Chapter 3
The Lair of the Ghost
I led her along the passageway behind the mirror. Though I was holding her hand, I couldn't help but look back at her every few seconds out of fear that she would go back. "In sleep he sang to me," Christine whispered, more to herself than to me. "In dreams he came. That voice which calls to me and speaks my name. And do I dream again for now I find the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside my mind."
"Sing once again with me," I said to her. "Our strange duet. My power over you grows stronger yet. And though you turn from me to glance behind, the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind." We had reached a long ramp spiraling downwards. I found myself looking at the ground more than I was looking at her. I had installed traps in the floor that, if stepped upon, opened and trapped the person who stepped on them.
"Those who have seen your face draw back in fear," Christine said. "I am the mask you wear…"
"It's me they hear," I finished. "My spirit and your voice in one combined! The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind." Before us was a large lake that was coated with silver mist. On the shore was a boat. I helped her into it before entering it myself. I grabbed the staff that was next to the boat and used it to move the boat along the water. "In all your fantasies, you always knew that man and mystery…"
"Were both in you," Christine said. "And in this labyrinth where night is blind, the Phantom of the Opera is here, inside my mind."
"Sing, my Angel of Music," I said softly. Christine began doing a singing exercise that she had done at every one of her lessons. She started at a high note, went down a little, and went down a few notes, and returned to the note she started on. "Sing for me." She went higher. "Sing, my Angel of Music." She went higher, and we passed under the gate into my lair. "Sing for me!" She reached an E, a note that even I can barely reach. Content, I didn't tell her to go on. We had reached our destination, anyway.
On the shore of the lake by my lair, there were candles that rose out of the water, casting their shimmering light everywhere. I had an organ in the center of my lair. I spent a lot of time there, composing. The decorations in my lair consisted of candles and red velvet drapes on the walls. A few of these drapes covered mirrors.
I stepped out of the boat and walked a few paces toward my organ. I turned around to face Christine, who was looking around my lair with a look of wonder on her face. After she had taken it all in, she looked back at me. "I have brought you to the seat of sweet music's throne," I told her, "to this kingdom where all must pay homage to music. You have come here for one purpose and one alone. Since the moment I first heard you sing, I have needed you with me to serve me; to sing for my music.
"Nighttime sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness wakes and stirs imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses." I walked back to the boat and helped her out of it. "Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor. Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender. Turn your face away from the garish light of day. Turn your thoughts away from the garish light of day. Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light and listen to the music of the night.
"Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams. Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before. Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar, and you'll live as you've never lived before." I was showing Christine around my lair. She examined the model of a stage that I use for composing operas. "Softly, deftly, music shall surround you. Hear it, feel it, closing in around you. Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind in this darkness which you know you cannot fight—the darkness of the music of the night.
"Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be. Only then can you belong to me. Floating, falling, sweet intoxication." I took one of her hands and pressed it against the normal half of my face, which was not covered by my mask. "Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation. Let the dream begin. Let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write. The power of the music of the night."
I led Christine to a small area of my lair that wasn't visible from the shore of the lake. In this area, I had a life size manikin of Christine dressed in a wedding gown. As soon as Christine saw this, she fainted. I caught her and carried her to my bed. I laid her down on it. "You alone can make my song take flight," I whispered. "Help me make the music of the night." I moved away from the bed toward my organ. I would speak to her again in the morning.