Silence Speaks Volumes

A Young Assassin's Way of Communication

Early one evening, Damian was reading on the stairs when Ace walked by. Damian liked the dog, so he followed him. He followed Ace into a room that had a lady sitting in it. She was smiling kindly. She had blonde hair and light peach skin. Damian thought she looked like a princess. "Hi," she said kindly. Damian waved and went to sit by Ace on the floor in front of her. Then she surprised Damian: What's your name? She signed. That made Damian a bit excited, but he followed the instincts instilled in him by his mother and asked questions first.

Who are you?

"I'm Dinah. I'm a friend of your father." Damian looked at her analytically. He remembered a Dinah Drake from the Justice League files his Grandfather had him read each month.

Drake?

"Yes," she chirped. "So you've heard of me?" Damian nodded.

Are you a princess? Damian's curiosity got the better of him.

"No, but I know one." She smiled again, then pulled out a book. "Have you ever read this one before?" It was a book on dogs. Damian had never read a book on dogs before. His grandfather wouldn't find it to be beneficial. He was only allowed one recreational book a week and he had never chosen a book like this. Damian shook his head. "Do you wanna read it with me?" Damian looked at her suspiciously now. She said 'with,' but she could be implying he would have to speak. The book looked really interesting, so he took his chances and nodded. She patted the seat beside her and Damian quickly got up and sat by it. She began by reading the first page and asking Damian questions after each paragraph. "Do you wanna read," she asked. He shook his head. She nodded and read the second page and did the same procedure as she did with the first. Again she asked him if he wanted to read and he declined. After the fourth page, Damian was starting to get anxious and fidgety.

"You're very observant," Dinah said warmly, after Damian pointed out a grammatical error in the book. At page seven Dinah asked Damian to read yet again. He agreed to and began to read, but signed the words. At the time of this writing the FCI recognizes 339 breeds of dogs which are divided into 10 groups based upon the dog's purpose or function or upon its appearance or size... He kept that up for the rest of the book. She put the book back in her bag and stood up. "Thanks for reading with me," she said sweetly. Damian nodded and she left.

...

Reading with Dinah became a routine. Every week, Ace would lead Damian into the same room and Dinah would be there with a new book. They had been through Dogs, Cats, Birds, and Fish. Today, they were on Trees. Today was different though. Dinah was making Damian really uncomfortable. Usually Ace helped a bit, but she was more persistent in asking him to read out loud today. Did she know he couldn't speak? Damian figured she knew, though. Eventually, it all became too much and Damian fled.

He ran and ran until he couldn't anymore. Then he curled up in the corner of a dark, grimy alley. It was dank, cold, and dirty, but Damian didn't seem to notice. He was just trying to get his breathing under control. He knew how to do it. His mother had taught him, but it wasn't working. He was starting to feel dizzy. Damian took out his phone and pressed the last contact down the line. The phone rang twice before the person answered.

"I thought you said that you'd never call me. Even if you did talk ," Jason chuckled. He didn't receive a response back though. All he heard was heavy breathing. " You okay? Where are you? Nevermind, I'll track you. Stay where you are okay?" Jason didn't get a response, but he figured Damian was listening. He hopped on his bike and rode as fast as he could to where he tracked Damian to. When he got there, Damian was curled up in a ball rocking back and forth.