Underlying Fear
Preface
Fear. An individual's biggest enemy. It crushes the dreams and hopes of a person just because of the psychological mentality it brings upon someone when confronted with. It is a powerful aura in which we human beings submit ourselves towards, letting it conquer our strength and unleash the coward inside each one of us.
Fear is a nightmare in which the world underestimates. It hovers over today's society like a dark cloud, prepared to drop at the first sign of weakness. As this cloud drops it sends a person's mind into a frenzy creating a bubble of insecurity, failure and puniness, a state that no one enjoys being in.
The world's most dangerous insects, the tallest building in the world, the tightest space and the darkest room. These are just examples of building bricks to something more terrifying. The foundations of one of the world's darkest creations.
There is nothing to fear but fear himself.
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Madhouse
Madness corrupted the aura of the building, every inch splattered with insanity from the thousand, if not hundreds of innocent eyes that bore from the inside out within the walls and well-built walls as if the construction builders knew that whatever was going to be isolated in this building was to be kept in and never aloud out, for societies own safety and sanity. These eyes belonged to the mentally insane children of Gotham City, the patients of Arkham's Hospital for the Mentally Insane Children.
With no choice and no say in how Gotham City was ran, these were the children which suffered in silence because of the public's demand for the safety of the younger generation, the generation that would hopefully bring peace back to Gotham's world because of the increase in crime, poverty and fear over the last ten years.
Each child in the hospital had their own reasons as to why they were kept in such a place and Alexandra Rosalina was no exception. Her story began in the winter of 1990, the time in which her mental disorder snapped, landing her a rightful spot in Room 242, a well-deserved spot in the secure wing at Arkham. Her case joined the handful of the most confidential cases in the hospital and she became a riddle in which even the most successful Doctors and Psychologists could not solve.
Alexandra, being the intelligent girl she was, knew just how threatened the hospital was by her but she could never understand why. Never, in the fourteen years of her existence to the place was she told of her reasons as to why she was locked up in the secure wing. As she grew older, her mental disorder got easier to control but with control came intelligence. She learned how to control her thoughts, restrain herself from danger when her mind would tell her otherwise and she mastered the power of manipulation, a trait she had borrowed from her dearest 'wing mates' as she liked to call them, or in other words, the other deprived children and teenagers in the secure wing.
Anger arose, awakening every sense inside of Alexandra, blood boiling and her hands clenching into tight fists at the mere thought of her imprisonment which she lived through day in day out. A sentence she had to pay for no crime she had committed. The only things keeping Alexandra's sanity levels in check was her dear neighbour, Mr. No Name as she liked to call him, only because she had no realization of what he was really called and her current and fairly new psychiatrist: Dr. Murphy.
"Hey tiger, you awake?" whispered the husky tone that came from the vent on the wall from beneath the right side of her bed. She let the question linger in the air, imagining for a second all the details about her mystery acquaintance. Realizing her day dreaming had gone on for too long she quickly remembered he was still waiting for her to reply.
"I suffer from insomnia, you know I'm awake."
A childish giggle escaped his mouth and Alexandra did nothing but sigh at his immaturity. Waiting patiently, she let him compose himself before their conversation regained itself.
"I'm sorry, tiger." She smiled at his softness and then strained her face in annoyance. What had he done to find himself locked up in here? Sure, he caused trouble but no patient in the secure wing was ever truly innocent, every one of them was dangerous, even herself.
"It's okay, I forgive you, clown."
The nicknames had been a way of avoiding conflict between the two and anyways, no matter how persistent she was, he never told her his true identity. The name Clown was a simple resemblance of the fact she had never seen this boy in person let alone know who he was. To Alexandra he was a hidden identity behind a wall, a mask even in which she had befriended due to loneliness, always making jokes and trying to lighten a situation, her personal clown. He truly was a friend, her only one at that.
"You know Tiger, I hope you know I mean it when I say, I thank you."
Alexandra raised an eyebrow with confusion.
"For what?" she questioned, her tone implying she truly was curious to know the answer.
He thought about his answer wisely, scurrying his brain for the perfect reply. He knew she would question his sincerity because he never anything serious. Through deep thought he submitted to just being honest.
"For the ac-ceptance you have given me. I've done some ter-rible things, been through some cra-zy things and not once has someone befriended me the way you have, so once again, thank you."
His reply stunned her but she couldn't help but let a small smile settle on her lips.
"I love you Clown, never forget that."
He smiled at her simplicity but nonetheless he couldn't have asked for a better reaction. He rolled over to the left of the bed so he was closer to the vent which was situated a few inches below his head underneath the bed and with one breath whispered.
"I love you too Tiger."
He let his mind drift off into a peaceful slumber and within a few minutes he was fast asleep tired from his every day routine. Dreaming of the day he would escape the hospital and the satisfaction he would get from his doctors screams as he acted upon his revenge in which his doctor deserved, until a piercing scream awoke him from his relaxed state.
"Another nightmare?" he questioned sympathetically to the girl in the room next door.