Scarecrow's Secret

Curse Security Cameras

--Caralyn's P.O.V--

I awoke with a start. A nightmare. I slipped off my bed to look at my calendar. It was Daniel's birthday. It was also the day before I started Gotham High. The day after was my birthday. I yawned and walked in to Daniel's room to find him still asleep. I smirked and rolled my eyes. I walked downstairs to be met by the sweet smell of Jessica cooking breakfast. I was about to walk into the dining room before I caught my dad passed out on the couch. I shook him a bit but he just slapped me away with his arm. I decided to resort to a wake-up call and slapped him a few times before he woke up, moaning in annoyance. He sat up and I giggled. I took in his appearance. His glasses were askew, his brownish-black hair a floppy mess and his usual icy blue eyes were a dull, pale grey. He was still in his suit sort of, he had his shirt on which was creased and his jeans on, his belt was half way down his leg. He had one shoe on.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. He nodded with an 'mm' sound. He gave me a weak smile and I returned it. We decided we would be different and eat breakfast in the living room. We kept a close eye on the news as always. Then, something on the news really caught my eye.

"Mr Victor Zsasz attacked a group of teenagers last night," announced the reporter. I froze. Surely, it couldn't be Alex, Ethan and I. Unfortunately, it was. The night vision camera zoomed in on my face and froze there. It cleared my face. Dad took a sip of his coffee.

"Luckily, for them, this brave girl here fought off this man. We recognise her as Dr Crane's daughter, Caralyn Crane," said the reporter, and with that, dad spat out his coffee and his piercing eyes turned to look at me. I swallowed. He never said a word while I waited for the endless lecture on safety. Finally, he opened his mouth to say something.

"What were you doing out at that time?!" he asked me, almost yelling. I looked for a response and then remembered him shuffling about in his lab. I remembered he didn't know we knew about his lab. He said he wasn't back to being Scarecrow, but, to be completely honest, I didn't believe him.

"What were you doing up at that time?" I asked, trying to raise an eyebrow and again, failing. I gave him my best quizzical look and he looked down.

"That's none of your concern," he replied. I smirked at myself. He gave me a huge lecture on how dangerous Gotham was and that's how my mother died and how Zsasz should be a patient at Arkham. That was a little off-topic. We then saw Daniel bounce down the stairs and we sang Happy Birthday. I pointed to his presents in the corner. I got him a chain with his name on it, dad got him three pairs of jeans and a hoodie along with a guitar. Considering Jessica didn't have that much money, she just got him a small black cuff. We took him to Pizza Hut for his birthday. He had a good birthday. Afterwards, he went out with his friends from school. By the time he got back, we were asleep. In the morning, I heard my alarm go off and I looked in the mirror. My blonde hair was an absolute mess. I yawned and jumped in the shower. As I dried my hair, I decided to leave it at the waviness it was at. I put on a light hint of eyeliner to make my eyes stand out and smoky black eyeshadow with a layer of mascara. Since there was no uniform, I slipped on a black t-shirt with the cookie monster on it, purple jeans and red converse. I brushed my teeth and stepped out. My dad was in a black suit with a red tie, holding a briefcase. I picked up my backpack and Daniel stepped out with his satchel, wearing a plain grey t-shirt and black jeans with black converse. He was wearing his hoodie. We all said goodbye to Jessica and stepped into my dads car. He drove us to school in complete silence. Once we reached the school, Daniel stepped out and rushed over to his friends and I stepped into the school. I was at a loss. I heard the bell rang and a voice rang out from overhad:

"Will all ninth graders, please report to the assembly hall," the voice cried out. I saw big sign with the words in bold print that read: ASSEMBLY HALL . I stepped in there and all ninth graders had to sit at the front.