Disclaimer: No, I do not own any of the characters from Phantom of the Opera. I am only borrowing them.


Rich maroon drapes of velvet hang from the cavern's coarse ceiling like shimmering waterfalls. A faint smell of mahogany wood drifts from the glossy, elegant piano that sits

Mutely

In a corner. Many majestic, golden candlesticks stand

Silently

In the

Dark,

Their beauty

Denied

By the flame of a candle. Pages of music covered in scarlet,

Aggressive

Notes are littered about the floor like

Forgotten

Memories of years past. In their midst sits a

Man,

A cloak of deep ebony enveloping his skeletal body like a mother's gentle embrace. A snowy mask of porcelain hides his

Grotesque

Face from the merciless world. With each breath, the damp, chilling air pierces his lungs and leaves jagged spikes of icy

Pain

Within his throat. A wavering candle flame casts dancing

Shadows

Across his high cheekbones. With his thin, gloved hands, he tenderly caresses a deep crimson rose that is guarded by

Wicked

Thorns. His

Defeated

Eyes swirl with

Anguish

And glisten with excruciating

Torment.

Like two mirrors of jade, they reflect his

Soul,

His

Passions,

His bittersweet

Longing

To remove the mask and face the light. He cries

Tears

Of the darkest

Misery

That

Burn

And

Scathe

His flesh. His heart is

Conquered

By the demons of

Despair

That slowly

Devour

Him. Neither angel nor demon can perceive the

Tumult

Of emotions that thrash within his being. The night softly whispers a soliloquy of

Laments

For him through its whirling hues of

Darkness.

All of his

Hopes

And

Dreams

Of life have

Disappeared

Into the

Unforgiving

Fog of humanity. Peer into his

Suffering

Soul and see what remnant of

Tragedy

Lies within. Serenity has

Abandoned

Him, Joy has

Betrayed

Him, Sunlight has

Rejected

Him. Will no one save this

Angel

of

Darkness?