Monster- chapter 2

  Chapter 2: Betrayal

  Jack busied himself the next day with checking his watch once again as he hurried off down the street. He’d found an older watch in his dresser drawer and had slipped it on the moment he found it. It might’ve been old, but at least it wasn’t broken.

  He kept a sharp eye out for trouble as he jogged down the street, keeping an eye out for annoying teenagers or anyone he might accidently run in to.

  The sun was high in the air and the sky was clear, signaling that nothing could go wrong with this day. For once, Jack felt happy with the day. He was enjoying the sights, the sounds, the smells. He had a new job, thanks to his friend, and he wasn’t going to let anything screw it up this time.

  He’d have to thank Jon the moment he could call him. His friend had made some special calls for him and he’d gotten the job with no problem. From what his friend had told him, they’d been looking for someone to help out with the new filing system and no one seemed to know what to do. Jack had been glad he’d been in an office for the past fifteen years.

  Jack turned a corner, quickly dodging a run-in with a rottweiler on a leash, then trotted up the stairway to the commuter train. He joined a group of people waiting for the train and hummed softly to himself, looking around the city.

  A twittering flock of birds flew by, he could hear the sound of a jackhammer in the distance along with the sounds of hammering, and he could smell all the food smells from nearby restaurants and stands. A glorious day, indeed.

  Nothing could go wrong today, he had a new job and he’d had no trouble with pesky kids. Well, better not jinx myself just yet. Something could happen on the train.

  He looked up as the train approached the station, smiling to himself. He had a pocketful of papers, but nothing else that could be used against him, like his briefcase had been. The factory boss had mentioned he wouldn’t need all his papers the first day, they just wanted to see how well he could fare with the new filing system.

  The crowd of people crushed onto the train once it’d stopped, spreading out once they’d boarded. Jack took a seat before anyone else could steal it from him, sitting quietly, still humming softly. The people around him spread out among the seats, all talking quietly to their friends or sitting quietly like Jack was.

  A memory came back to him as he looked around, one of him and Jon racing back and forth on the train when they were kids. He smiled at the thought; the conductor had allowed them into the first train to let them see firsthand how fast the train moved along the tracks.

  About twenty minutes later, the train pulled into the station Jack needed to get off and he squeezed his way through the people to get off. No one complained and no one tried to trip him. His smile grew wider. Yes, nothing could go wrong on this day.

  Moving quickly down the steps, he breezed down the sidewalk, looking up as the chemical plant loomed into view. He stopped, looking up at it, studying how big the plant seemed to be.

  The building was huge, nearly all windows. It looked to be about ten stories high, from what Jack could see, but he wasn’t sure. The brick was a mottled gray, with broken cracks here and there, and there seemed to be splashes of dark color by a basement window.

  Jack shook himself out of his thoughts and headed towards the front door. A guard greeted him at the doorway.

  “You have a pass, sir?” the guard asked, not unkindly.

  “Right here.” Jack pulled out his papers, showing them to the guard. “I’m new here, should I be aware of anything?”

  The guard chuckled, handing the papers back. “Just watch your step on the third floor. I heard they’re working on a new type of chemical to help cancer patients, but that’s what they say about everything they do in there.” He gave Jack a friendly smack on the back as he passed by him.

  “Thanks for the advice,” Jack smiled back at him, then headed in, looking around.

  A long hallway with doors all along the hall marked “Employees Only” and “Restricted Access” led to a large room at the end with double doors. Jack approached them and pushed through, seeing a balding man standing by a large window.

  “Mr. Harris?” Jack paused at the doorway, unsure now. Was he in the right place?

  The man turned to look at him, and he was relieved to see the man was smiling. He wore a dark blue suit with matching pants and his mustache made Jack think of an old western flick he’d seen.

  “Jack Napier, I assume?” The man strode across the room and took Jack’s hand, shaking it, smiling at him.

  “Yes. I hope I didn’t disturb your thoughts,” Jack replied, smiling back.

  Mr. Harris waved his hand at him. “No, my dear boy, not at all. I was waiting for you to arrive.” He steered Jack over to a large couch, letting him sit before taking his own seat in a chair. A table split the two in half, so he leaned towards Jack, all smiles. “Your friend has told me a lot about you, my boy. He said you have a lot of experience in the filing system.”

  Jack smiled at him again. He liked the way this man tried to make him feel comfortable. “Yes, I do. I worked at Gotham Access Systems for quite a few years.” He allowed himself to chuckle a little. “Got more experience than I’d prefer.”

  The man sitting across the table laughed. “My boy, that’s what we like to hear. Our system has been giving us problems and I’m afraid we just can’t figure it out. Maybe you can give it a spin.”

  “I’d like to do that, Mr. Harris. Just need to see the system and I should have it figured out in no time.”

  Mr. Harris stood, holding his hand out to him, and Jack stood as well, shaking it. “Well, Mr. Napier, walk with me.” He started off through a pair of glass doors and Jack followed him, beaming.

  The two men walked down a hall until they reached an elevator. There, Mr. Harris typed in a pass code and they waited until the door opened. Jack followed his new boss inside, feeling this was the happiest day of his life.

I I I

  Jack flung open the door to his house, startling his dog. He shut the door behind him, jumping about happily before grabbing the German shepherd around the neck, hugging the dog to him.

  “I got a job, I got a job, Midnight!” he yelled, hugging the dog tighter.

  Midnight woofed, wagging his tail happily as Jack let him go. He watched his master race around the living room, then followed him into the kitchen.

  “Mr. Harris wants me to come back later tonight to work on the system again.” Jack occupied himself with making a bowl of macaroni and cheese, giving the dog a handful of noodles. Midnight happily gobbled them up. “This day couldn’t just possibly get any better!”

  In his excitement, Jack knocked the bowl off the counter and it smashed against the floor, spilling noodles on the tile. He looked down at the mess; Midnight chuffed up at him, then started licking the noodles up off the floor.

  “Well, okay, maybe that could happen. But it couldn’t possibly put me down.” He smiled, pulling another bowl out of the cabinet and putting more noodles in it, taking care to keep the bowl away from the counter edge.

  There was a steady click click clicking noise as Midnight moved around the kitchen, licking up any stray noodle he found as Jack slipped the bowl in the microwave. He looked up at the clock as he set the timer.

  It was four-fifteen. He’d have to return to the chemical plant in about three hours.

  “Woof.”

  Jack looked down. The German shepherd licked his lips, staring up at his master for more treats.

  “Sorry, boy, that was all. You got those noodles by accident.” He patted the dog on the head, retrieved his bowl from the microwave as the timer chimed, then moved into the living room, turning the television on. The dog followed him in, putting its head on the chair armrest. “Now, now, you had your share. This is mine.”

  Midnight whined and settled down onto the floor, putting his head between his paws, watching as images flashed across the tv screen.

  Besides the tv sound, happy silence reigned throughout the house as Jack waited for the time to leave the house again.

I I I

  Jack caught an early train later that night. The station was mostly empty, save for a few couples and some children. He boarded the train, all smiles, still in one of the happiest moods he could remember. Nothing had gone wrong. No one to pick on him or trip him up.

  “Hey, I wanted to be the dragon!”

  He looked over towards a woman with two little boys at her feet. They looked be about seven years old, and like any other boy he could think of, the two little ones were play-fighting with a miniature dragon and t-rex.

  “Tough luck, I got it first!” the second little boy cried back at his companion. The dragon bit the dinosaur.

  “Boys, boys, play nice,” the woman scolded, her nose stuck in a book.

  “Mom, Stevie’s eating my t-rex!” the first boy screamed.

  “Stevie, don’t eat Dave’s t-rex. And Dave, no stomping that thing around.”

  “Yes, mom...” both said in bored tones.

  Jack chuckled quietly, watching the children. Jon used to do the same sort of thing to him when they’d play Cowboys and Indians in Gotham Park.

  He looked out the window, watching the sun set. It was a mass of glowing orange and yellow behind the city line, pink and purple streaks thrown high into the air.

  “Gotham Chemical Plant and subways 65, 84, and 91, next stop,” the conductor’s voice came over the intercom.

  Jack smiled happily, looking out the window again as the station came into view. He just couldn’t help himself. He’d had a wonderful day where nothing had gone wrong, no one had tried to trip him up this time, and most glorious of all, he had a new job. A new start on life.

  He stood as the train stopped, carefully moving around the two boys and they’re fighting toys. The woman smiled at him as he passed, and he nodded back.

  As he stepped out into the brisk air, he could hear little Dave and Stevie yelling at each other about which toy should be allowed to eat the other. The doors shut behind him, cutting off the squabble and he trotted down the stairs, breezing down the sidewalk.

  He looked around the city as he went, still in a happy mood, despite the attitude of the city. The city, to him, was a miserable, yet joyful city to be in. There could be bad times, worse times, but then out of the blue, there would always be a good day.

  The chemical plant came into view at the end of the road and he sighed, content, heading for the front door.

  “Good evening, Mr. Napier,” the guard said as Jack showed him his papers again, smiling.

  “Evening.”

  “Heard they had some excitement in there sometime today,” the guard laughed, looking up at the building.

  “Really? What happened?” Jack glanced up at the dark windows.

  “From what I heard, someone dropped the wrong chemical into the batch on the third floor. Screwed everything up. Whoever dropped it got fired. At least that’s what it sounded like.” The guard sighed, staring at the building. “I swear, they come up with the oddest things in there.”

  He turned to Jack, biting his lip. “Sorry to keep rambling. I won’t keep you if you’re busy.”

  Jack waved a hand at him. “It’s fine. I’m just here tonight to work on that filing system again. It’s been giving me problems all day, but I think if I work on it tonight, I should have it up and running tomorrow. Well, good night.”

  “Good night,” the guard replied, smiling as Jack passed by him.

  Jack pushed through the doors, heading down the hall and through the big room, moving towards the elevator. Hopefully whoever had caused the trouble hadn’t created a mess....

  He pushed 3 on the control panel and hummed to himself as he waited. Maybe he’d be able to see what had happened whenever he went into the computer room.

  The bell chimed, the doors sliding open, and he shook himself out of his thoughts. He stepped in, smiling as the doors whooshed shut behind him, then watched as the arrow moved slowly up to three.

  After another bell chime and another whoosh of the doors, Jack stepped out onto the walkway, suddenly bathed in an eerie green glow.

  He moved carefully across the walkway, looking down at the dozen or so huge vats sitting  twenty feet below him. They were filled with a bubbling violent green liquid, the noise filling the entire room. He tried to ignore the sound as he passed through, unnerved at the sickly glow the chemicals gave off.

  Jack quickly slipped into the computer room, shutting the door behind him, sighing when the bubbling sound was cut off. He looked around, welcoming the familiar sight and hum of the computers.

  One’s screen was already pulled up, one he’d left up for himself to continue off when he got back. He walked over to the computer, sitting down and started searching through the programs.

  After a few minutes of typing away on the keyboard, Jack realized this program was the problem in the first place. He paused in his work, putting his hand on his chin, deep in thought, then went to a search bar and typed in a code.

  The computer pinged and he smiled. Problem solved. He pulled up the next program and started working on that one. With so many chemical files and folders, this would definitely be a challenge for him.

I I I

  After a couple hours of working, Jack sat back in his seat and stretched, sighing. This new filing system was definitely giving him problems, but he was having fun with it. At his old office, he’d never been given a chance to prove how good he really was, he’d never gotten to do much of anything more than the same old thing every day.

  “Boy, I see what they mean about this system,” he muttered to himself, standing up and stretching again. Time to take a break.

  Grabbing his coffee cup from beside the mouse, he yawned, turning and heading towards the door. He winced as the bubbling chemicals seared his nostrils as he opened the door, walking out onto the walkway.

  The chemicals stank to high heaven and they burned the nose if one stuck around too long. As much as he hated to, he looked down into the vats again. That green glow was just so eerie. It made him wonder what they were cooking in there.

  Jack quickly moved off along the walkway, pushing the button on the elevator panel. He waited impatiently, annoyed at the chemicals, humming to himself, looking around. He quickly slipped inside as the door opened and pressed the button for 2.

  The elevator hummed quietly as it took him down, the doors sliding open. He stepped out, looking around, then headed towards the kitchen.

  A fresh pot was brewing in the maker and he waited a minute until it was done. Must be for the guard keeping watch outside. He only took a little, enough to keep him going, then turned, looking around the room.

  The walls were a drab gray with cracks in the walls. The only other interesting thing Jack could find about the little kitchen was the notice board on the wall. He walked over to it, sipping his coffee, looking over the little bulletins. Nothing good.

  He looked the bulletins over once more, then spotted something that was hidden among the boring papers. Jonathan Crane. He took a closer look at the paper, scanning over the article.

“Jonathan Crane, head psychologist at Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, has begun more research on what causes humans to be afraid. But lately, Dr. Crane’s experiments have been taking an ugly twist. His patients seem to be having trouble sleeping at night and they rant and rave in their sleep, appearing to have bad nightmares. A handful of guards and workers have broken down in a fearful state, screaming and hurting all that get in their way in their rampage through the asylum. Dr. Crane insists his experiments are going fine, but it seems to be very clear the ‘good doctor’ has lost his mind. He’s a twisted man who should be feared, just like his experiments. His experiments range from a liquid drink he gives to patients to a clear gas that can be used in direct contact to a human’s face. Be warned. This man should not be approached without caution.”

  Jack stared at the paper, speechless. Jonathan Crane. His FRIEND Jonathan Crane?? It just wasn’t possible!

  He tore the piece of paper off the board with a shaky hand, looking at it again. His friend couldn’t have done this. Jon was too nice a guy to hurt people like this.

  Lost in his train of thought, the coffee mug slipped from his hand and shattered against the floor, startling him. He quickly tucked the paper into his pocket, bending down to pick up the broken ceramic pieces. He managed to pick the bigger pieces up, threw them away, then got some paper towels to clean up the mess.

  The whole while, the article burned in his mind. How could his friend do this? It just wasn’t him. Jack had known Jon since they were little kids. Jon wasn’t a bad guy, he was just...exceptionally smart.

  He let the paper towels lay on the floor to soak up the coffee, waiting until the liquid had cooled enough for him to pick the towels up. A few minutes later and the entire mess was cleaned up, looking as though nothing had been spilled.

  Jack sighed, pulling the paper out again and reading it again. It just couldn’t be his friend, it couldn’t. He knew Jon better than anyone else.

  Then how come Jon doesn’t tell you what he works with? You know he works at Arkham, but not much of anything else.

  “Jon, what have to done?” he asked the paper, almost wishing he could ask his friend in person. But this...this problem couldn’t be dealt with by him alone. If this is what Jon really did, Jack was afraid to even speak to him about it. What if Jon did something to him, despite their childhood friendship?

  Jack shook his head, tucking the paper back into his pants pocket, walking out of the kitchen. He felt shocked that his closest and only friend could do this. True, Jon never spoke of what he did at Arkham. All Jack really knew was that he helped out with all the headcases there.

  He headed over to the elevator, feeling numb throughout his entire body as the doors opened for him. He stepped inside, pressing the button, head hung.

  I wonder how long Jon’s been doing this? He never mentions what he does at Arkham, and yet I still trust him. Do I still trust him? He’s provoking fear in others with that new thing of his. That’s not the Jon I grew up with. The Jon I knew never hurt a fly.

  The doors slid open and he stepped out onto the walkway, going over to the railing and peering down at the chemicals, suddenly curious.

  Is this the place where he gets that stuff? He uses the chemical plant? Maybe he’s been sneaking chemicals out of here for weeks, maybe years! The guard said someone had ruined this batch, but it seems no one knows what this stuff does.

  “Is that it, Jon? You’ve been using the chemicals from here for your sick experiments? You should be institutionalized yourself if you really are committing these crimes.” Jack tightened his hold on the railing, fighting back tears of anger.

  His friend. His closest and only friend. Jon was as bad as the nuts at Arkham. Was he responsible for all the murders he’d heard on the news days ago? The Arkham riot that left fifty dead and ten wounded?

  Jack felt tears sliding down his cheeks. If Jon really was as bad as that article said, he couldn’t trust him anymore. He’d have to figure out a way to break off their friendship. But what if Jon got angry and came after him? What if Jon drugged him the next time they hung out and used whatever sick chemical he had on him?

  Too many ifs.

  Jack felt hurt. No, he felt betrayed. Betrayed that his childhood friend had sunk so low as to become a psychopath, just like the ones he hung out with at the asylum.

  “Jon, how could you? We were friends since we were kids and you go and do this.”

  The railing suddenly weakened and bent under his hand, startling him. He went to step back, suddenly finding himself falling over the edge, falling towards one of the vats. As he fell, he saw that the underside of the walkway was full of pockmarks, caused by the accident earlier.

  Jack screamed, eyes widening in horror as he splashed down into the green liquid. A bright green wave sloshed over the sides of the vat, spilling onto the floor.

  A moment passed before Jack kicked to the surface, screaming for someone to help him. The chemicals were burning into his skin, he was scared out of his mind; he’d swallowed quite a lot when he’d sunk under. Oh God, please, no, don’t let me die in this mess!

  “SOMEBODY, PLEASE!! HELP ME!!!” Jack splashed madly, kicking and choking, trying to get a hold of the side of the tank, feeling his eyes burn in their sockets. His whole body was on fire, he couldn’t feel anything else but agony.

  His hand caught the side of the vat and he pulled himself up, pulling himself out of the chemicals, gasping for air.

  “Please, anyone!” he called out, choking as the chemicals burned his throat, lungs on fire.

  When no one answered his cries and screams, he let himself fall to the floor, landing with a squishy thud. He grew still, gasping for air, curling up into a fetal ball. His hands balled up into fists of hatred.

  Jon...you betrayed me... No... Gotham... You all betrayed me...you let me fall.