Okay, first of all I feel I owe an immense apology for the incredulously long pause in updating. I've had so much going on and my creativity has shifted towards new aspects. Although, I will never give up my writing, it is my heart. I've just been trying my hand at new things. I plan for the next update to be quicker. Please don't hate me guys, you all have been wonderful and I am forever grateful for it.

I've also just returned from Great Britain and that has left me exhausted in a pleasant sort of way. I digress.

This chapter is extremely rough, there's some material here that might not be suitable for sensitive readers. Ye be warned.

Please feel free to let me know what you think. I'd love to know.

And thank you again for those who have not given up on me. That means so much.

Enjoy…er, kinda.

Chapter 11

The next morning I am provided with an actual meal. Starving, I practically inhale the rations of meat, vegetables, and bread. They even provide me a glass of cold milk. I am forever ingratiated for the substance the meal provides me despite my not being able to finish the plate. My body feels instantly better, a little strength returning to me. After I finish, my stomach hurts, not from overeating as from my stomach wanting to refuse the sudden weight of content. I've been kept alive on merely bread and water for what seemed weeks, although I have no accurate calculation of the time span between my arrival and now.

I collapse onto my cot after eating. I lie supine to sooth my full stomach and immediately fall into a deep sleep.

I wake up abruptly, startled by the sudden feeling of heated eyes upon me. Demitri is standing over my form; I hadn't heard him come in. My lips part in shock.

'What is he doing here? How long have I been asleep?'

"Get up." He growls at me. When I don't immediately respond he yanks me up by the front of my shirt.

'Do you always have to display such brute force?'

I grit my teeth at the jerky movement, my stomach immediately becoming queasy. "Why won't you ever just give me a moment?"

"You gettin' smart with me kid?" He breathes into my face.

'Pardon my perplexing you…'

"No…just give me a chance before..." My voice falters upon inspection of his glare. I am not helping myself. I suddenly feel that this visit is going to be very different.

"Are you tellin' me what to do now?" He wrenches me closer, shaking me.

'For crying out loud, how insecure are you…?'

"No, I wouldn't do that." I try my best to back track. "I know you're the one in charge."

Something in Demitri's eyes frightens me as I visibly shudder. "Is Crane expecting me?" I ask, hopeful he'll realize that my doctor wouldn't want to be kept waiting as I latently try to dispel the animalistic look in those hazel eyes.

He slaps me.

"You'll address him as Doctor Crane, do you understand?"

"Please, I don't want trouble…" I whimper.

'I'm so fucking tired of trouble.'

"You don't want trouble, do you?" He throws me into the nearby wall. I cry out upon impact, my stomach lurching miles ahead of me. I hug my sides, trying to not retch. I lean forward, grimacing.

"I don't give a shit about what you want!"

"Please…"

I hear Demitri breathe audibly through his nose as he glances at the door. It is shut, secure. He looks back down at me and instantly my skin crawls. I'm consciously aware of his intentions. I shake my head, no…

He crouches next to me and places a strong hand against my throat as he reaches for my pants. 'No…!" I squirm against his hold. He only presses harder into my throat as a blow to the stomach stops all my feeble attempts to dislodge his grip. I try to cough yet am confined within his solid clutch.

"I'm going to try this again, resist and I'll make this harder for you." He proceeds to remove the obtrusive garment. I close my eyes, suddenly wishing for my doctor to come in. Would he help me? Or would he allow this cretin the leisure of violating me?

"Demitri, please…don't…" I try against the pressure, desperate to spark any minute inkling of humanity within him. He looks up at me for a moment; something shines in his eyes as he forces my legs apart and lumbers on top of me.

"Seems I'll be the one administering the therapy Crane has so carelessly neglected to give you…" He backhands me. Silently I pray he would knock me unconscious. I don't want to be awake for this.

"Dr. Crane knows you're doing this?" I barely manage.

"You say anything and next time it'll be far more painful…" He breathes into my ear.

I understand.

'Next time…?'

I spit onto his face. His face shifts from shock to outrage he prepares to swing at me. Quickly I slide to the side as his grip is loosened. I hear his fist crunch into the hard wall. Demitri howls in pain as he cradles his hand. "You bloody, mother fucking bitch!" By then I had pulled up my pants and made for the door. I pound on the metal surface, screaming for help.

"Dr. Crane help me! Dr. Crane please! He…" A rough hand clamps over my mouth as my back is pulled to his chest, bear hugging me he backs up to the wall.

"You wanna do it this way?" He pulls me into him and he is painful against my lower back. I bite onto his hand and jam my elbow into his stomach. He whoops and doubles over. I grab the empty tray on the floor and hold it up as if a shield. He laughs at me.

"What you think that piece of plastic is going to stop me?" He steps closer to me as completely recovered from the recent attack.

'Oh fuck, oh fuck!'

"Kid…do you know what I could do to you?" He threatens as he takes a step closer.

I'm dizzy as a rush of adrenaline courses through me. I hold up the tray, preparing for his next movement. He lounges at me, knocking the tray from my hands, it skitters across the floor. He propels me against the wall, I fight back, trying to scratch at his face, anything. Yet he grips my wrists and slings me face first into the wall, twisting my arm painfully against my back.

"What are you gunna do now, huh?" Demitri shouts as he leans close against me, pulling my arm painfully upward as I cry out.

"Where's your sarcasm now? Come on, nothing to say?" His free hand roams over me, groping over my stomach then up under my shirt. I don't know how he manages to slide his hand over my front, for I am completely plastered to that wall from his crushing weight.

"Not such a kid…" He rasps as he roughly squeezes me.

'Please, please, please no!'

He then slides his hand over my stomach and rams his hands downward. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to force my mind to any place but here. Any! I feel the coldness hit me like a shock as my pants fall to my knees. I feel him reach for his pants, hear the zipper. I start to cry, shaking uncontrollably. Then I feel his warmth between my legs just as he is about to violate me.

Then there are light footsteps from the hall. 'It's Crane!' Before Demitri can react, for he is focused only at the task at hand, I scream at the top of my lungs.

"Dr. Crane! Help me Dr. Crane, he's…!" Immediately he backhands my mouth and yanks up my pants. He then whirls me onto the floor. I cry out as my shoulder slams onto the hard surface. I sniffle and cradle my mouth as the light footsteps quicken. Demitri pulls his pants up just in time. He rushes to the door and opens it to see Dr. Crane's questioning expression. The good doctor looks none too thrilled. His gaze pierces Demitri for a few long moments then quickly flicks over to my huddled form.

"What seems to be the problem?" His tone is arrogant, always. But at that moment it was pure poetry to my ears.

"Bitch is giving me trouble…" Demitri covers lamely.

I stand up, shaking on ungainly legs. "He tried to rape me…" My voice breaks. Demitri whips around to look at me and for a moment I think he will reach out and strangle me.

Dr. Crane expressionlessly examines me. His eyes then shift to Demitri. "Is this true?"

"No, Doctor Crane, she's lying. I wouldn't do that." He raises his hands as if surrendering. "I listen to your orders only."

All the while Crane was looking at me. Then I hear him take in a controlled breath. He looks annoyed as he takes off his spectacles and places them into his suit pocket.

"Demitri you will hand in your I.D. at the front desk and leave the premises immediately. You are terminated from Arkham Asylum." His voice is calm and collected.

"What?" Demitri raises his eyebrows.

"You heard me. Now go."

"Now listen here, I didn't do anything."

"You tried!" I scream at him.

"You shut up, no one asked you!" Demitri whirls on me with a raised fist, only Dr. Crane catches it just before it descends upon me.

"I believe I ordered you to go Mr. Wallace. I don't expect to repeat myself." Crane's eyes blaze through the taller man. I take a step back, suddenly very terrified of the doctor.

Demitri jerks his hand away and then proceeds to turn on the smaller man.

"Seems I don't work for you anymore…" He steps closer to Crane, a good couple inches taller than the doctor. I watch as Demitri strikes up the challenge as Crane stands his ground, his expression serene.

"If you take battery against me I will be forced to call the authorities and I will press charges against you to the fullest extent of the law. I advise you leave now." Crane remains still, unwilling to back down. A thick silence passes between the two of them as I stare open-mouthed at Demitri's clenched fist. I wonder if I could get through the door fast enough should he punch Dr. Crane's lights out.

Without warning Demitri lashes out at the doctor, placing a solid backhand across Crane's face. Its veracity echoes throughout the hall. I gasp and side step in anticipation, ready to bolt. Crane stumbles for a moment then catches his balance. I notice that Crane takes an especially long time before he stands back to full height. Then I understood why. The face of a Scarecrow replaces the young complexion of my doctor. A terrifying stitched grin descends upon Demitri. I step in reverse until my back hits the wall, I slide to the ground.

'I can't fucking take anymore!'

Demitri's eyes widen and he yelps as a white, powdery substance clouds around his face. He coughs then screams as he violently collapses to the floor. "No! NO! Get 'em off me! No! Let me go! Let me GO!" Crane reaches for him by the ankle and drags him out of my cell. Demitri convulses on the floor, writhing in fear, lashing at himself, digging dirty nails into his face. I stand back up, horrified. Scarecrow's mask is down cast, observing the wriggling man before him. I watch Scarecrow clench and unclench his fists.

I take the opportunity. I bolt immediately through the door, pushing past the Scarecrow as he tries to grab me at the last moment. I shriek as his hand grazes my waist but I rush past him, running with all my might. I hear him curse behind me. A faint dragging sound itches its way to my ears just before I slip on a puddle and crash to the floor. I slide sideways and hit shoulder first into the door of another cell, a startled cry from inside then fades into incoherent mumbling. I hear my cell door shut as footsteps fast approach me. I struggle to get up, hands pushing off of the moist cement floor, bare feet tapping against the floor in trepidation to lounge forward. I run.

"Kyra, you stop!" I hear Scarecrow boom behind me.

I gasp in shock for he sounds much closer. I turn and head for the stairs, anywhere away from that creature following me.

"Don't do it, Kyra!" He roars behind me.

I fly up the steps, hands screeching against the railing. I burst through the door and flee down the hall, quickly noting through a nearby window that it is nighttime. 'No wonder the asylum feels so empty…' For I half expect to run into an orderly or another doctor. Then a door catches my attention and I rush to it and fumbled with the handle. Locked!

'Fuck!'

I wheel around upon hearing footsteps rushing up the stairs. Breathing hard through my nose my head darts around, searching for a place to hide, escape would come later. I have to first put some space between me and the Scarecrow. Then the men's lavatory caught my attention, I hurriedly dash to it. Cracking the door open I find it empty; I rush inside and take shelter in one of the stalls. I lock the door and sit on the toilet's tank. The back of my hand placed onto my mouth I try to slow my breathing and quiet myself. I hear footsteps stop in the hallway. He is deciding which way to go.

I feel trapped. I look around the stall's confines then I notice a vent on the wall two stalls down from me. I breathe a quiet sigh of revelation and hope. I dismount the tank quietly and slide to the ground and crawl underneath until I am in the stall with the vent. I lock the door and stand on the tank, reaching for the vent. I struggle with the rusty screws, breaking my nails as I do so. The bathroom door bursts open as I instinctively crouch down out of sight. I can hear my heart in my head overpower the quiet footsteps of the Scarecrow. I am royally fucked and I know it. I am in the farthest stall from the door, a long sprint to freedom.

"I know you're in here Kyra. You had better not make me come find you." He threatens as I hear him kick open the first stall door. I barely stifle a shocked gasp.

'What am I going to do?'

A crash resounds in the small restroom as a second door is kicked. My heart leaps in panic with every kick. Quietly I reach over and unlock my stall door, waiting. I hear him kick the third door, its boom is dull, and it is the locked one.

"There you are…" He concludes as there is a moment of silence and I am sure he is peering through the crack in the door.

I dive through the stall door, it slams against the nearby wall and I leap into motion, momentarily airborne just before my feet hit the floor. Shocked, Scarecrow whips around and fumes at me. I am already to the door as I thrust it open and cross its threshold. I hear his enraged growl as he lounges for the door. I had anticipated this for I am waiting on other side and kick the door outward as he approaches. It hits his body solidly.

The Scarecrow yelps in pain.

I pant. "You scream for me, bastard!" I yell at him just before I turn around the run. A firm hand grasps my shoulder and yanks me inside the bathroom. I swung and my fist collides with the side of his face. I scratch at the mask, trying to go for those stunning blue eyes. He grabs me by the hair and flings me to the floor. I skid across the tiled surface, every grout scraping my skin. My back then hits the wall. I wonder how I had not broken any bones during the duration of my stay here at Arkham.

"Foolish, foolish girl!" He growls as he stands before me. My head made a small thud as I leaned it against the wall and half close my eyes. I am suddenly very tired and I exhale loudly. He notices this and takes off that abhorred mask, setting it on the countertop. He then observes the damage I had inflicted upon him. His nose is bloody, it does not look broken, and his bottom lip is busted in the corner. None of it looked too bad. Yet I revel at the small accomplishment.

Crane looks over at me with nothing less than seething malice. I lie here, almost indifferent.

"What should I do with you?" He questions, moving away from the sink and a step closer to me.

'Surprise me.'

I look down to avoid his eyes. Firm hands grasp me by my front and pull me up. He then backs me up against the wall.

He brushes the side of my face, my bruises now sallow and dully aching. I wince but don't move. What would he do if his power didn't affect me? What could he do then? Would he ignore me? Would he see past it and force me to be affected?

"Whatever you do...it's just my body." I bite my bottom lip to keep my chin from quivering. Those bright eyes darken, he tilts his head so that shadows carve along the ridges of his features and I find him frighteningly beautiful.

"But you see Kyra; it isn't your body that I want." He hisses into my ear.

My mouth opens in a silent, shocked realization and once again my gaze is downcast.

"Know that I will reach your mind." Crane places his hands on either side of my face as he leans closer. "And I will break it."

My hands are placed in front of me, inches from Crane's chest in a bleak show of protest yet refusing to make contact with him. I look up pensively.

"You saved me from him, why would you then do this to me?"

'Seriously though, what is wrong with this man?'

"I never said I was going to do anything…"

"No…you implied it." I counter. "What's wrong with you?"

He stares at me as if considering my question. Then he rushes his mouth towards mine, teeth bared, and then stops mere centimeters from my lips. Crane closes his mouth and grimly scowls at me when I didn't shrink away from him. The looks he gives me is a worse alternative to the mask.

"Not afraid?" He questions dangerously.

I turn my head and look away. I don't have to answer him.

His hand grasps my jowl in regard to my silence.

"You had better answer me."

I flick my eyes down and suck in my bottom lip.

'But not today…'

My legs feel weak and I slowly let myself slide to the floor, or rather he allows me to slide to the floor. I stare at his knees as he hovers above me. I take in a deep breath then look up at him. I give him my quiet answer and probable death sentence.

"But not today…"