been partially cognizant of a second earlier. She nodded her head side to side, to say no.
“This is ‘Faust’, composed by Gounod. Not to be confused with ‘Doktor Faust’, which was the one composed by Busoni. Frankly, I enjoy them both, but I find this one more beautiful. Just listen for a moment.”
Stanton put his finger to his lips and silently watched her through the camera monitor again. “What do you think? Do you like it?”
Nikki didn’t know how to respond. Her entire body still trembled uncontrollably, but she tried to gather herself enough to communicate with Stanton, which she suddenly thought, and hoped, might provide her with some way out of her situation. She nodded her head slightly up and down.
“A little, maybe? Good. It is a beautiful opera. Do you know the story?”
Nikki, gaining a bit more control of herself, nodded no.
“Well, let me give you the abridged version. Dr. Faust is an older man, a man of science, who’s dissatisfied with his life. One night, he curses God and calls on the devil, Mephistopheles, who of course appears. He’s real you know? The devil, he’s real. Did you know that?”
Nikki again nodded to say no.
“Well, he is, and so is God, but we’ll come back to that later. Back to the story, Mephistopheles appears and offers Faust riches, power, whatever he wants in this life, in exchange for Faust’s soul. But, all Faust wants is to be able to return to his youth, which Mephistopheles gladly grants him. Faust goes back and eventually seduces a beautiful young maiden, much like you, named Marguerite. He impregnates her and leaves her, but she still loves him. Later, Mephistopheles speaks to Marguerite, telling her she’s damned in part for causing the death of her brother, and she goes insane and is put into prison for infanticide. It’s a sad opera in many ways, but in another way it offers hope. Do you know how?”
Again, Nikki nodded, no.
“This is where what I told you about the devil and God being real becomes relevant. Faust wanted the innocence of his youth, he wanted to relive his youth, to be young again, and Mephistopheles gave him that. I’ll tell you a little secret… he’s giving that to me too. Let me ask, did you have a happy childhood?”
Nikki nodded yes.
“Really? That’s somewhat surprising, given what you do for a living. I’ve always thought girls in your profession probably had screwed up childhoods, but what do I know. Well, my childhood was not happy or pleasant. I won’t bore you with the various sordid details, but my childhood, from my earliest memories, was full of pain. Mostly, it was my father, but my mother never raised a hand or voice in my defense. Neither of them ever loved me and then, when I was thirteen, they both died. I didn’t kill them, though I wish I had. When they died, I went to live with my grandmother, who didn’t love me either, but at least she didn’t hurt me. That, in a nutshell, was my youth.”
“If that story makes you feel bad for me, you’re not the first, but it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t tell you how many times I prayed to God when I was growing up. How many times I pleaded with him to make me someone new, put me somewhere new. He never did. No words or pity or prayers to God ever helped me, nor will they bring back my youth or erase all the crap I dealt with. But Mephistopheles, or more accurately, the devil, can and he is. I’ve struck my own bargain so to speak. When God stayed silent, I called out to his antagonist and
he
answered my call. I’ve given myself over to his servant, to Abaddon. Do you know of Abaddon?”
Nikki forced herself to nod no again, but listening to Stanton, she was beginning to lose any hope of escaping unharmed and began to tremble visibly again.
“He’s one of the devil’s most powerful servants. He’s described as the ‘Angel of the Abyss’ or the ‘Destroyer’, and, to make a long story short, very very soon, we’ll be one.”
Stanton put
“This is ‘Faust’, composed by Gounod. Not to be confused with ‘Doktor Faust’, which was the one composed by Busoni. Frankly, I enjoy them both, but I find this one more beautiful. Just listen for a moment.”
Stanton put his finger to his lips and silently watched her through the camera monitor again. “What do you think? Do you like it?”
Nikki didn’t know how to respond. Her entire body still trembled uncontrollably, but she tried to gather herself enough to communicate with Stanton, which she suddenly thought, and hoped, might provide her with some way out of her situation. She nodded her head slightly up and down.
“A little, maybe? Good. It is a beautiful opera. Do you know the story?”
Nikki, gaining a bit more control of herself, nodded no.
“Well, let me give you the abridged version. Dr. Faust is an older man, a man of science, who’s dissatisfied with his life. One night, he curses God and calls on the devil, Mephistopheles, who of course appears. He’s real you know? The devil, he’s real. Did you know that?”
Nikki again nodded to say no.
“Well, he is, and so is God, but we’ll come back to that later. Back to the story, Mephistopheles appears and offers Faust riches, power, whatever he wants in this life, in exchange for Faust’s soul. But, all Faust wants is to be able to return to his youth, which Mephistopheles gladly grants him. Faust goes back and eventually seduces a beautiful young maiden, much like you, named Marguerite. He impregnates her and leaves her, but she still loves him. Later, Mephistopheles speaks to Marguerite, telling her she’s damned in part for causing the death of her brother, and she goes insane and is put into prison for infanticide. It’s a sad opera in many ways, but in another way it offers hope. Do you know how?”
Again, Nikki nodded, no.
“This is where what I told you about the devil and God being real becomes relevant. Faust wanted the innocence of his youth, he wanted to relive his youth, to be young again, and Mephistopheles gave him that. I’ll tell you a little secret… he’s giving that to me too. Let me ask, did you have a happy childhood?”
Nikki nodded yes.
“Really? That’s somewhat surprising, given what you do for a living. I’ve always thought girls in your profession probably had screwed up childhoods, but what do I know. Well, my childhood was not happy or pleasant. I won’t bore you with the various sordid details, but my childhood, from my earliest memories, was full of pain. Mostly, it was my father, but my mother never raised a hand or voice in my defense. Neither of them ever loved me and then, when I was thirteen, they both died. I didn’t kill them, though I wish I had. When they died, I went to live with my grandmother, who didn’t love me either, but at least she didn’t hurt me. That, in a nutshell, was my youth.”
“If that story makes you feel bad for me, you’re not the first, but it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t tell you how many times I prayed to God when I was growing up. How many times I pleaded with him to make me someone new, put me somewhere new. He never did. No words or pity or prayers to God ever helped me, nor will they bring back my youth or erase all the crap I dealt with. But Mephistopheles, or more accurately, the devil, can and he is. I’ve struck my own bargain so to speak. When God stayed silent, I called out to his antagonist and
he
answered my call. I’ve given myself over to his servant, to Abaddon. Do you know of Abaddon?”
Nikki forced herself to nod no again, but listening to Stanton, she was beginning to lose any hope of escaping unharmed and began to tremble visibly again.
“He’s one of the devil’s most powerful servants. He’s described as the ‘Angel of the Abyss’ or the ‘Destroyer’, and, to make a long story short, very very soon, we’ll be one.”
Stanton put
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