A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I have been busy as all get out (death to
standardized testing).
"Threat of Evil"
"Terry, can you please tell me what your nightmares are about?" No, Dr. Creed. I can't. I shake my head. She sighs.
"McGinnis, did someone threaten you? Threaten to hurt you if you told?" I swear Mr. Wayne is psychic. I nod.
"Terry, this is important now. Whatever this person did can't go unpunished. Did he-" She hesitates "-touch you? Make you feel uncomfortable?" I nod again, and start crying. Dr. Creed's lips are a thin line. It's pretty obvious she's mad.
"Any idea what to do about this?" Mr. Wayne asks her.
"Not until Terry tells us what this guy did. Until then, we can't even accuse anyone." But I can't tell! I can't! "Terry, everything is up to you, now." Dr. Creed says. I take a deep breath. Here goes nothing...
"It started with this physical I had to go to..."
~~
That was absolutely the hardest thing I ever had to do. I was exposing myself in front of my boss, Dr. Creed, somehow I think it would have been hard if it was just Ace. It felt good, though. Dr. Creed says she'll contact the Gotham police, and they'll bring him in. Mr. Wayne went one better and called Commissioner Gordon himself. She said she would take care of it personally. But something is still scaring me. What if he finds me? What if he hurts Mom? Or Matt? Or anyone else? I can't even concentrate on breakfast, I'm so scared. Even though Dr. Creed assured me that sicko wouldn't come near me here, I'm still worried. She knows his name, but not what he looks like. He could come here whether we like it or not. I feel sick, now. It's Saturday, so no school. I can pretty well do whatever. I just feel like crawling back into bed.
~~
What was that? Oh man. Tell me I'm not hearing things. I just went to sleep, and didn't have nightmares for the first time in a while. Now I just heard a bump. Oh slag. There it is again. The door's opening. Who's there?
"Terry." Oh slag. Please no. Not him. He's here. Here in the center. And I'm alone, too. Maybe I could fight him off?
"Hello, Terry. Long time no see. I see we've gotten a bit of a big mouth now, haven't we? The police are out looking for me, and I figured out that you were to blame." He's right there, putting his hand back over my mouth. "But see, here's the truth. You're the only one who can testify against me. If you testify, I go to jail. Here's where I come to a bit of a dilemma. I can't let you tell people. So I've got a bit of a plan. See, I know the other way out, and everyone else is at lunch. That's right, Terry. You're all alone here. So I have a pretty clear shot at getting out of here, and taking you with me." I want to hit him. Make him let go. But I can't. It's like I'm paralyzed. Then he hits me. Hard. And everything goes black.
~~
It's cold, wet, dark... why can't I move? Can't yell for help. That was the worst nightmare yet. Having HIM back.
"I see we're awake." Oh slag. It wasn't a dream. And for that matter, where are my clothes? What's he doing? There's a strange pressure against my back. Is he...? He is. I have to fight him off. Struggle a bit. I figured out why I can't move: I'm tied up. There's something cold against my temple.
"If you don't sit still, I'll shoot." No, please. Just leave me alone. I really want to throw up. "I had a great idea on how to get rid of you. There's a rope on the tree outside. We're way far out on the center's property, in case you were wondering. It's a shame no one knew how depressed you were before you hung yourself out by the back pasture." He gets up. What's he doing now? He's untying me. Why? He hands me my clothes.
"Put them on. Now." I'm about to die. Clothes go on, then I have some stupid idea. He can't block the entrance to this cave all by himself, can he? Time to make a break for it. I get hit by something and go down screaming as soon as I reach the entrance. Slag, this hurts. I touch my painful side, and see blood on my fingers. I forgot about his gun. He shot me. Well, at least they can try him for murder more easily this way.
"Get up." What is his deal with pulling my hair? He leads me to the rope. Then he ties me up again. I'm too weak to fight back.
"Just a little safety precaution. Wouldn't want you pulling at the rope, now would we?" No, we wouldn't. "Stand on the log." If I don't die when he kicks this log out from under me, I'll bleed to death. The rope goes around my neck. This is it. I'm going to die.
"I'd ask if you had some last words, but I'm worried you'd use them to scream." Then there's suddenly nothing under my feet. Blood starts pounding in my ears, but through that, I can hear a gunshot. My vision is blurring. Who's lifting me up? I can breath again, thank God. Still tired. Black is curling around my eyes. Can't think. The world is dark.
~~
"Terry? Hey, Terry! You're awake! Dr. Hernandez, come quick!" Is that Jimmy, or Andrew? Wait, can I really be hearing? I'm not dead?
"Well, good afternoon, Terry. You gave us quite the scare, eh?" Dr. Hernandez is standing over me.
"Mmmph. Where am I?" My throat is really sore. I can barely whisper.
"You are in the hospital wing of the center. You have been unconscious for three days." Wow. I still want to know who the voice belongs to. Oh, it's Thomas.
"Hey." He says
"Hey." That's all I can think of to say. I feel like crud.
"Go to sleep, now. There will be plenty of time for explanations when you are well." I fall asleep to Dr. Hernandez's soft accent. Like he says. Plenty of time later.
~~
A/N: Terry's adventure isn't over yet! So I'll have to say To Be Continued...
"Threat of Evil"
"Terry, can you please tell me what your nightmares are about?" No, Dr. Creed. I can't. I shake my head. She sighs.
"McGinnis, did someone threaten you? Threaten to hurt you if you told?" I swear Mr. Wayne is psychic. I nod.
"Terry, this is important now. Whatever this person did can't go unpunished. Did he-" She hesitates "-touch you? Make you feel uncomfortable?" I nod again, and start crying. Dr. Creed's lips are a thin line. It's pretty obvious she's mad.
"Any idea what to do about this?" Mr. Wayne asks her.
"Not until Terry tells us what this guy did. Until then, we can't even accuse anyone." But I can't tell! I can't! "Terry, everything is up to you, now." Dr. Creed says. I take a deep breath. Here goes nothing...
"It started with this physical I had to go to..."
~~
That was absolutely the hardest thing I ever had to do. I was exposing myself in front of my boss, Dr. Creed, somehow I think it would have been hard if it was just Ace. It felt good, though. Dr. Creed says she'll contact the Gotham police, and they'll bring him in. Mr. Wayne went one better and called Commissioner Gordon himself. She said she would take care of it personally. But something is still scaring me. What if he finds me? What if he hurts Mom? Or Matt? Or anyone else? I can't even concentrate on breakfast, I'm so scared. Even though Dr. Creed assured me that sicko wouldn't come near me here, I'm still worried. She knows his name, but not what he looks like. He could come here whether we like it or not. I feel sick, now. It's Saturday, so no school. I can pretty well do whatever. I just feel like crawling back into bed.
~~
What was that? Oh man. Tell me I'm not hearing things. I just went to sleep, and didn't have nightmares for the first time in a while. Now I just heard a bump. Oh slag. There it is again. The door's opening. Who's there?
"Terry." Oh slag. Please no. Not him. He's here. Here in the center. And I'm alone, too. Maybe I could fight him off?
"Hello, Terry. Long time no see. I see we've gotten a bit of a big mouth now, haven't we? The police are out looking for me, and I figured out that you were to blame." He's right there, putting his hand back over my mouth. "But see, here's the truth. You're the only one who can testify against me. If you testify, I go to jail. Here's where I come to a bit of a dilemma. I can't let you tell people. So I've got a bit of a plan. See, I know the other way out, and everyone else is at lunch. That's right, Terry. You're all alone here. So I have a pretty clear shot at getting out of here, and taking you with me." I want to hit him. Make him let go. But I can't. It's like I'm paralyzed. Then he hits me. Hard. And everything goes black.
~~
It's cold, wet, dark... why can't I move? Can't yell for help. That was the worst nightmare yet. Having HIM back.
"I see we're awake." Oh slag. It wasn't a dream. And for that matter, where are my clothes? What's he doing? There's a strange pressure against my back. Is he...? He is. I have to fight him off. Struggle a bit. I figured out why I can't move: I'm tied up. There's something cold against my temple.
"If you don't sit still, I'll shoot." No, please. Just leave me alone. I really want to throw up. "I had a great idea on how to get rid of you. There's a rope on the tree outside. We're way far out on the center's property, in case you were wondering. It's a shame no one knew how depressed you were before you hung yourself out by the back pasture." He gets up. What's he doing now? He's untying me. Why? He hands me my clothes.
"Put them on. Now." I'm about to die. Clothes go on, then I have some stupid idea. He can't block the entrance to this cave all by himself, can he? Time to make a break for it. I get hit by something and go down screaming as soon as I reach the entrance. Slag, this hurts. I touch my painful side, and see blood on my fingers. I forgot about his gun. He shot me. Well, at least they can try him for murder more easily this way.
"Get up." What is his deal with pulling my hair? He leads me to the rope. Then he ties me up again. I'm too weak to fight back.
"Just a little safety precaution. Wouldn't want you pulling at the rope, now would we?" No, we wouldn't. "Stand on the log." If I don't die when he kicks this log out from under me, I'll bleed to death. The rope goes around my neck. This is it. I'm going to die.
"I'd ask if you had some last words, but I'm worried you'd use them to scream." Then there's suddenly nothing under my feet. Blood starts pounding in my ears, but through that, I can hear a gunshot. My vision is blurring. Who's lifting me up? I can breath again, thank God. Still tired. Black is curling around my eyes. Can't think. The world is dark.
~~
"Terry? Hey, Terry! You're awake! Dr. Hernandez, come quick!" Is that Jimmy, or Andrew? Wait, can I really be hearing? I'm not dead?
"Well, good afternoon, Terry. You gave us quite the scare, eh?" Dr. Hernandez is standing over me.
"Mmmph. Where am I?" My throat is really sore. I can barely whisper.
"You are in the hospital wing of the center. You have been unconscious for three days." Wow. I still want to know who the voice belongs to. Oh, it's Thomas.
"Hey." He says
"Hey." That's all I can think of to say. I feel like crud.
"Go to sleep, now. There will be plenty of time for explanations when you are well." I fall asleep to Dr. Hernandez's soft accent. Like he says. Plenty of time later.
~~
A/N: Terry's adventure isn't over yet! So I'll have to say To Be Continued...