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 4 ~~ Shrouded Castle
The year is 1861. Erik leaves Persia, believing, more than ever, that he is a curse on whoever tries to befriend him. He once more travels alone until he finds himself in Paris. Then, before he leaves that city, he is inspired to participate in the building of what was to become the famed Paris Opera House. He remembers his young years and his desire to live within the walls of an opera house and is intrigued with the idea of building himself a home beneath the streets of Paris. As with other portions of his life, his efforts to build his home are thwarted by the Franco-Prussian War and the takeover by the Commune. But again, as with the other obstacles in his solitary travels, he is undaunted in his efforts to stay true to his goals and to hide from the world. Once his home is completed, he spends his time alone with his music and a horse he considers his own. When not in those pursuits, he uses his quick wit and sense of humor to tease the young chorus girls, or play tricks on the Opera Populaire’s managers, which fuels the legend of the Opera Ghost. Through it all, the one man who considers Erik his friend, refuses to be turned away by Erik’s harsh demeanor and continues in his efforts to stay in contact with him. While his persistance angers Erik at times, it is that anger that one day initiiates his first encounter with the woman who will change his life forever, Christine. EXCERPTS: At age thirty-five ~~ Death’s Door How could I defend one man against six? I was good in a fight, but I knew I had my limitations. Then he cried out a third time, and that time, without thinking, I went back and stormed in on them. I first took down three of them with my lassos. Then using ventriloquism, I confused the rest enough to render another one unconscious with my hands properly placed around his throat, but the other two turned and faced me. “There,” I said mockingly, with my hands on my hips. “The odds are much better now ... don’t you think?” They stared at me momentarily until the confusion cleared their minds, and then they started laughing. Through their laughter, I heard a movement behind me. Turning quickly, I saw three more men, whom I hadn’t noticed before, getting up from the ground in the shadow of a pillar. Realizing I was in serious trouble, I tried to throw them off with my own laughter coming from behind them. But it only captured the attention of two of them, and the other three came for me. Knowing my back was to the lake, I waited for them to lunge for me, and then I stepped aside. Two of them hit the water, but the other one tackled me, and a struggle ensued. Within a few seconds, two others also landed on me, and then all four of us were plunged into the lake. At Age Forty-Four ~~ Birth Pains of an Opera Ghost With her eyes still wide and still on me, she again whispered, “I saw something like a shadow move across the room as I entered, and then it disappeared through the mirror.” “Through the mirror, Meg?” her mother asked in the concerned voice you would expect. “This is proof that you’ve been working too hard. Perhaps you need to go away for awhile.” “No, Mama,” Meg insisted, without taking her eyes off the mirror, or me. “I’m not imagining this. It was real.” Again, Madame Giry looked around, and then as she stroked Meg’s slender arm, she suggested, “It was probably just a pigeon that got locked in here. You know they’re always doing that.” “No, Mama!” the frightened girl persisted. “It was much to big too be a bird. It was larger than a full grown man.” With a frown, Madame Giry moved to the center of the room and looked around again. Then she moved to one of the mirrors and looked at it before she spoke again. “Meg, there’s no one here. Let’s go. You need rest.” “It wasn’t that mirror, Mama. It was that one,” Meg said, as she moved for the first time and raised her trembling hand and pointed right at me. Madame Giry also looked right at me, and then, after she picked up Meg's dancing shoes, she demanded that they leave. As they walked back to the door, Meg asked, “Mama, do you think it could have been one of the tortured souls from the Commune? Could it be one of their ghosts? Many believe they are still here ... right in this building.” They were through the door, and it closed behind them, so I couldn’t hear Madame Giry’s response, but I knew the answer. I also knew I needed to be more careful in the future if I wanted to remain undetected, and if I didn’t want people to think I was some sort of a ghost inhabiting the Paris Opera House. HAVE YOU EVER WONDER? Was there a man wearing a gold ring buried in the cellars of the Paris Opera House? What was Erik's connection to Cesar, the white stallion belonging to the Opera Populaire? How did Erik manage to survive during the Franco-Prussian War and the Commune that took over the unfinished opera house? Just how did the legend of the Opera Ghost begin? Why was there a two-way mirror in Christine's dressing room? How did Erik meet the love of his life, Christine? Unravel the answers to these questions and more in the forth volume of this in-depth account of Erik’s life while building the Paris Opera House. Embrace his mind, heart, and soul, and then travel with him as he continues his struggles to find balance between his genius mind, lonely heart, and tortured soul. NOTICE: Weight and pricing information is forthcoming from the publisher. |
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