Chapter 8
Miranda lead Lavi down a hall, away from the crowd, and to her room. Miranda ushered him in and closed the door behind her.
"Miss Lotto… please tell me what's happening. I know you know, so please just tell me."
Miranda's eyes filled with sorrow as she looked at the red head that had everything. "You wouldn't understand his suffering." She stated coldly.
"Please." Lavi begged.
Miranda shook her head. "His name is Allen Walker…" She sat down in a chair next to her bed preparing for her story. "Around ten years ago the annual circus came to town. I was training to be a caretaker at the time, so one of my duties was to accompany the performers whenever we as a troupe would go anywhere. We went to the circus that day. We watched the acrobats, magicians, and the clowns; at the end of the show we walked through a freak tent. I was amazed at all the weird, abnormal things in that tent. Eventually, we came to the end where there was a giant crowd. We pushed our way through the crowd to see a stout man beating a little kid. I couldn't see the kid very well, but I could tell he was resisting. The man grabbed the boy's knotted, ratty white hair and pulled him to his feet to show the audience. The little boy tried to hide his face with his hands, but the man held both arms behind the kid's back. The man laughed and asked to see if everyone could see his face. Everyone gasped at the sight. It was terrible…" A tear threatened to fall down Miranda's cheek. "The man then twisted the boy's right arm to show off the left. The left arm was worse than his face. The man made sure to mention that he had gloves on so to not touch the kid's 'cursed' features. After that he continued to beat the kid viciously. Everyone laughed at the kid's scream of pains. Eventually everyone left and so did I. But that night after everything was locked up, I snuck back into the circus. Everyone I encountered was either asleep or drunk. I quietly snuck into the Freak tent and found the boy sleeping on a small pile of hay. He had on what he had earlier, which was nothing but a pair of worn-out, ripped pair of pants. Even in the dark I could see him bleeding and covered in bruises. By the cage was a ring of keys, set there to tease the boy that his freedom was just barely out of his reach. I found the right key and inserted it into the lock. As I did, the boy roused and looked at me. I saw the fear and confusion in his eyes. He quickly covered the left side of his face and hide his left arm behind him. 'It's okay' I said as I tried to calm the frightened child. 'Escape' I tried to use the smallest words possible, I didn't know whether he spoke or not. 'Quick' the way he responded, it was as if he did know. He grabbed a small golden ball that was hidden under the pile of hay and followed me. We ran to the Order and from there I hid him in the underground sewers."
Lavi shook his head. "What's so wrong with this 'Phantom' is that he's messed up from all the abuse he was put through as a child."
"No!" Miranda defended. "He's not! He's smart, sweet, caring, and he's practically my son!"
"I thank you, Miss Lotto for the story but this madness must end." Lavi walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.