Never…
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye or Batman Begins!
Chapter Four
"Ugh," Amy groaned several hours later as she awoke in her room. Night had fallen across Gotham City, leaving her in total darkness. Lifting herself out of bed, she stumbled towards the light switch, afraid that Jonathan might be lurking in the shadows, waiting to attack her again. Was it Jonathan that had attacked her in the attic?
Of course it was… Who else but Scarecrow would hurt you?
She flicked the light switch on and blinked several times to adjust to the sudden light that illuminated the room. After she adjusted to it, Amy examined herself in the mirror above her dresser. Bruises formed around her neck in the shape of hands which extended outwards, encircling her already sore throat.
Jonathan had tried to kill her. Her own father had tried to strangle her!
Amy jumped when she heard his voice. He was yelling at someone downstairs. She cringed involuntarily at the anger in his tone.
"What the hell am I going to do with her? Tell me!" Jonathan voice rose in fury, sounding demanding.
"I don't know." Lisa's trembling voice barely reached Amy's ears.
"I should have just killed her. She's more trouble than she's worth!"
"Don't, please...she's just a baby…" Lisa was pleading and Amy could already imagine that she was probably clinging to Jonathan's arm in desperation.
"Her behavior is unacceptable. She must be disciplined."
"Jon, Jonathan…" Lisa started to say.
The ringing of a telephone ended the conversation and Amy heard a soft thump that she assumed was Lisa Crane hitting the floor. Only Jonathan was allowed to answer the phone, and surely he had probably shoved Lisa aside as she attempted to answer it. For Amy's sake, as well as her mother's, she hoped that it was his precious Arkham Asylum calling on the phone.
Amy could not overhear what was being said. Jonathan was speaking too low for her to hear his barely audible tones. Despite the walls and floors in their new house being paper-thin, allowing the voices to usually be heard, Amy was unable to discern what was being said.
"Lisa, I have to go," Jonathan announced a few minutes later. Amy could tell by his tone that he was probably smiling. He sounded happy, which was a rare and also dangerous feat.
"Jon, what's happened?"
"Dr. Olsen is dead. They think it was a heart attack."
"Does this mean that you have your job back?" Lisa asked joyously. It was obvious that her mother knew that when Jonathan was pleased, life was a great deal easier. If he was in a good mood, he would not yell or strike anyone.
"Yes, it does. But I have to go now. Keep an eye on Amy."
"I will," Lisa promised; ever the faithful dog eager to obey her abusive master in an effort to please him.
The front door opened and closed and Amy listened carefully for his car to start and she watched him drive away. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Jonathan was gone and would likely be busy until late that night. Now was her chance to escape.
Amy found her backpack and hastily threw in a pair of jeans, a few shirts, and other necessities. She quickly changed out of her dressy outfit and slipped into a dark pair of jeans, a black shirt, and her boots. She was about to head for the window when she remembered the trunk in the attic. She needed to salvage something from that trunk before Jonathan had time to destroy it. She had to know the truth.
She snuck out of her room and up the attic stairs, careful to avoid any creaky floorboards. Lisa might not be as alert as Jonathan, but if she heard any loud noise, then she would surely investigate. She was not a fool.
Amy picked the lock once more and gathered as many photographs and newspaper clippings as she could. She even stopped to grab a pinstriped jacket, a bloodstained burgundy scarf, and a comb with a few strands of hair still attached. Satisfied, she closed the trunk lid and hurried back down into her room.
Amy slipped out of her window and down the fire escape. There were no security features on her window yet because Jonathan had not found the time to add them. In addition, it was against the neighborhood association rules to nail her window shut and she often opened her window simply to annoy Jonathan; setting off any alarm that he had tried to impose on his own.
She ran down the darkened street and never once looked back to see if her mother had seen her leave. Her rubber-soled boots hid the sound of her running footsteps. She did not care where she went as long as she got far away from her parents and steered clear of Arkham.
"Amy?" Lisa called, rapping lightly on her bedroom door. She was worried about her daughter knowing that Jonathan had nearly strangled her to death.
But Jonathan would never hurt her on purpose… there must have been a reason.
Her loyalties were evenly split. She would never dream of letting her unruly daughter come to harm, yet at the same time, she trusted Jonathan with her life. He had never once led her astray. She vaguely knew that someone had manipulated her many years ago, but it was definitely not Jonathan.
There was no response from behind the door and Lisa twisted the door knob and entered the room. She gasped in shock. The window was wide open and Amy was gone. Fumbling in nervousness with the phone, Lisa called Jonathan at his office. She knew that he would angry with her, but if she had she called the police, he would have deemed it time for another dreaded therapy session.
"Dr. Crane," Jonathan's smooth voice answered.
"Jon, she's gone! Amy's gone!" Lisa's panicked voice cried out through the phone.
"Lisa, shh. Calm down. What happened?"
"I came up to check on her and her room's empty. The window's open and she's gone! Oh, Jonathan…"
"It's all right, Lisa. I'll find her. Go wait downstairs for me. I'll be back soon."
Amy, Amy, Amy… The rebellious teenage daughter of his brother. The only surviving Rippner…
Amy should have been the perfect experiment following her mother. Lisa had outlived her usefulness, but she was too perfectly well-trained for Jonathan to bother disposing of her. Lisa was not a threat to him or to anyone. However, Amy was.
She was far too much like her father. She was stubborn, reckless, and impulsive—capturing all the traits of the former Jackson Rippner. Jonathan had tried to coerce those traits of his brother out of her, but he had still failed. She was more like her father then she was like Jonathan.
But he would catch her and she would suffer. Scarecrow wanted to play…
Within a matter of minutes, Amy had unknowingly stumbled into the decrepit section of Gotham known as the Narrows. This was the first time she had been in the Narrows besides passing through it to reach Arkham Asylum with Jonathan. But even then she had been in a car and night had not yet fallen.
She was completely lost in a dangerous section of a strange town.
What have I gotten myself into?
She quickened her pace, hoping to find some place to hide or someone kind enough to take her in. There was no way that she was going to roam the streets all night long.
An arm reached out and gripped her wrists suddenly as she was wandered down an alleyway.
She froze, trying to decide how to defend herself. What if it is Jonathan and he's come to finish the job? Or Scarecrow?
"Give me all your money and jewelry. Now," snapped the voice of a man, a blade flicking open as he held it across her bruised throat. She bit her lip due to the pain the instrumented inflicted by its slight pressure on her neck.
"I don't have any."
"You're lying."
"Please, just let me go. My father, he'll be looking for me. He'll be very upset if I'm late," Amy fibbed. Jonathan already was upset with her.
"Yeah, right, girly. And who might he be? Is he the scary bat-man?" the mugger teased.
"He's Dr. Jonathan Crane," she said, hoping this thug was afraid of Jonathan. Amy normally would be repelled at dropping his name, but her father was well-known around Gotham and had once had some pull with Carmine Falcone and his men.
"The nut from Arkham? I ain't afraid of him."
One of the man's hands traced her side and came to rest on her hip. Amy shivered. No, this can't be happening… I won't let it.
Amy kicked backwards and used her fist to knock the knife away from her throat at the same time. She slipped from his grasp and turned to run. He caught her by the ankle, pulling her down to the ground. She knew that his intentions had changed.
"NO! Someone help!" she screamed, until a hand clamped over her mouth. Her backpack had slipped off and she was pinned down by his bodyweight alone as the mugger rummaged through the pack. He ripped the scarf out and bound her wrists, abandoning the pack in the alleyway as the contents slipped into the muck. A handkerchief was shoved into her mouth to muffle her cries.
Amy continued to fight, even though she knew she would inevitably lose. Girls were physically lacking in upper body strength when compared with men. All she could hope was that someone had heard her cry.
"Stop fighting!" the man hissed, cracking her head against the broken cement.
For the second time that day, a weary Amy was losing the battle to remain conscious. I have to keep fighting!
A dark, ominous shadow covered her in the brief instant as she saw a strange image reflecting against the cement. A bat? She thought wearily before a welcoming darkness enveloped her mind.
Author's Notes:
Now who might that be that came to Amy's rescue? The next chapter should be up soon. Enjoy and thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Special thanks to emptyvoices!
