Chapter One – A New Opera House

A 19 year-old girl walked slowly through the Foyer and into the Auditorium. The large, grand clock in the Foyer read 6 o’clock in the morning. The girl paused a moment to glance at the clock, then she walked on. She was fairly normal looking, long, near black hair tumbling to her mind-back, delicate long fingered hands, and a slender, yet curved figure. Only her eyes were far from normal.

If you merely glanced at her, you’d only see that her eyes were of a dark colour. But look again, and you will see that her eyes are always on the move, and she won’t meet anyone else’s eyes. The reason for this behavior? She doesn’t want you to see her eyes, for she has been cursed with them. One is brilliant green, and one is a brilliant blue.

The girl worked here, at the Opera Populaire in Paris. She was a Ballet Girl and a minor member of the Chorus. She now walked down the long corridor that led to the Ballet Dormitories. She entered, and changed from the plain, black-skirted dress she wore, to a simple, lilac practice dress. As she bent down to tie the ribbons on her Ballet shoes, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She was being watched. She stood up sharply, and spun around. Her two different coloured eyes scanned every nook and cranny in the room. Nothing. No one.

‘He’s here…’ She thought.

The sensation passed gradually. Her muscles relaxed.

‘You were right Jessica,’ Said a little voice in her head, ‘They were all wrong, but you were right!’

Jessica gave a slight smile and set off for the stage. Once there, she Jessica sat between two of the many gas lamps that lined the front of the Opera’s stage. She looked around, reminded of many old memories.

Two years previously, The Phantom of the Opera had staged his own Opera, Don Juan Triumphant. The woman he had loved, Christine Daae, had revealed his deformed face to the world and he had taken her down to his Lair in his anger. He had loved Christine, and felt he had betrayed him. Christine was engaged to the Vicomte de Changy, Raoul, and this had added to the Phantoms anger. In the end, Christine had been rescued by Raoul and they had later married. As for the Phantom…The last people saw of him was just before he took Christine. Once his face was revealed, he had unsheathed a dagger and cut the safety ropes for the chandelier. It had fallen, over the full audience and over the orchestra pit, coming to a crash onstage. It burst into a blazing fireball and the whole Opera Populaire had gone up in flames. And still no one knew what had happened to the Phantom, Christine and Raoul refused to say a word on the matter. Newspapers and many people said he had died; no one who was in that fire had survived. But Jessica knew otherwise. In her heart of hearts she knew he had survived. She had seen flashes of a white half mask, heard the rusting of cloth when there was no one around, and most important of all, she had felt his eyes upon her and the company. The Phantom lived.

After the disaster, the Opera Populaire had been rebuilt. There was a new chandelier and Jessica gazed at it, glittering high above her. She had told the other Ballet Girls many times the Phantom lived but who would believe The Witch? Jessica lowered her eyes. The Witch was the company’s name for her, it was unnatural to have two different coloured eyes. They teased and bullied her endlessly, she was an outcast. She had been all her life.

Her mother had abandoned her as a baby. She had been taken in by an elderly couple, only to be dumped again when they found the pressure too much. She was only six. Since then, Jessica had lived on the streets, scavenging and begging to get by. Madame Giry had found her then, and had taken her in. She had seen Jessica’s potential to be a Ballerina and had trained her in the Opera Populaire. Now she was 19, she was the second best Ballet dancer there, besides Meg Giry, Madame Giry’s daughter. The company hated her all the more for being as good as she was. They said she had used her Witchcraft to work her way up. Jessica ignored it, she had got used to such things. Not that they didn’t hurt her. Every comment, every whisper cut into her heart and scarred it. All Jessica wished was for someone to understand her. She was still wishing. A feeling of great sadness welled in Jessica’s chest. It had been two years since she had had any human contact. Anyone’s touch or any conversation. Jessica recalled the last time she had talked with someone. It was a painful memory…

Two weeks after the disaster, Jessica was stood in front of the burnt out Opera Populaire. She wore a plain dark dress covered by a long coat. It was a chill day, the first flakes of snow falling around her. Hardly anyone dared to brave this weather, so Jessica stood alone.

A man dressed in thick furs and a top hat hurried past, giving Jessica a quick glance as he went. He stopped suddenly, and looked back at Jessica. He took off his hat and began to walk back to Jessica’s side.

“Excuse me Mams’elle,” He began, twiddling his hat in his hands,

“But, were you the Lead Flamenco dancer in this houses production of Don Juan Triumphant?”

Jessica inclined her head in his direction, a slight smile on her lips. “Oui, Monsieur,” She replied. Meg had been the Lead Gypsy dancer, so Lead Flamenco had been Jessica’s role.

“Can I enquire why you ask?” She asked. The man laid a gloved hand on her arm,

“I ask, my dear, because you were sensational!” He cried. Jessica looked up at the man, eyes wide.

“Really Monsieur?” She fell silent. The man had taken a sudden step back, and removed his hand.

“Witch!” He hissed, “Demon!” He stepped back again, nearly tripping in his hurry to get away. He spat on the ground at Jessica’s feet, rammed his hat back on his head and stalked off.

Tears stung at Jessica’s two different eyes and she bit her lip to stop herself sobbing. In another hour or so, people would be arriving for rehearsals so Jessica ran off the stage and towards the stairs that led to the Boxes.

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A/N – Hope you like! Sorry this took a while to write, I’ve moved house and have had to get a new internet connection on my new PC. Anyways, please review!