Don't Be Afraid | Jonathan Crane

Chapter Four - A Bit of Midnight Torment

He thought he may not be able to fall asleep due to all the thoughts going through his head, but, perhaps due to the emotionally taxing day, he was out within minutes.

~*~*~*~

The sound of someone moving through his apartment was what woke Jonathan Crane.

Tense, the doctor rolled over and looked at the clock which read almost eleven o'clock. He'd only been asleep for almost an hour and a half.

Sitting up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, making as little sound as humanely possible as he walked over to his desk.

Pulling open the drawer, Jonathan eyed the door cautiously as he pulled out an empty syringe and a container of a yellow-orange liquid. He thought to himself, as he filled the syringe with the liquid, that whoever thought it would be a good idea to break into his home was very wrong.

Setting the container down, Jonathan held the syringe, armed, as he approached his door, his tired mind not remembering why it was slightly open already.

Entering the hall, Jonathan saw something small moving in the utility room next to the bathroom.

Something in the back of his mind told him to relax, but, being half asleep, he still had to investigate. Slowly and silently he approached the utility room, his hand crawling across the wall for the light switch.

The small figure had not noticed him as it seemed to be trying to climb the washing machine, but, as Jonathan flicked on the lights, the intruder jumped away and fell onto the floor with a thump.

It took Jonathan a moment to process what he was seeing; a child on the floor, shaking and staring at him. After a moment, the memories from a few hours ago came back and Jonathan sighed, setting the syringe down on top of the machine where Nora couldn't see it.

"What are you doing? It's eleven o'clock, you should be asleep. Why are you wandering?"

Nora looked down at her hands, her face held an expression of embarrassment as she pushed herself off the floor and into a standing position.

Jonathan watched calmly, yet curiously as she walked to the washing again and reached up, grabbing the top as if she were trying to pull herself up, though it was clear she did not possess the strength needed to do as such.

"You don't need anything from in there... it's just your clothes from the bags you had with you." Jonathan sighed, frustrated by the small child.

Nora released the side of the machine and stepped away, shocking Jonathan when he saw that she looked as if she were about to cry.

Groaning lightly, Jonathan moved over to the dryer and pulled the door open.

"Your clothes are in here, not the washer. What do you need?" He questioned calmly, and Nora tottered over to stand beside him, looking into the machine with a sort of urgency in her eyes.

Sighing, Jonathan grabbed a basket off the floor and began pulling the clothes out, and putting them in the basket, not sure what the girl was looking for. Though, his internal question seemed to be answered when he pulled out a soft stuffed fox.

Nora let out a worried sound as Jonathan held the plush, looking it over. One of the eyes was missing, and it had multiple tears in the fabric. The trip through the machine seemed to also cause a bit of the stuffing to fall out.

"This is what you were looking for? It's a bit worse for wear... it should probably just be thrown out."

The small girl's eyes widened at his words and tears filled them, causing Jonathan to do a double take at the sight, not wanting to have to deal with a crying child.