailed my hand down her jaw and her neck to her shoulder and then, with both of my hands, I slowly caressed down her arm to her hand, watching my hands as they maneuvered down the contours of her arm. "What sweet seduction lies before us?" I looked up her arm to her face.

"Past the point of no return – the final threshold." I held her hand and walked backwards, pulling her along with me. "What warm, unspoken secrets will we learn," Her hand slipped out of mine and it fell limply to her side. "Beyond the point of no return."

She started to walk away from me. I feared she wouldn't sing to me in return. That she would turn and run from me. She looked from me to the audience. Then she looked up again at that fool, the Viscount. I followed her gaze and shot a glare up to him, seeing him scoot to the edge of his seat.

"You have brought me," she shifted her glance between the audience and Raoul. "To that moment where words run dry." I looked up once more and caught sight of the officer standing in the box with the Viscount. They have never stopped me before. "To that moment where speech disappears into silence..." I sensed anxiety coming from the workers of the theatre, the managers scrambling to find more guards. "Silence." She walked a little further away from me.

"I have come here. Hardly knowing the reason why." She shuffled a little more and closed her eyes briefly, her eyelids fluttering. Her damn sleeve fell again. "In my mind I've already imagined," she looked at me passionately. "Our bodies entwining, defenseless and silent." Her other sleeve fell. She stopped trying to pull them back into place and it was killing me. She faced me head on, her eyes searing into mine. I had to inhale deeply to keep my heart beating. She was so breath taking. I looked her over, from head to toe. "And now I am here with you – no second thoughts." She smiled. "I've decided…" She started nodding, slightly. "Decided…"

I inhaled again, leaning my head backwards. She was trying to seduce me. And it was working. I felt defenseless and vulnerable. All I could think of was the two of us. She started to walk to the staircase on her side of the stage. I follow suit, retreating to mine. Although, I never took my eyes off of her. The whole time she continued to sing to me.

"Past the point of no return – no going back now: our passion play has now, at last, begun." My breathing deepened. I was drowning in HER voice for once. I had completely forgotten that she was surely planning to betray me. "Past all thought of right or wrong – one final question:" she stopped climbing. My body stopped as well, reacting to hers. She leaned towards me, her voice carrying across the stage to me as she cried out. "How long should we to wait before we're one?"

We both start climbing again, our eyes never leaving each other's faces. "When will the blood begin to race? The sleeping bud burst into bloom?" We had both reached the top, nothing separating us now except for air. We both paused.

"When will the flames at last consume us?" I never knew her voice held such ferocity. We had never gotten to intensity in her lessons. It gave me goose bumps and my stomach continued to do flips inside my body.

We started towards each other, singing in a duet now.

I threw my cape off, not caring where it landed. "Past the point of no return! The final threshold!" She was finally in my reach. We quickly closed the distance between us, grabbing each other's waist. I spun her around so her back was against the front of me. I desperately held her close to me, not wanting this to end. My hands were on top of hers as they explored the front of her body. "The bridge is crossed so stand and watch it burn!" I guided her hand up and over her chest, my stomach flipping more frantically and my breath catching in my throat, and up to her neck. "We've past the point of no return…"

Our singing ceased as the music continued softly. I inhaled deeply again, the smell of her hair engulfing me. I lifted my hand slightly to barely caress her cheek. I leaned closer to her ear and sang softly.

"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime." My other hand reached up and slowly caressed her other cheek. My hands caressed not only her cheeks but also, slowly going down her neck and her shoulders, brushing my fingers over her skin.

"Lead me, save me from my solitude." I left one hand on her collarbone as the other combed through her tightly twisted hair. "Say you'll need me with you here, beside you…" Her eyes, which had been closed, opened as she snapped out of her seduced trance. She started to turn and look at me and I back away slightly so she could turn and face me completely. I cupped her delicate little hand in mine. "Anywhere you go, let me go too…" She looked at me somberly and sadly. She reached up and placed her hand on my cheek and I placed mine over her heart.

"Christine," she smiled and a few tears escaped her eyes. "That's all I ask of -- !"

Suddenly, she tucked one finger under my mask and tore it off my face, the right side of my face revealed to the whole Opera House. Many screams and gasps erupted in my ears, but I still couldn't take my face away from her. I was speechless. How could she?! I was fuming. She looked at me sadly but I felt no pity for her anymore.

I looked away and glanced at the chandelier and then to the police all around, arming themselves, with a haughty expression on my face. I pulled Christine close to me, feeling her tense in shock and fear. Good. It was about time she knew her place.

I cut the red rope, that appeared to just be a prop, and released the chandelier, letting it free fall. The chains ripped through the beautifully painted ceiling as it plummeted to the stage. I kicked the lever next to my foot, releasing the trap door.

As we fell I heard many gunshots and screams. I could hear the glass tinkling on the chandelier. I made sure to put the impact all on me, holding Christine so she wouldn't feel any of it.

My knees protested and I almost lost my footing as we hit the stone floor. Before the trap door closed, a plume of flames erupted over it and a large explosion echoed through the corridors. My work was complete.