BATMAN: Black Mirror Vol. 3

Night 02: Never Fear

     Bruce's heart slammed against his ribs, beating harshly and violently as he ran for his life. This was the hardest he had ever ran. No matter how hard he pushed himself, the world was still black around him. He was moving nowhere, yet he refused to stop. A speck of white light lay just beyond his reach. If he could grab it, the nightmare would end. He would have all the answers and escape the ever present vile red and green mist that bit at his ankles. He could smell the poison tickling his nostrils and taste the bitter toxin on his lips.
     He had no choice but to continue breathing it in as he pushed himself forward and with each breath, his pupils grew redder and redder. The blackness morphed into a murky purple mess as his eyes mixed the colors, yet still he went on. His lungs were set to burst into flames and still he went on. His skin felt coarse and tight against his bones and all the blood in Bruce's veins went straight into his eyes...and still he went on. He had to reach the light no matter what. The speck made a sharp right.
     Bruce followed, his eyes glued to the new direction. The environment changed. Ghostly groans whispered through the shadows, then wobbled and transformed into solid shapes and faces. Suddenly the void was filled with avenues of people walking, talking and crossing Bruce's path. In the blink of his eye, he lost sight of the speck of white and all hope left him. Bruce's legs trembled as he slowed down to a stop and fell hard to his knees. He was never going to escape. Even the light had betrayed him...or so he thought.
     Pupils strained beyond their breaking point, legs burning and chest tight with pains and heavy breaths, Bruce looked to the newly formed people and spotted a peculiar dot shining from their chests.
"The light...it's in them!" he gasped for air. The glow was beautiful, but Bruce was stuck on figuring how he was going to escape now. If the light was inside the people... then how...

"Kill...kill their light..."

Bruce's pupils dilated.
     Something dark, cold, oily and sinister whispered in his ear. It wrapped around his shoulders and pointed him in the direction of all those little lights.

"Kill...take their light...escape"

"No! I could and would never do such a thing." Bruce closed off his ears. The sweet scent of roses wafted past his nose. He cautiously opened his eyes to see a small silver haired child running through the crowd. It turned around, showing deeply etched black holes where its eyes should've been and a grin, black and toothless, stretched across its face.
     "Catch me...if you can!" the monster giggled. It ran through the ghosts of men and women, laughing and stopping each time Bruce failed to give chase. He chased after the little creature for miles, always just out of reach, but closer than the speck of light. Bruce pushed his legs with the last bit of strength he had left and charged head first into his prey. Finally the game came to an end when he caught between his fingers a single strand of silver hair.
     "Tag, I'm it!" laughed the creature.
The strand of hair glowed like silver milk and snaked it's way through Bruce's hand. It transformed into an elegantly carved knife made of what looked and felt like bone. It fell snug and freezing cold in his palm and filled him with a powerful hunger for violence.

"Escape...take the light..." the darkness growled. The ghosts' lights dimmed as their forms grew more solid and the glow disappeared. Standing before Bruce now were actual flesh and blood human beings.
     "I...I have to escape. I have to...I have to..."
Bruce gripped the knife tightly and took a step forward. With slight hesitation, he plunged the sharp weapon deep into a man's chest. The light escaped into the shadows as a dull orb that hung over Bruce's head.
"I need more light if I want to get out of here."
Another step forward. A phantom woman and her children screamed in agony as their lights were brutally snatched from their chests. More and more Bruce hacked and slashed his way out of the darkness, all the while finding himself slowly enjoying the hunt. The more orbs he gathered, the bigger the exit grew and the more relaxed Bruce felt.
     In fact, he was beginning to smile at the pain he inflicted. He saw no blood, just pools of milky liquid spill into the growing ball of white, so he figured what he was doing wasn't all that wrong. The sensation of killing bubbled into a frantic need the longer Bruce looked for his exit. The stronger the need to escape, the deeper the urge to kill heated his skin. Expertly he dashed the knife across a phantom's neck, this time chuckling as silver liquid gushed from the wound. The screams grew to a fever pitch, drowning out all sensible warnings Bruce's subconscious called out. He lost himself in the exquisite rush.
     For as many victims he slew, the light still remained out of his touch. It had grown to the size of the sun and yet, it remained always floating a finger tip away.
"If I can't reach it, then I'll just fill the whole space with light! If the exit won't come to me, I'll bring it by force." he rationalized. The roar of anguished cries flew past his ears as he grinned at his handiwork. This was the best he had ever felt. Nothing could compare. A phantom couple walked ahead of him, blissfully unaware of their impending doom. Bruce raised his knife.
     "Bruce, no more!" the ghost turned around and caught its assailant red handed. Bruce's eyes sunk into its sockets. The phantom he was about to stab was none other than an angered and worried looking Thomas Wayne.
"Dad?! I...I was just..." Bruce stuttered to find a suitable answer to face the man who's angry eyes bore into his soul.
"You were just losing your mind, that's what you were doing boy. Do you have any idea what you've done? What you're doing?! Look at your hands!"
Bruce shook in terror as he looked down to the knife in his hand.
"No! I just wanted to find a way out!" he screamed.
"Dad, I only used this to make the light bigger so I could break free."
     "You know as well as I Bruce, that weapon was never meant to free anyone. Only in the hands of a skilled doctor could such a tool only have benefits, but you sure as hell aren't studying medicine. Have your mother I never taught you to stop what you're doing think long and hard about what to do when faced with difficult situations? No matter what happens my son, killing is never the answer."
Thomas slapped the weapon out of his son's hand. The knife melted into mist and slithered back to the dark from whence it came.
"Won't you come find me?" the silver haired child beckoned.
     "Pay it no attention Bruce. Turn your back and walk away." Thomas scoffed. Following his father's advice, Bruce turned his back on the demon and followed his parents. The creature giggled once again.
"If you won't find me...I'll find you!" it sang. It repeated the haunting message over and over until Bruce placed his hands over his ears to block it out.
"Be gone from here demon." Thomas waved his hand. The demon faded with a wispy laugh.
The screams of Bruce's victims continued pounding in his head as their pained faces imprinted themselves on the back of his eyelids. He had made another mistake and he enjoyed making it.
     He was ashamed, especially since he had to be stopped by his parents. The thoughts and screams quieted down when he felt something soft and cool touch his hands. Bruce opened his eyes to see his mother's kind blue pupils watering at the sight of her son and her small hands upon his.
"Bruce, don't lose yourself sweetheart." she whimpered. "Don't let this take your soul."
"Wake up son." Thomas took his son's hand. The orb of light exploded instantly and Bruce found himself sprawled across his bedroom floor, his legs and arms tangled in the sheets. He had fallen asleep with the lamp left on and figured the light from his nightmare was due to him facing the lamp all night.
     "What the hell was that?" he breathed deeply. The room was silent as the early morning sky turned a soft pink and orange outside his window. Bruce detangled himself from his sheets and turned the lamp off. That would be the absolute last time he'd sleep with any light on.
He went to the window to watch the sunrise. The nightmare felt so real. He could still feel the cold handle of the bone knife in his hand and the heat in his skin at the action of killing. Even now his nerves itched for the wretched pleasure to be satisfied. The bedroom door opened.
     "Ah, Master Bruce. Good morning. I half wasn't expecting you to be up quite yet." Alfred pushed the door open with his hips as his hands were laden with folded laundry.
"I wasn't planning on being up yet either. I guess that's what happens when you fall out of bed."
"Ah, so that's what that thump was earlier. Are you alright sir? You didn't hurt yourself I presume."
"I'm fine Alfred. Just had a rough sleep." Bruce helped his guardian open the curtains.
"Well, I was hoping you'd have a pleasant rest, on account of our current resident." Alfred went to close the door.
     "Ra's Al Ghul has taken to confining himself in one of the guest rooms until we find Elijah. He claims he'll make no moves to interfere with our daily lives, so long as he is "in the know" of Batman's plans to recover the child."
A childish giggle echoed from under the bed.
"I stated that you would never allow such a thing--"
Bruce rushed past the older man, grabbed his robe and stormed into and down the hall. He hadn't heard which room Ra's took, but followed the building silence of his home.
     He was use to the quiet and stillness of the manor, but there was a definite difference: while the house was mostly empty, the sounds of the wind creaking through the walls, chirping of birds in the trees and the distant crashing of waves filled in the vacant space.
This morning walking through his familial halls, Bruce noticed the once comforting ambiance fading into a tense and utter silence as he approached the end of the second floor corridor.
     The room sat next to a window overlooking the entrance of his mother's garden, yet Bruce couldn't hear the water trickling from the stone fountain, nor the birds singing in the trees and flower bushes. Even the growing sunlight filtering through the window lost its power just being in the same vicinity as the room. Bruce gripped the doorknob firmly and pushed with his entire body.
"If you think you're going to be staying in my home, you have a very painful lesson coming!" he shouted. Ra's sat, cross legged, in the middle of the room deep in meditation and unfazed by the sudden outburst.
     His emerald eyes slowly opened and closed.
"Did you hear me? You are not welcomed under my roof." Bruce walked forward. His left leg came the closest to Ra's' immediate range and was caught quickly in a vice grip too tight to simply escape. Bruce was flipped off his feet, but landed expertly as if nothing happened.
"Crude and loud." Ra's shook a disappointed finger. "Amongst your peers, you were my best and brightest. Under my tutelage you had never allowed your brothers and sisters to lay a hand on you, let alone get so close to finish such a move."
     "I was the only one who was masterful enough to put you in your place. The fact that after all this time away from me, becoming Gotham's Dark Knight and earning your ruthless reputation through the criminal underworld, I can still just as easily get my hands on you without combat disappoints me Bruce. I would like to believe I taught you better."
"That was a long time ago. I'm not your student any longer." Bruce, a bit embarrassed, clenched his jaw.
"Clearly. I did not teach you to be so loud in your anger and childish in said ire. It also appears you still fail to mind your surroundings."
     "Did you believe I was so vulnerable simply because I appeared open to attack?" Ra's stood bold and strong. Red and green wisps began clouding Bruce's eyes again. He had to remain calm to get his point across.
"I didn't come to fight. I came to tell you you're not staying in my home. I'll find Eli and I don't need you here while I do it."
"I no longer trust your character detective and quite frankly, I've grown tired of lesser men trying to keep up with my grander design."
     Ra's turned his wide back for Bruce to see the numerous scars and ancient markings etched into his skin. What made him think he could just walk up to a man who has had six hundred years of battle, victories and defeats burned into his very flesh? Even he questioned himself over why he chose to act in such a stupid manner.
"I will go along with you to ensure my prize has been returned and the Court of Owls destroyed. You cannot be trusted in your current state of mind and like I've told your servant, I have no interest in interfering with your household."
     "We shall find the boy together and once the mission is complete, I shall vanish from your home. It will be that simple."
Ra's gathered his cloak and glided past Bruce's shoulder, just grazing his skin. The searing cold and silence followed the demon into the hall and out the window down to Mrs. Wayne's garden where he continued his meditations. The sound of life returned to the manor.
"Dammit." Bruce slammed his palm against the wall.
He had been bested in his own home, surrounded by portraits of his parents. Glaring down at his enemy sitting peacefully amongst the foliage, all Bruce could think about was how badly he wanted to break his old teacher's spine. He slammed the window shut, catching his reflection in the glass. His eyes looked bright and frantic as if he were running solely on caffeine and cigarettes and they shook back and forth slightly the longer he looked at himself.
     Bruce touched his face. He needed a good shave, a bath and more importantly, he needed to find Eli so he could finally get sound rest.
"Is everything alright Master Bruce?" Alfred joined him by the window.
"I'm going down to the cave. When he's finished meditating in my mother's garden, make sure to bring him to me. I don't need, nor want that man in my house. The sooner we find Eli, the sooner Ra's leaves...and the less inclined I will be to to kill him." Bruce gruffly shoved past his friend.
     There was no remorse in Bruce's voice. He wasn't being sarcastic and judging how he angrily slammed close any door he found opened down the hall, Alfred no longer doubted the murderous intent he felt radiating off his ward. 
"Good heavens." he quietly whispered. "I have to do something to stop this."
Alfred took one glance out the window and made a decision. He left the house and went into the garden where Ra's was calmly enjoying Mrs. Wayne's carefully cultivated sweet pea blossoms.
"You have tended to this garden well for a butler." Ra's complemented. "I take it you are the only one caring for it."
"I came to ask something of you. A favor if you will."
The Demon turned an inquisitive eye.
"I'm listening."
"Since you came here, you and I both have seen something is off with Bruce. He's not in his usual best form and whether he likes it or not, you being here right now might be a blessing in disguise."