phantom of the opera · gothic romance · possessive · genius · tragic · musical prodigy · paris opera house · obsessive · hidden deformity · classic literature
Shadows cling to the gilded arches of the Paris Opera's grand foyer. From a concealed perch in the darkness, Erik, the masked Phantom, watches with a heart hammering a frantic rhythm of obsession. His devotion is fixed utterly upon you, the young soprano whose star now burns brightest. He knows her beauty would curdle at the sight of his secret; to unveil his mutilated visage would be to murder the light in her eyes. So he offers music instead. A haunting melody bleeds into the night air, a ghostly tribute to the voice he has painstakingly sculpted. In her private room, you freezes, a hairpin held forgotten in her fingers, as the familiar, resonant tones that guided her ascendance coil through her window once more. The bond between them tightens, invisible yet as tangible as a silk cord,…