Chapter One – The Sweet, Unspoken Meeting
"Share each day with me, each night, each morning... Angel, that's all I ask of you!" said a man that had me in his arms, and I opened my eyes. It was midnight. When I came to my senses, I discovered that I was crying. What a strange feeling! I had not finished organizing my thoughts when a voice from the upper part of my room spoke to me:
"Did you call me?"
"Whose is that voice?" I whispered with fear.
"I am your love, remember... I talked to you in dreams," said the baronial voice, tenderly.
"Answer my question! Who are you?" I said, the tone of my voice growing louder than before.
"Have you forgotten your Angel of Music?" chanted the mysterious sound from above.
I was shocked. I had recently moved into this house, and I had never heard something so similar.
The house was very old, built approximately one century ago. I moved there because I was beginning my studies of architecture, and the house was big and inspiring. I lived with a few friends, but none of them had felt anything rare.
Since the first night I slept there, I'd dreamt of a masked man singing and calling me while I cried. Not knowing what was happening, instead of fear, my soul felt ecstasy—instead of plain words, a song there bloomed.
"Erik, am I dreaming?
Are you really here with me?" I sang, incredulous.
"My soul has found you, my Angel.
I am here with you," answered Erik in warm song.
"I dreamt of you here by my side,
Thinking of it as a joke.
But now, at last, I can hear you.
I am not alone!" I intoned in rejoice.
"Angel of Music,
I/You can hear you/me,
You are with me, angel!" we sang together.
"Please, do not leave me here,
I bid you,
Take me with you, master..." I changed, as if hypnotized.
"I am your angel of music...
Come to me angel of music..." he sang.
"Wait, why am I singing all this? What is happening?" I said, snapping out of my hypnosis.
"Do you think that I would harm you? Think of it, my blonde angel, think of our love..." he said.
"Which love? Why do you call me blonde angel? I demand an answer! I demand you uncover yourself!" I shouted, nervously.
"Look behind your wardrobe cabinet, Little Meg. Have you forgotten our secret doorway?" said he.
"What? Forgot? Ok... I'll look behind the closet..." I said desperately.
I moved the heavy dresser and, behold! There was really a passage! It consisted of what once was a mirror. The golden frame and a few pieces were all that remained.
I took a lantern and peeped into the darkness. I discovered a passageway that led to a staircase. It was spotless and finely designed. When I took the first step inside of it, hundreds of candles magically lit up. Then I discovered that it was a very long way down the stairs. With some strange force carrying me, I ran down the staircase made of stone.
In the middle of my thrill, I stopped. Exhausted, I realized that I was in front of a large lake. Very far, at the other side, a man in black garments was standing in a boat. At the very moment I glanced at him, the vessel started moving toward my side. I began quivering in fear.
"Why are you afraid, my dear?
Why do you fear?
I am a man you know,
The one you love..." sang the man in the boat.
"Why have you brought me here?
Why did I come?" I chanted in fear.
At the time I finished singing, he reached my side. I raised my sight and I gazed at his face. A cold, white mask covered half of it. In the other half, I saw a gorgeous, yet harsh countenance. An expression of cruelty, love, loneliness... too many feelings in one sight. His penetrating green eyes stared fixedly at my nervous appearance. He offered me his hand, which was covered with a black glove. Hardly knowing why, I took his hand and stepped into the boat.
"Since first I stepped in here,
I have felt strange.
I don't know why I'm here,
I want to run.
The only thing I know,
Is that I find the Phantom of the Opera is there,
Inside my mind..." I sang.
"I have brought you here,
To my deep world.
I want you to sing,
To be with me.
Although you don't realize
The reason why, the Phantom of the Opera is there,
Inside your mind..." sang the mysterious man passionately.
"I want to struggle you,
But I can't.
I want to go back there,
And ask for help.
But something stops me from
Refusing the truth: the Phantom of the Opera is here,
Inside my mind..."
And we reached the other side. He got down from the boat, and then he helped me to get down too. When he released my hand, I realized once more that what was happening was extremely bizarre. Suddenly, I pushed him, and began shouting:
"Who are you?
Why do I say all these weird things?
I want an answer!"
He took my hands softly, and said: "I, as you have said, am the Phantom of the Opera. My real name is Erik, and the rest... you will understand in time..." and he began walking, without releasing my hand.
Then, magically, I began to sing again,
"Who is this creature of darkness?
Whose is this face of the night?"
Swiftly, we mounted some stairs, and reached an enormous place, where, as in the beginning of the passage, hundreds of candles were lit up. Its design was perfect. It was full of candles and, in one corner, a great golden pipe organ was displayed. It was full of odd objects, almost too many for the eye to take in. The strong scent of roses made me feel enlightened. I felt that I belonged to that place, that I should stay there. He took me in his arms and began singing:
"In this night, the night of the joy,
You are finally with me.
After all that hard pursuit,
I am, at last, with you.
Long ago, it seems so long ago,
Your soul departed from this place
But now I find you, to revive the past..."
And then, I answered:
"I feel good here, under your familiar sight,
I don't know why I feel like I know you,
From long ago, I think we had something...
And now I'm here with you, with confusion,
With doubts..."
"Which doubts, my Meg...?"
"Why do you call me Meg? My name is Ellen, and I don't know any Meg..."
"You are Ellen, I know, but with the soul of one who once was Meg. I can play with time and with minds, Little Lune. You know it. That is the reason why I am with you in dreams, the cause for your 'involuntary' singing. You have returned where you belong, Meg."
"What? You mean that I am Ellen, but at the same time Meg? Who was Meg?"
"You are identical to Meg. Personality, physical, voice... The first moment you came here, I thought you were she. But no, you are Ellen. The one who is totally like Meg."
"And you, you are immortal?"
"No, I'm not. But I can play with time. I have come from the past."
"So, do you mean that, a long time ago, we had something...?"
"We wanted to have something, but we never could..."
"Well, you will have to convince me... This is peculiar..."
"Do you want a drink?"
"Whatever you have, please..."
I sat on a chair with red silk and golden details that was beside me.
"Here, take this..."
I drank what he gave me, and I began to fall asleep. The only thing I remembered was that Erik took me up to my room...