Before I get properly into the story, I need to ask you to do something: picture yourself being around 13. Feels good, eh? Not a child anymore, though the best years of your life are still before you. Now to set the mood I, unfortunately, need to destroy this feeling: imagine you're an orphan. Well, life isn't kind to everyone equally, but what can I do? Now, if you are, by any chance, in the same life circumstances as me and it happens to be around 1890s... then brother/sister, I have one last thing to say to you:
Run!
And run I did. I was running probably for my life through the streets of Paris. Luckily for me, I was small enough to maneuver my way through the crowd, though the man chasing me wasn't giving up.
"Can't he just leave me be?" I thought to myself, annoyed. After all, I only stole a loaf of bread!
On the other hand everyone here was struggling to make a living. In times and places like this life wasn't easy. Every little piece of food and clothing was priceless. Especially for someone like me, abandoned, doomed to a life of a bread thief, only to see another day of poverty and endless struggle.
As these thoughts were running through my head I was getting more and more tired from the chase. My only chance to escape was to hide somewhere, hoping to fool the angry man. Still not stopping, I looked around the place. Some more merchant stands, people, horses and a carriage, even more people- Wait! A carriage! That's it!
I sped up, and ran around a little more in hope that the man would lose my track or at least get a little confused. After several rounds around the market place I jumped behind the carriage and tried to be as invisible as it could get. The man passed me by a few meters, shouting:
"I will find you, you little thief! You little bastard!"
Not having discovered my hiding spot, he continued to search. For now I had some time on my hands, however I knew that the moment he spots me, the bread-hunt will continue. I had to get out of here or at least find a better place to hide.
I was sitting on a stonebrick street, between the carriage and a white wall of some enormous building. Examining all that I could see from there, I noticed a little window with iron bars, leading to the inside of the build. It must've been an entrance to its basement... or at least I was going to use it as my entrance.
Once again, I looked around, this time to see if it was safe. Having made sure, I came up to the bars and quickly undid all the nuts attaching it to the wall. I took the bars off and snuck into the underground. Inside it was quite dark and definitely colder than outside. The light was given only by the window and a couple of candles deeper in.
I looked around to see things that typical basements would store: wardrobes, planks, blankets. Also couple of "dwellers" like spiders and mice. But the longer I was there, the more unusual things were getting to me. Greek head sculpture, masks, costumes, cardboard trees...
Wait a minute? This isn't just a regular basement, is it? Looks like a theater or a...
I looked outside of the window through the bars that I had already put back in their place. One glance at a sign not that far from me gave me all the information I needed.
"Opera Populaire"
That explained a lot about the masks and costumes. Suddenly a different thought crossed my mind.
"Opera Populaire? Isn't this the one that is... haunted? Haunted by... what were they calling him? A Demon? No, the Phantom!" I recited in my mind, remembering the stories I was once told by different people who I'd met. I knew they only wanted to scare everyone, but sadly they succeeded.
I felt a thrill coming down my spine when I imagined once more how they described Him. Yellow, deformed skin, dark, little eyes, that haven't seen the light of day for years . Some even say he had no nose. He was generally described as a walking corpse, who additionally was a blood-thirsty monster. I shivered at the thought that I just entered His world.
"You're alright, Maya." I whispered in attempt to calm my rushing thoughts. "It's just a legend".
Well, it didn't seem like a tale at all when I heard footsteps just around the corner. Slow and echoing footsteps. My blood froze in my veins. I didn't know what to do. I quickly looked around again and jumped behind one of the planks. It wasn't wide enough to shelter me from the sight of whoever was approaching. The footsteps were getting louder and louder. I was shivering and praying for help.
After a moment, that felt like an hour, I was finally able to see the man walking through the hallway. More like his back. He was slim and tall, had black hair, I could not see the face. He was wearing a black suit and a long, magnificent cape was falling from his shoulders. I felt relieved that it was not the monster I had heard so much about. A quiet sigh left my mouth.
In this moment the man stopped. My heart went still again and I covered my mouth with my hand. Did he hear me? How? How do I escape now? I didn't have time to answer myself, when he turned around. I was shivering from fear. He was examining the place in silence. I saw his face, he had a white mask covering a half of it. The other half was absolutely fine though. I stared wondering if this was even "The Phantom".
He looked nothing like the undead creature, that had been the talk of the town for quite a while now. Absolutely no emotion was to be read from the uncovered half of his face. Suddenly his stern eyes met mine. His look was piercing my head like a knife. Just me and him and silence. I felt like I was being killed only by being looked at. For a second he was still as a sculpture. Then my heart started rushing when he confidently came up to me, still no sign of any emotion on his face. Maybe except of a little anger, which was even worse for me.
My eyes widened, when without a word, a gloved hand grabbed my shirt and dragged me out of my hiding spot. He pulled me to the middle of the hallway and looked down at me. Oh no, this is bad. This is really, really bad.
Still not making a single sound he aggressively placed his hand around my throat and lifted me up so that my feet were above the ground. I was helplessly kicking the air. In shock, I managed only to grab his hand to try to loosen his grip, but soon discovered it's completely useless.
Maybe he wasn't a hideous monster, but surely was blood-thirsty, which ultimately convinced me who I just met. Or more like, who will be the last face I ever see. Struggling to take a breath I managed only to whisper:
"Spare me, have mercy..."
The pain was excruciating and it doubled when I looked into his eyes. They showed absolutely no compassion. I felt a tear falling down my cheek, but it didn't even seem to affect the Phantom's decision to ruthlessly kill me. I would sob but I lacked breath and was unable to make any sound since my throat was being smashed by the man's strong hand.
I swear I could literally feel my soul leave my body. I was nearly done when suddenly the grip loosened. I could finally breathe, but I was still hanging above the ground. The moment I realized what happened I was thanking the Heavens.
Through the cold and dark corridors we both heard an echoing sweet voice.
"Angel of music, speak. I'm waiting, waiting for your guidance..."
Upon hearing the soothing sound, Phantom looked around and for the first time the expression on his face changed. He was smiling, though it wasn't a normal happiness. He looked "at peace". I also got to hear his voice for the first time. And while I expected a thrilling growl, he softly sang back the same melody:
"Angel of music, sing. I'm coming. Let me hear your singing."
I was amazed by how the two voices were complementing each other. What surprised me even more was that the Phantom could sing so well. But one thing was a mystery to me: why did the voice call him an Angel? Of all the things on this Earth, above it, or inside it, Angel was not what he was. He just nearly murdered me!
And in the moment I thought that, I fell right on the floor. Technically I fell on my feet, but taken aback, I tripped and eventually ended up lying on the cold ground. I raised my eyes to see the man glaring back at me. In a harsh tone he said:
"Leave. Or I will take care of it myself." With these words he flipped his cape and disappeared.
And just like this I was once again left alone in the middle of the empty hallway, surrounded by a ton of weird things. I took my bread up of the floor and started eating it, slowly processing what had just happened.
I heard the sweet voice again and then the answer of Phantom's one. That voice made him stop. That voice calmed him down. That voice... saved my life...
As for the Phantom, his mask earned itself not only my fear but even greater curiosity. While they say that you can make a good first impression only once, I was just so damn intrigued. I needed to know more about this.
On the other hand if that man ever sees me again, he won't hesitate to take my life at all. What do I do? Do I run for my life, or do I feed my need to see what's underneath the mask?
Do I go and live my boring and hard life out on the street, or risk it all but, for once, do something exciting for myself?
Aaaaaaand there you have it, the 1710 words of the first chapter. I'm sincerely sorry for any typos. I have read it a thousand times, but it's really hard to spot your own mistakes. I hope you enjoyed.
Your allegiant servant,
N.C.