BATMAN: Black Mirror Vol. 2

Night 05: Seek to Never Find, Ask and the Door Remains Closed

*    *    *    *

     He awoke with a scream again, out of breath and shaking. He frantically looked around. His hands and ankles had been tied down and he was pinned and displayed across a hard, cold wooden table. As always the first thing Eli checked for were signs of rape and molestation. His breathing was erratic as he rubbed his thighs together to feel for any sort of moisture and pain from forced entry. His pants had remained intact and he felt no pain or liquid from below. The heaviest weight fell from his chest. Nothing had happened while he was unconscious. On the other hand his entire body throbbed in agony. His cloak and shirt had been slashed to thin, blood soaked shreds with most of the blood staining around his midsection. Eli's mind couldn't relax and raced with images of his attacker's face coming in and fading within the darkness. He remembered being stabbed. Over and over in his abdomen. He had been killed more than twice. His eyes scanned everything. From what he could see, his table was situated in the middle of a wide room with only a solitary lamp illuminating his body. Something tittered and scrambled in one of the corners.

"No...no...no...this doesn't make any sense."

     "No mark...no mark?! Why is it I can't get this blasted mark? It keeps coming back...coming back! I'll never get it...I need to get it!"

There had been many times when Eli forgot he was merely a child in the eyes of many. He wasn't an immortal being trapped in the body of a thirteen year old, nor was he was of stunted growth. Eli was a child and children, no matter how talented at killing they were or were not, were designed to be terrified by scary men wielding sharp and rusty objects. Eli's body jerked out of childish habit when he heard shoes slapping against the concrete floor. They came closer.

"Naughty bird. Selfish, naughty bird! You're making me angry with your games birdie." Eli's kidnapper trilled in madness. "You know what I want and what I want to give you! Why are you doing this to me? WHY CAN'T YOU LET ME HAVE THE MARK?!"

The sharp weapon came thumping down into Eli's exposed stomach. Another stab. Twice it came again.

     Eli's eyes swam with fresh tears as he screamed in pain. He could hear his flesh tearing as the knife went in and out. He heard his blood gush up and splash to the floor below. The pain came deep and heavy. Eli couldn't breathe and his screams drowned in a puddle of frothing blood. Finally the killer stopped.

"You should be dead. I've killed you at least six times now. I should have my mark for you....yet you...won't...die! How come? Why is that you're still alive and I'm markless? What is this great secret you're hiding from me?!"

Eli's head grew weighty with exhaustion, his throat sore and burning from screaming. His head cleared of any and all thoughts as he felt himself dying yet again. 

"No...no...no...no! Not again! How can this be? What kind of monster are you?!" the killer flipped over the table, boy and all. Before all life left his eyes, Eli looked down and could see his abdomen healing rapidly.

     The hole formed back together until the flesh was smooth and pale. The blood flow had stopped, but the gut wrenching dull pain as if being punched in the stomach remained.

"Is...is that all you got?" Eli chuckled. He knew better than to heckle any man brave enough to abduct him, but the sheer joy of watching his killer's face twist in rage as he swore up and down was far too enjoyable. Polished shoes clapped their way over to his face and kicked in his cheek.

"Naughty bird. Naughty, pretty bird. How selfish you're being." the killer sighed. His muscles were strong and toned enough to be seen through his tailored suit. His sleeves laid rolled up and that's when Eli saw. Markings. Lines of etch after etch. They were numerous and scaled up and down his forearms. Tallied.