BATMAN: Black Mirror Vol. 2

Night 08: Possessed and Obsessed

     It felt good to be active again. To feel life gush through cold fingers and stain the bleak, grey cement red then black. Eli had finally regained his senses and fought his way back to sanity with each kill he made. For all the times he was "killed" by the hands of Zsasz, Eli took twice as many lives when he revived. Through his tour of death and resurrection, he had made an attempt to keep his conscious clear enough to never lay a hand on the average citizens of the city. He killed only those he saw and knew to be crooked. By the time he had killed Richardson, his high dissipated and eased into a sense of calm and regained control. He could hear himself breath and the blood flow more correctly through his veins. His hands no longer shook with the need for violence and his eyes had finally regained a small semblance of their original bright color. Finally Eli was on his way to recovering. He sat, legs crossed, in front of his window inside his room at the Gotham Regency Hotel. He had thought about Selina, but only once. He wanted to thank her for risking her safety in rescuing him and taking care of him, but the more he thought about it, the less it made sense to do so.

     Selina was only doing something anyone with a broken sense of consideration and dignity would do. It wasn't as if she had brought him back to life or anything. If Eli had went to the hospital, was he suppose to thank the doctors for doing their jobs in saving his life? That was what they were being paid to do. No need to thank someone for something they're making money off of. He thought of Bruce at least twice before the sun had set. Eli thought of how delicate and hot Bruce's hand was against his cheek and how scared and confused he looked when they locked eyes. As Eli cleaned his blade, his eyes darted over to the tall tower standing sentinel in the middle of the city. His hotel wasn't too far from Wayne Tower, but with Eli's current emotional climate, the journey looked to be planets away. It was his job to watch Bruce, but he no longer had to invest emotion into the man. His sword gleamed like a golden fire against the setting sun. 

     Eli carefully stored his blade back into its sheath and placed the weapon against his bathroom sink. He went to turn on the shower and stripped out of his damaged clothes. The water was frigid and hard. It was perfect for Eli to lose himself in the dark void of nothingness behind his eyelids. No thoughts. No sounds other than the rushing water. No emotion to bare him down for the time being. His skin grew numb to the temperature and he only got out when his legs became wobbly from standing still too long. A clean white towel that wasn't there before Eli went into the tub, laid across the sink. Acting on instincts, he let the water run and wrapped the towel across his chest. He smelled something else through the scent of his soap. The scent was rich, warm and spicy. It smelled of hot desert sand, sandalwood, red wine and old pages of ancient books. It was a light perfume, but it wafted through the air and under Eli's nose like a woman seductively inviting her prey to spend the evening with her. Eli knew that smell and therefore suppressed the need to be shocked.

     He turned the water off and picked up his katana. He calmly opened the door and was met with a man sitting comfortably and upright at the foot of his bed. Eli bent his head over in respect.

"Master." he said. Eli looked up into the constantly judgmental venom green eyes of Ra's Al Ghul and steeled his nerves at the sight of another man invading his personal space. 

"Come to me boy." was all the old master said. Eli got up and did as he was told. He stood before his teacher's crossed legs and allowed the man to place his cold hands upon his bare skin. Ra's took Eli's face and slowly turned the boy's head side to side in inspection. He ran his thin fingers through Eli's wet hair and examined even the water dripping from the tips. 

"Turn around." he ordered. Eli about faced.

"Lower the towel."

     Eli loosened his only protection and revealed his blackened back. He flinched out of habit when he felt Ra's fingers lightly run over the ingrained feathers of his wings. Those same fingers gently caressed down his spine and to rest at the base of his hips.