PHANTOM'S AERIE
At night, a building loomed large in the theme park. The building was near completion. It would serve as an adventure ride once finished. At the top of the building was an aerie. It appeared to serve as an ornamental part of the building, but inside it was Phantom's new lair.
The aerie part was finished. It was small but well interconnected with other areas of the building, including mechanical room, control room, and a small studio.
These rooms were further connected to tourist areas through hidden doors. This gave Phantom plenty of workspace as well as secrecy. Even if someone entered one of these rooms by accident, they would just think they entered a service area, and won't find anything suspicious.
The facilities were powered by electricity, state-of-the-art at the time.
Phantom walked back and forth anxiously in his aerie. From time to time, Phantom walked up to a piano and fumbled through some scripts.
Madame Giry came in. Phantom rushed up to her. None of them said a word. Madame Giry handed him a small parcel.
Phantom opened it right away. There were a couple of glass slides in it. He put them in a projector, an electrical one, and turned it on. They are color pictures Christine just took at the port of New York. Phantom gazed rapaciously.
Madame Giry looked at the emotional Phantom and spoke out, "Now you got what you have asked. That's all I should help you. Remember your promise. Don't invade into her life."
The Phantom didn't move his eyes away from the images and didn't say anything. He barely nodded. Madame Giry gave a sigh and left quietly.
Phantom played the next slide. It's a close-up of Christine. Looking at the glamorous Christine, Phantom felt pity for himself. He sang out,
"TEN LONG YEARS. LIVING IN A FAÇADE OF LIFE…"
He dashed back to the piano and flipped through the scripts,
"IN MY MIND I HEAR MELODIES PURE AND UNEARTHLY,
BUT I FIND I CAN'T GIVE THEM A VOICE"
He looked back at the projection on the wall. It kept playing more slides. Mostly were black and white pictures of young Christine, taken when she was at the Theater Populaire in Paris.
Phantom looked at these images. His voice slowed down,
"MY CHRISTINE, MY CHRISTINE. LOST AND GONE, LOST AND GONE…"
More slides were projected on the wall, frame by frame. Some were color posters of Christine. One of them was Christine's spirited portrait in Don Juan.
Phantom's emotion built up in his singing. In the end, he belted out,
"TILL I HEAR YOU SING ONCE MORE!"