The phantom of the cavern

Act II: Scene XIII

George and Mal go inside the small room.

It has pictures of Mal when he was younger, candles for light, and flowers to make the room seem less boring.

Mal locks the door behind him and places the candle he was holding down, next to a picture of when he was younger.

"Many years ago, there was a traveling fair, playing in the city."

George listens intently to the older man's story.

"Gypsies is what they were."

"I was very young, studying to be a performer. One of many, living in the dormitories of the cavern."

Flashback to when Mal was younger...

The fire eater blew onto the torch he was holding, making it look like he was breathing fire.

There were gasp in the small crowd that Mal was with.

The group of young kids continued to walk, passing performers, some sitting on nail beds, some charming animals, etc. There were also a handful of small animals. Some monkeys, and snakes.

Mal remembers all the amazing things he saw, way back then.

Most importantly, he remembers a man telling the children to go inside a tent.

The man was one of the gypsies. He wasn't very good-looking. He had very little to no teeth and was on the chubby side.

"Come inside, and see the devil's child." He said.

The kids follow him.

Mal walks up to a cage with a small, frail boy inside of it.

He had whip marks all over his skin and wore a potato sack over his head.

Mal looked at the boy with pity.

The boy also looked, but quickly turned back around to play with a little white rabbit doll.

The older man came into the cage, and kicked the rabbit out of the boy's hands, and started to whip him.

While Mal cringed at the sound that was made, the children around him laughed at the boy.

"Behold, the devil's child."

He took the sack off his head and grabbed him by his hair.

Mal just stood there, helpless.

He wanted to get the boy out of there, but he couldn't. So he just watched.

The man cackled one last time, then left the cage.

The boy scurried to get the sack back over his head, anger bubbling up inside him.

Everyone started to leave, and drop coins on the ground.

Mal looked at the boy one last time, then turned to leave.

The boy untied a rope that was on a bar of the cage, and slowly walked behind the man.

Out of the corner of Mal's eye, he saw the boy strangling the man.

He turned around, but he didn't say anything.

Once the older man was dead, the young boy grabbed his rabbit and looked up at Mal.

Mal unlocked the cage, letting the young boy free. But instead of running, they just looked at each other.

"Murder! Murder!" A gypsy yelled, signaling for the cops.

Quickly, Mal leads the young boy through come corridors.

They stopped until they were outside, the police high on their tracks.

Mal shoved the young boy through a small, hidden door in the wall, while Mal stays behind.

Once the boy steps off the final steps of the staircase, he notices he is in a cold cement room.

Quickly, he closed the small gate behind him, until he heard small footsteps.

Mal came running down another set of stairs, took the boy's hand, and started running through more corridors.

"I hid him from the world and its cruelties."

Back to the present...

"He has known nothing else of life since then, except this Cavern Club."

"It was his playground, and now his artistic domain. He's a genius. He's an architect and designer, he's a composer and magician. A genius!" Mal can't help but compliment him on his work.

"But clearly, Mr. Evans, genius has turned to madness." George explains.

Mal sighs.

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Yay! So now we got a backstory for Johnny!

I'm also thinking about going on a hiatus. Exams are coming up, and I do want a good career and future so I guess I better start studying!

I will be back by the end of May or before that.

So long, partners! 🤠