chapter 7
Missing link
It was a while before I realized jack was taking way too long to dye his hair.
It shouldn't have bothered me but something in me did. I can't quite explain.
"jack" I called from the spare room.
No reply.
Maybe he didn't hear me I thought.
"jack"I yelled a bit louder.
Silence.
This was starting to get me now.
I got off the bed and padded into the main suite.
Noone was there.
Maybe he is still in the bathroom.
But I knew he wasn't.
I moved slowly towards the bathroom door, turned the knob and yanked it open.
It was empty.
"Jack" I heard myself scream hysterically before blacking out.
I don't know how long I had been unconscious. But when I woke up I found myself on the floor.
Jack evidently hadn't returned.
Something dreadful must have happened to him.
Was his karma got him this time?
I shrugged off these thoughts.
If he was in trouble I was the only one who could help him Just the last time at the bank.
We needed each other, at the best and worst of times.
I quickly put on my clothes and a warm jacket knowing I had a long night ahead of me.
I checked the drawers before leaving.
Bingo.
A .45 was lying there.
I took it and shoved it in my jacket, feeling a bit safer than before.
The elevator was thankfully empty.
It took me approximately 3 mins to reach the front desk.
The brunette was still there.
" may I help you" she asked me softly.
"have you seen my husband?' I asked knowing she didn't .
"I am sorry mam. "she looked quizzically at me.
"Oh that's ok. He must have gone out for a walk" I gave her a reassuring smile.
I couldn't afford to raise suspicions.
"are you going out too" she asked.
"ya .i think I will take a walk too … "
" mam I think you should go back. Gotham isn't safe in the night time"
"that's ok. I am not planning on wondering about. Just a walk"
she still looked doubtful .
I took the first turn once I made my exist through the front door.
I don't know why, something told me I should make a right turn.
I wondered aimlessly for a while.
The night was dark , full of menace.
It looked threatening.
Every door seemed to be locked. I couldn't see any soul on the streets.
From what I had heard noone in their right minds lurked outside in the night.
Suddenly I realized where I was.
I was in the narrows.
It was the most dreaded street in the city.
The only light I could see came from a brooding dark building known as the arkham asylum.
A nut house supposedly once run by a nut job DR JONATHAN CRANE I suddenly remembered.
That's why it felt vaguely familiar.
The night was getting on my nerves.
And the fact I was so close to asylum all by myself didn't help.
I don't know whether it was my imagination but I think I heard a blood curdling scream from one of the cells.
It sounded like jack's.
I shivered involuntarily.
Your mind is playing tricks on you I told myself.
I had to get away from here.
I swiftly turned and started to make a left turn when I saw a figure lingering behind a tree.
A figure that was vaguely familiar.
A lean figure.
Ungainly.
Thin.
Almost undernourished.
Where had I seen him before?
I saw it making a soft move.
Suddenly the lights from the asylum's radar fell on his eyes.
Two baby blues glowed like sapphires.
Then his face came into focus.
Jack.
" jack" I screamed as I run towards him.
He looked startled , moved backwards, stumbled and fell.
I was onto him in a moment.
"jack…what? Why are you here? What happened? What are you doing in the narrows?" questions seemed to pour out of my mouth like a cascade.
It took me a while to realize he still hadn't touched me.
He was looking at me with a weird expression on his face.
Confusion ? fear ? glee ?
What was it ?
It was changing so fast.
He was almost unrecognizable.
If it weren't for his face I would say he was someone else entirely.
But who would miss his baby blue eyes and his wolfish leer which was both angelic and disturbing at the same time?
Not his wife certainly.
But something was amiss.
I looked carefully.
He was wearing some sort of business suit.
It was dirty and looked shaggy.
When and why did he pack something like this?
Then it hit me.
He must have taken another job of some sort which required disguise.
He had promised me he wouldn't.
I was about to ask him when I noticed something else.
Glasses.
He was wearing glasses, broken ones at that.
My god jack.
He was still looking at me oddly. He hadn't spoken a word. But he was looking at me like I was some sort of guinea pig or experiment.
It both disturbed and angered me.
I grabbed his collar angrily and made him stand up.
"You have a lot of explaining to do Jackson rippner"
Call me my hallucination but I distinctly saw him grin.
Somewhere something chucked which was barely human.
To be continued
Ps please forgive me for the typos.
