Sweet Dreams

He opened the garage and parked the Jag next to another car that was covered. Surely it was equally flashy and over-the-top expensive. Crane had his hands in something, and I was betting it was not legal.

The house was a relatively modest two story, but the property size was huge. This didn’t work in my favor, considering the nearest neighbor was about 2 miles down the dirt road. What did work in my favor, was that there were a lot of trees and bushes. With an annoyed expression on his face he walked to my side of the car and opened the door. He reached in and lifted me out, hoisting me over his shoulder as he entered the attaching door. I kept my body as limp and expressionless as I could.

His house reflected his lavish tastes; he had high recessed ceilings and rich colors on the walls and ornate furniture. Dark abstract art was on the walls, figures twisted in agony. The couch I had been deposited on was a deep red and plush, and I sunk into it. Interior designing aside, my next move was critical, and it would have to be fast.

Crane moved about like it was just an ordinary day: he took his suit coat off and folded it over a dark mahogany kitchen chair, rolled up his sleeves, loosened his tie, and opened the refrigerator to look for a snack.

“There are no phones in the house save for my cell phone that I keep with me at all times. I have alarms on everything, every room, so don’t even bother.” He said as he shuffled through the contents of his refrigerator. Something caught his attention and he nibbled on it for a second and walked back over to me. He rolled up his sleeves and briefly looked down at his watch.

“It’s been twenty minutes, you can talk, and you can move”

“Oh, I know I can” I said seductively. He leaned down towards me to inspect and I looped my zip-tied wrists around his neck.
I caught him off guard and pulled him down on top of me, forcing him to make contact.

“How’s this for convincing?” I whispered in his ear before kissing him. My tongue slid down his neck and I heard a low guttural sound come from his throat.

“Doctor Avery,” he said raggedly, “I didn’t know you had it in you. We’ll have some fun later I think.”

I smiled and pushed up and over with all of my force until he was on the ground and I was on top of him. He smirked in delight until I pressed my bound wrists against his neck as he squirmed for air. Crane flailed against me, but eventually he stopped moving. I hopped to the kitchen and maneuvered a knife to free my wrists, and then quickly freed my ankles. With haste, I grabbed his keys off of the counter where he had left them, and went to the garage.

My hands were shaking so badly it took me several tries to get the key into the ignition. By the time I got it in I looked up only to see Crane’s enraged face staring back at me through the window. Without thinking I locked the door and reversed the car.

He didn’t even seem to care, something wasn’t right. His cell phone was suddenly to his ear and he gave me a cheap smile and a wave as I sped off into the night. I wasn’t sure where I was but I didn’t care. The lights of Gotham were visible in the distance, and that was where I was going.

Soon after, I found my way to the police department and ran to the counter where a gruff looking heavy set man sat with his eyes barely open. The waiting room was like a ghost town, not much going on tonight at 4am.

“Someone is after me, someone is trying to kill me, please help” I rambled on.

“Hold on hold on, I need you to calm down.” He said holding his hands up.

“First you need to tell me your name m’am.”

“Emma Avery. Please help me, someone is trying to kill me”

“Okay Dr. Avery, I need you to go over to that room and talk to Officer Rowe, he deals with this kind of thing.” I nodded and walked over to the door across the big white room that he had motioned towards. Carefully I walked through the door and closed it behind me. I sat down and explained my situation to the officer, who calmly nodded and rubbed his chin stubble with his other hand.

“Listen Doc, we’ll get everything taken care of, just calm down and sit tight.” He moved into another room and picked up a telephone. I took a deep breath. Mid conversation, his eyes darted to me through the glass pane of the door and then back again. My head told me something wasn’t right. Wait a second. I never told any of them I was a doctor…why the hell did they keep calling me doctor then? Slowly I got up and walked out of the door.

“Excuse me miss, where are you going?” The officer sitting behind the main desk said.

“Could you please tell me where the ladies room is?” He sat down and pointed to a short hallway on my left. The lights were half out, but I still managed to find the room. There was a window, just big enough for me to fit through. Perfect.

As quietly as possible I propped the window open and riggled my way out of it. I ran down the block and hailed a cab. Luckily there was one close by, and I quickly gave him the address of my apartment. There really wasn’t another option left but to get my stuff and get as far away from here as I could.

Quickly I got into the elevator and went to my floor. I paced around and bit my finger nails as I heard each bing. Once I reached my floor, I quickly opened my apartment door and just as quickly closed it. After I double checked all the locks were secure, I ran into my bedroom and started throwing clothes into a duffle bag. There wasn’t much time if he had all of Gotham under his thumb. I dug through my dresser until I found my cash stash, and then quickly shoved it down the waistline of my pants. My eyes flew wide open as soon as I heard my bedroom door close. Smoke filled the air and I began to cough and crumple to the ground as my world started to spin around me.

“Leaving so soon? But we were just starting to have fun.” My apartment walls started peeling back, the floor dropped out, and I found myself crouched in the corner holding onto one of my curtains for dear life. It had to be a hallucinogen, and I fought to maintain some of my clarity.

“How did you find me?” I muttered between half closed eyes

“I’ve followed you back here before” his presence loomed over me and I cowered back in fear.

“Now come with me” the voice distorted in a loud boom. I shakily got to my feet and put my arms out in front of me as the walls of my apartment continued to crumble around me.

“Ah-ah ah. Hands behind the back this time. So will you be a good girl now Doctor?” This time he knew better and used handcuffs.

“It appears I have no other choice. Clearly I underestimated you.” I replied with little emotion. That was the last thing I could remember before my world went to black.