No sleep for the wicked

chapter 33- His So Called Loyal Men

Ashleigh’s POV

I opened my eyes slowly, to see I was still occupying the canopy tent I had been taken to. I pushed myself up with one hand and clutched the thick blanket with the other. The mattress was still slightly damp from my blood, I looked under the blanket which covered my upper torso and saw blood was drying up along the wounds. I twisted slightly to see the largest of all my injuries; I trailed my finger over the tight stitches, causing me to hiss as the skin was raw and shredded. I pulled my eyes away from my wounds, to look around the canopy tent, to see I wasn’t the only inhabitant. I pulled the blanket close to me. I moved slowly to gathered my bearings from around me, my shirt was still soaked with blood, my jeans were still resting on the tops of my thighs so I just adjusted them slightly to cover my hips. I looked back over to bane, to see his metal torso plate resting on the floor next to, and that he had his eyes closed. His breath came out with a metallic rasp every time he breathed deeply. I wrapped the blanket round my torso. I shifted uncomfortable as I felt like I was in the den of a sleeping lion. Suddenly the tent entrance revealed a man holding a high tech gun; he looked at me with a disgusting smirk. Suddenly Bane was no longer sitting peacefully on the hard tunnel floor, he now had a hard hand wrapped round the man’s throat, “you have no business being in here.” And with that raspy command, he dropped his grip on the man’s neck to see him cowardly run away from the tent. Bane looked at me, and I could feel though his stare that he was smirking at me, “did that frighten you?” I opened my mouth to speak only to be met by silence, I heard a raspy chuckle from the masked beast as me picked up his metal torso plate, “did the impending feeling of danger unnerve you?” I nodded and tightened the blanket around me.

 As Bane clipped his armour to his body he looked me up and down almost sizing me up. I gripped onto the blanket as bane walked closer to me, he kneeled down beside me, “do you feel threatened by me Ashleigh?” I looked away only to feel his large hand cup my chin to drag my eyes back to his. I swallowed hard as I felt a light breath leave his metal mask. He looked at me with eyes intent on getting an answer from me, “I looked into his dark eyes, “I’m frightened of you.” I whispered harshly, bane looked into my eyes deeper as my gaze lingered on him. He pulled his hand away from my chin, as he stood up; he walked over to a large wooden chest where he drew out two jackets. The large rough leather one with a woollen lining was his, as he through his arms through allowing it to rest atop of his shoulders; he then held out another equally large one to me, “it will keep you covered. I will be outside.” He stood in his place until I spoke, “thank you.” He nodded and left the tent; I pulled off the thick blanket and folded it up on the mattress.

The large heavy jacket was warm, as the thick woollen lining rested on my skin. I drew back the tent entrance, Bane stood proudly with his hands clasped on his jacket lapels, as his men surrounded us below him. “My men, our time will soon come. The only thing that now stand in our way is once again the Batman.” Each and every man had an ugly snarl on the lips at the mention of the Batman, “I will break the batman, and with that Gotham will fall.” Each man raised there firearms into the air, and cried, “rise!” I stood tall next to Bane trying not to show fear towards the anger filled men below me. I looked up at Bane who now had his eyes trained on me, I looked back at the men who still cried “rise!” throughout Gotham’s underground, as the word echoed through the tunnels of Gotham’s underground so everyone of Bane’s followers knew it would soon be time to act.

I soon retreated into the tent behind me and lowered myself slowly to the bloody mattress. The sound of the shouting army had become quitter, as the voices faded into the Gotham tunnels. I put my head in my hands, and thought about the Scarecrow, I hoped to god he hadn’t been caught by the police. Suddenly a hand clasped my shoulder I turned round hoping it would be Bane, but that hope was destroyed. As I looked over my shoulder to see, I saw a foul leer lining the man lips. I tried to pull the jacket away from my shoulder, bad move. I pushed him towards the exit of the tent, he grinned mischievously, as he lunged for me, and with this he met my booted foot which forced him outside of the tent. I exited the tent, to see bane nowhere in sight only the man trying to attack me. He grinned harshly, “come on honey I only wanna’ play.” With this he lunged again, I tried to raise my foot into the air only to be met with the crippling pain. My breath came out in shallow gasps as the man had pinned me down, “don’t you wanna’ play darlin’?”  I struggled again, only to feel the sickening feeling of blood flowing from my side.

 I used my body weight to flip him onto his back, I got up crippled by my wounds, and began to run towards the voice of bane which seemed to surround me as his words echoed through the tunnels, “Bane?!” I screamed as the man with malicious intent followed me down the tunnels, I looked behind me to see the man running towards me, “Bane?!” I screamed again, to finally get a reply, “Ashleigh?” I cried out, as the man behind me took a large lunge causing me to crash into the water below me. I soon heard large boots crashing in the water, I hoped to god this was Bane, I looked up at the man who had pinned me down. I tried to struggle but it only caused further pain to exit my wound. I panted heavily as the man applied his body weight on top of me, “I’m gonna’ enjoy this.” He muttered under his breath as he reached down to unbuckle his jeans. I trashed in the water underneath the man trying to shift his body off mine. Suddenly the man’s gaze flickered up from mine, so he could see the incoming impact of Bane’s fist.

 I scrambled backwards till the back of my head hit banes legs, his large hands grabbed my shoulders and lifted me out of the water. I didn’t dare turn round as I felt rage radiate off bane like a burning heat. He didn’t speak a word to me, all he did was move me behind him, so he could walk towards my pursuer. “How dare you have the audacity to touch or even think about touching what is mine?” the man stood up in front of Bane, filled with fear as he uttered his apology, “I’m sorry Bane it won’t happen again.” I could see Bane’s hands were clasped on the tops of his metal torso plate, “your sorry will be considered.” Silence rang throughout the tunnel as bane deliberated his next actions. Suddenly with one quick snap, the man’s body fell into the shallow water. I clasped my hands over my mouth, trying to contain my scream. Bane looked over his shoulder to me, his eyes black and dull, like a monsters. “Did he hurt you?” I shook my head rapidly, I stared at the pale body which lay face down in the water, suddenly my own whisper shocked me, “oh god.” Bane turned round to face me, his large boots crashed against the water. Tears left my eyes as I realised what I was dealing with, this was his world and he held the law in Gotham’s underground. As Bane approached me I backed away, until my back hit the tunnel wall. I slide down the wall as I submerged myself in the shallow water. Bane towered over me like a great breast.

He offered me his hand; I looked up at me only to gasp as the shadows of the tunnels played against his skin making him look even more sinister as the dim light of the tunnel, casted long distorted shadows onto his face. I slowly gave him my hand as I knew to deny him would be cutting my life expectancy shorter. Bane’s hand grasped mine firmly as he hauled me out of the water; he placed a hand on my lower back as he guided me through the vast amount of tunnels surrounding us. I could feel protectiveness flow off him, as he kept me close to him as we walked past his men, to the tent where I was unprotected and exposed from his so called loyal men, without him.