young, and they had spent such a short time together. Soon she'd find someone else?
Now, staring into the fire's dying embers, he gripped the arms of the chair, his nails gouging the wood as he thought of her in the arms of another man.
Rising, he went into the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he picked up the pillow she had used. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, his nostrils filling with her scent. In his mind, he saw her as she had been the night they made love, her beautiful body lightly sheened with perspiration, her green eyes glowing and alive. He felt again the touch of her hands as she undressed him, felt the way her fingers trembled as she caressed him, bold yet innocent. He relived every moment, every touch, embracing the pain of remembering, the shattering sense of loss now that she was gone.
Into his mind came the last soulful cry of the Phantom as he stood alone in his underground lair, bidding farewell to the only woman he would ever love.
The urge to kill, to destroy, welled within him, growing until he could think of nothing else.
Engulfed with rage, he stalked out of the bedroom, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. With a strangled cry he grabbed the fireplace poker, holding it so tightly it bent in his hands as though it were made of straw.
With an oath he flung it against the wall, then stormed out of the house, the lust for blood, the need to hurt someone as he was hurting, driving him beyond all reason.
He found his prey in a dark alley. The man struggled in vain, his red-rimmed eyes growing wide as he stared into the face of death. With a low growl Jason lowered his head to the man's throat. He smelled the malodorous stench of the drunk's unwashed body, felt the violent tremors that wracked the man as he realized he was about to die.
Unaccountably, an image of Leanne rose in Jason's mind, and he saw himself as she would see him, his eyes glittering with the lust for blood, his lips drawn back to expose his fangs as he prepared to drain this hapless creature of its life.
Filled with self-loathing, Jason shoved the man away and disappeared into the shadows of the night.
* * *
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Leanne glanced up, meeting Jennifer's face in the mirror. As always, Jennifer looked as if she'd just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Her makeup was perfect. Her long, honey blond hair framed her face like a golden halo. Unlike the rest of the cast, who usually arrived at the theater in jeans and a T-shirt, Jennifer always looked as if she were about to go to a Hollywood premiere. "Look like a star, be a star," she always said.
Leanne forced a smile. "Talk about what?"
"Whatever's been bothering you for the past two weeks."
"I don't know what you mean," Leanne said and burst into tears.
Jennifer sat down on the stool beside Leanne and patted her friend's shoulder.
"It has to be man trouble," she murmured with the air of one who spoke from experience.
"Oh, Jen, you don't know the half of it."
"I've got time to listen."
Leanne plucked a Kleenex from the box on the dressing table and dabbed at her eyes. If only shecould tell someone, she thought sadly, if only she could pour it all out, all the heartache, the hurt. If only?
"There's nothing to tell, Jen. I met a? a man, and I thought? it doesn't matter. It's over."
"But you don't want it to be over?"
"No."
"Maybe he'll change his mind."
A rueful smile tugged at Leanne's lips. It wasn't Jason's mind that was keeping them apart. "Maybe."
"Come on," Jennifer said, gaining her feet. "Let's go get a cup of coffee."
It was unusually crowded backstage that night. Some of the cast members were giving friends and family a behind-the-scenes tour, showing them the props: the huge painted elephant that was part of the first act, the boat that ferried Christine and the Phantom across the underground lake, the numerous candelabra that lit the Phantom's lair, the enormous winding staircase, the trap door that the Phantom used during the Masquerade number. Later, they'd see Twin's Gym, where members of the cast and crew sometimes worked out between shows.
Near the stage door, Leanne saw Michael Piontek, who played the Vicomte de Chagny, signing autographs, and Dale Kristen, who had played the part of Christine Dane