Panophobia

Running & Hiding

This is set about a year and a half before Batman Begins.

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I sighed as I sat in my bedroom scrolling through my phone.

"Honey! Come down stairs!" My mom yelled.

"Coming!" I yelled locking my phone and standing up.

As I walked down the stairs I put my phone in my pocket.

"Yeah?" I asked as I got to the bottom of the stairs.

"(Y/n), we love you so much but you need help. These nice men here are gonna take you to Arkham Asylum." My mother said gesturing to two men who had white uniforms on.

"Wh-What?" I asked backing up a bit.

"Relax, everything's gonna be fine! The doctors there will help you and then you can come home!" My mom said as my dad stood silently next to her.

"But the people there....There's insane criminals at Arkham! Do you really think I'm as crazy as the Mad Hatter or Clayface or any of them?" I asked leaning on the railing for support.

I was in shock but I wasn't going with out a fight.

I shifted my weight onto my right foot so I'd be able to push off my left and sprint up the stairs.

"Of course not, but all the therapy you've been to isn't helping." My mom began as the men slowly walked towards me "We've run out of options, (Y/n). You need serious help."

Seeing that my mother wasn't changing her mind anytime soon and the two men were carefully advancing on me, I quickly turned and bolted up the stairs.

I heard the men's feet thumping up the stairs following me as I ran to my room.

Once there I shut the door, locked it, and pushed my desk in front of it. In response, the men began banging on the door.

"Don't make this harder then it has to be." One of the men said.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes before turning to my window opening it quickly and swinging my legs out. Not hearing a response, the men began to try to break down my door which naturally made me act faster.

I slid out my window and carefully stood on my roof. I closed my window for good measure so they'd think I was hiding in my room when in fact I'd be down the street running for my fucking life.

Slowly and extremely carefully I slid down my roof knowing that if I injured myself now I'd never get away. Though, when I got to the bottom I paused.

I was about nine feet from the ground. If I did this right and landed on my ass hopefully I'd escape with minor, brief pain and maybe some bruising later on.

With that in mind, I lowered my body and held onto the gutters with my hands. I took one deep breath and let go.

I bent my knees ever so slightly as I fell to the ground which was less than 4 feet below and landed on the grass with a small thud. Not feeling any major pain I began to run towards the very back of my backyard.

I knew I couldn't go out on the street because people might see me, but if I went behind the trees in at the back edge of my backyard I could escape. Doing just that I ran behind said trees and continued running until I got to the end of the street.

I briefly stopped to catch my breath before running to the corner of the street and continued running. I had no idea where I was going but I couldn't stay here.

I couldn't go to my grandparents or my friends house because I'm sure my parents told them I was going to Arkham. I also couldn't go to any of my usual spots because that would be too predictable. 

I kept running for a while with no end destination in mind until I decided to my best friends house. If I snuck in and reasoned with her I'm sure she would hide me, after all we'd been best friends since childhood so if anyone was gonna help me now it's her.

She knew I could be a bit crazy sometimes but she also knew that I'm not fucking insane as my parents apparently believe.

Even as my lungs burned and me feet ached I didn't stop running, the adrenaline pumping through my veins helping me to push past it.

After about fifteen minutes I arrived at my best friends house.

I walked around her house and crouched down, pulling out my phone in the process. Texting her quickly I asking her to come outside and then began to wait. I heard her back door open and close with its creaky hinge and smiled lightly.

I remained crouched but slowly peaked my head around the back of her house to see my best friend looking around.

"Over here!" I whisper yelled.

"(Y/n)? What are you doing here?" My friend (Y/f/n) asked in a hushed voice.

"I'll tell you in a sec, just come over here where I can't be seen." I said waving over to where I was currently hiding.

(Y/f/n) followed me around the side of her house and we both sat down.

"Your mom told mine that they're sending you to Arkham." (Y/f/n) said in utter disbelief. "I didn't believe it at first but I'm guessing your sneaking around my house because they tried?"

"Trust me I'm in as much shock as you." I said giving her a look and we both laughed momentarily at the crazy situation we were currently in before I became serious. "(Y/f/n), we've been friends forever, you know I'm a little crazy but I'm not fucking insane."

"Definitely not insane enough for Arkham." She said in a joking tone but I could tell she meant it.

"Is there anyway you would let me hide out in your room until I figure some way to get out of Gotham." I asked desperately truly having no where else to go.

"Of course. You can stay in that small room behind my closet we used to play in as kids until we figure something else out. It's not big but you won't be crammed." (Y/f/n) offered.

"That's perfect." I said smiling at her brilliant plan and instant willingness to help.

"Alright, I'm gonna go and make sure no ones in the kitchen so we can sneak you in the back door." (Y/f/n) said before turning and heading into her house.

I waited until she waved to me before running over to her and creeping into her house. We sneaked through the kitchen and quickly but quietly ran up to her room.

"Thank you so much for doing this." I said genuinely as she closed her door.

"Of course, after all we've been friends since forever. There's no one else I would rather stow away in my closet to keep them from being locked up in a mental institution." (Y/f/n) said laughing which made me smile.

We moved her clothes out of the way and opened up the small door in the back of her closet just in time.

"(Y/f/n)! I'm home!" (Y/f/n)'s mother called from downstairs.

"Stay in there till I come back!" (Y/f/n) said urgently as I rushed through the small door.

Moving some of her clothes back with my arm I then closed the door behind me as (Y/f/n) opened her bedroom door and ran down to her mom. Now alone, I pulled out my phone as I sat in the small dark room and quickly went to the settings to turned off my location so my parents couldn't track me.

Sighing I locked my phone and leaned my head against the nearby wall.

Is this really my life?

Shaking my head in disbelief, I chuckled to myself at how unimaginable this was. Sighing once more I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep hoping a nap would pass the time.