Pam Moore was becoming increasingly worried about her college roommate, Ronnie. Having been away from classes for a week or so for a special journalism assignment as part of her major, she noticed that her friend was beginning to act increasingly weird upon her return.

At first, she had noticed very that was little different about Ronnie, except that she seemed to be laboring away at some project feverishly on her computer. Ever since their days together in high school, Ronnie had always been a whiz at schoolwork, usually getting her homework done before the school day had even ended. And she had never been one for staying indoors too much. Usually, she liked to cruise around to the mall, the movie theater, and the restaurants. The phrase 'shop till you drop' was practically invented for her. Seeing her still for so long was really strange.

When Pam asked her what she was slaving away on with such devotion, Ronnie told her that it was a special project for her Creative Writing class. That made sense. Still, it was very unusual to see her friend sitting so peacefully at the computer in such an intense state of concentration, clicking away at her keyboard with a steady incessant rhythm.

Well, Ronnie had changed a lot over the last few years, she contemplated.

During their high school days, one of the reasons that Pam liked hanging out with Ronnie so much was because she had such a fun adventurous spirit, always wanting to do something wild and crazy. Whether it was going off on a weekend road trip or trying to crash dance clubs when they were underage, her friend was up for almost anything ever since they were freshmen struggling to get through their English class together under the tyranny of Ms. Douglas, a crotchety old dragon of a woman who looked suspiciously like Dana Carvey's Saturday Night Live impression of "The Church Lady", except for real with her blue curly hair and purple starched suit.

Had those days really been so fun and carefree? It was hard to remember now in the blur of college insanity. But things had really fallen apart for Ronnie after high school.

She had gotten mixed up with a jerk named Kevin. He had taken her to their senior prom and had become her first serious boyfriend. In fact, he had been her only real boyfriend that Pam was aware of. Billy didn't really count as a boyfriend; he was really more of a failed date several times over. In those days, Ronnie was a romance fiend, practically raised on historical romance novels and soap operas and tearjerker movies from Blockbuster. Being the incurable love dope that she was, she fell for Kevin head over heels, blind to any faults he had such as his having been held back a year in high school or his annoying habit of breaking their dates with lame excuses. And he wasn't even handsome but strange looking, sort of a cross between Matthew Broderick and Mick Jagger.

Pam had his number from the start. There was something about him. His parents were well known to be trailer trash druggies. All of his life, he had been shuffled about from one place to the next. She didn't know exactly how she had sensed that he was going to be bad news. Maybe it was because Pam's own mother had had an abusive boyfriend who was also no good. Whatever the reason, Pam always knew in her gut that he was only out to get into Ronnie's pants. She tried to hint as much to her friend, but then she thought that maybe she should just mind her own business. It wasn't like her own life was mistake free.

Then the inevitable happened. One day during their freshman year at school, Pam came into their dorm room to find Ronnie collapsed upon her lower bunk bed and crying. Apparently, the deed had been done. Without much coaxing on Pam's part, Ronnie admitted that she had had sex with Kevin. It had been her first time and had been nothing but pain and agony. After graduation, Kevin had become more or less a drifter, not going to school or holding down any jobs. Less than a week after their talk, he drifted away out of Ronnie's life for good, not even having the good grace to leave her a letter or a message on her answering machine. It was good riddance as far as Pam was concerned, but she hated to see how the light in her friend's eyes had died.

Time had gone by. During their sophomore, junior and senior years together, Ronnie had lost that love of life that she used to have. She smiled rarely and laughed even less. In fact, whatever sense of humor she had left was sarcastic and dark. Added with the frustration of constantly being rejected for theater roles, she was becoming downright morose. Unable to stand seeing her friend deteriorate, Pam had tried to fix her up with different guys, but none of them interested her.

When Pam heard about her friend's grandmother, she winced.

Ronnie of all people needed something good to happen to her for a change.

But Ronnie didn't seem so depressed anymore, Pam observed. In fact, as she worked away on her 'project', her face was almost serene without a trace of bitterness or cynicism. Sometimes, there was even a soft dreamy smile playing at her lips.

Another oddity since Pam had returned from her assignment was that there was a large theater poster hanging up on Ronnie's side of the room. It was a photograph of an actor named Tony Bradshaw from a production called "Man Behind the Mask" playing in Dallas. Dressed as the Phantom of the Opera, he stared out at the room with an expression of cruel intensity mixed with madness. Jeez, was she going to have to stare at this guy for the rest of her college life? He kind of creeped her out.

Pam had never been much into the whole "Phantom of the Opera" craze. She thought Andrew Lloyd Webber stole from his own past shows a little too much to be a real talent. And the story itself was just depressing and morbid.

When she asked Ronnie about the poster, her friend enthused about what a great actor Tony Bradshaw was.

"You should really see the play the next time you go to Dallas, Pam. It's so beautiful!"

Shaking her head, Pam was bemused. Even if Ronnie loved the play, why did she want to decorate her room with such a gruesome poster of a maniac? Oh, well, that was why they made ice cream in different flavors.

Pam had chalked it all up to an eccentric phase Ronnie was going through. But that didn't make living with her any easier.

In the throes of her writing, Ronnie would type away without stopping to even take a break to watch television or to go out for fresh air. Sometimes, she wouldn't eat all day. Pam would even go to the Student Center and buy her a sandwich because she was worried about how thin and pale Ronnie was getting. Sometimes, her roommate would type all night until morning, just barely lucid enough to drag herself to class the next day and then collapse into bed in a heap, practically snoring before her head hit the pillow.

And then one night, Ronnie burst into tears as she continued with the endless typing away at her keyboard.

"Are you OK, Ron?" Pam asked.

Ronnie jumped out of her skin at the sound of her voice. Turning towards Pam, she nodded slowly, her big brown eyes large and luminous with tears.

"I am all right, Pam, really. I'm just thinking of my grandmother."

"I know it's hard. But you'll get through this..."

"Yes," she nodded, sniffling as she typed.

Pam thought that Ronnie's sadness had passed. But then something happened in the middle of the night which unnerved her...

When she was only halfway sleep, she heard Ronnie whispering through sobs.

"I know you hate it when I cry. I'm sorry...but the part about the cage is so sad..."

Straining to see in the dark, she peered down at Ronnie from her upper bunk bed. She was quite alone, seated at her desk in her pink fluffy robe with nothing but the blare of her computer screen to keep her company. She seemed to be talking to her new poster...to that actor Tony Bradshaw.

"I don't mean to pity you, Erik...please don't be angry with me...I won't cry anymore, I promise."

She then reached for a Kleenex tissue and blew her nose.

Good God! Ronnie was talking to some sort of hallucination, just like those homeless drug addicts who hung out downtown in the slums of the city of Fort Worth! Was she turning schizophrenic or something? Was she on drugs?

"Maybe you're right. I'm really tired...Will you sing me to sleep? Please..."

A little while later, Ronnie laid down in the lower bunk bed for the night. Right when she was about to doze off, Pam was shocked when she heard the most erotic moans coming from her friend...the kind of moans you heard in NC-17 rated movies. Clenching her eyes shut, she tried to mentally block out just what exactly Ronnie might be doing down there.

And then she heard her friend whisper softly into the air.

"I love it when you sing to me, Erik...You have the most beautiful voice in the world...Don't stop...Please don't stop..."

There was no question about it.

Ronnie's cheese had finally slipped off of her cracker! Her elevator was not going all the way to the top floor! Her dogs were not all on one leash!

In short, she had gone stark raving nuts!

Freaked out, Pam had trouble sleeping the rest of that night. She even was ashamed to imagine that Ronnie might go all psycho on her and attack her with a large carving knife or something.

In the morning, while Ronnie was taking a shower, her roommate peeked over at the computer screen. Apparently, the MS Word placeholder was at the top of whatever this masterpiece was.

"Erik's life was one of darkness from birth. He never knew his father. From his mother, he only knew fear and hatred. Born in the countryside of Rouen, he was seen as a monster from birth with a mask placed upon his face only moments after exiting from his mother's womb. In truth, he had been no monster, but a deformed baby, constantly bereft of love and attention no matter how pitifully he would cry for it. Such horrid beginnings for the man who would become the legendary Phantom of the Opera."

This was no creative writing project, but a full-fledged novel reveling in this new obsession of hers, Pam observed. There were already three hundred pages that were typed up so far.

Curiously, she reached out to touch the PAGE DOWN key.

An electric shock struck out at her fingertip, causing her to pull back with a scream.

Suddenly, America Online turned on and an Instant Message popped up from a signer named simply Erik.

LEAVE US ALONE!

Pam had always been a logical person. She did not believe in anything mystical or supernatural. Hell, she thought yoga was a lot of bunk. Therefore, she could not credit what had happened before her eyes. Since she could not understand it, she denied that it happened at all.

Hurriedly, she dressed, grabbed her notebook and materials for her English class and left the dorm as quickly as she could.

If graduation were not only a month away, she would seriously consider moving into her own apartment right now!