"The guards walked past the ally where Annabelle was lying inconspicuously. They spared one glance down the forgotten passageway. Deciding that there was no one there, they kept moving. On that note, she leaped up from her hiding spot and started sprinting out of the ally. Feeling the cool breeze on her face, she kept moving towards what she thought to be passageway. As she had predicted it had been a corridor leading to who knows were. Figuring the guards might have seen her run out from her hiding place, her best chase was to go in. Creeping into the dark corridor, her feet crunched on the dirt covered ground. The whole hallway was a morbid image a grave, one that she recalled from her mother's burial. Walking in a little father, she heard a soft, beautiful voice coming from somewhere in the vast, empty halls. The voice was gentle and yet had all the anger and hate in the world combined in to one, something she could relate to easily. One side of her life had been made up of beautiful surreal moments, and the other half was made of appalling memories she would have liked to forget. She followed the sound farther, trusting that it would lead her to someone who could help her. In her mind, life couldn't get worse and if the being of the dark home wasn't cordial, then she could fend for herself. She kept walking further being careful to watch her step, afraid of what might be living down there. The voice ended leaving a warm sensation within Annabelle. The last time she felt something like that was the day before her mother died. They had been out most of the day and where now having a picnic on a hill by the family home, laughing and talking the night away. That had been five years ago to the day. the footsteps that followed suit snapped Annabelle out of her flashback and put alarm back in her, in place of the warmness she had felt previously. Despite her fear, she kept walking forward, towards the light. The room she entered was quite large with a lake covering half of it and sheet music covering the other have. It felt like she was walking into a dream, yet she knew how easy it was to get lost in a dream, she had been a victim of that before. Amazed by what she saw, she barely had time to react to the hands closing around her throat. trying to free herself from the demon suffocating her she stepped on its foot, but that only made it worse. tightening their grip on her, she made one more attempt to free herself and find out who was trying to kill her. Flipping the criminal over her shoulder, a trick her father taught her, the perpetrator was revealed. It was the Phantom of the Opera. He just stared up at her from where he lay, gazing into her big blue eyes. "Who are you?" He asked looking a bit dazed." I'm Annabelle," she said hesitantly. She still couldn't believe that she had just entered the phantom's layer and was still alive to tell the tale. "How did you find me?" he asked fiercely as he got up off the ground. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I was trying to get away from the officer and seen the passageway. I'm so sorry I didn't mean any harm." She said trying to make him understand she truly meant no harm, knowing the story behind the famed Phantom of the Opera. He just stood there trying to figure out if he believed her story, still a little perplexed as to why he hadn't killed her yet. After a few moments of silence he decided that she was telling the truth and he just wasn't in the mood to kill her, deep in the back of his mind knowing that that wasn't true but pushed it off." I'm... Erik" he sighed not fully conformable saying the name aloud. "now get out, would you. I have worked to do." He said angrily, his mood changing so fast. Annabelle just stared at him, not sure of what to say, afraid of what his response would be. She finally decided that it would be better not to say anything at all. Curiosity getting the best of Erik, he finally spoke the question he had been waiting to ask. "What were you running away from?" What was Annabelle supposed to respond, but after a few moments of thought she finally decided to tell the truth. Anyway, if she died she wanted someone to now the truth. "My dad." Erik was shocked that she would run away from her family. He would do anything to have people care about him. His whole life no one could look him on the eye, let alone let him be a part of there family. Here she was running away from the only thing he ever wanted." How could you do that? You had a family who cared about you. What is wrong with you, you petulant child." Erik spat. Annabelle laughed a little bit then let her anger towards Andre take over and answered, "He wasn't family. Family doesn't beat you until your laying on the ground paralyzed from pain and fear" From then on they talked about their present situation and future with little barrier between them, until it was well after midnight. For Erik it was as if he was living in a dream. For the first time in years, he truly wanted the presence of someone again in the most innocent way. His whole life people had looked at him and seen a beast. When she looked at him she saw someone who a human, not a demon from hell but a man that had every right to live. They kept talking about everything except their past. Erik still didn't know what he was feeling. It felt like a thousand angels had shown I light on him. How could a man like him change so fast, after so many years of living in solitude? Annabelle then realized the time and made up her mind to leave, not wanting to burden the man. She started to say her goodbyes until Erik asked her to stay, claiming she had nowhere else to go and he couldn't let her go on the streets at night. In the back of his mind he knew he wanted her to stay because he had never been with someone who wasn't scared away by The Phantom of the Opera. That one night turned into a pattern between them the next few weeks, until one night he just stopped having civil conversations with her. In his mind, he believed that he would hurt her like her hurt Christine and he couldn't do that to the innocent girl of barely eighteen. Maybe he was right or maybe as time goes by Annabelle will start to fall for the masked man as well.
Hello lovely people, thank you for all the support you have shown throughout the first few chapters. I hope you are enjoying the story as much as I am writing it. Please feel to comment, vote, and share the story, and please enjoy the rest of your day. Love you guys.
~Casey Spencer