PROLOGUE

Author's Note: I started writing this story 13 years ago in 2009 and have heavily edited it to fix many inconsistencies and grammatical errors. The story is not beta'ed yet, but I have gone over it a few times in case of any errors, please let me know what you think!

Warning: this chapter is short because it is meant to be an introduction/prologue. I will update with the next chapter soon.


I might be selfish, but I wish you were still here.

Or if you stayed, for at least one more year.

-Eleanor

Somewhere in the rolling countryside of England, a family welcomed their new daughter into this world, a baby girl with beautiful emerald eyes and thick wisps of dark hair. The mother, Elaine Dymond-Collins, a fallen French aristocrat, had escaped France to be with her true love, Thomas Collins, a sailor for the Queen's Navy. They had met by chance in Calais and their romance began in secret until she had foolishly professed her desire to marry an impoverished man with no title. Elaine's family had cast her out and the two had decided to marry and leave for England.

Elaine and Thomas were not rich by any means, but never once did Elaine regret leaving the world of the aristocracy when her husband was by her side. They had a beautiful young daughter, Mary, who had Elaine's blonde hair and hazel eyes. At six years old, Mary stood next to her mother, looking at her baby sister in awe.

"Thomas, I want her name to be Elizabeth," Elaine said, tucking the blanket tightly around her baby.

"Elizabeth Lisette," Thomas replied in agreement.

Thomas picked up Mary so she could better see her sister and that night was the happiest night of their lives, the turning point for their little family. Over the next six years, their situation worsened until Thomas arrived home one night and had packed his wife and children's belongings and told them to flee to Calais without explanation. Elaine had agreed only because of the urgency in his eyes and he promised to meet her the next day in Calais.

When Elaine had arrived at the inn in Calais with her ten year-old and six-year old daughters, she heard no news from Thomas for weeks until sailors brought gossip of his fate. Thomas had been arrested, accused of being a spy since he was married to a Frenchwoman with aristocratic ties. The officers sent to arrest him had also been ordered to carry out his execution for the crime of treason, the highest offense in England, and a capital offense.

Elaine had been nearly comatose, Mary taking the responsibility to feed them until their money ran dry and Elaine knew she had to be strong for her daughters. Elaine never suspected that fleeing England would save their lives, but condemn them to a lifetime of servitude and poverty.


Meanwhile, a masked man performed magic tricks and illusions in Russia, delighting crowds with sleight-of-hand tricks and ventriloquism. His magic shows and illusions had attracted the attention of the Shah of Persia who had sent his chief of police to bring him back to perform in his court.

In the Persian Royal Court, Erik performed illusions that amazed the court and his keen mind and eye for design gained him favor and in a short time he became one of the most powerful men in all of Persia. He designed palaces and torture chambers, became an assassin when it was requested of him, and through it all indulged his habit for morphine and opium. They called him the Angel of Death which he embraced with cynicism.

Often Erik felt that he had been cursed at birth, born with half a face. His childhood had been horrific, sold by his mother to gypsies who put him on display as their main attraction, keeping him in a cage. He had only managed to escape with the help of a girl who had taken pity on him and hidden him in the half-finished Paris Opera House where he inserted himself as a contractor and built passages and hideaways in case he ever needed to retreat somewhere safe. Staying in Paris had held no appeal to him due to the nightmares that plagued him and he traveled, losing himself along the way.

His entire life, Erik had simply longed for company, a friend that would not flinch away from him or see him as a monster, an abomination. He longed for love and acceptance, though he knew he would never find it. A monster did not deserve love or redemption.