< just_muse_me - Five Daydreams, One Nightmare >
Nadine Lewis
Batman (OC)
435 words
Six-year-old Nadine Lewis stared out the window of the car. The speedometer needle crept higher and higher as her mother stared forward at the road, blinking back tears. She's riding on a horse, even though she's never seen one in real life before, only on the TV. There's no more shouting, no more doors slamming, no more scary closet. It's just her, the horse, and the wind.
At fourteen, Nadine received few punishments. Her father had learned that she couldn't be bullied with words alone anymore, that she was too big to drag to the closet. She looked out her bedroom window, watching his car pull out of the driveway, headed to whatever mistress he had this week. He was driving along, and his cellphone rings. Of course, he answers it. He always answers his phone. It's that tramp, all giggling and excitement. He doesn't watch where he's headed and crashes into a tree.
Matthew Kane tangled his hand in the hair of a seventeen-year-old Nadine Lewis. He pinned her to the wall, kissing her as she held his varsity jacket. He touches her shoulder at lunch on her last day of school, having come all the way from his college. He slides a box to her, very nonchalant. Inside, a ring waits. He proposes, and they get married.
Nadine Lewis all but fell asleep in her first ethics class. She struggled to pay attention, but the teacher's monotone voice and dull repetition of the text made it difficult. Mr. Lewis stares at his daughter, who sits in the chair for the prosecution. His mouth falls open when the jury reads their verdict. His daughter has beaten him in court.
Harvey Dent touched her shoulder, and Nadine Lewis smiled a bit at him. She tried to argue when he insisted it was time for her to go home, but he won. She packed her things. He stops outside her apartment with her and kisses her. It's a long, heavy kiss, broken only when she invites him up. He hesitates, but she convinces him. He stays the night.
Nadine woke with a gasp, trembling in bed, though a strong arm moved around her waist, gently tugging her back against a firm chest. She drew in a thin breath, trying to relax. It smiles at her somehow, despite its lack of features. It stands, perfectly silent, watching her, ready to strike. The Scarecrow wraps its fingers around her neck and begins to squeeze.
Safe in the arms of Harvey Dent, Nadine tried to sleep again. She also tried to pretend she didn't hear him, half-asleep, call her Rachel.