A Phantom's Muse #23
An extract from the journal of Nadir Khan, former Daroga of Mezanderan , dated May 1881.
"It is perhaps some curious twist of fate that brought me to Paris. I served the Shah of Persia for many years as Chief of Police and I was awarded a modest pension upon which I now live.
Being a widower, I had nothing keeping me in Persia, and I had always wanted to see the great cities of Europe. I travelled with my servant Darius, and together, we travelled across the Black Sea and entered the Russias. I was astonished by the cities of Saint Petersburg and Nijni novrogod on the Volga River.
From Russia, we travelled into the land of the Poles, then into Germany and finally Holland and then France. When I arrived in Paris, I felt compelled to stay and took up residence in a modest flat above a hatters in the Rue de Rivoli.
Being close to the grand Paris Opera house, I purchased a season ticket and allowed myself to indulge my love of the arts. I found life in Paris to be quite a splendid affair, and although I had limited means, I was comfortable enough and found a certain measure of peace.
That peace, however, was shattered this morning when I ran into a most unexpected acquaintance whilst out taking a stroll. I had assumed that Erik had met an untimely end somewhere. To see him on the street in Paris came as quite a shock. We collided outside a shop selling ladies' undergarments.
He claimed he was out shopping for his wife. Could it be he had found a woman able to tolerate his repugnant appearance? I hoped so but doubted it. I knew Erik of old, and i knew only too well what he was capable of, and the very notion of some poor woman in his influence was horrifying to me.
I at once expressed a desire to meet this wife of Erik's, but he brushed me off and hurried away. This raised my suspicions at once. I knew Erik like I knew myself, and I had learned long ago that when he was evasive, it usually signalled that he had done or was in the process of doing something he knew was wrong.
Erik had long ago convinced himself that he had no conscience and that he was beyond the weakness of human emotions. His hideous appearance had caused him to believe that he owed nothing to humanity as he was not one of us, yet despite himself, he still had a few shreds of morality that he put down to a Catholic priest who had tried to help him as a boy.
I returned to my home, determined to uncover whatever Erik was hiding, one way or another."
