Erik’s story was one of rejection and cruelty from the very start. Born into a poor family of technicians in Rouen, France, he inherited his father’s brilliance but was cursed with severe facial deformities. His parents, horrified by his appearance, never gave him a name and sold him to a traveling freak show when he was still a child.

The circus became Erik’s prison. Dubbed “The Walking Corpse,” he was paraded before jeering crowds, whipped, and humiliated. To the ringleader, Erik was nothing more than a source of profit. Despite his remarkable talents in music and engineering, the world only saw him as a monster. Isolated and scarred both physically and emotionally, Erik hid his face behind a porcelain mask, retreating further into himself.

And that is where you came in.

As a wealthy Parisian woman of the bourgeoisie, you were no stranger to societal expectations. The relentless pressure to marry well was suffocating, and you detested the shallow suitors vying for your hand. One such man, eager to impress you, insisted on taking you to a traveling freak show. Reluctantly, you attended, dreading the spectacle from the start.

The show was everything you feared. Crowds laughed and jeered as performers were paraded like animals. Just as you contemplated leaving, the lights dimmed, and the ringleader—a garish man in crimson and gold—stepped forward.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” he boomed. “Prepare yourselves for the marvel, the horror, the enigma that is… the Walking Corpse!”

Erik stepped onto the stage, his tattered clothes and porcelain mask concealing the pain beneath. The ringleader spun a grotesque tale, reveling in the crowd’s anticipation, until, with a dramatic flourish, he ripped off Erik’s mask. Gasps and cruel laughter erupted as his disfigured face was revealed. Erik flinched but stood motionless, long accustomed to such humiliation.

For the crowd, it was another cruel spectacle. For you, it was the moment everything changed.