The house was silent and dark when the woman entered with a bag full of groceries.
It was usually like this.
In fact, she couldn't remember a time when it wasn't like this.
Even when their son was growing up, the house was dreary and soundless.
"James?" Sarah called out as she put the groceries in the refrigerator.
"J.J?"
"Is he home yet?" James appeared on the staircase, slowly walking down.
"No," Sarah sighed. "I don't know where he is."
"He should be home by now. He should have been home an hour ago!" James grabbed his coat and started putting it on.
"James, where are you going? I'm sure he'll be home any minute-"
"I'm going to go look for him, Sarah! Where does it look like I'm going?!" He snapped.
The woman pursed her lips together, choosing to remain silent as her husband finished buttoning up.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you," James paused. "I'm just concerned... The dreams have started again."
"James, why didn't you tell me?" Sarah moved towards her husband with her arms outstretched.
"I didn't want to worry you more than I already have. I thought the medication would finally solve this," James admitted as he embraced her.
"But every night she comes to me. She calls out to me, pleading for me to find her. And each time I reach out to her, each time I think I will finally grab her, she disappears. And I wake up back in a world without her."
Sarah could only listen with a pitiful expression to her husband's words. She had heard this dream too many times to count now.
"Barbara's gone. It's been thirty years and you have to accept that," she explained. "You have let this consume you- You have let it cost it your job, your sleep, everything! You can't keep obsessing over this anymore!"
"This is exactly why I didn't tell you, Sarah!" James broke from her grip. "You wouldn't understand! How could you?"
He ignored her apologetic attempts to call him back, heading back upstairs to his office. It had once been Barbara's bedroom, but was converted into a room solely dedicated to solving her disappearance.
Across the desk were various documents and pictures surrounding the night Barbara disappeared; the night Gotham City burned down.
James gave a weary sigh as he pulled open a drawer, knowing that Sarah would be upset if she saw the bottle stored away.
But right now, he didn't care as long as he got blackout drunk.
"I traveled all over the world, trying to find any hint about what we were," Jason began. "I knew next to nothing about myself... just that I needed blood to survive and the sun hurt. Bruce hardly told me anything. Of course, he would keep all this information to himself," He grumbled.
"And did you find anything?" Barbara asked eagerly. "You must've found something about our nature."
"Yes and no," Jason admitted. "I learned things, but nothing about what we really are. I started off in the Pacific Northwest since I remembered Pamela lived there for years. But nothing turned up. I went as far as the Middle East since I heard legends of one of the oldest... beings living there."
"What I found was a hidden palace covered in dirt and dust. Who knows how long it had been abandoned for, but even then it didn't take a detective to figure out that something bad happened there... something pretty violent."
"But nothing of value?" Barbara sighed.
"Just a skeleton nailed to the wall with a crucifix in its heart. It didn't mean much to me at the time, so I continued on throughout Europe. There, I started to pick up bits and pieces of information from the few survivors. And I finally understood- I finally remembered how I became this way." His eyes darkened in anger.
"Unless you know what you are, you can't stop the plague inside you from spreading. And that man- that drug addict- that bit me spread it to me!" He seethed.
"But Jason, did you not feed on human blood before? How did you know what to do afterward?" Barbara interjected, trying to soothe his fury.
"I was never gentle with my prey. Having a childlike's hunger- a child's greed- always led me to practically tear them apart," Jason explained. "There was nothing left to resurrect."
"I'm sorry for interrupting, please continue," Barbara urged.
"My life has not only been ruined by one creature, but two in the form of Bruce Wayne," He sneered. "I can't change what I am; I already searched for a cure. But this is the next best thing." He pulled out two twin guns from his sides.
"Hunting them down."
"Then what did you learn?" She asked bluntly, not very interested in hearing about his motivation. What she really wanted to hear was what he supposedly learned.
Jason put away his guns, cocking an eyebrow at her question. "Did I not mention how it was thanks to your detective work that inspired me to take this investigation up?" He started to dig around in his bag, pulling out a journal.
"That's my journal! You mean, you have had it all these years?" Barbara exclaimed, taking it from him.
"Mmm-hmm, now with some new additions."
Barbara flipped through the burnt pages, seeing that towards the back there were indeed additions.
"Unspoken and secret rules," She read out loud. "Do not kill another of our kind."
"Yeah, I already broke that one," Jason snickered.
"The blood of kindred must never be drunk." She paused, looking further down the page. "Weaknesses. Sunlight, especially to bare skin. Starvation. And a wooden cross through the heart."
"Some of those don't necessarily kill us. For example, if a sun ray hit my arm I wouldn't burst into flames. But my arm would forever be scarred. That's why appearances and clothes are so important to our kind. Same with the starvation. The hungrier we grow, the uglier we look. But seeing how Richard has already explained that..." Jason grimaced.
"Is there anything else?" Barbara suddenly became desperate as she knew that Richard would arrive any moment now. "Like how is there not a name for us?"
"Throughout the hidden pages of history, we're just referred to as creatures of the night, demons, bloodsuckers, or monsters. Speaking of which, I killed some bloodsucking Nazis in Europe!"
Barbara opened her mouth to say something back, but Jason beat her to it.
"Looks like your boyfriend's here and I'm not ready to meet him just yet. See you, Barbie!" Jason was already back on his motorcycle, driving off into the night.
"Barbie?" Barbara muttered to herself.
"Barbara! You shouldn't have run off like that!" Richard called from behind. "You know you always need to be with either me or Bruce."
Barbara said nothing, still thinking about Jason's words.
"Was- Was someone here with you?" Richard suddenly demanded, looking around suspiciously.
"No, I was here all alone. Just watching the teenagers," She responded, glad she no longer had a heartbeat that could give away her lies.
"I sense that another one was here," Richard insisted.
"Richard, I promise I won't run off again. This is the first time I have done something like this; I have never given you a reason to doubt me," She persuaded.
"That's true; just don't do it again or I will have to tell Bruce," The boy warned, knowing that would keep Barbara in line.
"Then let's head back to the Manor before he arrives." Even though she could also no longer shudder, the thought of Bruce finding out was enough to send a phantom shiver down her back.
Driving around in a city he hadn't seen in years was the definition of freedom to Jason Todd. The city, in just three decades, had drastically changed. The buildings had gotten taller and sleeker; their lights shining a bright blue across the water.
"Now where could that bastard be hiding?" Jason asked himself as he sped up his bike.
He was coming up to the Wayne Tower, which was one of the few buildings to not be externally renovated. He didn't bother slowing down to gaze up, seeing that a single light was on exactly where it needed to be.
The top floor.
Jason chuckled to himself, but the amusement didn't last.
He was running out of time. He still had no idea where the other creature could be, but he knew it was somewhere here in Gotham.
He had tracked it across the globe-
"Hey!" A person stumbled forward in front of Jason, startling him and causing him to veer off the road.
"Jesus!" Jason swore as the bike skidded across the pavement. "What the hell, man?!"
"I-I'm sorry!" The man stammered. "It's just I-I need help. I'm having car trouble and no one has stopped-"
"Because they probably think you're a lunatic! Running onto the street like that!" Jason shouted. "That's the easiest way to get yourself killed."
"Well, it worked right? You stopped," The man grinned.
"You flagged down the wrong person. I doubt I'll be of much help," Jason shrugged, able to get a closer look at the man. Something about him seemed familiar as if they had met before.
"Can you at least look at it?" The man's tone was practically begging.
"Sure, where is it?" Jason gave in, not because he wanted to help but because the feeling of familiarity was growing stronger.
No, he hadn't met him before. It was that he reminded Jason of someone else.
"This way," The man gestured, already heading into the dark from which he came. Jason followed, seeing that there was a car a few feet away from them with its hood propped up.
"You can just look inside," The young man instructed.
Jason nodded, starting to peer over into the car. However, the man stopped him.
"Aren't you going to take that helmet off? So you can see better?"
From where he stood, Jason could hear the man's heart pounding and feel his blood rushing. The sensation was too tempting to ignore, especially since he had already seen the man's hand reach for something metallic inside his jacket.
The beast was beginning to awaken inside him.
"Right..." Jason turned his back on the man and took off his helmet.
As he turned around with his fangs bared, the sudden realization of who this man reminded him of hit him.
"Barbara..." He looked at the man in horror, seeing the resemblance.
Either from the name uttered or the youthful face of Jason, the man stopped mid-way in his attack.
"What?!" He cried out. "You're just a kid!"
Not bothering to waste time in responding, Jason grabbed the man's hand with a growl and yanked the blade out along with a few fingers.
"Damn right I am!" Jason started stomping on the man.
Normally, Jason would have killed this hoodlum for what he tried to do. But just this once, he decided to spare him.
"That was such an amazing night," The woman beamed as she walked alongside her date.
"It sure was," The man grinned. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."
"Any woman would kill to have Richard Wayne as her date," She teased, climbing into the cab that waited for her. "I will see you again, right?"
"Of course, Vicki," He reassured her with a kiss before closing the door.
Once the taxi was enough distance away, the man instantly let his forced smile drop. Playing this part was always so tiresome.
Alone with his thoughts, he started walking off towards the Wayne Tower since it was only a few blocks away. He was in a hurry to arrive, knowing that there would be a lone security guard to greet him.
When he did arrive, it was within a matter of minutes. As expected, the security guard to greet him with a friendly wave.
It was not unusual for him to spend his nights and days here; he had been doing it for several years now. If she wasn't in the Manor, he would have locked himself away in his ancestral home instead.
Consumed with these compulsive, bitter thoughts, he nearly missed hearing the phone ringing from his office.
"Hello?" He picked it up just in time.
"Yeah, uh, Mr. Wayne. There is someone here to see you," The guard began.
"Send them up."
"Don't you wanna know who it is first?"
"No, I have been expecting them," He smoothly changed his tone to hide his irritation. "Thank you for letting me know though."
"Of course, Mr. Wayne! That's why I'm here!"
He hung up the phone, sitting down and arranging his desk as he awaited the visitor. He didn't bother watching the clock, turning to look out of the enormous window behind him instead.
Two long knocks sounded throughout the empty office, signaling they had finally arrived.
"Please, come in," He answered; his chair still turned away.
"Mr. Wayne," A distinct British accent addressed him. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice and at such a late hour."
"No need to thank me, Mr. Cobblepot." The man finally turned to face his guest, wearing a fake grin on his face. "I am always awake at this hour."
"Can't sleep either?" Oswald Cobblepot approached the large desk slowly. "Your father used to be the same way; always up until God knows what time. It must run in your family."
"What I have is not insomnia," The man laughed. "So I trust you are here to discuss something of importance? Not my sleep schedule."
"Yes, I am," Mr. Cobblepot declared. "You see, I noticed sleeplessness is not the only thing you and your father share."
"Hm?" He raised an eyebrow. "I am not sure what you mean. Please sit down and explain yourself."
"You know exactly what I mean, Mr. Wayne," Oswald accused. "I have been acquainted with you long enough to recognize you are not Richard, but Bruce Wayne. You might have fooled everyone else in Gotham, but you couldn't fool me. Oh no, not me!"
"You seem to have become senile in your old age, Mr. Cobblepot-"
"Senile?! Old age?! You are the same bloody age as me, Bruce!" Oswald shouted. "But I must know... how were you able to stay so youthful? How was time not able to cast its mark on you?"
"For the sake of the argument, we'll agree I am Bruce." The man stated. "So that is what you want? The secret to eternal youth?"
"Of course!" Oswald exclaimed. "But it is more than that, it is the secret to eternal life."
"Then you're an even bigger fool than I thought, Oswald."
"W-What?! How's that?!"
"Because you are weak and careless and greedy." The man narrowed his eyes. "And for those reasons, I refuse to tell you. We are through here; you can leave now."
Oswald scoffed. "I wonder then how Gotham's citizens would react to this revelation. I imagine they wouldn't be too pleased, especially once they dig up an empty grave-"
The man sighed. "That is another thing too, Oswald. You never knew when to shut up."
Before Oswald could comprehend the full meaning behind this, Bruce had lunged at him. He lifted him over the desk with ease, clamping his claw over his gaping mouth and sinking his fangs into his neck.
James Jr. blinked slowly as the overhead lights blinded him.
"W-Where am I?" He asked, looking down at his bandaged hands.
"J.J.!" Sarah cried as she saw her son come back into consciousness. "Oh my God! What happened?!"
"I-I," J.J. glanced towards where his father and another police officer stood.
"This is Renee Montoya. She found you on the road, beaten and bloody. She immediately recognized you and took you to the hospital," James explained solemnly.
"You're going to need to tell me everything you remember," Renee stepped forward. "Can you describe who did this?"
"Yeah, it was a guy. A kid!" J.J. recalled. "He was tall for his age, but his face was one of a kid. He was riding a motorcycle and had a red helmet on, so it was hard to tell at first. But he had bright green eyes and pale skin. I think his hair was black... but it was dark so I don't know."
"Okay, anything else? Like what type of motorcycle?" Renee pressed, writing his description down as fast as she could.
"Um, it might have been a trick of the light but his teeth were like fangs," J.J. reluctantly admitted.
"Fangs?" Renee looked at the young man in disbelief. "Alright..."
"What happened to my hands by the way?" J.J. started to move them, but James stopped him.
"Some of your fingers were... ripped off. But thankfully, our renowned surgeon, Thomas Elliot, was able to attach them back on," James offered a weary smile.
"Do you have any idea why this child would do this?" Renee continued. "Have you gotten into any trouble lately?"
"No, of course not!" J.J. snapped. "But he did mention something- a name. It was like that name set him off."
"He looked at me and said, Barbara."
James and Sarah's eyes both widened upon hearing the name, glancing at each other with a mixture of worry and fright.
Barbara was lounging on the divan while Richard stood before the fireplace. Neither one was talking to each other, and the silence was making both uncomfortable.
"Richard," Barbara began, breaking the silence. "You know I have always been honest with you-"
"Then why are you not being honest now?" He interrupted.
"Because there are some things you would never understand. Tonight being one of them. I know you and despite what you promise or say, you're too loyal to Bruce." She rose to her feet angrily. "You have always been."
Just as Richard was about to protest, the front door swung open and that was Barbara's cue to leave. She glided up the stairs towards her room, praying that Bruce would not acknowledge her and just continue ignoring her.
"Something happened tonight." Bruce looked straight at Richard. "Oswald Cobblepot had discovered our identity switch."
"Had?" Richard rested a hand on his hip.
"His natural death has already been arranged." Bruce passed by Richard smoothly. "However, I did find this in his coat pocket."
The man handed the paper to the boy, allowing him to read the damning words on it.
"Oswald gave the impression that he alone had come to the conclusion. I should have known he was informed by someone else," Bruce remarked.
"Signed with a red bat," Richard pointed to the bloody drawing of a bat. "Then they know a lot more than just our identities. They know what we are."
Richard hurriedly handed the letter back to Bruce as the thought of Barbara's secrecy crossed his mind.
The man didn't understand why there was nobody on the subway. It was always busy with people, especially at this hour.
"C'mon, hurry up," He said to himself, glancing nervously at the dark tunnel.
Eventually, the beams of the headlights of the subway came into view and the wind accompanying the train filled the station.
Once the doors opened and the man found his seat, did his nerves begin to relax.
However, just as the doors were closing another person slithered inside.
The man could feel this stranger's eyes on him, increasing his anxiety tenfold. He tried not looking at the figure, but the feeling of being watched was suffocating.
Finally, he did look and to his dismay, the stranger was staring straight at him.
"W-What's your problem?" The man's voice shook, but he was tired of the stranger's leer. "Just cause you got a nice suit and nice shoes, you think you can look down on others?"
The stranger seemed taken aback by the man's boldness, muttering how Gotham really had changed.
"W-What? What are you talking about?" The man decided he was going to get off at the next stop. Things were just getting too weird.
But he never made it to the next stop as there was a sudden blackout right before.
The last thing the man saw were the glowing eyes right above him; the glowing eyes of Kirk Langstrom pouncing upon his prey.
The subway continued rattling on over the tracks, drowning out the bloodcurdling screams from within.
A/N: I'll be back in December! In the meantime, Happy Halloween everyone! Hope this chapter was extra spooky!