"What did you see today, Miss Brandon?"
Dr. John Crane had a nice voice, it was warm and alluring, which Mary Alice often identified him with the lamp he usually carried when he came down to her cell. The part of the asylum she was put in was underground; making sure no light would even enter the darkness as she so desperately wished and she looked forward to always seeing that tiny piece of light, no matter how dim it is, with the oil burning low.
The cell was always cold, so much sometimes that the scrappy blanket she was given would not be enough to shield her fingers and toes from going numb, there were days when she was sure they were frostbitten. Not like the 'doctors' cared much for her comfort, she was just one of the numerous patients there that bid there time because their families would rather pretend they didn't exist.
"Mary Alice? Can you hear me?"
Dr. Crane was one of the newer doctors, unlike the others that went out of their way to avoid consulting her, he didn't try to. He was nice, she thought. He didn't flinch or sigh when she told him stories about places she's never been to or people she's never met. He didn't try to convince her that she needed help or that she was a hopeless case. He just sat there on the cold, stone floors with her and listened, sometimes just nodding and sometimes smiling as she told stories of so many wonderful and beautiful things.
He sneaked her in sweets sometimes, pastries and treats that made her smile and laugh in delight. There were times when he told stories, of times, decades before she was born, of splendors and adventures she could only dream about. He told them with such vividness and clarity like he actually went through all of them.
He always put the lamp just outside of the cell, and the muted light only made the shadow of his frame perceptible to her, she couldn't see his face, only the golden glow on his pale skin and his eyes that were, she was sure, a shade of red.
"Mary Alice?"
"Alice," she corrected him, speaking for the first time. "Please call me, Alice."
"Why is that?"
"Because Jasper called me that,"
"Who's Jasper again?"
"My husband,"
"Oh yes. He's the blond one, isn't he?"
"Yes," She closed her eyes as visions of the man with the sweetest smile filled her head. "Alice…" His voice sounded so vivid, it felt like he was actually there. Vaguely, she could hear Dr. Crane get up from his seat on the ground and walk towards the cell bars.
"Good evening, Miss Brandon,"
She quietly answered back, as he left with the oil lamp; the cell became shrouded in the darkness she had become accustomed to.
She told Dr. Crane her vision of a blond man named James sometime later and watched as he quickly left her cell. A few days later, she was awakened by his panicked voice and was barely able to ask what was wrong before he told her that he was sorry and she felt the most excruciating pain in her life. Her body felt like it was on fire and she recalled the stories of the witch hunts that he had told her about and perhaps, she thought, she was being burnt as well.
"I'm sorry, Mary Alice… I'm so sorry…"
His words were barely able to register in her mind before she was welcomed into the darkness once again.
Dr. Crane once told her the story of Cassandra. Her beauty caused Apollo to grant her the gift of prophecy. However, when she did not return his love, Apollo placed a curse on her so that no one would ever believe her predictions.
She told Dr. Crane that perhaps she was Cassandra because no one believed in what she saw. He only laughed which sounded nicer than his voice, like a warm ray of sunshine. "I believe in you," He told her and she did not know whether he was lying or not. She was his favorite as he once informed her and he could've possibly been only humoring her.
Dr. John Crane is based on the appearance of Dr. Jonathan Crane who is portrayed by Cillian Murphy in Batman Begins.