Dangers in the Dark

Witnessing an Abduction 2.1

Third Person POV

Night had fallen and it was dark out. Not a single shadow stretched across the dark lawn of Wayne Manor. The only sign of life was the fluttering light of a candle from the main living room.

Opposite the candle was a young boy with brown hair. He had his hand hovered just above the flame so it wasn't touching it.

He inhaled deeply, staring down at the flame before lowering his hand into it's heat. Despite the pain, Bruce kept his hand there, inhaling and exhaling sharply as if trying to breathe away the pain. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and started to gasp as the pain was becoming too much.

How long he could've held it there he never found out as the door opened to reveal Alfred. Before Alfred saw what he was up to, Bruce pulled away his hand and stood away from the flame, his hand concealed behind his back.

"Ah. There you are," Alfred sighed when he saw Bruce before walking over to turn on the light. "Been all over the bloody house looking for you." Alfred's eyes trailed over to the single flame then over to the guilty face of Bruce. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Bruce answered a little too quickly.

"You, my old son, are a terrible liar," Alfred told him, walking over to Bruce. He noticed Bruce's concealed hand and pointed at it before asking, "What you got there?" Bruce seemed to be struggling to find an answer so Alfred continued. "Come on, show me."

Bruce hesitated once more before pulling out his hand and holding out the burned part of it for Alfred to see. Upon seeing this, Alfred became enraged with himself that he hadn't managed to stop Bruce before doing this to himself but the other part of him felt so protective that it made him hurt.

"Oh, my God, you stupid little boy!" Alfred exclaimed, grabbing Bruce roughly. Seeing the fear and guilt in Bruce's face managed to change Alfred's demeanor quickly. "Aw. It's alright. I'm sorry," Alfred apologised, pulling Bruce into a hug. "It's gonna be alright."

But the truth was, Alfred didn't know if everything was going to be okay. He was just going to have to hope.
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Holly's POV

I had just finished school and was walking home but had somehow managed to get lost. The sun had set and it was dark by now but my phone had died so I couldn't call Dad or Barbara.

You know how in most places there are those really dodgy places? Well, I had managed to end up in Gotham's finest. Across the road, I could see four teenagers sitting by an open fire. They must have been homeless, they didn't look like they'd just stopped for a sit down. This was their home.

Thinking that I could perhaps get some help from them, I walked over to them to ask for some assistance.

"Hi," I said when I reached them. "I'm Holly. Do any of you know where the nearest phone booth is that I can use?"

"You're not from around here are you?" The tall boy asked.

"Erm, no. I got lost," I told them.

"Well, you might wanna get out of this area then. It's no place for people like you," He said before walking over to me. "The best chance you'll get at finding a phone is to follow the road and take a right at the end. It should take you back into the main city center."

"Oh, ok. Thank you," I smiled weakly.

Not wanting to seem invasive, I walked to the opposite side of the street, head down and kept walking away. Hopefully, I could get to a place where there was a phone.

No sooner had I crossed the street did I notice that my shoelace had come undone. So I crouched down to do it up and was soon bathed in the artificial light of a car, or in this case a van. They honked their horn loudly causing me to turn and look at them, pausing the tying of my lace.