Post by Meluivan Indil on Sept 12, 2005 19:01:59 GMT -5
Disclaimer: Nothing pertaining to The Phantom of the Opera belongs to me. I am not receiving any monetary gain by writing this fic. So please don’t sue me. The only characters I own are my original characters such as Lily. Please don’t borrow them unless you ask.
Summary: Sequel to ‘I Sing For You Alone’. Erik had finally found true happiness with a woman who accepts and loves him. But it only takes one moment of inattention to bring his world crashing down around him.
Chapter 1
Erik kneeled at the grave of Gaston Giroux, clutching Lily’s cloak to his chest. At first her disappearance had devastated him, but as he stared at the gold cuff link in his hand with the initials P. L. engraved in flowing script, he began to feel something much different than sorrow. Many times in his life he had succumbed to the bloodlust that came with his insatiable anger. But this time that anger was an unbearable rage. He vowed to himself that when he found whoever was responsible, only hell itself could save them from his retribution.
“P. L. Philippe LaChance.” He hissed. “But he’s dead. I saw him die.” But it was the only clue he had, and it would have to suffice.
It was still late at night and Erik used the dark to his advantage. In the time since his trial Lily had convinced him to venture out with her into the streets of Paris a few times. Erik insisted upon wearing his mask at all times while away from his home, but they still always received long stares from those they would pass. But most of Paris had heard the tales of the Opera Ghost, who had won the heart of the Opera Populaire’s leading diva, so there were no shocked gasps, or horrified screams. But Venice was a different story. The people of the floating city knew very little about the love story that had swept Paris.
So Erik kept to the shadows and made his way to the La Fenice opera house. It by no means was as large or as grand as Paris’ Opera Populaire, but was beautiful in its own way. He knew if he was to discover any information about the late Mr. LaChance, the opera house was where he would have to go. He found an open window on the second floor and made his way into the beautiful building. The building itself was deserted. This house was not large enough to house the dancers and other performers, like some of the larger houses were. Which made searching the building all the more easy for Erik, if you could call it searching.
The longer he searched without finding any more clues, the angrier he became, tossing items here and there. Completely destroying many of the dressing rooms and storage areas. He finally found the manager’s office and came upon the performer’s files. He found that the managers of this house were very proficient at keeping records on all their performers. He found the file marked Philippe LaChance. Erik was appalled at reading several complaints against the man from various females performing at the house. It seemed Lily may have been his first victim, but most certainly was not his last.
“How could they keep him on with all these complaints?” He whispered to himself. He noticed that the sky outside was beginning to turn the grey color of pre-dawn. He decided to take the file with him, but paused as he saw another file that caught his interest. He grabbed that one as well, and then made his way out the window he had left open hours before.
He waited outside a small building concealed in the shadows, knowing he was taking a chance by doing what he was about to do. But he knew that he would never be able to find Lily on his own. Sneaking around searching buildings in the middle of the night would find him nothing. So he watched as a small Italian man walked up to the door of the building and pulled a set of keys from his pocket.
As the man opened the door Erik slid up behind him entering silently. The man was startled as he turned to see the masked man behind him. “Pardon me. I did not notice you enter behind me. Can I help you?” The man said nervously.
“I need a telegraph sent.” Erik said closing the door behind him. “And I need your silence.”
“Sir, this is very irregular. We normally are not open for another half an hour. And most of our customers don’t wear masks.” The small man said stepping behind his desk and taking a seat.
“Sir, this is an urgent matter. And what is under this mask is no business of yours or anyone else’s.” Erik said losing what patience he had as he stepped forward and towered above the man. “Now, you were going to send a telegraph for me.” He said in a commanding tone, a harsh edge on his voice that sent the message “Obey or die.”
The Italian man stared into Erik’s eyes seeing the barely controlled desperation there, and realized that it wasn’t worth risking his life over. “Yes, Sir, I was.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meg Giry opened the backstage entrance door and saw the telegraph officer standing before her. “Can I help you?” She asked.
“I have a telegraph for Madame Antoinette Giry.” The telegraph officer answered smiling at the beautiful young woman.
“That is my mother. I’ll take it.” Meg answered reaching out for the slip of paper. She wondered who would be sending her mother a telegraph, but suspected it was from Lily. They hadn’t expected to hear from her, but there was no one else she could think of.
She went immediately to her mother’s room and knocked lightly on the door.
“Come.” She heard her call out.
As she entered the room she could see that her mother was nearly ready to start the day. “A telegraph for you.” She said handing the slip of paper to her mother.
“For me?” Antoinette said, a worried frown crossing her face. She opened the paper and scanned the words before her.
Need you to come to Venice STOP Lily abducted STOP Meet me at La Fenice STOP OG STOP
“Oh, my lord.” She said handing the paper to her daughter. It was the last thing she had expected to see.
“Is this real?” Meg questioned, frowning.
“If it is not, someone has a cruel sense of humor.” Antoinette said crossing to her wardrobe and pulling out traveling clothes.
“You’re going?” Meg asked, not believing it. She had never seen her mother blindly following anyone’s orders. It surprised her that she would immediately agree without even a second thought.
“We both are.” Antoinette said without turning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erik sat in the abandoned building he had found close to the La Fenice. The building was crumbling all around him, and he could see rats scurrying here and there, but that mattered not to him. He was close to the one place he knew Lily was connected to. That’s where he needed to be. He looked again at the file of Philippe LaChance. There was a picture attached and he sat leering at the smiling face staring up at him. He could see why so many women liked the man, with his boyish good looks, but he could also see the coldness in his eyes, that would escape the inexperienced woman’s perception. It didn’t take much to remind him that his Lily had fallen prey to the man’s evil lusts years before. He wished then that he had gotten the chance to kill the man himself.
He threw the worthless file into the fire he had built earlier, for warmth, watching as the flames slowly licked at the edges, eating away at the picture of the vile man. Watching it go up in flames comforted him in a way.
As he watched the flames completely consume the picture he picked up the other file he had taken. The file was old, yellowed and covered in a light film of dust. He opened it gingerly, looking at the picture on the top. He sighed, staring down at the face he held dearest. The picture was old and beginning to fade, but it was still his Lily. It was taken when she was quite young. Her face still held that innocent quality that she had lost as age and experience claimed her. The smile that tugged at her lips seemed to say that she was thinking of something quite amusing. He wished he could see that smile on her face again. It was something he always cherished. Not many people were brave enough to laugh at him, but she was always able to see when he was being too serious and make a joke out of it, causing him to laugh himself. Her laughter was contagious.
“Where are you, Lily? What are they doing to you?” He whispered, not wanting to imagine who had her, and what was happening to her. “Why you?” He sat staring at that picture for many hours waiting for night to come again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Erik. Are you here?” She called out into the darkness. There was no answer. The last thing she remembered was sitting at her father’s grave, saying her final goodbyes. Then she woke up in this dark and desolate place. Her head was pounding and she could feel something trickling down the side of her face. She could smell the rusty metallic smell that she recognized as blood. Her own blood.
She couldn’t move her hands. They were pulled behind her tied snugly to what felt like a wooden post. Her legs were also tied to the post and she knew she had been there for some time, considering the fact that she had no feeling in her feet. She called out again desperately. “Erik. Where are you?”
She let her imagination run away with itself. Was he in the room with her, too hurt to call out to her? Was he even alive? Had he escaped harm? All of those thoughts played over and over in her mind, until she was finally weeping in frustration.
Then she heard a noise. It was the sound of an opening door, and then another. She looked in the direction of the sound and saw a small flame ignite as someone lit a lantern.
The light seemed bright, so bright, compared to the darkness, and Lily turned her face away. “You would do well to stop calling for him. He’s not here. Yet.” A woman’s voice spoke out, emphasizing the last word with particular cruelty.
Lily looked back to the woman silhouetted by the lantern’s glow. She was a small woman, looking to be about the same age as Lily. She wasn’t beautiful. Plain was the word Lily would have used. “Who are you?”
“You don’t remember me. That hurts, Lily. I remember you.” The woman said sarcastically.
Lily looked again, trying to pull a memory of the woman from her past. She shook her head several times. It was there. The woman did look familiar, but the name would not come to her.
“Oh don’t strain your pretty little head so. Anna. I was one of the ballet rats at La Fenice, when you became the opera diva.” The woman spat in disgust.
Lily did remember her. She had been one of the quiet ones, who kept to themselves in their dingy apartments and never had anything to do with the rest of the company, as if they thought they, in their semi-poverty, were somehow better. “I remember. What do you want with me?”
“Oh, little Lily. So much happened after you left Venice. Little Anna grew up. And now she will get her revenge upon you and that freak I heard so much about.” Anna said chuckling.
“But why?” Lily asked in complete confusion. “What have we done to you?”
“You took from me the one thing I truly cared for. You took my love.” Anna screamed as the hatred shone in her eyes.
Lily stared in utter disbelief. That could only mean one thing. “You and Philippe?”
“Why does that surprise you? Do you not think that he would bother with someone so insignificant as I? We were lovers, Lily. He was mine. And you took him from me, forever. Now I will take your love from you.” Anna said, turning and leaving the room in utter darkness again.
“Yet again, the sins of the past return to haunt me.” Lily whispered letting her head hang in desperation. “Oh Erik, please don’t fall into this trap.”
Summary: Sequel to ‘I Sing For You Alone’. Erik had finally found true happiness with a woman who accepts and loves him. But it only takes one moment of inattention to bring his world crashing down around him.
[glow=green,2,300]Lost Love[/glow]
Chapter 1
The Clue
Erik kneeled at the grave of Gaston Giroux, clutching Lily’s cloak to his chest. At first her disappearance had devastated him, but as he stared at the gold cuff link in his hand with the initials P. L. engraved in flowing script, he began to feel something much different than sorrow. Many times in his life he had succumbed to the bloodlust that came with his insatiable anger. But this time that anger was an unbearable rage. He vowed to himself that when he found whoever was responsible, only hell itself could save them from his retribution.
“P. L. Philippe LaChance.” He hissed. “But he’s dead. I saw him die.” But it was the only clue he had, and it would have to suffice.
It was still late at night and Erik used the dark to his advantage. In the time since his trial Lily had convinced him to venture out with her into the streets of Paris a few times. Erik insisted upon wearing his mask at all times while away from his home, but they still always received long stares from those they would pass. But most of Paris had heard the tales of the Opera Ghost, who had won the heart of the Opera Populaire’s leading diva, so there were no shocked gasps, or horrified screams. But Venice was a different story. The people of the floating city knew very little about the love story that had swept Paris.
So Erik kept to the shadows and made his way to the La Fenice opera house. It by no means was as large or as grand as Paris’ Opera Populaire, but was beautiful in its own way. He knew if he was to discover any information about the late Mr. LaChance, the opera house was where he would have to go. He found an open window on the second floor and made his way into the beautiful building. The building itself was deserted. This house was not large enough to house the dancers and other performers, like some of the larger houses were. Which made searching the building all the more easy for Erik, if you could call it searching.
The longer he searched without finding any more clues, the angrier he became, tossing items here and there. Completely destroying many of the dressing rooms and storage areas. He finally found the manager’s office and came upon the performer’s files. He found that the managers of this house were very proficient at keeping records on all their performers. He found the file marked Philippe LaChance. Erik was appalled at reading several complaints against the man from various females performing at the house. It seemed Lily may have been his first victim, but most certainly was not his last.
“How could they keep him on with all these complaints?” He whispered to himself. He noticed that the sky outside was beginning to turn the grey color of pre-dawn. He decided to take the file with him, but paused as he saw another file that caught his interest. He grabbed that one as well, and then made his way out the window he had left open hours before.
He waited outside a small building concealed in the shadows, knowing he was taking a chance by doing what he was about to do. But he knew that he would never be able to find Lily on his own. Sneaking around searching buildings in the middle of the night would find him nothing. So he watched as a small Italian man walked up to the door of the building and pulled a set of keys from his pocket.
As the man opened the door Erik slid up behind him entering silently. The man was startled as he turned to see the masked man behind him. “Pardon me. I did not notice you enter behind me. Can I help you?” The man said nervously.
“I need a telegraph sent.” Erik said closing the door behind him. “And I need your silence.”
“Sir, this is very irregular. We normally are not open for another half an hour. And most of our customers don’t wear masks.” The small man said stepping behind his desk and taking a seat.
“Sir, this is an urgent matter. And what is under this mask is no business of yours or anyone else’s.” Erik said losing what patience he had as he stepped forward and towered above the man. “Now, you were going to send a telegraph for me.” He said in a commanding tone, a harsh edge on his voice that sent the message “Obey or die.”
The Italian man stared into Erik’s eyes seeing the barely controlled desperation there, and realized that it wasn’t worth risking his life over. “Yes, Sir, I was.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meg Giry opened the backstage entrance door and saw the telegraph officer standing before her. “Can I help you?” She asked.
“I have a telegraph for Madame Antoinette Giry.” The telegraph officer answered smiling at the beautiful young woman.
“That is my mother. I’ll take it.” Meg answered reaching out for the slip of paper. She wondered who would be sending her mother a telegraph, but suspected it was from Lily. They hadn’t expected to hear from her, but there was no one else she could think of.
She went immediately to her mother’s room and knocked lightly on the door.
“Come.” She heard her call out.
As she entered the room she could see that her mother was nearly ready to start the day. “A telegraph for you.” She said handing the slip of paper to her mother.
“For me?” Antoinette said, a worried frown crossing her face. She opened the paper and scanned the words before her.
Need you to come to Venice STOP Lily abducted STOP Meet me at La Fenice STOP OG STOP
“Oh, my lord.” She said handing the paper to her daughter. It was the last thing she had expected to see.
“Is this real?” Meg questioned, frowning.
“If it is not, someone has a cruel sense of humor.” Antoinette said crossing to her wardrobe and pulling out traveling clothes.
“You’re going?” Meg asked, not believing it. She had never seen her mother blindly following anyone’s orders. It surprised her that she would immediately agree without even a second thought.
“We both are.” Antoinette said without turning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Erik sat in the abandoned building he had found close to the La Fenice. The building was crumbling all around him, and he could see rats scurrying here and there, but that mattered not to him. He was close to the one place he knew Lily was connected to. That’s where he needed to be. He looked again at the file of Philippe LaChance. There was a picture attached and he sat leering at the smiling face staring up at him. He could see why so many women liked the man, with his boyish good looks, but he could also see the coldness in his eyes, that would escape the inexperienced woman’s perception. It didn’t take much to remind him that his Lily had fallen prey to the man’s evil lusts years before. He wished then that he had gotten the chance to kill the man himself.
He threw the worthless file into the fire he had built earlier, for warmth, watching as the flames slowly licked at the edges, eating away at the picture of the vile man. Watching it go up in flames comforted him in a way.
As he watched the flames completely consume the picture he picked up the other file he had taken. The file was old, yellowed and covered in a light film of dust. He opened it gingerly, looking at the picture on the top. He sighed, staring down at the face he held dearest. The picture was old and beginning to fade, but it was still his Lily. It was taken when she was quite young. Her face still held that innocent quality that she had lost as age and experience claimed her. The smile that tugged at her lips seemed to say that she was thinking of something quite amusing. He wished he could see that smile on her face again. It was something he always cherished. Not many people were brave enough to laugh at him, but she was always able to see when he was being too serious and make a joke out of it, causing him to laugh himself. Her laughter was contagious.
“Where are you, Lily? What are they doing to you?” He whispered, not wanting to imagine who had her, and what was happening to her. “Why you?” He sat staring at that picture for many hours waiting for night to come again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Erik. Are you here?” She called out into the darkness. There was no answer. The last thing she remembered was sitting at her father’s grave, saying her final goodbyes. Then she woke up in this dark and desolate place. Her head was pounding and she could feel something trickling down the side of her face. She could smell the rusty metallic smell that she recognized as blood. Her own blood.
She couldn’t move her hands. They were pulled behind her tied snugly to what felt like a wooden post. Her legs were also tied to the post and she knew she had been there for some time, considering the fact that she had no feeling in her feet. She called out again desperately. “Erik. Where are you?”
She let her imagination run away with itself. Was he in the room with her, too hurt to call out to her? Was he even alive? Had he escaped harm? All of those thoughts played over and over in her mind, until she was finally weeping in frustration.
Then she heard a noise. It was the sound of an opening door, and then another. She looked in the direction of the sound and saw a small flame ignite as someone lit a lantern.
The light seemed bright, so bright, compared to the darkness, and Lily turned her face away. “You would do well to stop calling for him. He’s not here. Yet.” A woman’s voice spoke out, emphasizing the last word with particular cruelty.
Lily looked back to the woman silhouetted by the lantern’s glow. She was a small woman, looking to be about the same age as Lily. She wasn’t beautiful. Plain was the word Lily would have used. “Who are you?”
“You don’t remember me. That hurts, Lily. I remember you.” The woman said sarcastically.
Lily looked again, trying to pull a memory of the woman from her past. She shook her head several times. It was there. The woman did look familiar, but the name would not come to her.
“Oh don’t strain your pretty little head so. Anna. I was one of the ballet rats at La Fenice, when you became the opera diva.” The woman spat in disgust.
Lily did remember her. She had been one of the quiet ones, who kept to themselves in their dingy apartments and never had anything to do with the rest of the company, as if they thought they, in their semi-poverty, were somehow better. “I remember. What do you want with me?”
“Oh, little Lily. So much happened after you left Venice. Little Anna grew up. And now she will get her revenge upon you and that freak I heard so much about.” Anna said chuckling.
“But why?” Lily asked in complete confusion. “What have we done to you?”
“You took from me the one thing I truly cared for. You took my love.” Anna screamed as the hatred shone in her eyes.
Lily stared in utter disbelief. That could only mean one thing. “You and Philippe?”
“Why does that surprise you? Do you not think that he would bother with someone so insignificant as I? We were lovers, Lily. He was mine. And you took him from me, forever. Now I will take your love from you.” Anna said, turning and leaving the room in utter darkness again.
“Yet again, the sins of the past return to haunt me.” Lily whispered letting her head hang in desperation. “Oh Erik, please don’t fall into this trap.”