"Any change, miss? Even a pence wou' help."

A girl's voice cracked in the wintery air as she outstretched a hand towards a bundled-up noblewoman. Somewhat frightened, the woman shook her head and let loose a swift apology before scurrying along on the street, muttering something about "bloody gutter trash" as she swept her skirts along. The girl sighed, hunkering down against the brick wall and letting loose a series of loose, sickly wet coughs.

The girl was Evelyn Anne Glassow - a nineteen year old woman gone from riches to ruins in a few short years. When Evelyn was fifteen, her parents - two nobles, quite high in society - had been murdered for a reason unapparent to Evelyn. In a year, her inheritance had run out, and she was forced to sell most of what she owned to keep her manor up and running. Alas, in the end, she had been turned out onto the streets, thrown onto the worst of bad places - East End. And as such, there she was, begging for money outside of an alley.

"Change, sir? Even a pence wou' help." She asked for the thousandth time that day, coughing wetly into a torn handkerchief. The cold December air had gotten to Evelyn earlier that week, giving her a nasty cough paired off with a raging fever. "Prostitution too good for you, woman?" The man chuckled as he passed by, tossing a small, silver coin at the beggar's feet. "Much appreciated, sir!" She called out in false gratitude, sighing as she stared at the single coin in her hand. Out of a day's work, a single pence was all she had gotten. Lovely. I need a new way to get myself money, Evelyn thought. I need medicine and I can't use air to pay for it.

Standing up and stuffing the coin into a pocket hidden in the folds of her skirt, Evelyn dusted her hands off on the long, worn fabric before heading out towards the middle of the street. She stood up straight, hands clasped, waiting for a child to come by. Eventually a little boy and his mother came to pass, and she called out to the pair, striding over to them and pulling out the coin. "Care to see a show?" She smiled wearily, pinching the coin between two fingers. "Yes!" The boy eagerly shouted, as his mother began to shake her head. "Oh, no, no, we have things to do -"

"But your little boy seems to want it, miss. It won't take but a minute!" She said reassuringly, kneeling down to the boy's height and putting the coin on the pad of her thumb. Quickly she began to roll the coin over her knuckles, time and time again, as the child cheered. Evelyn placed the coin in the middle of her hand, announcing "And now, we'll make this pence disappear!" as the boy gasped. Pulling her hand close to her body, she pretended to pick the coin up in her right hand, squeezing it into a fist and then opening her hand up. The child had a look of awe on his face as he asked "Where did the coin go?"

Evelyn smiled mischievously, sliding her hands over her skirt and letting the coin fall into a pocket. She held out both hands, exclaiming "Why, I don't know!" and laughing loudly, a wet cough forcing itself out of her body. She stood up, coughing into her handkerchief, as the mother gave her a kind look. "That was quite good, thank you!" She said, shaking the beggar's hand and giving her a single quid for the show. Evelyn thanked the two, before weaving in and out of the crowd, gathering pence and quid by doing small coin tricks for the children passing through. By the time evening fell, she had enough money to buy at least a bottle of cough medicine - and that was good enough for now.

Tying the coins into her handkerchief, she set about on her way - but only moments had she walked before the kerchief came untied, the coins clanking as they hit the street and rolled. A boy that had been hiding in the alley she passed immediately shot out, snatching up the money and running before Evelyn could do a thing. "You bastard!" She cried out, attempting to chase after the boy but failing to do so as violent, wet coughs wracked her body, bringing her onto her knees in the evening darkness. Tears began to rain from her face as she swore, getting up and staggering back to the alley where her things were. Settling down onto the ground, Evelyn pulled a thin blanket around her shoulders, the fatigue of the day causing her to quickly fall asleep despite her anger.

She was getting worse.

That much Evelyn could tell as she awoke to a throbbing headache, churning stomach, and coughs that ripped from her throat with more ferocity than ever before. I need medicine before I catch my death out here, she thought sullenly as she wrapped her arms around her shivering form. I guess it just has to come to this, huh?

She had made up her mind as she struggled to her feet, wrapping the thin blanket around herself. Evelyn was going to steal the medicine for herself. An uncouth, illegal act, but what more could she do? A bitter taste spreading in her mouth, Evelyn made her way through several streets before finding a proper storefront. Heaving a deep, heavy-hearted sigh, she pushed open the door with a small chime and headed inside.

"Hello, ma'am, can I help you with anything today?" The store's owner called out from behind a wooden counter. "No, thank you!" Evelyn called back, her stomach churning more quickly as she made her way into the first aisle she saw. "I'm just looking."

Moving quickly throughout the aisles, Evelyn finally found the jackpot - medicines and herbal remedies. Clutching the shelves for support as she rifled through different bottles and boxes, Evelyn grabbed at the first fever medicine she saw - small red pills within a large package. Stuffing the box inside of her pocket, she snatched up a bottle of cough medicine, then began to reach out for a container of nausea-calming pills.

Somebody grabbed her wrist.

Terrified, Evelyn stood frozen in place. "Now, y'don't really want t'do that, do you?" a voice muttered into her ear. Slowly she dropped the box, intense fear pulsing through her sickly figure. "And the others - yer not that smooth. I saw everything." The voice chuckled slightly. As she placed the bottle and package back onto the shelf, the voice's grip loosened, transferring to her shoulder and turning her face to face with... a redheaded man wearing makeup.

"Mind tellin' me why you'd go an' steal medicine?" He asked quietly, violet eyes staring down at her in curiosity. "I..." Evelyn began, before her face hardened. "Why d'you think?"

The stranger glared down at her for half a minute more, before bursting into laughter. "Oh, lord, the look on your face!" He chuckled, dabbing a gloved finger at the thick eyeliner surrounding his eye. "You'd think y'were bein' apprehended or something. Oh, my," He grinned. "No, I can definitely see why. One a'those East Enders, are you?" he asked, thick Cockney accent becoming more apparent. Evelyn stared at the man for a moment, before looking down, quietly admitting "...yes."

"I see." He nodded wisely, spiked hair bobbing up and down, before taking the medicine with his good hand. "Wait here a moment," he called over his shoulder, disappearing for a few minutes then coming back with a small brown sack. "Here," he said, holding the sack out towards you. "Figured it could only be right." Evelyn looked from the sack, to the man's face, then back again. "I... don't understand," she said dumbly, a deer-in-the-headlights look making itself at home on her face. "Why would you..." she trailed off.

"See, I've been in your place, missy," the redhead said casually, poking the girl in the shoulder at the word 'missy.' "Homeless, no money, had to resort to thievery. I wasn't good at it either, now, don't you worry," he added quickly. "But I know what yer goin' through." He offered the sack out again, and this time Evelyn took it, holding it gingerly between her fingers. "T-thank you," she whispered, heat rising in her cheeks - because of embarrassment or fever, she wasn't sure. Tucking the bag under her arm, she began to walk out of the store, walking halfway down the street before realizing the ginger was following right behind her.

"Uh..." she said lamely, turning to face the man. "I mean no offense, but why are you following me?" The redhead grinned widely at her. "'Cause you're a real interestin' case, miss...?" he trailed off, staring at her for a moment. "Evelyn," the girl provided, walking along at a faster pace. "Somebody catches you stealin' and you're so nonchalant you'd think it was a casual occurrence," he laughed. "I... don't even know your name," Evelyn said, wanting desperately to go lay down on her spot in the alley and heal. "Joker." The redhead announced.

"...Excuse me?" Evelyn cringed inwardly at the utter confusion dripping from her voice.

"Joker!" He brightened, throwing an arm around the girl's shoulder. "The name's Joker." Evelyn stared at the man for a moment, nodding slowly, before saying "Alright... it's nice to meet you, Joker. I'm in your debt for these." She gestured to the bag of medicine at her side. He nodded at it, walking along beside her for a street's length before blurting out "Evelyn, you got any special talents?"

"Talents?" Evelyn echoed, placing a hand to her chin and thinking. "Well... I can do some funny little tricks, and I have a fine voice when I'm not rasping from sickness." Joker practically whooped at her words. "What sort of tricks?" He asked eagerly. "Things with coins, making items 'disappear'... illusions... my father taught me. He was quite the trickster." She smiled fondly at the memory.

"...Evelyn, I think I've got just th'place for you. Will you come with me?" Joker asked, beaming and holding out a hand. Hesitantly, Evelyn nodded, taking the man's hand. Immediately they shot off, Evelyn being dragged behind the ecstatic man as her dizziness increased and her stomach churned. Losing her balance, she tripped over her own feet, and immediately fell off the drop off of the pavement.

A nasty crack sounded out as Evelyn's head met with the London streets and her world went dark.

I hope you enjoyed this! More to come soon. :) Feel free to give me constructive criticism. Lord knows I need it.