Chapter 2: Pictures Tell A Thousand Things

Erik looked up at the woman whom entered his cell before simply turning away, going back to tinkering with one of his inventions and he prepared himself to hear the woman scream with her having looking upon his disfigured face but he was stunned when he heard her approach him and she came to his side with no look of fear on her face before holding out the ration of bread, which he accepted hesitantly,

"I have never seen you before. You must be a new performer. He always makes a new member look upon the face of the devil's child" he mumbled, going back to his tinkering and rolled his eyes when she did not respond,

"I am not worthy of a reply?" he asked sarcastically and became startled when she slammed her hand on his rickety table and he looked upon her unimpressed face as she began gesturing with her hands,

'If you bothered to look at me then you would have seen that I had tried to respond' she signed and Erik held a look of realisation,

"Ahhhhhhh... My apologies. I was unaware" he said before simply going back to tinkering, not seeing how the girl rolled her eyes at his rudeness before leaving.

Javert held a look of curiosity when the girl emerged from The Devil Child's cell with no look of fear upon her face,

"Your... 'Room' is here, my dear" he said with a cruel chuckle as he gestured to an empty cell and hid his confusion when she entered without argument and he locked the gate behind her,

"Tomorrow shall be your debut, my dear Hope... But be warned. If you ever fail to bring in an audience, if you ever fail to bring money to my pocket and if you ever disobey me then you shall feel the fowl burning sting of my whip against your back" he warned and smirked when the woman nodded.

Erik was thankful for a day off as the circus visitors were all flocking to the new show's main attraction that Javert had named: Hope's Eternal Image.

Erik couldn't lie that he was intrigued by Hope's gifts; She didn't need audience members to tell her what they desired to know, even if they tried to tell her she would simply hold up a gentle hand before beginning to draw and he came to know that all of Hope's drawings came to pass. At first, Erik believed it to be some sort of miraculous scam that Javert had put into place but he soon came to realise that this was not so for even the circus master was stunned by her gifts.

Hope sat within the shadows of her cell as she sketched random scenes of the circus when she heard, Javert call out to the performers',

"Feeding Time!" he announced and after a moment he finally came to her cell,

"Oh my dear, Hope. Today, you have pleased me greatly, You continue to bring in more and more audience with each passing day... For this, you are to be rewarded" he said and Hope looked surprised when one of Javert's men entered, carrying a tray of freshly cooked meat and vegetables,

"Enjoy, my dear. You have earned this" he praised as the worker handed her the tray before both men took their leave but before Hope could tuck into the very delicious looking meal...,

"No food for you today, Devil's Child. No Audience. No Food" Hope heard Javert say with a cruel laugh before leaving.

Hope frowned, shaking her head unimpressed and she placed the tray of food down gently before retrieving a pin from her hair which she used to pick the lock of her cell before picking up the tray of food and headed towards the covered cell.

Erik looked up surprised when Hope entered his cell,

"What are you doing here?" he demanded and looked confused when she approached his small table and placed a tray of warm food upon the surface,

'You need to eat' she signed causing Erik to frown,

"Why would you do this for me?" he asked and saw her smile at him gently,

'It is not your fault that you didn't bring in an audience. It is mine and I am sorry. You do not deserve to starve because of me' she signed gently,

'You don't deserve for anyone to look upon you with cruelty' she finished before going to leave but Erik grasped her wrist gently,

"What's your name?... Your real name?" he asked and watched as she looked at him with a sad smile,

'I don't have one... I am an orphan. The only name I have is Hope. I like this name' she signed and Erik couldn't help but smile,

"I like this name too... It suits you" he said before hesitantly releasing her from his gentle hold and watched as she left with a soft smile upon her face as she glanced back at him over her shoulder.

I like writing this story hehe :D Usually I struggle coming up with names for new characters due to myself being a person of habit haha :D I'm so sorry that I have used the name 'Amelia' too much so far but I promise to try and come up with new character names.

Kind Regards,

TheAuthor1996