DISCLAIMER: As you probably know. I do not own any rights to any Phantom of the Opera literature or multimedia.
Meanwhile, down in the catacombs under the opera house, an enraged and weeping Erik was hidden in the sanctuary of his bedchamber. He looked down at the precious diamond ring he held in his bloody trembling hands. Tears slowly rolled down his face as he attempted to hold back screams that were welling up in his chest. His heart, beating faster than ever before, made him feel as though he may have a heart attack at any moment. However, he did not care. In fact, he prayed that death would rear its ugly head and claim his pathetic existence.
Life without Christine was not worth living. He contemplated whether he should just end it all and use his weapon of choice, his Punjab lasso, on himself. He deserved to be in Hell he thought. Maybe in Hell, someone will accept my demonic face. He began searching his room for any lingering rope that may have been left behind. He tore through his drawers and almost turned his bed upside down hoping to find anything that he could end his life with.
Once realizing he has used the remaining supply he had, he stormed out of the room toward his desk near his organ in the sitting room. There must be something here that will be of use to me. He opened every drawer so furiously that he allowed them to fall in a shambles upon the floor. As his bloody hands stained the papers be rumbled through, he realized that his weapon might be still on stage from the body of M. Piangi. Maybe those wretched fools removed it prior to removing the body from the opera house. It was worth a trip at least.
He immediately leapt over his pile of rubble and made his way toward his hidden stairwell toward the rear of his abode. The passage he began to tread upon lead him directly to the small crevice beneath the stage. With any luck, he would be able to unlatch the trap door he has used earlier this night in order to be able to climb onto the stage.
The torches began to extinguish as he was making his way down the corridor. Soon, the entire hall would be left in darkness. Not that that mattered to Erik. No darkness could match the darkness of his broken heart. Once he reached the end of the hall, his magnificent green eyes peered upwards. The trap door was still open. With all the power he could muster, he shoved the small stair-step ladder toward the opening and began to climb onto the stage. Finally reaching the top, he pulled the weight of his body onto the desolated, burning stage.
His blood still rushing with adrenaline, he stomped toward the small puddle of blood left where M. Piangi's body once lain. Served him right. He should have followed my orders and lost some weight. I did warn him that he would die soon. He let out an evil, sinister chuckle. As he began to search the stage, he looked out into the audience and finally saw the destruction he caused. Guilt began to sink into his mind. Look what I did to my precious opera house.
He again began to weep. He had now truly lost everything he has loved. There was no more opera, no more inspiration for music, and more importantly, there was no more Christine.
As he scanned the room taking in all of its horror, he noticed a flash of light blue lying on the mahogany colored carpet. He hurriedly descended the steps of the stage and cautiously walked to the area next to the fallen chandelier.
It was a woman! What was a woman doing left behind in his opera house. He turned her over onto her back from her side, and noticed that she was still breathing. Her thick wavy blond hair was stained with blood which had appeared to have stopped bleeding from her forehead. However, her pretty porcelain face appeared to be spared. Erik stared at her in awe and disbelief that someone would have left her behind. And they call me the monster.
True, he may have been a murderer, but he knew that this woman did not deserve to die. I will not have the death of something so beautiful on my head. He retraced his prior thought. What are you talking about? Do not allow yourself to get soft now. Get back to death…it is what you long for. Let someone else come for her.
No. She is going to live even if it is the last thing I do.
With that, Erik picked up the unconscious blond woman into his arms and began his more normal descent toward his underground lair.