Chapter Seven

To my surprise, Dick brought me to a large mansion. It looked gothic in style and reminded me more like a castle you would see out of a fairy tale. Once the car was parked, he led me to the large front door, where we were greeted by a what I could only describe as a butler. He was an older gentleman, wearing a fancy suit, but he had a kind face.

"Hello Master Richard. Who might this young woman be?"

"Hey Alfred, this is Ottilie Summer." He then turned to me. "Ottilie this is Alfred."

"A pleasure to meet you Ms. Summer," the older gentleman smiled. I wasn't expecting such a warm greeting.

"Alfred, can you show Ottilie to a spare room? She'll be spending the night here, and I need to work on some things."

"Of course, Master Richard."

With that, Dick left, and Alfred gestured for me to follow him. I followed behind the old man up the stairs of the ornate house. After some twists and turns, Alfred brought me to a room.

He opened the door and my eyes widened at the site of a beautiful room with a large bed and a graceful balcony window.

"I will let you settle in, then," stated Alfred. "Give me a call if you need anything. I will be up to retrieve you once the master gets back." Alfred then left, leaving me to my own devices in the room.

My eyes scanned around my new environment. It was bare other than the bed. I walked over to the window and it opened easily. I was up on a second floor, high above the ground of the grass in what looked like a backyard. The backyard then backed up to what looked like a cliff, with the ocean below. It was a breathtaking sight.

Beautiful sight, but I won't be here for long.

I took out the photo of my mother and pocketed it. I then stripped the bed, finding multiple sheets.

I quickly tied them together as tight as I could and then tied the sheets to the pole of the bed.

I never would have guessed that I would be using some sheets to escape a castle-like building like something out of a fairy tale.

My plan was simple. I figured that once I reached the ground, I'd sprint back to the city and try to find Selina or Edmund. Either of them was bound to help me.

I gripped tightly onto the sheets as I started to scale down the tall building. One foot after the other foot after the other. I wasn't graceful but it was working.

However, I then felt a tear in the sheet.

Oh no.

I quickly tried to go down my makeshift rope faster, however with one final rip, I was hurdling to the ground. I tried grabbing for something, but the textured cement wall just scrapped across my arms, drawing blood.

I braced myself for impact and with a thud, I was on the ground. A sharp pain shot up my body, specifically my left arm.

It hurt, but I tried to pull myself up. It was proving difficult. I tried moving my left arm, but it was limp.

Well, this didn't go as planned. I dragged my body across the ground with my right arm. I felt so dizzy. My body ached with every movement and my vision began to go black.

No. I must keep going. I can't black out.

"Jesus Christ! Ottilie?" I heard a voice exclaim. I felt a pair of hands lifting me up. Filling my darkening vision was a familiar face.

Jason? I thought in shock however before I could get a better look, I passed out.

I woke up enveloped in warm soft blankets. At first, I thought it was some sort of dream. Me? Wrapped up in blankets warm and comfortable? That never happened.

However, when I tried to move, I felt pain shoot up my arm. My eyesight adjusted and I noticed how I was bandaged, and my arm was put in a sling.

I was back in the room that I had tried to escape from. However, this time I noticed a lock on the window.

"Ottilie? Are you awake?" I looked over and sitting next to the bed was Jason.

"Jason?" I questioned, quickly sitting up. I immediately felt dizzy.

"Whoa, slow down. You banged yourself up pretty bad."

"Well I was trying to escape. What are you doing here anyway?" Jason chuckled, shaking his head.

"I live here, and why were you trying to escape? Dick said that we weren't going to hurt you, right?"

"I didn't know Dick, so how was I supposed to trust him? He took me as payment for my Dad's debts. Why should I have trusted someone like that? Speaking of, why should I even trust you?"

Jason looked at me evenly.

"Dick did a shit job of explaining things, still, I'll admit that you have no reason to trust me. I'm just the guy who you've casually drank with and who has given some hundred dollars."

He wasn't saying anything sarcastically, however I felt like he was hurt that I didn't trust him. I didn't consider myself having many friends, but I did feel like I owed Jason. For the company, and for the money.

"I suppose that I can trust you… but just a little bit." Jason smiled at that.

"Okay, I appreciate your little bit of trust."

"What did you mean why you said that Dick was shit at explaining things?"

"Well, my family isn't the type to use people as currency. Usually whenever someone tries to pay off their debt with a person, we accept the person and then expect the individual to pay up anyway. Usually we give the person used as currency some money and let them live their life." Jason then let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, you are a different case."

I felt my body stiffen at that.

"How so?"

"Edmund saw Dick taking you," Jason sighed. "Unfortunately, he's bound to tell Cobblepot, who is a rival mob boss. Granted, we are in a tentative peace time, but we can't have them think that we are weaker. We need to keep you around to prove that we aren't going soft. We put a lot into our image," Jason explained.

"So… what's going to happen now?" I didn't like that they were deciding not to just let me go because of some sort of mob image thing, but I still wanted to trust Jason that I wasn't going to be hurt.

"I'll let my boss explain. He's been formulating a plan since Dick explained things and Alfred bandaged you up. I don't even know the full plan yet, but I assure you, he wouldn't want to make your life difficult."

I slowly nodded, then looked down at my hands. They were bandaged too, most likely scratched up from me trying to grab at the wall.

"When Alfred was examining you, he found this in your pocket," Jason said, holding up a piece of paper. It was the picture of my mom.

"Please, can you give it back," I spoke quietly. I just wanted to see her face. He handed me the photo and I looked down at her, a small smile forming on my face.

"Who is she?"

"My mom," I said softly. "She was an amazing woman."

"I bet." Ho nodded. "If you want, I can get my boss now, to further explain things."

Clutching the photograph close to me, I nodded.

Jason stood and went downstairs to retrieve his boss. All the while I looked down at my mom who was looking right back at me.

Mom, did you expect my life to be anything like this?

I then heard footsteps and soon enough, Jason was leading a large man into the room. My eyes widened in shock when I saw his face.

"Mr. Wayne?"