Never…
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye or Batman Begins!
Chapter Two
Amy and Jonathan sat in a stony silence on the drive home. She was still slightly surprised that her father had not sprayed her again with the toxin as he had not hesitated to punish her the last time she had angered him.
"Amy Alison Crane, what do you think you're doing?" Jonathan Crane asked harshly, a slight tone of amusement creeping into his voice.
Amy froze on the window sill. He was supposed to be downstairs, socializing with the rich and prominent people he had invited and keeping Lisa at his side. Jonathan had insisted upon the ball and as a result, the gate surrounding the property remained open. It was Amy's opportunity to escape and now he stood in her bedroom as the only obstacle in her way.
"I just needed to get some air." Amy fibbed. She decided not to mention that the fresh air she was seeking was far outside the security gates and Jonathan's imaginary world.
"Get back in here this instant, Amy," he ordered.
"Or?" She was provoking him and she knew it. But what was he going to do to her?
"I'll drag you back inside." He sneered at her and yanked a fistful of her short hair, pulling her back inside.
Amy dug her fingernails into his hands as she yelped in pain. Jonathan's hands instantly grabbed her wrists, holding them tightly in one hand.
"Let me go!" Amy cried.
"And let you run away? No, no, Amy. Are you aware of the pain you would cause your troubled mother? Tsk, tsk…"
His eerie blue eyes focused on hers, sparkling with a mixture of malice and delight. They held the promise of pain. Amy gritted her teeth and reeled her head back, before slamming it into Jonathan's in a loud head-butt. Jonathan moaned and released her.
She rushed back to the window, quickly climbing out onto the balcony. Racing down towards the rose trellis, searching for her hidden backpack, she knew she would have to escape into the side yard.
"Looking for this?" teased Jonathan, waving the dark blue backpack in front of Amy's startled face. She stepped back and ran the other direction. Jonathan dropped the bag in order to pursue her.
There was another trellis on the other side of the house. If she could reach it, then she could climb down and backpack or no backpack, she could make her escape. To add insult to injury, she was planning to steal Jonathan's car in order to leave the house. His car keys were already in her jacket pocket.
The trellis was gone. All Amy could see was the unforgiving cement patio directly beneath her and her heart sank.
"I think you underestimated me, Amy," Jonathan said coldly, appearing from the shadows behind her as he pressed her against the rail.
"No, I think you underestimated me," she said in retaliation.
Amy attempted to punch him, but he smoothly gathered up her wrists in one hand and stroked her hair with the other. He smiled at her.
"I've grown tired of your constant disobedience, Amy. You're almost more trouble than you're worth. Lisa and I could always have a child and then we wouldn't require you anymore. You're dispensable."
"You're just plain despicable," Amy shot back.
"Do you see that patio down there? The last time someone fell, their neck broke instantly and your mother had to get it power washed to remove the stain. Do you know who that was, Amy? Do you know who died out here?"
"No one."
Jonathan laughed. "Your father died out here. It's only fitting that the punishment I give out to you is in the same place. Like father, like daughter."
A cloud of white gas came from Jonathan's arm and assailed Amy as she gasped, choking on the fumes. Jonathan simply smiled at her torment as she looked at him and saw her nightmares and fears play out in front of her eyes. She screamed in horror.
"Tell me what you see," demanded Jonathan, his voice warped and twisted like his darkened soul.
"Scarecrow!" she hissed, images of the straw man clouding her vision. As a child, her least favorite character had been the scarecrow. Scarecrows were not normally monsters, but every time she had woken up in the dark, a man with a grotesque mask had been in her room.
"Correct…"
"Amy, let go right now," hissed Jonathan, ripping her hand from the armrest. "You are ruining the leather."
Amy glared at him, yet complied. She did not give a damn about the stupid leather interior of his fancy car. But at the same time, she had no desire to be gassed again. She had been the only child to ever cry at the initial appearance of the straw man in the Wizard of OZ, instead of at the flying monkeys.
There was only one thing in the world that Amy truly feared and that was Scarecrow, who she knew was her father. He had been the one tormenting her as a child. Whenever she woke from a nightmare, Jonathan was always the first to respond. He approached her wide awake with a smile of indifference. Lisa would then shuffle in behind him, her green eyes weary and still filled with fear. Jonathan would then attempt to calm her down quickly. She was one of his experiments, as well as his only hope of continuing the work he had already begun.
"Come along, Amy. We're home," Jonathan said calmly.
Amy begrudgingly complied and exited the car. She walked up the front steps of their modest home; a major step down from the mansion she was used to back in Miami. Jonathan followed closely behind her and ordered her to turn around while he punched in the entry code. He was meticulous about security and he was the only one who had the codes to enter and exit the house, which meant that escape was virtually impossible once inside the confines of the home. Even if Amy managed to break out of the home undetected, she would be unable to return if necessary.
No, once I escape, I'll never come back here. She would run away as soon as Jonathan started becoming busier in the evenings, in which he was less likely to pay attention to her. The plans were already in motion and it was now just a matter of time.
Where she would run to, Amy did not know or care. All she wanted was to be far away from Jonathan Crane.
Author's Notes:
I meant to get this chapter out sooner, but I found it rather hard to write when I could not stop sneezing. Thanks for the kind reviews and major thanks to emptyvoices for helping me. Enjoy!
