บท 14: She's Afraid
Batman tried to explain to the girl with science that there were no ghosts in the world. Even if he had seen something similar to ghosts before, he had to say there were none. This wasn't deceit; it was a well-intentioned lie, as the girl in front of him was clearly very scared.
But the girl was stubborn, her eyes red from crying, insisting she didn't want to go back right now.
"Do you mind if I take a look at your house?" Batman felt that if he saw it, he might understand what had scared the girl.
Jantees: ?!
That wouldn't work!
"We can't bring strangers home," Jantees recalled what Jason had told her before, and used it to brush off Batman.
Jantees didn't care whether Batman had seen through her ruse or not; she was genuinely scared. She glanced cautiously behind her, approached Batman, and whispered, "That guy has been around. Didn't you hear the screaming just now?"
Batman felt extremely helpless. The girl kept trying to prove that what she said was true. He didn't doubt her; he had indeed heard the unusual sound. But subjecting a small girl to such experiences was too cruel.
"What did the person you saw look like?"
"White, translucent, shorter than me, with dark circles around his eyes, short hair," the girl replied.
Batman furrowed his brow slightly. Could it be that someone had seen only one girl in the house and then found a boy to impersonate that appearance? But for what purpose? And what was the reason for the screams in other households?
Suddenly, the girl next to him trembled again, staring wide-eyed at something to his right. Her pupils quivered. Batman shielded the girl with one hand and, with the other, swiftly threw a bat dart, pinning it to the wall across the street.
There, in the corner of the wall, a boy similar to the one described by the girl peered out, his dark eyes glaring at them with resentment.
Batman: ??
The dim light wasn't clear to others, but it didn't affect Batman much due to his hood. That guy indeed didn't look human. At least, humans couldn't make themselves transparent.
The bat dart flew out again, this time straight towards the boy. At this distance, hitting him wasn't difficult. However, the bat dart didn't hit the boy; it was blocked by a strange woman who appeared from the darkness.
With pale, translucent skin like the boy's, dark eyes, and twisted limbs, she crawled creepily on the ground, emitting hoarse, sharp threats.
Batman raised his cape to shield the girl in his arms. She trembled slightly, holding onto his neck apologetically. "Sorry, I'm scared..."
"Shh, don't be afraid," Batman tried to make his voice as gentle as possible, "It'll be okay soon. Can you wait for me here? I'll take care of things and then take you home, okay?"
Initially reluctant to let go of the only sense of security nearby, Jantees immediately released her grip upon hearing a certain sentence and retreated to the corner of the wall.
Batman had to go deal with the trouble caused by the two strange beings. They didn't seem to speak the human language. Why were these two similar beings fighting each other?
The ghost woman with the child and the subsequent ghost woman had similar abilities, and neither could overpower the other. The little boy even joined in to help.
Soon, they separated, one leaning against the wall, the other lying on the ground, growling at each other. They suddenly looked towards Batman, then quickly fled in opposite directions.
Batman frowned, choosing not to pursue them. Instead, he turned around, intending to take the girl home. But he found that she was no longer there.
He checked, but there were no signs of anyone taking her away. Such incidents were common in the East District, but there were no traces of that now, indicating that the girl had left on her own.
Recalling the fear in the girl's eyes, he guessed she had left herself. He looked around nearby but found no trace of the girl, hoping she had already gone home.
Back at the safe house, Jantees crawled back in through the window she had just jumped out of, about to breathe a sigh of relief—
"Where did you go?" A familiar deep voice sounded, as Jason sat boldly on the sofa, smiling as he watched the girl climb in through the window. He seemed like he had been waiting for her for a while.
His smile contained a hint of mockery, making Jantees feel a bit cold. Then she rushed over, surprising him, and hugged him pitifully, "Jason..."
Listening to the girl's trembling voice, Jason couldn't bring himself to question her harshly. "Alright, alright, I'm back. What happened?"
Initially, Jason was quite angry because Jantees hadn't listened and had gone out without even telling him, but seeing that she had clearly been upset outside, he couldn't stay mad. He even felt sorry for her. Jantees burst into tears, her forced bravery shattered, "It was so scary... there was a ghost."
"If you're talking about Cinderella again..." Jason winced at the name, then continued, "Did she come to scare you again?"
"No, it wasn't her. A little boy came in," Jantees said, crying, but her words were surprisingly clear.
Jason finally understood. She had seen a new ghost, or rather, two of them—one big and one small. And Cinderella had even fought with the other one.
Jantees hadn't run out because she wanted to; it was because the little boy was in the house. She was genuinely scared, and there was nothing she could do about it. Jason wouldn't blame her; her ability to protect herself was the most important thing.
"Don't be afraid, it's okay now." Jason gently stroked the girl's back in his arms, reassuring her. After a while, her emotions stabilized. She had been very scared when she saw them, but as soon as the fear disappeared, she left quickly. This time, she was even more frightened.
"Okay." The girl's voice was nasal, both pitiful and adorable.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Jason asked when he saw that Jantees had stopped crying.
"Because you were busy," Jantees replied.
Jason's heart softened. He couldn't bring himself to question or lecture her. He said, "From now on, you can tell me anything that happens. Unless there's no signal, I'll always reply to you."
"Jenny, you're very brave, you know? When you see someone scaring you, you have to learn to fight back. If you can't beat them, just run," Jason advised.
"Okay..." Jantees replied, suppressing her trembling voice. She tried hard not to be afraid.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore." Jason didn't want to discuss the girl's encounter with Batman. His issues were his own, and he didn't want the girl to bear them or accept his bias and resentment towards Batman. He lifted the girl clinging tightly to him and walked towards her room.
After putting her on the bed and patting her head soothingly, his voice softened, "Go to sleep. I'll be here next to you. Do you want me to continue telling you stories tomorrow?"
Jantees curled up under the blanket, grabbing onto his clothes with one hand and closing her eyes at the gentle sound of Jason reading stories. She slowly drifted off to sleep.
Jantees groggily got out of bed, not quite sure when she fell asleep, but she had slept well and hadn't had the nightmares she expected.
Jason had stayed with her for most of the night, and the girl had slept soundly. There hadn't been any strange noises outside either.
He wasn't exactly feeling great, but after a few hours of sleep, he was alright. A nap in the afternoon would do him good. When Jantees, yawning and half-awake, went to wash up, he was making breakfast.
"Be careful on your way," he said.
"Okay..." Jantees rubbed her eyes and gave a sleepy response.
After breakfast, Jantees lazily half-lay on the sofa, flipping through books out of boredom, waiting for Jason to take her to school.
Jason glanced over as he washed the dishes, furrowing his brows slightly. "Sit properly."
At his words, Jantees slowly sat up straighter, adjusting her posture, and looked at him questioningly, as if asking if that was good enough.
Jason nodded in satisfaction and went back to his kitchen duties.
Seeing that he wasn't watching her anymore, Jantees lazily lay back down again, appearing as nonchalant as a dead pig not fearing boiling water.
Meanwhile, at Wayne Manor, the atmosphere was quite different from the safe house but just as warm.
Bruce listened with a headache as Damian argued with Tim. Tim, disinterested and lethargic, didn't want to engage with him. "Alright, Damian, did you forget what I said before?"
Damian hesitated for a moment, then calmed down. "No, Father, but..."
"Since that's the case, let's just have a peaceful meal." Bruce rubbed his temples, feeling the strain. It hadn't been long since Tim had recovered, and he didn't want to see Damian targeting him again. That's why he had been stricter with Damian lately.
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