New York- 2013

Everyone was raving over the 25th anniversary celebration of the longest running musical ever, The Phantom of the Opera. Splendorous parties and galas were taking place all over the city, while I sat nestled into a corner of the public library, reading a copy of the original story. It was peaceful here, and I was enjoying this book for the millionth time, but sadly this was for an assignment and not for pleasure like normal. I had been assigned to come up with a critical analysis of the novel and how it related to the wondrous play that had made history.

This was research was for my graduate evaluation as an English major and a future writer. I had to be able to analyze a work of my choosing and give a presentation on my findings. This could give me scholarships to help fund the publishing of my first novel and I could go to different conferences to give my presentation. But that was still a good ways off, and I was still digging for what I needed to make this presentation and research worthy of approval.

I could still hear the melodies of the show blaring through my headphones as I continued reading and engulfing myself in the story.

Softly, deftly, music shall caress you Hear it, feel it secretly possess you…

The music helped drown out the celebration and set the mood for me as I reached a climatic point. I could feel myself slipping into the story and living my reality…

BANG!

Pulled back.

Something fell…I went back to reading as the music surrounded and kept everything else out.

BANG!

I thought I was alone?

BANG!

My headphones fell to my lap as I stared faintly at a shadow at the end of the aisle, a good distance from where I had been sitting. The shadow emerged from the darkness and walked towards me with an eerie glare upon its face. The woman was shocked to find someone here this late of night; to me 11:30 in a library was quite nice and relaxing. The woman, thin and pale in face was dressed all in a black pants suit with a red scarf around her neck. Her black hair and grey eyes startled me as she reached me and hovered over me.

At first she said nothing but glanced at my stack of opened books about music, musical, statistics and of course the copy of The Phantom of the Opera that resided in my hands. She smiled for a moment, but remained silent. Her presence was ill stricken and made me feel uneasy as the environment seemed to almost enclose on us both.

Finally I had to break the silence, "Can I help you?"

She smiled again, a little more relaxed this time, "No, but I believe I can help you."

She pointed to the book in my hands and relaxed even more in her stance.

"Really?" I lightly laughed, "How can you help me?"

"Can I show you something?"

Her smile was more of an disliking demeanor and set me off again.

"Who are you and why should I let you help me? I don't even know who and where you came from?"

"I am a friend… a very good friend to have at the moment. If you trust me, then I can be of some good use." She relaxed again and shied with some relief.

"First, your name and how you found me here?" I demanded, marking my page and placing my book gently on the table before me.

"Giry. Annette Giry."

Strange…the name matches…nevermind.

"Ok, Annette. Let me get my stuff together and then we'll go."

She nodded as I gathered my things; laptop, phone, books. Everything.

"By the way, I never caught your name…"

I turned quickly to face her, "I never gave it. But, Catherine. Catherine Demount."

Through darkened alleys and corners of the city I had never seen we traveled swiftly through the night. Time flew by, it had only been merely an hour since I had met Annette, and I now felt that my life rested in her hands as she took me through the darkness. Abandoned museums, theaters, and studios rested on this end of New York, tucked away behind the shining lights of Broadway and the Majestic Theater that hosted as the home of the renowned play that I was doing my research on.

Suddenly we paused in front of an old boarded up boarding house, "Lady Lily's Boarding House for the Meak" built in 1907. Shattered glass gathered dust on the pavement and darkened windows glared down at us as Giry motioned for me to follow her. This building was once a part of New York's history, but had long been forgotten by its citizens.

"Catherine…" she whispered, pulling back into the reality of this existing structure. I felt like I had stepped back in time, yet I was still here in the present.

I followed her to a narrow door that had been pad locked: she pulled the key of course, which made me wonder what she was taking me to see. We entered the dark doorway and I could sense the tension of the past meeting the present as she lit a candle inside the door. No one really did that anymore, but I went with it. She closed the door behind us and relocked it.

"Stay close. The darkness is some place you do not want to lingering in for too long."

I stayed close to her side and near the tiny warmth of light as we descended some creaky stairs and enter a cold room, or another passage; I couldn't tell. Giry was silent until we suddenly stopped. She reached again for her keys and unlocked a door that remained in darkness as the rest of this boarding house.

"Giry…" a soft voice spoke as the door swung open and light engulfed us. Candles and crystals shimmered around the room as the light reflected to every corner of the room.

"Giry, you have returned."

"Yes. And I brought company." She replied, smiling softly and relaxing in front of me. Giry's expression was completely different from what I had seen. She seemed at peace and more like a cheerful woman here, but why?

"Please, come into the light so I can meet our guest."

"Yes, sir."

The man that I had not seen as I entered the room with her had come out of the shadows to face us and that's when my heart dropped. Everything I had ever read about, every heard, and dream of was now standing before me.

"You…are…the… the…" I couldn't even finish my sentence as I looked into the amber eyes and white masked figure who I knew as the Phantom of the Opera.