Fear (A Scarecrow Fanfic)

Chapter Fifteen

I watched as the man left the room, carrying the now empty tray with him.  Once the door closed behind him, I stood up, walking around the pillar to look around the room.  By now, I had everything memorized, but it didn't hurt to reaffirm my observations.

All the barrels had been moved out of the room, leaving only Jonathan's makeshift chemistry table and the chair behind.  The chair was still just beyond my reach where Jonathan had left it.  If I freed one of my hands, I thought it was possible that I could reach the chair, but I hadn't dared to try it until I was ready to attempt an escape.

I thought about trying to slip both of my hands out of the clamps.  I had given up the hope of finding my purse, but perhaps I could find something useful on Jonathan's table.

'Don't risk it,' I scolded myself, 'someone could walk in at any moment and there's no guarantee you can slip your hands back into the cuffs.'

Instead, I looked back at the chair, wondering if I could reach it without taking the risk of being caught free.  By standing, it was just beyond my reach, but if I sat down and tried to move it over with one of my legs, I could probably move it close enough to grab.

The door suddenly opened again and I jumped, looking over to see the man who had been bringing me food walk back in.  This time, he carried a bucket and a rag.  He tossed the rag at me, setting down the bucket before walking away.  When the door closed behind him again, I looked down at the rag, walking over to the bucket to see it was filled with water.

I sat down, feeling grateful that the man was kind enough to give me something to clean myself.  With the rag in one hand, I plunged my hands into the cool water, watching the water grow dark from the blood and dirt on my hands.  I winced as I slipped my wrists in and the water made them sting.

It surprised me that the wounds hadn't become infected since I was filthy enough to darken the water in seconds.  I used the rag to scrub my hands before moving on to my face.  The cloth was rough against my skin, but the water felt so refreshing.  All I wanted in that moment was a hot shower, clean clothes, and a soft, warm bed.  I considered for a moment just escaping to Blüdhaven and leaving Gotham to its fate.  Surely it was possible for me to overcome my phobia of failure.  Maybe I could just forget everything that happened here in Gotham.

'Don't fool yourself.  Mother would never let you forget it.'  I dunked my head into the bucket as if I were trying to cleanse the idea from my mind.

Holding my breath and keeping my eyes squeezed shut, I tried to run a hand through my hair and clean it.  When I could no longer hold my breath, I lifted my head, pulling back the dark brown curtain of hair.  I continued to attempt cleaning myself with the rag.

Eventually, the water was so filthy, I had to stop.  I hung the rag off the side of the bucket, sitting with my back against the column, closing my eyes to wait.  When I opened them again and looked around, my neck was stiff and the bucket was gone.

I was about to stand up, but the door opened again, startling me.  The man walked in again, this time carrying a tattered, old blanket and an old looking pillow.  I stared at him as I tried to analyze his behavior.  Surely Jonathan didn't put him up to this; he wanted me to be afraid.

I opened my mouth to speak, but instantly thought better of it, realizing that asking questions could easily send his charity away.  He sat the items down and turned away.  This time, I didn't hesitate to move, taking the blanket and pillow.  I spread the blanket out, curling up on it with the pillow underneath my head, listening to the door squeak and the man's footsteps fade to silence.

**

Hello everyone, it's me, Red_Hoods_Girl!  I hope you are having a lovely day!  (^.^)

I have a lot of things to do this week, so next Monday's chapter will be delayed to next, next Monday.  I think I made that really confusing.  (*~*)  There will be no chapter next Monday, but there will be one published the Monday after that.

Thank you for reading the chapter.  I hope you all are still enjoying the story.  Sorry that there's not a lot happening in the past few chapters.  It'll pick up again soon, I promise.