Piercing screams. Alarming shrieks of terror. Cruel mocks of laughter.

None of those belonged to the boy. The gag Javert, his master had placed silenced him.

How he longed to escape!

Every mock, every scream of disgust, every jeer was like a knife piercing his wounded and fragile heart. He would shield himself from this torture only if his wrists were not bounded to the bars of the cage. This was one of the measures Javert meticulously practiced to make sure the Living Corpse did not attack the paying audience, and more importantly, himself.

The crowd attracted tonight was larger than past nights. This was due to tonight being the start of the the festive season and people flocked to the gypsy fair to be entertained by the oddities and performances. He knew that this was a bad thing. Javert, being an opportunist, would try to satisfy the crowd and make them go wild so he could earn more tips and hopefully attract visitors to come again. Merciless Javert would beat him harder, his torture would last longer and there would be more he could do now was to wish he could make it through tonight.

"The Living Corpse is hideous, isn't he? Look at that ugly twisted lips! What do you say, shall we punish him?" Javert spat as he swung a heavy rod at the boy's knees.