THE BAT CHASE (Batwoman/Ruby Rose fanfic)

TWENTY-TWO (Kate POV)

"Mon Dieu... What a place to die... it looks like something out of a horror movie."

"Be careful, Rose, your French accent is showing," I whisper crouched next to her while we watch the front gate and the massive building on the other side hiding behind a tree near the road. My father has parked the car a little further away because he was determined to come with us tonight as our driver and backup if necessary: luckily, all vehicles of the Crow Company are equipped with state-of-the-art technology and he'll be able to monitor our movements closely from a small laptop; unfortunately, he won't be able to hear us or communicate with us once we're inside due to Arkham thick walls.

"I'm sorry... boss. But look at that, it's really impressive..." She's right, the massive three-storey building made of solid stone with bars on the lower windows and a huge watchtower in the middle, looks like something out of a nightmare and the fact that the night is dark, with grey clouds swirling in the sky and no moon, helps to make it look even more gloomy. At least, it's not raining for now.

"You've never been here before?" I whisper the question while we get closer to the tall wall and I point to one side, showing Shade a narrow path that runs away from the guard hut: we're supposed to find a spot that will be easy to climb some yards away.

"I'm embarrassed to admit it but... I haven't set foot beyond the Wayne Botanical Garden, I mean, I haven't had to go out the richer areas of the city when I was working for Robbins or Winter and I've never got closer to New Gotham or Crime Alley, for example. I've never crossed the river heading north although maybe I should've done it looking for Michel..." I stop abruptly in order to look at her over my shoulder, the mask my father gave her as a present fits her precious face perfectly but her plump lips are still visible and I feel tempted to kiss her till erasing the worried pout on her mouth.

"There's nothing for you in those neighbourhoods and I don't want you to get closer to those areas if you aren't coming with me since they're very dangerous. They're keeping your nephew somewhere else in the city, I'm sure of that, because they need him alive and in good condition, that's the way to ensure your cooperation. Crime Alley is no place to raise a kid, believe me." Shade nods and smiles shyly before following me carefully, she listens to my explanations attentively when I start talking again. "Amadeus Arkham founded a hospital in his ancestral manor in memory of his mother, who committed suicide shortly before since she was suffering from depression and other mental problems. Later on, it was discovered that he killed her to spare her the suffering... Anyway, Amadeus wasn't sane at all and got worse when one of his former patients called Mad Dog escaped to rape and kill the doctor's wife and daughter... He ended up admitted to his own hospital and his nephew Jeremiah Arkham became the manager... Guess what..."

"Madness ran in the family..."

"Yes, Jeremiah was sick in the head. He had several personalities and the one that triumphed over all others was Black Mask, he became a very cruel criminal... He's locked up in a cell as a patient too right now. But the important thing is that the building has been demolished and rebuilt a lot of times, adding better technology and surveillance cameras, but keeping Amadeus' original blueprints that were a mess, to be honest..." I stop and look up: the wall shows some overhangs we can grab to climb up, fortunately. "Apparently, Amadeus and his mother had recurrent hallucinations about giant bat that haunted them in their dreams and that's why the layout of the asylum follows some occult runes that are supposed to be protection spells... I don't know. The point is that there's no logical sequence of rooms inside there and it's easy to get lost. In theory, common rooms are on the first floor: dining room, kitchen, reception hall, therapy centre, gym... There're several maximum and minimum security cells on the second floor along with the isolation cell but the basement is a web of tunnels, rooms and several secret corridors. Please, stay by my side."