Memories in Time

Disclaimer: This story is based on the movie
"Phantom of the Opera," which was released in December of 2004. A lot
of ladies, including myself, didn't care too much for the unhappy ending. I've
decided to continue the story so the Phantom (Erik), can finally find true love
and live happily ever after. He deserves it. The "The Phantom of the
Opera" and the character of Erik are based on the story by Gaston Leroux.
The song lyrics belong to Andrew Lloyd Webber. The character of
"Victoria" belongs to me. The story will be mostly rated PG-13, with
some rated R content.  Please review my story if possible. Any comments
would be greatly appreciated.

Sparrow’s Pearl:
Thank you again for your review. This is my first time writing a story, and your
suggestions are helping me out quite a bit. I want to learn to become a good
writer. It’s something I have dreamt of since I was a teenager. Keep them
coming.

Alexandra:
I’m glad you like the story so far. I have no intentions of quitting. My goal
is to post a chapter every two to three days. Hopefully I can keep to that
schedule. Between writing this story and working on my web site, my hands are
pretty much full. I’ve been getting maybe four to five hours of sleep each
night. But it’s well worth it to me.

I left my room in complete confusion and frustration. My
life of solitude was completely shattered when this woman showed up at my
doorstep. Not only did she invade my privacy, she also refused to tell me how
she got there in the first place. She tested my patience to the limit. She was
very lucky to be alive. If she were a man, I would have killed her already.

Angrily, I strolled over to the lake and started pacing. I
had to find a way to clear my head of all the turbulent emotions, which were
ravaging my body. For months I had suffered the loss of the only woman I had
ever loved. Countless nights I woke up from horrible nightmares remembering my
plea to Christine… to be with me forever. She answered me by tearing off my
mask… and sealing my fate.

Say
You’ll Share With Me

One
Love… One Lifetime

Lead
Me… Save Me from my Solitude

Say
You’ll Want Me

With
You Here Beside You

Anywhere
You Go… Let Me Go Too

Christine…
That’s all I Ask of…

In anger I drug her down to my dungeon. If she weren’t
going to come to me willingly, then I would have to force her to stay by my
side. Everything was going as planned until Raoul showed up at my lair. It was
time for another strategy. Using her lover as a weapon, I would make Christine
decide whom she wanted to be with. I knew it was unfair and heartless to put her
in that situation, but I had no choice. Christine was mine, and I was not
willing to give her up so easily.

The whole plan unraveled when Christine walked up to me and
kissed me. I knew the first kiss was to save Raoul. The second kiss was
something different altogether. At that moment, she accepted me for who I really
was… deformities and all. My heart broke in that instant. I did the only thing
I could do… and let her go. I could not condemn her to the same fate, which I
had endured for so long. She would have slowly withered and died in the dark
isolation which surrounded me. She deserved a life in the sun, and a chance at
happiness.

For weeks I had to hide within the tunnels of the Opera
House until the lust for my blood died down. Luckily, I had made preparations
many years ago for such an occurrence. Once the coast was clear, I returned to
the only home I ever knew. The place was in complete shambles. The mob did a
thorough job of destroying everything I held dear. It took me another week to
clean up the entire mess.

Over time, my heart turned to stone. I knew the only way I
was going to survive, was to try and forget Christine and live in isolation for
the rest of my life.

That was my plan until this morning…

This woman materialized out of thin air. I sat there in
complete shock as she spoke to me. I turned around and stood up. The sight that
beheld me took my breath away. She was beautiful, in her wedding dress, and
looked totally lost and confused. Suddenly, all the memories of my past, flashed
before my eyes. Instead of helping her, an uncontrollable anger crept into my
body.  I swiftly walked toward her,
planning on getting some answers.

I was completely dumbfounded as she took off running, and
managed to escape into the room that I had built for Christine. That frustrated
me even more. Where I got the strength from, I do not know. As anger and
adrenaline was coursing through my body, I slammed into the door and took it off
its hinges. The look on her face was priceless. She stood there in her underwear
starring at me with her jaws wide open. As I approached her, she managed to
escape again. I quickly caught up to her at the end of the tunnel. She was
frightened as a doe, and collapsed into my arms unconscious. I brought her back
to my lair and tied her up. Now… I was going to question her, and get the
answers I needed.

I changed into some dry clothes, and approached her on my
bed. Most of my anger had subsided, and I was in control of my emotions once
again. I grabbed her chin so she would be looking directly at me. I wanted to
see her eyes as she answered my questions. I wanted to make sure she didn’t
lie to me. Instead of getting what I wanted, she struggled to be away from me,
which angered me once again. I told her she was to remain my prisoner and got up
to leave.

To my complete surprise, she managed to shout after me that
I was a coward for keeping her tied to the bed. I don’t know what came over me
as I turned around and faced her once again. I wasn’t angry with her for the
sudden outburst. As a matter of fact, I was a taken off guard by her show of
temporary courage. No one ever stood up to me that way before… especially a
woman. People usually try to stay away from me as far as possible. The
Phantom’s wrath is well known. This little mouse of a girl was completely
different. Yes, she feared me, but at the same time, she stood up for herself,
and showed a strength I have never seen before. At that instant, I felt some
attraction to her. I wanted to teach her a lesson, for testing my patience, but
I did not want to harm her either.

The plan failed miserably on my part. My resolve started to
waiver, the instant she gave in to me. My treacherous body started to betray me.
I was quickly loosing control of the situation. If I did not get away from her,
I would have been lost forever. I had no choice but to release her… and walk
away.