under my skin

2

    For nearly the whole day, Annie and her mother had elected to stay inside the apartment; windows and doors locked, T.V. playing the news on low volume, Detective Gordon on speed-dial if they needed to call. Later that night, her father had returned home, pulling his traumatized daughter close to him as he assured her that he would never let anything happen to her again. He left work as soon as he'd heard that the boy who abducted his daughter the year before was possibly alive again, and not a single soul tried to stop him as he raced home to his family. "As has been reported, Chanel Nine's van was stolen this evening. We are now getting video from the thief, which we will play in hopes it leads to his apprehension." The screen switched from the reported to a close up of Jerome's mangled face, seemingly having been sliced off and then stapled—stapled?— back on. Annie was sitting in her family room, her mother next to her while she vehemently prayed the Rosary in silence, gripping her daughter's hand tightly. Her father was standing beside her, hand on her shoulder comfortingly. Annie had a coffee in hand from her father, but she completely forgot about it as soon as she heard his voice.

    "Am I live? Am I on air? Can you hear me? Ah, screw it. Hi. Some of you may know, I died. Uh-Oh. Take it from me, death is dull. But coming back? That is... something. Leave it to dying to give you a whole new perspective on life." You know, maybe dying erased some of his memory, she thought to herself. In the back of her mind, she knew it was a long shot, but he had yet to even let on that he remembered her... Maybe she'd get lucky this time around. "And I would like to share that with you. Uh, Officer, you look terrible," he said to the man sitting tied to dozens of explosives behind him. Holy shit, she realized, that's the cult leader! "Tonight, Gotham, there are no rules. So tonight, Gotham, do what you want. Kill who you want. And when morning comes, you, too, shall be reborn. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some old friends to catch up with." He winked into the camera, and she could feel his stare straight into her soul as he backed away from the screen. Her heart stopped beating and she could feel it fall to her stomach. A chill ran up her spine as she felt goosebumps rise to her skin. Her mother's grip tightened and her father glanced at her with worry, but she hardly noticed either of these things. She was frozen in her seat, unable to move or even react. She could only barely register as the tears began streaming down her face, and her breath began to speed up, sounding more like hyperventilation with each passing second.

    Her dad was kneeling in front of her before she knew it, attempting to grab her attention. "Annie. Annie. Listen to me. We're not gonna let him take you. Do you understand me?"

    "Yes, Baba," she responded, only half-heartedly. Her eyes were still glued to the T.V. screen in front of them as Jerome continued his performance.

    "Oh, and, uh— Dwight? I don't forgive you. For my face." He walked out of the frame and the building as he cackled to himself, leaving the poor man on camera to be left alone and strapped to countless explosives.

    Her mother's Rosary was still being tightly gripped in her left hand, while Annie's own hand was in her right. Before her mother could even utter out a single syllable, a loud explosion came from out in the distance. A split second later, she could see out the window as the city began to get darker, and darker, and darker— the power was being wiped out all across the grid. It was only a moment before the power in their own apartment went out. "Dios mío," her mother uttered, as she realized what was beginning to happen. Annie's breathing began to increase once more, and her father knelt down to grab her face in his free hand, his right still on her shoulder.

    "Dëgjoni, bija," he began. "Not a thing is going to happen to you tonight. Your mama and I will make sure no one ever takes you from us again. The police are going to protect you, too. Do you understand, Annie? You are safe with us. That little thief will never get you again."