Fear Revisited [Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow]

013

The entire day as she attempted to muddle through yet another day of work, Jane's mind was focused somewhere else.

It was a touch surreal knowing that she was not simply returning to her apartment for a quiet night in as surely all of her coworkers planned to and expected her to do, as well.

She was the last person anyone would expect to agree to get wrapped up in someone like Jonathan, a plain and sensible young woman who should have known better than to get involved in something so clandestine.

She wasn't entirely sure what she had agreed to do; it had seemed too fragile of a situation to ask many questions after receiving the invitation that Jonathan seemed barely inclined to offer.

She checked her watch as she pulled into the nearly empty parking lot of the Asylum - 8:45 P.M.

She could imagine precisely what Jonathan's opinion on arriving early would be, that it was every bit as much a flaw as arriving late. Punctuality was always something of a sticking point for him.

Resigning herself to a brief spell of sitting in her car, she peered up at the omnious looking building. The moon was high and round behind the spires of the massive structure, lending the entire scene the feel of something out of a horror movie.

It's not too late to just leave, she told herself, eyes checking around the parking lot for any sight of Jonathan's car. He'd never even know I showed up.

But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to do that.

After all, Jonathan was trusting her, counting on her. Regardless of her own fear, that was something that was important to her. She felt a certain obligation to not be yet another person who reinforced the idea that he was unloveable.

But this is insane, she mentally argued with herself. She knew that there was nothing normal about striking up a date at a mental asylum, not crazy enough herself to miss that important fact.

She didn't have much time to mull the possibility of leaving over. If she was going to back out, she realized it was far too late when a familiar car pulled up alongside her.

She swallowed her fear and attempted to put on a brave face, taking a slow breath as she exited her car.

It was surprisingly calm and quiet on the grounds, not to mention well kept. The spring season still left the nights cool and breezy, a light wind rustling through the trees as they stood beneath the glow of a streetlight.

"I'm surprised you showed up," Jonathan admitted, circling his own car to meet her face to face.

"I told you I'd be here." She managed to give him a small smile, despite being surprised by the very same fact.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he offered her one last out, no trace of threat or judgement in his tone.

It was a tempting possibility, one that she might have taken had she not read into the look on his face with empathy.

"I don't even really know what this is," she admitted, shuffling her feet.

"You know enough about what you'll see to make an informed decision," he dismissed her obvious attempt at prying some information out of him.

She supposed that much was true; if she went through with it, she knew it would likely be likely rival the brief glimpse at what she'd seen during the incident with Stephen.

Once she knew, there would be no turning back. Not this time.

"I'm sure," she finally answered, trying to convince herself as much as him.