"Thanks Mr Wayne. I heard you paid for all this" muttered Dick Grayson, indicating his parent's caskets with a lazy hand gesture.
Bruce saw something in Dick, had seen it in him since the night his parents fell to their deaths; a thirst for vengeance, for justice against the man responsible for their demise. "Think nothing of it" was his reply, but Dick didn't seem to hear him anyway.
The Wayne family butler stood next the empty back row of seats with a mourning look on his face, but it wasn't from the funeral.
"I'm going to offer it to him" whispered Bruce so only Alfred could hear. Alfred looked at him with a disturbed look on his face.
"I really don't think that's wise sir. He's so young, it seems like he couldn't handle them at all."
"Nonsense. He's one of the strongest boys I've seen... Look at him. He's alone, and he isn't even crying at his own parent's funeral! He's in shock, so much like I was... I want to help him the way you helped me..."
Bruce looked at Alfred with sad eyes, eyes that seemed to be asking permission from someone they didn't need to. Alfred looked back at Dick, standing there alone. He had no reason not to cry, yet there he was staying strong for nobody.
"He is strong... But what lives in that manor... They could scare the poor boy to death."
"I've lived there my whole life. As long as he follows the same rules we have, he should be fine."
"You had the opportunity to understand them from a very young age. He may be too old now." Alfred was scraping the bottom of the bucket with his excuses, knowing Bruce was deadset on asking Dick to stay with him.
"Well we will just have to wait and see... If he accepts my offer that is."
Both men looked over at the orphaned acrobat, and waited for him to finish his mourning of the day for hours before approaching him. Dick agreed to allow Bruce to adopt him, but it was done with a heavy heart, and a desperate need for a turn of good luck.
Dick was awestruck by the manor as they approached it. It was bigger than any building he had ever been in, as he so enthusiastically repeated to Alfred. Alfred agreed that the house was "quite large," but other than that, he hardly spoke.
Dick was out of the car before it had even stopped conpletely. Alfred wanted this to be a happy day, a wonderful occasion; a new member of the family, his very first grandson's homecoming. He wanted to be jumping for joy with the kid, but he just couldn't, knowing what he was in for.
Dick rushed up the steps two at a time, making Alfred's heart skip a beat. He watched the boy as he stood there, waiting for Alfred's permission to open the door. When he stepped through the barrier between the outside world and the manor, he would be cursed. He would be cursed as everyone else had been.
He stood there momentarily shellshocked by the thought, but shook it away in favour of opening the trunk of the car in order to retrieve Dick's few bags. He picked up two at a time and placed them on the ground, sparing a glance up at the highest floor of the manor where he knew he saw sudden movement.
Alfred wiped his brow and called out to Dick. "Master Grayson, could you please come and retrieve some of these bags. I'm afraid an old man can only carry so much at one time."
"Sure thing Mr Pennyworth" Came the youthful reply. Alfred could have handled all of the baggage and more. It was all he could do to prolong the inevitable. Maybe there was still time to change Bruce's mind...
Dick jumped down the stairs and back to the car next to Alfred, who was again looking at the topmost floor of the manor. Dick followed his gaze but saw nothing.
"Mr Pennyworth, are you alright?" asked Dick, genuinely worried that he was about to have a heart attack or something.
"Yes Master Grayson... Could you help me find my wallet in the car please?"
Dick recoiled slightly at the odd request. "yeah, of course. Sure."
They sat in the front of the car, looking underneath the seats. Dick searched hard, and almost hit his head when Alfred began talking again.
"Dick, there is something of the utmost importance you must know about this house."
The rushed tone made Dick's heart beat faster.
"Things... Happen in this house, and the second you step through that door, there are rules that must be abided by. First of all, you must not talk about this meeting, got it?" Dick nodded his head frantically.
"Second of all, strange things will happen, things you cannot explain. You must not talk about these things either, ever!" Dick nodded his head again, obviously confused by this old man's babblings.
"Third of all, and most importantly, do not let them know that you see them. Pretend you don't, and if you scream or something, pretend theres a spider, or pretend you THOUGHT you saw something, but again, do not let them know that you see them."
Dick's eyes went wide and he began shaking. Bruce couldn't be that bad, could he? Alfred reached behind him and from his back pocket he pulled his wallet before he got out of the car. He thanked Dick and gave him some of his own luggage. He walked up the stairs with the young boy behind him, took as long as he could opening the door, and stepped inside.
The moment Dick crossed the threshold, a shiver ran down his spine.
"Dick, I'm so glad you came here!" exclaimed Bruce bringing the boy into a hug. "Come now, I'll show you to your new room!"
He lead the way through the house, showing Dick the different rooms, allowing him to drop his belongings in his own bedroom.
Bruce spent hours showing him both of their bedrooms, his study, his bathroom, the clubroom, the spare rooms, and everywhere Dick would go eventually. Finally, bruce showed Dick his own bathroom, stocked with a rich man's shampoo, conditioner, lotions, razors (for when he would need to shave in around 5 years,) and the scented soaps Bruce enjoyed indulging himself in often.
Dick smile throughout the introduction, wondering the whole time what Mr Pennyworth had been talking about in the car. Nothing strange had happened so far...
"Oh! I haven't shown you the gym yet!" cried Bruce, leaving the room suddenly. Dick took one more look around, focusing on himself in the mirror for a few seconds longer. His hair was already getting long... He would have to get someone to cut it soon.
He shifted his eyes up for a moment, though he wasn't too sure why, and was startled to see a girl there. She was pale, had shoulder length brown hair, and had so many shadows covering her face that it looked like she had no eyes. Dick let out a cry before turning around to apologise to the girl, even though she was the one who startled him, but he was surprised to find nobody else there.
Bruce reentered the room, a fearful look in his eye. He took one look at Dick and noted his position before taking a sheet from the toilet roll and squishing it against the wall where Dick was looking. "It was just a spider Dick. No need to scream." the look on his face had become threatening, to say 'don't let it happen again.'
"yeah" said Dick, his heart racing and his body shivering, "Just a spider."