The Brave One

Chapter 6

Taken

The rain started pouring outside, and it hit hard against Sam's window as she sat up from her bed. The rain was starting to enter her room, soaking her carpet floor. Sam then remembered that she had left she window open when she had fell asleep.

She was now sitting on her bed wide awake from her horrible nightmare, rubbing her neck as she could still feel the cold blade of Scarecrow's sharp sickle pierce her throat. It all seemed too real for words.

She could still see the bluish green eyes that peered at her through Scarecrow's mask and the reflection of her surprised face as Scarecrow brought his sharp sickle down and chopped her head clean off. It was the first time she had been killed in her dreams and honestly it really did scare her.

It frightened her that someone would want her dead, but she reminded herself that it was all just a dream. It was just a horrible nightmare about a scarecrow.

Maybe she was obsessed about this whole thing and she just needed to forget about Jonathan Crane. Yet, she couldn't forget him. She tried her hardest to forget, but something told her that she needed to find out more information about him. It seemed crazy, but she had to do it someway, somehow.

Thunder and lightning reminded Sam that her window was still wide open. She quickly stood up from her bed and walked up to her window.

Rain hit her hard in the face as she saw lighting flash across the sky. She immediately pushed her window down with a loud thud.

The rain continued to hit the window as another flash cut through the clouds. Sam wiped her sleeve against her face to dry off and then turned back to her bed.

Her feet turned cold as she sat back down on her bed and wrapped a blanket tightly against her skin. She stared out the window again. The storm came down on the city like a wet paper bag, covering it with its bright, white lighting and booming thunder, almost like it was sad and angry at the same time.

Oddly, it calmed her to watch the rain. She almost felt herself fall back to sleep again, but the reminder of her nightmare kept her awake and alert.

Usually she wasn't scared of silly things like nightmares. In fact, she hardly ever had any nightmares. It was also very strange to her that she would suddenly have terrible nightmares all because of a man she barely knew.

Sam glanced at her alarm clock towards her left. It read 11:04 pm on its red screen. It was really late. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to fall back to sleep again. So instead, she got up out of bed along with her soft blanket still around her and walked down the stairs.

She walked into the family living room and plopped down on the couch to watch T.V. The 11'o clock news was on and Sam began to watch it with drowsy eyes.

"It is said to believe that there was a huge break-out of inmates at Arkham Asylum tonight as an explosion had occurred inside the building." The reporter known as Jack Ryder explained as he appeared the screen. Sam suddenly became tense and quickly turned up the volume on the T.V. Her grip on her blanket tightened as she listened in to Jack Ryder's story.

"It happened around 9:00 as a guard had reported that the famous villain, The Joker, had placed a bomb in the warden's office and set it off in order to escape the Asylum. It was caught on tape by a security camera." Jack Ryder clarified. The T.V. screen flashed to Joker, who was laughing like a maniac as he ran out of the building along with other inmates. Sam's eyes scanned the screen for Crane, but the T.V. switched back to Jack's face.

"At this time we don't have any further information on the situation. So let's go back with an update on the weather." Jack said as he ended his urgent report. Sam turned down the volume on her T.V. and ran a hand through her hair. She now knew why her mother left for an emergency at work and she was now worried. Her mother might not be coming home tonight.

Sam turned off her T.V. and walked over to her kitchen phone. She brought the phone to her ear and tried to dial her mother's cell, but there was no dial tone. Sam sighed with frustration and hung up the phone realizing that the line was dead. The storm must have knocked out a power line. She walked up to her front door and noticed that the door was unlocked. Her mother would never walk out of the house without locking it first, especially since she had left Sam alone in the house.

Sam quickly locked the door and began walking back up the stairs to her room. She had tried to turn on the light switch by the stairs, but it wouldn't turn on. Sam sighed irritably and continued to walk up the stairs, assuming the power had gone out. She walked down the hallway and was surprised to notice that there were muddy foot prints leading up to her room.

She stood in front of her bedroom door nervously as she reached her hand out to touch the knob. She knew she wasn't alone anymore. Her hand slowly and cautiously turned the door knob and opened the door just a crack.

When she peeked inside, there was nothing there. Nothing was out of place. Her room had been left untouched. Sam was now confused, she knew someone had to be here. Who could have made the muddy tracks on the floor?

The thunder clapped outside and lightning flashed, causing Sam's room to instantly light up. As the storm roared outside, Sam stood at her door way wondering if her mind was playing tricks on her.

She had then felt a sudden grip on her shoulders. She quickly spun her head around and was greeted with a terrifying, but familiar voice.

"Hello Samantha." Scarecrow greeted casually into her ear, like she was an old friend he was visiting.

Sam was speechless. She couldn't believe her eyes. This had to be a dream. Scarecrow swiftly turned Sam around and forced her to walk down the hallway with him. He spoke calmly to her, letting each word stick to her mind.

"I have been thinking Samantha. Scarecrow spoke behind Sam as he walked with her towards the stairs.

"I have been thinking, and frankly I think I should teach you an important lesson on fear. Don't you?" The Scarecrow stated not really expecting an answer. He placed a hand under Sam's chin and turned her head to face him. He was expecting to see fear in her eyes, but instead found that they looked back at him with confusion and a strange interest, almost like she was curious to see what he was going to do next.

Sam just blinked her big eyes up at him. She knew she had to do something.

She tried struggling, but before she could get away, Scarecrow pulled her back into his arms. For a thin man, he was pretty strong. Once she realized that struggling was getting her nowhere, she stopped moving.

Then she saw two more men wearing a black masks walking up the steps. They looked like they were some of Scarecrow's henchmen as Sam could tell that these men worked out a lot. They looked brawny with their muscles showing through their black short-sleeved shirts. One of the men turned his head towards Sam as he walked down the hall. He walked up to Scarecrow and began talking to him.

"So, is this the girl?" The man asked as he pointed to Sam. Sam just continued to stand there as she looked up at the two henchmen.

"Yes. She will be my new test subject." Scarecrow said with emphasis on 'test subject'. He wanted Sam to feel nervous and let her fear grow until he took her to his hideout. He knew that fear needs time to fester in order for Sam to feel the full effects. So he was going to take his time with her, letting it all sink in slowly.

"No. I refuse to be your test subject." Sam finally spoke as she attempted to struggle against Scarecrow's strong grip again. She definitely did not like the situation she was in and she glared back at Scarecrow as he grinned right down at her.

"You don't have a choice, Samantha." Scarecrow replied calmly and sprayed a strange gas into her face. Sam closed her eyes and started to cough. Her world had turned black and the room seemed to swirl around her.

She fought, trying her hardest not to faint, but then began falling forward.

She hit the floor with the sound of thunder booming around her. The lighting flashed and her vision faded into darkness once more.