□Mara□

°2:04 pm°

Dad has made sure I've been held up, locked up tight in the cave for sixteen days, fourteen hours, and thirty seven minutes now. Two weeks, fourteen hours, and thirty seven minutes. I've seen the boys come and go from wherever they went back to the cave, mostly after nine at night.

But it hasn't been such a bore to me, because everytime Dick comes down, me and him act like were talking to each other (as siblings would do), when really he's giving me bits and pieces of information on the cave, which may or may not be involved in helping me get out of the cave.

But I don't wanna just get out of the caves to see friends or something, no of course not. The whole reason I want to get out of here is because if I get my killers attention, get him near me, then we catch him faster than you could say my name.

I mean, seriously if you think about it, then this will all be over quicker.

And so, over the past two weeks, I've been studying my families work, return, and leaving patterns to make sure I time this right. I know some things for sure while others I'm gonna have to go off on a hunch.

The first thing that I know for sure is that mostly all of my injuries have healed. It's a good time consumer. Poking and prodding at them is fun, but only when it hurts, because then you know how bad it is. Now, with most of my injuries - internal and external - are gone and left me with just a scar or two.

The second thing I know for sure is that Alfred stays here, in the Manor at all times, switching back and forth between the cave and the Manor. He's probably got some security system set up because he leaves me down here for hours at a time, to my own devices. So crazy intelligent technology is a problem.

The next challenge is going to be my most time consuming task.

And his name is Damian.

He's been watching me like a hawk every chance he gets, accept when he goes out at night. Other than that, he's not letting me out of his sight.

Dad's surprisingly calm and relaxed, and loose with me, after what I tried to bring up. He probably knows that I'm gonna try and pull something like this, so he's probably got some mastermind plan to keep me here.

And then we've got Tim, who's not really had a stance in this -- he's the mediator between Dick and me and the rest of this family.

But then we've got their shifts. Even from a little while of being down here, I see some patterns in who goes out each night. And I was going to use them to my advantage, but then, since Dad probably knows my plan already, they switched up their shifts completely.

So there went that.

So I found myself walking around the cave, just exploring the massive cave that I've been held up in.

It's got three wings, making a 'T' shape. The main wing, or the stem of the T, has the computers, the main entrance to the Manor, the medbay, the suit cases, and a couple sparring pads. The left wing on the top of the T is used for the vehicles, weapons, and storage areas.

Also lots of hiding spots.

And then the right wing of the cave has sparring rooms, changing rooms assigned to each person, extra body armor (like bulletproof vests), and even more weapons galor.

Also more hiding spots.

And so I've decided to go through with my plan tonight. I'm going to use what I know and just sprint. That's literally it, and I know I'll be knee deep in trouble if I get caught, but if I don't get caught then maybe, just maybe, we'll catch my killer quicker.

°4:47 pm°

I'm kinda like a sitting duck, waiting for someone to stop me, scold me, something. I'm sitting behind some crates in the left wing, after my mind became too loud with doubt about this whole plan of mine.

It's arguing over which person getting the punishment from is worse; Dad or Damian.

Dad would probably be quicker to forgive me but would give me a longer punishment time.

Damian, on the other hand, would literally join to me at the goddamned hip to make sure I don't go anywhere for the rest of my life.

But then the little voice at the back of my head tells me to go, because if I do end up drawing his attention, we all could relax within the hour.

I mean, Alfred's relaxing by cleaning the house upstairs. I guess I see why cleaning is relaxing -- you've got full control over what you're doing.

Anyways, Dick is out at GCPD, Tim's at school (and yes I am slightly envious of him), Damian is in the cave right now, and Dad is coming home from a day at Wayne Enterprises.

So I've got enough time to sneak out and get maybe get back in time. I honestly don't care about making it back in time -- just getting out and getting my killers attention. And sooner rather than later one of my family members will notice I've gone missing, and will look for me.

And I'm guessing there's not a lot of technological security at the end of the Batcave, only upstairs in the Manor, but that's just a guess. So if I do get stopped at the end of the Cave, then at least it'll have been more knowledge to my guess.

I take a deep breath, realizing that it's now or never -- I could stay in here for months on end if I don't go now, or go out now and might not have to spend the next few months down here.

And then my feet just carry me out from behind the crates, and into the main walkway to the waterfall exit, without consulting my mind.

But what the hell, right?

I mean, I guess if I'm going to die at some point, I'm going to want it to be outside of this dark, stuffy cave.

°5:03 pm°

I didn't realize how cold that water was, nor how chili it was outside.

But there's no going back now, not for at least an hour. After an hour, then maybe I go back.

I only say maybe because I might want to pop by some of my friends houses, even though it's probably the most stupid decision I could make right now.

Okay, well then were ruling out going anywhere besides out in the open, including friends houses, I guess.

As I walk through the woods, I recognize some trails and landmarks which tell me which park I'm in. I've been to this one before, so I know where I'm going.

I start to hear cars 'whizz' by as I get closer to the streets, and I smile. I breath in the fresh air, smelling the dewy grass mixed with the factory smoke, and it almost warms me up.

It smells like home.

That just makes me smile more, reminding me of how much Gotham is my home, and how it always will be. Even if I've got a killer on my tail, it's still my home.

I make my way through the end of the forested area, and then see the other side of the world, per say.

It looks too similar.

The sun sets too quickly, as it's almost entirely gone right now, like the cave -- dark and gloomy.

Well, gloomy out here is daily, but not at night -- no, that's when the streets come alive, when the city comes alive, in my perspective. It's beautiful, but you could get kidnapped and killed within a span of an hour, so that is the one down side.

But all in all, I'd say that the city is a lively and gorgeous one.

°5:37 pm°

It's been about a half an hour of walking, half of it spent wondering when my family will realize I'm gone, the other half feeling my doubtsaboutthis plan starting to kick in.

I don't appreciate that, as it's suddenly become dark outside, having all the light gone -- the sun has gone down.

But I can't stop now, I can't turn back now, so I just keep walking. Even though at this point I have an odd feeling in my stomach, which makes me think that an instinct of mine is correct.

My instinct tells me that right now someone is following me.

My first reaction is to panic, but that won't help one bit -- that will make the situation worse. So I have to keep my cool, and pretend I don't notice them. If I do that, then I'll be fine.

Wait. What if Dad isn't home yet? No, why wouldn't he be home by now...and Damian is probably done doing whatever he was doing...or he realized how quiet it was in the cave --- oh Jesus just breath like a normal person Mara! What the hell!

The steps behind me, I can clearly hear them now, and they start to get faster as I get farther away. I force myself to keep my head forward as I walk, not trying to give away the sense that I know that they are behind me.

I still try to keep a steady pace, but it's hard to when my heart is practically about to jump out of my chest. I swallow, looking to my right and scratching my head, I gasp as my eyes see something.

I don't know how, but I know exactly what I saw in the reflection of the window in the house across the street -- a knife.

Like the one's in Scream; long, sharp, shiny, and has a dark handle being held by a masked hand.

The person stops as I stop, suddenly the both of us at a stand still.

I decide to turn around, my heart thumping in my chest, my hands shaking, my eyes twitching as I face the person behind me.

And then I see him, extremely tall, slightly broad shouldered, and staring at me with electric green eyes. And has a knife in his hand.

I shudder at the sight, which brings a smirk to his face. It makes me want to throw up, it makes me want to scream, it makes me want to run.

I feel the same way I did in the cave when Dad told me everything, and when mother threw the bottle at me so many years ago -- suffocated, terrified, horrified, and clueless to what to do next.

But what makes my skin crawl the most is his voice, the tone of it really.

It's a steady, cool and deep tone with a quiet edge to it -- like he's containing his rage in it, slowly letting off steam before he gets too far.

I notice the man's hair is poorly slicked around his head, his curls a mess around his face. I squint, even in my terrorized state, and almost can make out a color, but I'm not too sure. I think he's got a certain shade of green for his hair color, but I doubt it.

Not too many people have green hair in Gotham, so why would he?

He prolongs his sentence, drawing out every word, almost as to make my blood run high.

"Hell-o, Mara, it's nice to finally meet you."