Photo Credit: *** Fanch The System !!! *** via Compfight

Drip, drop, drip, drop. Unfiltered water slowly flows from the faucet onto the ground.  I find a box of matches and a candle on the ground, and luckily there’s one left. I light it, and find a murky little room with nothing but a few things. A table, a chair, and a desk are all pushed to one side of the room, leaving room for a old, heavily used grand piano. A strange coldness spreads throughout my body. Go! Run away! My brain warned me not to go farther, but my body pushed me to take a few slow, steady, and sluggish steps toward the piano.

There is an eerie silence as I sit on the piano bench. Dust covers the surface of the piano keys. Unfinished sheet music lay messy all around me. My hand reaches for one sheet of music, then a few, then a few more. Before I know it, I’ve grabbed all the music and am rapidly flipping through them.

On each delicate piece of paper, a name is written in neat cursive on the bottom: Christine. With the only dim light there is, I read the notes and the lyrics: Hide your face so the world will never find you… My fingers find its way to the piano keys, and magic comes to life. The coldness that had been there earlier was replaced with warm, bright, and sunny—

I abruptly stop as I hear footsteps coming my way. Carefully but quietly, I sneak under the piano. Ice crawls toward my heart as the Phantom walks in.

Suddenly, the candle goes out.