After taking him through the window, she took his hand and conducted him to the small room she used to go for her prayers. People usually didn't use this room, it was small and a little stuffy, but it was quiet, and she liked it. He was scared, holding on to his toy, squeezing it against his chest.

"It's okay, you just have to stay here until the police stops searching for you". She heard the noises coming from the street. "I have to go, if they notice I'm gone, I'll be in trouble. Wait for me here, I'll came check on you later". He nodded and she stormed off to meet the other ballerinas as they entered the theater. She managed to mingle among them, so that Madame Bellarouix wouldn't notice she was just joining the group.

Louise, one of the girls, turned to her and whispered "Where were you?"

"I got lost" she replied simply, without wanting to get into details. She was restless, shooting glances to the place she had just came from.

"Anttoinete!" she froze as she heard her name. She turned immediately, as the blood left her face. "You and Louise, take the younger girls upstairs". She breathed relieved, as she took the younger ones' hands to direct them to the upstairs dorms. Being one of the older girls, she was, at times, designated to look after some of the younger ones.

After making sure everybody was in bed and all the lights were off, she carefully made her way downstairs. In every corner her heart was beating faster in her chest, afraid she might get caught. To her surprise, he wasn't where she left him. Her panic was growing by the minute, 'where could he be?'. It had taken her a lot of time to came check on him, he must have thought she wouldn't be back.

Suddenly, she heard a muffled voice coming from a small trap door, hidden beneath one of the benches. She opened it carefully, and the voice filled the small room. It was the first time she had heard his voice. It was soft, yet powerful. The kind of voice that could hypnotize, seduce, infiltrate one's soul. She couldn't help but follow its sound.

When she went down the door, she felt her feet touching the cold stone and a shiver went through her spine. The stair ahead was narrow and humid and she lifted the candle to see was was down there but could only illuminate a few feet in front of her. She took a deep breath and followed where it lead. Little by little the tunnel widened and revealed a small room, with a high ceiling. Suddenly the voice stopped and she saw a shadow moving beside her.

"Shhh" she tried to calm him "it's me" she said, lifting the candle so it shone its light on her face. The movement cause the candle to shed some light on his face too, and she noticed he wasn't wearing the cloth on his face. She felt her stomach tighten. She tried not to look directly at his face. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you weren't coming back" he replied in a small voice, retrieving his mask and putting it back over his head.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't come earlier..." she realized she didn't know his name. All she knew was that they called his the devil's child, but he must had a name. "I'm Antoinette, by the way, Antoinette Giry" a small silence followed before he muttered something. "What was that?"

"Erik, my name is Erik" he said, looking at her through the holes of the sack in his head.

"Well, Erik" she said, taking a few careful steps towards him, "are you hungry? Let's find you something to eat." He hesitated before taking her hand. No one had ever been nice to him. He let himself hope for a second. Maybe things were going to be different…