Two sides of the same coin

Chapter 3 - Fear

"Trap or not, if Alfred's in there, I need to find out."

Both Bruce and Selina decided to enter the building separately with Selina entering from the roof while Bruce would enter from the front. Selina made her way towards a pole leading to the roof of the building and began to climb it, leaving Bruce to enter the front of the building on his own. He walked towards the door and reached for the door handle, pulling the door cautiously open. Causing a screeching noise to ring out in the process. Ignoring the sound, Bruce peeked in and began to slowly walk in with one foot in front of the other. He could only hear his own footsteps, giving the illusion that there wasn't a single soul here. It was quiet, too quiet. The building was dimly lit where it seemed like it hadn't been taken care of in recent years. Plants grew from the ceiling and old empty shelves were scattered across the room at random locations. The whole building gave off an eerie vibe from the start, and Bruce wanted to get out soon, but he had to find Alfred first.

"Alfred?"

Bruce began to walk farther away from the door, scanning the room only to be met with a projector that displayed Alfred. He was covered in cuts, along with a bloody nose and blood oozing out of his mouth.

"Alfred!"

Bruce ran to the wall the video was projected onto, no matter how much he tried to think of something to do he couldn't form a single thought in his mind all he could focus on was the projection in front of him. The punches slowly increased, and all Bruce could do was watch hopelessly, staring at Alfred being hit over and over. Then, the projection cut off, leaving him all alone in the building. Bruce looked down, processing what he had just seen. He slowly turned around and, hoping to find Alfred in the process, began venturing into the building. After a while, he turned a corner leading to a dark hallway. Thinking he heard something, he called out to Alfred for the hundredth time that day. But, instead of getting the usual silence or Alfred's reply, he received a welcome from the person he was terrified of the most, Jeremiah.

"Hello, Bruce."

Bruce immediately looked around the area he was in, at first looking towards the walls then towards the ceiling.

"Jeremiah!"

He yelled out in anger, but Jeremiah continued to speak.

"I imagine you're wondering, 'why is Jeremiah doing this?' My brother once said, 'All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy.'"

Bruce didn't want to know what Jeremiah's plan was, he was terrified just by the idea of what Jeremiah could do. A projector clicked on, showing another video of Alfred. This time it projected on all the walls that surrounded Bruce, and again, all he could do was stand there helplessly while his Butler was tortured and yelling in pain. Bruce reached up a hand, as if trying to help- despite knowing that it was a recorded video. Before he could touch the image Jeremiah continued, making Bruce pause.

"Jerome gave me what I thought was the worst day of my life. But, only by losing everything was I able to face what was inside me. And I believe I've seen something very special inside of you as well."

Bruce looked up at the intercom again, this time with a pleading expression. He could take anything but this. Alfred was his only family he had left, and he couldn't live with him being dead. The same guilt as before set in again. First Jim Gordon was killed because Bruce made it possible, and now Alfred would die because he was the one who dragged him into this mess. Just when Bruce thought that he'd seen the worst that Jeremiah had in store for him, it got worse. Even more projectors turned on and showed the same video of Alfred, being tortured and in pain. Bruce couldn't look away, no matter how much he wanted to. His eyes were glued to the projections on the walls.