I never thought things would go this far. Not even with Jonathan a foolish notion I'm aware but I believed it to all be part of his new found psychosis, I had watched him change from man to scarecrow and I can tell you right now the scarecrow isn't Jonathan. He switches and changes so subtle that only those who knew the quiet man from before would be able to tell when his alter ego takes over. Stalking, threats were one thing but kidnapping was a whole other ball game, we've been through this once before I never thought he would try it again...this time though there are no police to rush through the door to save me. I am utterly alone.

My breath came out as little plumes of smoke in the early morning air and despite the chaos down at the stock exchange only a week ago thousands of people were already lining up to get the best seats for the ball game. The recent robberies and appearance of the Batman after eight years were pushed to the backs of everyone's mind including mine, nothing concerned me that day apart from if the Gotham team would win, most barely even notice the herds of police being shepherded into the underground network of tunnels hidden beneath Gotham city. Beside me Amy bounced in excitement she had been my best friend for years we were inseparable since that first day in class, she was the type of girl who never attracted attention until you truly realised how beautiful she was, wild brown hair like a lions mane and the brightest blue eyes you'd ever see. Oh and she utterly towered over me at 5'7 nearing on 8 Amy was tall compared to most girls but for little 5' me I was dwarfed. I tried to hush her excited little squeals as a boy no older than 12 stepped out onto the field he looked so tiny surrounded by the green pitch I couldn't help but think he was a very well dressed ant. The voice that came out from that Ant was absolutely mesmerising much louder than I imagined, hauntingly so, there was no way of stopping the shudder cringe down my spine the type that warns you that someone is watching. It would be a lie to say that I am not constantly alert and watching for the tell tale burlap sack with cerulean blue eyes peering out from the stitching, paranoid was my middle name and rightly so. Jonathan Crane or the Scarecrow as he had become was the one thing in the world that truly terrified me right down to my core.

It was eight years before that I first laid eyes on Doctor Crane being only 16 at time my brain barely registered the heated gaze that fell on me whenever he caught a glance of me perched on the green plastic chair waiting outside my father's office. My father worked as a Doctor within the walls of arkham asylum, he was young only 37 and had just begun to work under Jonathan in an intern role, despite Doctor Crane's lack of years he was incredibly smart I believe that was what scared me most and yet intrigued me even more.

Heated glances when no one was looking became small talk which eventually led onto small gestures of kindness, a cup of tea in his warm office instead of waiting out in the rather draughty hallways while my father finished his rounds. I was young and Jonathon Crane was beautiful in my eyes as any older man is in the eyes of a naive teenager, minutes could pass before his subtle little clearing of his throat would alert me to the fact that I had been staring at either his longish dark chocolate hair or those bright blue eyes that captured even more light whenever he removed the thin wire framed glasses which perched on the bridge of his nose. Acting on his feelings of course was not worth his high paid job or reputation so we remained friends, to the outside world he was no more than a private tutor who whenever I foolishly wandered into his castle would hand over yet another in depth read on topics such as analysing the human mind. Now being older and I would hope much wiser it dawned upon me that he was trying to pull me into his world where he ruled over with fear and power, perhaps one day hoping I would grace him with my presence as an intern at the asylum.

This however was not how things played out.

A time came with Jonathan began to change an anger that undoubtedly remained hidden beneath the cool outer persona was beginning to claw its way to the surface, after an argument about a rather eyebrow raising new treatment my father packed his bags and left arkham asylum forever taking me as well. From looking back over the past I could only assume that Jonathan has trusted my father with the knowledge of his newly created fear toxin. Jonathon Crane was never mentioned in our household again. Well not until the night he turned the streets of the narrows into hell on earth, the screams echoed throughout the city it was difficult to tell if they were human or animal they were so shrill and long. In our suburban house across the river Father was quite adamant that I would be safe while he left to tend to the quickly filling halls of Gotham general hospital, the danger wasn't near our home the bridge was up there was no way anything would be able to cross the river without the wall of heavily armed riot police gunning it down.

Hearing the key turn in the lock and the thud of the heavy front door closing it took me a moment of staring at the clock in the dining room to figure out that if it was my Father returning from the hospital he had only been gone just over an hour. Instantly my brow creased in concern it couldn't be him he had assured me that it would take nearly all night if not into the early hours to sort through all the sick and wounded. Dashing for the kitchen light my hand reached the switched just in time to flood the room with darkness as someone came down the hall pausing to shuffle his or her feet before kicking open the kitchen door. Screwing my eyes shut my lungs felt like they were ready to burst as I held in my panicked breaths sliding down the wall to curl myself into the useless but protective ball if I can't see you you can't see me being the logic of the night. But being in such a useless position did not help in the slightest as the lights came on with a click illuminating the tall lean figure that stood ominously over me. I didn't even have time to scream before the burlap sack covered face lurched forward for me cutting off any scream that may have forced its way out of my lungs with darkness.