The Light in Darkness

Chapter 5: The Phone Call

-Rosa-

It was around three in the afternoon, when I had received an unexpected phone call. I was folding laundry when the phone startled me. Automatically, I reach for my cell phone in my back pocket, but oddly enough, I find it to be not ringing. Instead the foster home's land line was. Curiosity settles over me as I head over to the land line phone. It was oddly, an unknown number. I quickly dismiss any worries from my mind, and answer the phone, "Thank you for calling Little Treasures Orphanage! How may I help you on this wonderful day?" I hear a man chuckle on the other line, he seemed to find my greeting rather amusing. "Well I wouldn't call it a wonderful day if I was you Rosa, especially when I have one of your orphan children." The man chuckles on the other line. Fear strikes my heart at his words. "I-I believe I misunderstood you sir. I could've sworn you claimed to have one of my kids." I nervously laugh. There is silence on the other line, whoever this is, wasn't joking. "Turn on your TV, Mrs. Todare." The man demands.

"I don't understand." I reply shaking. "Just do it." The man demands again. Hesitantly, I grab my TV remote and turn on the TV. The screen flickers to life and slowly the screen reveals my local news station. The screen's headlines read breaking news below the head anchor lady as she spoke. "Gotham Elementary has been evacuated after a shooting and fire took place this morning in one of the kindergarten classrooms. The shooter managed to escape after killing three teachers and a police officer, before making his escape with yet another victim. The victim's name is Katrina Parkman, she is 3'6" and weighs about 50 pounds. She has brown hair, blue eyes and was last seen wearing a purple tee shirt and jean shorts. If you or anyone know, has seen her, please contact the GCPD immediately." The lady reported.

I feel the remote slip from my hand as I fell to my knees screaming and crying. "Ah, so now you believe me." The man chuckles, "Would you like to speak to her?" "Y-yes please." I begged through sniffles. I hear movement on the other line before I could hear the familiar sound of Katrina crying. "Say hello to Rosa Katrina." The man demands. I hear Katrina stop crying and begin to scream as the man approached her. "Stop please! What do you want? I'll give you anything! Just please, stop scaring her." I begged. I hear the man hush Katrina back to a whimpering state before returning his attention back to me.

"I want you to meet my assistant at Richmand Ave. with all of Ms. Parkman's files in thirty minutes. You will tell no one about this meeting, and if you do. I will personally kill Ms. Parkman myself." The man demands. "Can you promise me in return, if I give your assistant the files, Katrina's safety?" I ask. "Well I can't promise her safety, but I can promise Billy and Sophie's safety." The man chuckled. I feel a sob escape my lips at his deal, it was a hard bargin. The safety for two, for the sacrifice of one. One, that I hold close to my heart. Hesitantly, I come to a decision, "Okay, I'll do it." I hear the man chuckle at my defeat, "I knew you would." Before I can respond, I hear a click after his cocky remark. The monster had hung up.

Quickly, I grab my cell phone and call Sophie. She answers after the second ring, "Rosa? What is it?" "There's been a shooting, and Katrina's missing, I need you and Billy to meet me at Gotham Elementary." I explain. "Wait, What?! Katrina's missing?!" Sophie panics. "Remain calm, and meet me there in 45 minutes with Billy." I reply quickly before hanging up. With Sophie and Billy now confirmed safe, I rush over to Richmand Ave. with Katrina's files. If it was for the safety of two others over one sacrifice, it was worth it to give into the stranger's demands.

One Hour Later

That was an hour ago, and now here I am, standing in the rain outside of Gotham Elementary with Sophie and Billy. I hadn't told anyone about the files just like the man asked, and if anyone did ask about them, I plan to tell them that they were lost in a fire. We were all waiting behind the police line for Batman and the police commissioner Gordon to return with any information towards Katrina's disappearance. I pray that I didn't make a mistake with those files, and I hope that Batman will find her and the other missing children.

-Batman-

Upon hearing about at sixth kidnapping and shooting, I rushed over to Gotham Elementary as soon as I could. The victim's name was Katrina Parkman, a local orphan at Little Treasures. She lost her parents to a car accident due to a drunk driver. She wouldn't have survived if it hadn't been for Dr. Crane. He had met the child earlier that day after she dropped her teddy bear in the park. He just so happen to witness the crash after she left and went to help.

Personally, I did not understand why he'd risk his life to save her. Jonathan Crane is insane and unstable. That story from her government records doesn't match Dr. Crane's personna. If anything, that is the exact opposite of my sworn enemy, the Scarecrow. I just hope that there isn't a connection between the two in this case.

Time Skip, brought to you by Snickers. Remember, you're not you when your hungry. Plus they're damn good.

I arrived on the scene to find the commissioner talking to Katrina's orphan family. Both kids at the owners side looked upset towards what just transpired a few hours ago. The boy Billy, seemed to be in a state of shock as he stared in disbelief at the school, while his orphan sister, Sophie sobbed into the left shoulder of the owner of Little Treasures, Rosa. Rosa seemed to be calm as she talked to the commissioner, but through her watery eyes, I could see that she was hiding something.

"Ah, Batman thank goodness you're here. Here come take a look at this." Officer Owens yelled. I gave a nod of acknowledgement towards Owens before following. We enter the old school and turn left towards the classrooms. The first classroom revealed a bloody broken door with three body sketches next to it. "What happened?" I ask.

"Well Batman, from what we found out, the three victim's here were killed by .45 colt, the shooter's favorite. Two were teachers and the other was a local deputy on patrol. All three heard the commotion, and rushed to the children's aid. Their lives ended before they could even kick the door in." Owens sighs. I examine the door before moving on into the classroom. The room was half burnt from the fire, most of the evidence was destroyed. I scowl as I notice another body outline in the middle of the room.

"Who was this?" I ask while examining the room. "Her name was Sonya Lee Batman, she was the teacher for this room." Owens explains. I walk over to the windows to see a broken one, it had a piece of cloth stuck to it. I scan the piece of clothing, and send the information to Oracle. Hopefully she could find some DNA from it. "Is there anything you guys found that seems different from the other kidnappings?" I ask while beginning to scan the room.

"If you're suggesting that this was a copy cat, it wasn't. The only thing different this time is that, he'd cover his tracks through destructive means." Owens replies. My bat scanner picks up on the school's camera in the hallway, and Katrina's blood. "Owens, may I see the camera feed for hallway 5B? I ask politely while putting Katrina's blood on file. "Sure the recordings are in the office on the right." Owens directs. I go to leave the classroom, but am stopped by a crunch. I look down to my feet to see a teddy bear. It was Katrina's.

I pick up the stuff bear as it begins to play a soft melody, it was Hush Little Baby sung by Katrina's mother. The teddy was burnt and barely huggable anymore. "Here give this to Katrina's family, hopefully it will give them some closure." I sigh while giving the bear to Owens. Owens gives me a nod before walking over to the family. Gordon sees his opportunity and left the family to follow me to the office to retrieve the camera's feed.