The Demon Of The Night [OUTDATED VERSION]

Sarracenia Purpurea

Barbara gazed out the window, barely listening to what the teacher had to say. Instead, she thought about what had happened the previous week as her fingers glided over the stitch that had yet to fall out.

She never let anyone else see it. She would either use her long, orange hair to hide it or wrap a scarf securely around her neck. She knew if she were to catch a glimpse of it she would immediately break down like she did last night. After taking a bath, she had finally seen the ugly stitch she had been trying so hard to avoid. The memory of being within an inch of having her throat cut and much worse happening to her in that alley was just too much.

She staggered over to the bathtub, steadying herself against it as she began to sob. Her tears fell into the tub as she cried over it. Swallowing down the bile that was rising up in her throat, she finally gave up the attempt to hold herself up and let herself sink down. She stifled her cries with her hand, ensuring her dad would not hear her from downstairs.

The inner voice in her head began to taunt her, calling her a failure, a screw-up, an idiot, a child, and a naïve schoolgirl.

This voice sounded a lot like Bruce Wayne's.

Barbara sighed in remembrance, forgetting where she currently was. The girls around her turned to look, but Barbara paid no mind to their puzzled glances.

~

The past week went just as her dad ordered, attending school and going to the library on weekends. Much to Barbara's gratitude, an officer had only checked up on her once.

And that officer had been none other than Officer Bard.

"Well, at least today is Friday." Barbara mused as she walked to the trolley stop. "I can be free for at least a while."

On the trolley, she sat alone, thinking about what had happened that night. Her mind was filled with several questions. Who was the woman that came to her aid? What happened to her attacker? Why was Mr. Wayne such a jerk? What happened to Richard? And most importantly, were the disappearances and murders linked and how?

Getting off the trolley, Barbara looked at the nearby newspaper stand, reading the headline about the most recent missing man. He went missing just this week and nothing more was found of him. Barbara wondered if those who disappeared faced worse fates than those who had been found.

As Barbara continued her walk to the library, she told herself to remember to get the clipping from the newspaper at home since she forgot to cut it this morning.

"I guess this is my life now," she sighed. "Cutting out newspaper clippings as a wannabe detective while disappointing my father!" Barbara giggled at her melodramatic exclamation, knowing it to be an exaggeration. However, she did want to go out somewhere besides the same two places. Halloween was fast approaching and she did not want to be stuck inside on the night of October 31st.

"Barbara!" Mrs. Kringle greeted, opening the door for Barbara.

"Hi, Mrs. Kringle." Barbara smiled back. "How are you today?"

"Oh, I'm quite alright. It's been a slow day and I doubt that will change tonight. How was your day?"

"Perfectly ordinary. My life is stuck in a routine. Or has been for a while," Barbara replied as they both walked in together.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I understand. At your age, life should be exciting. I felt the same way when I was your age." Mrs. Kringle paused in front of the front desk. "Well, I'll be shelving books while you sit here."

"Are-Are you sure? I can-"

"I'm almost done, honey," The older woman reassured. "I've had you stacking, shelving and organizing books so much that you've never worked the circulation desk before."