Searching under the Venusian Shadow *Magnus*

[lauramcphearson]

There were two sides to the coin known as a Apocalyptica. On one side there was a thriving Opera house turned symphonic rock club and casino. Its halls filled with the sounds of humans, vampires, and so much more. Music echoed throughout every fiber of its making; the wicked encouraged seduction and darkness while the meek and mild were lured in to their willful corruption. It’s aura of Gothic romance permeated every molecule within the dusky lit enclave. On the other side of the same coin there was the hollowed desolate edifice; one whose walls wept with sorrowful loneliness. The mournful aura was both suffocating and all-consuming at the worst of times. At the best of times it was an empty lonely Victorian that yearned for the comfort of habitation.

Since her employment at the Apocalyptica Laura has encountered both sides of the coin that makes the Opera club the perfect interlude from life. Only for her it was not an interlude, it was her life, and as of late the happiness she once beheld was hidden in the recesses of her mind, overshadowed by her ever increasing loneliness. Since the night of the ball she felt broken inside; a piece of her was ripped away only to leave her searching under the shadow of Venus for only that which can make her whole again.

Where did he go? Her sad stranger; the one with the rich baritone voice, saturated mournful yearning that filled her up past brimming and left her overflowing with wholeness from the perfect octaves that echoed out within his song? Never in all of her time upon heaven had she ever encountered a voice so passionate, so blindingly beautiful that it could bring tears of pure unadulterated love and joy to her eyes. Their encounter was but a brief one, but entirely all that was needed for Laura to know that her heart had found the missing piece for no one voice could ever call out to her soul the way his did. It was as if it alone was meant only for her and hers from him.

What could not have been more than a week was nothing more than an unbearable eternity to her. In all the millennia spent in heaven never had she felt the passing of time so painstakingly slow; days like years and weeks longer than decades. How long would the passage of time be before her destined was revealed to her once again?

Since their encounter morose enveloped Laura. It emanated from her very essence; rolling off of her in waves that crashed and coated everything around her. Her food no longer held any flavor, all drinks held no merit above that of water. She kept the same degree of dress and maintenance, but in the hopes that should he return she would not be out of sorts. Even her own singing was affected by her emptiness. Her singing was no longer melodically upbeat. No matter the lyrics her voice held a tone of hollowed desire. Her bosses appearing ever so tolerant of her disposition had yet to say something.

Laura could not obtain worthwhile sleep as well, so as with any other day she rose, donned her jade green dressing gown over her nightgown and traversed the empty, weeping halls of the Apocalyptica. Today drew her to the Opera house portion of the club; the very place where she met her soulful stranger. She slowly walked along one of the aisles closest to the wall on her left; the fingers closest to the wall trailed behind her as they danced along the wall until she made it to the stairs of the stage. As she reached the center she lowered herself to lying there on her back. Her arms reached out above her as she began to sing.

I’m giving up the ghost of love
Enter the shadows cast on devotion

He is the one that I adore
King of my silent suffocation

Break this bittersweet spell on me
Lost in the arms of destiny…

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[Magnus]

Since the opening of the Apocalyptica, Magnus had slipped into silent depression. He had tried to save the boy before he slipped from the beam. The woman, the vampire who obviously loved him was so distraught, he could not bear the sorrow. His soul drank it in and consumed him. It plummeted him into disconsolate darkness and all consuming misery. It was days before the nagging thoughts of the angelic voice echoing in his mind drew him from his dark and lowly hiding place and once again into the upper rafters of the auditorium. He wondered if he would see or hear her again.

Would she think he had a part in the boy’s fall? Did she think him a monster? This, he could not bear and it nearly drove him back into his home below the Apocalyptica. It was safe there. The Vampire Jan-Kai ensured him of that. Only Magnus could enter and leave, the Vampires would respect his privacy and so far they did. They knew him to be the true owner of the place by virtue of his belongings keeping him captive to it. It was he who decided which shows were run and who starred in it. So far it had proved to be profitable for the Vampires. Magnus had no use for money. When he needed something he simply left a note on the beautiful Vampire’s mirror and it would appear in the designated location for him to retrieve within a day or two.

Today was the day to search her out. He had to find her but he still was afraid to let her actually see him. But he needed to find her, to see her, to love her. He climbed through the rafters, searching unsuccessfully so he moved onto the planks above the halls and slipped into a shadow to wait. He would listen until he heard anything and move to that location to see if it was her. Always in the shadows, always silent as a mouse on a pillow.

Finally, sometime in the late morning, he heard movement. He quickly slipped through the darkness up the upper decks, searching until he saw her. In the opera house, his favorite haunt. She was a vision of loveliness in her flowing dressing gown. She looked so sad, he nearly called to her but he had no words to utter, only music. Then she began to sing. Her words rang in his heart, he needed to respond and there was only one way, he could. He sang back to her from the darkest shadows, his voice echoed through the opera house.

Bittersweet

I won't give up
I'm possessed by her


I'm bearing her cross
She's turned into my curse


Break this bittersweet spell on me
Lost in the arms of destiny

Bittersweet
I want you...

He stopped and awaited her response.

[lauramcphearson]

From the first chord that spilled out in rich baritone waves Laura knew her musically dark angel had finally come to rescue her from the depth of her despair. Had she known all it would take was the sorrowful notes cast out from the deep recesses of her heart she would have long sung them before now. Hindsight was always to be in 20/20 clarity so it mattered not that she possessed those thoughts at this time.

Her song was halted as all sound escaped her the moment he responded to her musical plea. Immediately she gathered herself to her feet and listened closely, hoping to hear the direction in which only he would call out to her. Every note he crooned out to her led her towards her destination; her angel beyond the shadows. she would follow every note that caressed her til she found him. Even if it meant searching the whole of the Apocalyptica for him.

All too quickly the lyrics ended and she was left wondering where he had gone. She couldn’t possibly let him go now that he brought light back to her world. “No…” she whispered, the word drawn in her refusal to lose the path to him. “Not yet. I must not lose you again!” If music brought him to her thie first time then music would bring him to her again.

Break this bittersweet spell on me
Lost in the arms of destiny

Bittersweet
I want you

And I need you

Break this bittersweet spell on me
Lost in the arms of destiny
Break this bittersweet spell on me
Lost in the arms of destiny

Bittersweet...

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[Magnus]

Magnus moved deeper into the shadows, still uncertain if she was only curious and using his attraction to music to lure him out so she could see him. No one saw him if he didn't want them to.

He wanted her to see him but only if he would have her heart the way he did. He had seen so much tragedy and was not ready to feel more. He was ready for love, the love he was already feeling for his angel of music. They question was, was she ready for the love he could give her.

She was putting off mixed signals in her actions. Her music said one thing but her actions seemed almost...fearful. Was she fearful of him or that she may lose him? He had to know. He was drawn so strongly to her. Her voice was that of a angle and as such she could only be an angel. He ached for her. To reach out and touch her cheek would make his life complete.

She seemed so lost. How could he tell her all these things he wanted to say when he rarely had words. She was close, too close. Not yet... he had to know how she felt in her heart first. She needed to know what he felt in his.

Hard to find a way to get through,
it's a tragedy pulling at me like the stars do,

you're like gravity

Even if the wind blows it makes it hard to believe

How you gonna love?
How you gonna feel?

How you gonna live your life like the dream you have is real?

If you lost your way, I will keep you safe

We'll open up all the world inside, see it come alive tonight

I will keep you safe...

[lauramcphearson]

Laura was halted midstride by the change in her dark angel’s voice no longer just deep, rich, possessively powerful, and sexy. Now it was all of that plus yearning and hopeful. It seemed that until he wanted to be found she would not find it. The thought saddened her a bit. All she wanted was to see the person behind the voice; the one who captured her heart with the voice of song and would never permit her to have it back. To her it didn’t matter who they were for it was not his body nor his physicality that had captured her thusly so. It was his song; his voice that had won her completely and irrevocably so. How could she show him that all she wanted was to be with him; only to have him near her.

Then it came to her and she couldn’t help but smile knowing how right the lyrics were. The words she would spin on angelic tones would convey everything that was within her heart to tell him. He would know without a doubt that it was he she wanted. She soon belted out the chords that would tell him everything.

No more talk of darkness
Forget these wide-eyed fears
I'm here, nothing can harm you
My words will warm and calm you

Let me be your freedom
Let daylight dry your tears
I'm here, with you, beside you
To guard you and to guide you

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Laura paused, the intense emotions of lyrics flooding through her strongly like the rushing rapids prior to the cliff that brings the waterfall. Pressing on she continued to pour out her soul to her Dark angel.

Let me be your shelter
Let me be your light
You're safe, no one will find you
Your fears are far behind you….
Then say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime
Let me lead you from your solitude
Say you need me with you here, beside you
Anywhere you go, let me go too
My Angel, that's all I ask of you!

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[Magnus]

She did want him. Just as he wanted her. The problem was, would she be turned away by his face. Sure the mask covered the disfiguring scar from the burns he sustained in London. It was well known that all the phantoms who survived had been badly burned. But he had been burned on his face. It was time to let her choose, let her see his masked face, never unmasked, ever. The most she would ever see was how one eye dropped slightly under the mask. Under the mask, he was a monster. No, she would never see it.

Magnus moved slightly from the shadows and began to sing, moving in short increments toward her, ever staying in the shadows.

I see you there,
don't know where you come from
Unaware of a stare from someone
Don't Appear to care
that I saw you, and I want you

What's your name?
Cause I have to know it
You let me in and begin to show it
I'm terrified
cause you're headed straight for it,
might Get it

Hear the song playin on background
All alone but you're turnin up now
And everyone is risin to meet ya,
to greet you

Turn around and you're walkin toward me
I'm breakin down
and you're breathin slowly
Say the word and I will be your man,
your man, say when

(Chorus)
And my own two hands
will comfort you tonight, tonight
Say when
And my own two arms
will carry you tonight, tonight

He now stood only very close to her, still hidden in the shadows, behind a framed pane of two way glass that looked like a mirror, his cape lifted so she could only see his good eye peaking over it at her. His body was turned so that she could not see the mask. She could not see him yet as he was hidden behind the glass.
His words changed, became dark and slow as if in a warning.

Flattering child you shall know me.
See why in shadow I hide.
Look at your face in the mirror.
I am there inside.

He turned and lit a candle that was on a table next to the mirror and pulled it to him, lighting up the back of the mirror, allowing her to see him bathed in soft golden, flickering candlelight.