The Price of a Mind

[{1}]

Lucy Rhysworth woke up early, mentally kicking herself when she realised what day it was.

She was seventeen, and it was the first day of her exam season. And her first exam - Psychology - was at 9.00 AM.

Lucy sat up and tugged a hairbrush through her black hair before attacking it with straighteners. She took painstakingly long to get dressed, just trying to kill time, whilst also dancing to Ed Sheeran and Beyoncé.

She waltzed downstairs, pink Apple headphones in ears, at 8.15. As per usual her breakfast table was filled with a variety of food - toast, croissants, cereal, the whole nine yards. She poured herself some cereal, made some toast and poured a cup of coffee. She'd slept in her eyeliner and it was a bit of a mess, but that didn't really matter. She was in for her psychology exam, her music lesson and her english exam. Then she could go home.

Her father - a tall man with a handlebar moustache, who's chubby belly looked like it was being pulled down by weights - walked into the room. He beamed when he saw his daughter, and pulled up a chair across from her.

"Ah, Lucy. Glad to see you awake. Are you nervous?"

"Very." Lucy chuckled, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Well, I have a meeting soon due to certain... issues with a company. I won't be home until five, so Harry will make dinner for you."

"Okay Dad!" Lucy smiled before looking at the large grandfather clock against the wall. 8.45. "Shit, I'll be late!" She grabbed her last slice of toast, downed her coffee and darted out the room.

"Language, Lucy!" her father yelled after her, before chuckling admirably to himself. "Whatever will I do with that girl."

()()()()()()()()()()()

Rhysworth Corp was a multi-million dollar business, backing banks, bookhouses and schools alike. It was up there with Wayne Enterprises in terms of richest companies in Gotham.

One of the schools Rhysworth backed was Arkatanem High School, named for the founder of the school, Edward Arkatanem. This was the school Lucy attended.

Her family home wasn't too far from this school, so she could afford to walk. Today she skipped along the sidewalk to speed things up, her skirt bouncing along in the cool spring breeze. She watched cars pass, strangers talk, and wondered what their lifes must be like.

That old man walking his dog? How old was he? Old enough to remember World War Two? Did he fight in a war ever? Maybe he didn't. Maybe he's got a large family and a cosy house to go back to. Maybe he lives in a retirement home, just a sad old man, sitting alone, dying of cancer.

Lucy brushed that thought away.

The one thing she didn't like about her daily commute to school was the shortcut she took. Her father condoned it - nothing would ever happen in broad daylight a few buildings down from the GCPD, he said - but there was still a certain unease that came through walking through a dense alleyway full of overflowing bins and definite hobo beds.

She turned around as she reached the halfway point. Nothing behind, as usual. The rest of the alley infront. Nothing ahead. Lucy could breathe a sigh of relief. She clung tighter to her bag straps and kept walking.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when at the end of the alley a man in a black suit with slicked back ginger hair came out of a back doorway and stood in front of her. He mimicked every footstep she made so that she couldn't run.

She stared behind her. A woman in an almost identical suit had leapt from below. She faced the ginger man again. "If you'll excuse me, sir, I need to get to school." she said, keeping her phone by her side incase she needed to call 911.

"I'm afraid school's out. For you at least. Drop the phone."

"No."

"Pardon?" He snarled.

"I will not drop my phone." She said firmly.

Suddenly the woman grabbed her from behind, turning her and holding a gun under her chin. The man grabbed the phone and pulled the case off, checking the credit card. "Yup, she's the one." He dropped the phone and the woman stabbed two holes through it with her heel. The gun was removed and she was forced back to facing the man.

"What do you want with me?!" Lucy yelled.

"You. That's all. What can I say, your father fucked up bad, kid. And we can't snatch him off the streets, it's too obvious. So you" he tapped her nose "are the lucky person who's gonna be played like a fiddle until your father breaks."

Lucy moved closer to him, arms raised to prove she was weaponless. "You know, I'd love that. But I'm afraid I'll have to decline the offer." She quickly kneed him in the balls and ran. She turned a corner, about to leave the alley, when there was a gunshot. Not even half a second later, there was a horrific burning sensation in her left shoulder. She yelled and grabbed at it, feeling the blood seep through her fingers. The woman grabbed her into a headlock from behind, and Lucy tried to bite her.

"Oh she is a feisty one. Mr Cobblepot will be very very pleased."

"Mr Cob- Penguin?" Lucy spat "You aren't taking me to that psychopath!"

"Well you see darling, you aren't really in a position to refuse." He nodded and the woman let her go. Without missing a beat she pulled a burlap sack over Lucy's head, and Lucy felt something stab into the side of her neck through the sack.

She fell limp only a couple seconds later.