Everything She Saw

The Beginning of After

It had been one year since Jonathan had been incarcerated in the asylum where he formerly worked as a psychiatrist. One whole year. And it had been quite the year.

I was still a journalist, that hadn't changed. I lived in the same apartment but with new neighbors. The others had either moved or been killed. I was still an atheist to the surprise of many. They reasoned I should believe in God for surviving the attack in the Narrows. They reasoned it was because of Him I survived. No, if anything, those events had further proven my point. He wasn't real. He had done nothing. So all things considered, not much had changed for me.

Yet, at the same time, things had changed so much.

I used to be confused and pained by what Jonathan had done and what he continued to do. Those feelings slowly turned to hatred. I hated Jonathan Crane.

Batman had become an ally to the new commissioner, the former Captain James Gordon. Batman was no longer a wanted criminal, but Gotham's best weapon to combat the ever-growing insanity.

I couldn't believe Gotham could become any more insane than it had been a year earlier. I was wrong. More and more of the eccentric criminals started crawling out like cockroaches from under a carpet.

Things weren't entirely terrible for me, though. I rather liked my new neighbors in my apartment building. To the left of me was Zoey, a gothic woman and a prostitute. She had two black cats named Lucifer and Shadow. I was pretty convinced she was actually a witch. Across the hall was a gay man named Sam Evans. He became my best friend. He flirted playfully with everyone, and he would pretend to be my boyfriend if I asked him. At least, that's what he told me.

I still talked to the man I'd met at the bar. Edward Nigma. He worked as a private investigator. Edward was much harder to talk to than Sam or Zoey and considerably more full of himself, yet I still enjoyed his company. He had a penchant for riddles, which I found odd. I tried answering them, even though I knew I wouldn't answer most of them correctly. He always seemed pleased when I got them wrong.

Gotham was a very different city than the one I had moved to four years earlier. It was darker. Colder. And while I so wanted to leave, I couldn't find it in me to go. Somewhere along the line, I had gained too much to leave behind.

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A/N: So, here I am with a sequel. This wasn't originally planned, but I kind of fell in love with Amber and the world I created with her. I will be adding a couple of other original characters, and while I know some people don't like the idea of adding more than one OC, I think it helps flesh out the story. Realistically, there's gonna be other civilians walking around Gotham than the ones we already know about, right?  I already have a ton of chapters written, so there should be a semi-normal updating schedule. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this continuation of Amber's story!

 Chapter title borrowed from the novel by Jennifer Castle