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UNKNOWN BUILDING - NIGHT…
She can feel the rope digging into her pale wrists. Her pale blue eyes look around the room, trying to see where she is, but the place is too dark for her to tell. She can hear the voices of the thugs who kidnapped her. She can hear one of them laughing at a crude joke one made. She looks down to see dried blood on the floor. Her breath hitches, her body trembles, and she can feel the walls closing in on her, slowly suffocating her. She tries taking deep breaths, having her mind focus on something else, but nothing’s working.
The gentle voice of her mother echoes through her mind. “Sweetie, come on.”
The rough yet affectionate voice of her father appears beside her. “Mio piccolo angelo, ci siamo quasi, non allontanarti.”(My little angel, we're almost there, don't drift away.)
“Mom…Dad…” she whispers to herself, a tear slowly forming on her eye.
No, please, not again…
She closes her eyes, trying to resist. Not wanting to remember that night. She can’t bear to go back to that night, not again. She feels cold and wet. The warehouse around her slowly disappears as she appears back in that alley. She remembers that night very clearly; it was cold. She wanted to show off her new sweater her parents bought her as they went to the theater. Her stupid brother would’ve gone, but he and Dad got into another argument, so he didn’t go with them. They went to the movies and had a fun night; it was perfect.
She couldn’t help but let out a slight whimper as a raspy voice echoed through her head.
Give me everything you got!
Here’s everything, just let us go…
Give me that necklace!
Wait! NO!
BANG!!!
Her mother screamed as her father's body hit the pavement.
BANG!!!
Another gunshot echoes through the alley; her mother's screams suddenly stop as she drops to the floor alongside her father. She stays frozen, looking at the thief who aimed the gun at her before slowly walking away, leaving her there. She looks down to see both her parents on the ground, their blood pooling beneath them. Her tiny legs give out as she falls to her knees, begging them to wake up.
“Mamma...Papà...per favore svegliatevi...”(Mom...Dad...please wake up...).
As she sits there, haunted by her nightmare. The thugs that kidnapped her are bored as they pass the time by playing cards.
“Uhh, what's up with her?” One of the thugs asks, throwing a poker chip into the pile.
“Ignore her, Mikey; rich girls like her tend to break easily at times like this.” He nudges at the thug on his right. “Richard, did you make the call?”
The man named Richard smirks. “Yeah, I did. After tonight we will be swimming in money, and it’s all thanks to that billionaire princess.”
“How much do you think her brother is gonna pay us?” Mikey asks, already wondering what he will buy with the money.
“More than we can imagine.”
“hehehe,” Mikey chuckles to himself, getting excited for the rewards that will come to him as he stands up, “I’m gonna go take a leak, be back in a sec.”
Mikey leaves as the other two continue talking.
“You know maybe before the money arrives we can have some fu–.”
“Don’t even think about it, Joe; she needs to be intact.”
Joe puts his hands in mock surrender. “Fine, fine. I was just joking, jeez”
They continue playing cards for a couple of minutes. Richard, seeing Mikey hasn’t come back, begins to get a little worried.
“That guy is sure taking long. Joe, go check on him.”
“Got it,” Joe says, standing up to check on his friend, leaving Richard alone to watch the girl.
“AAAAHHHHH!!!!”
A scream is heard, startling Richard.
“What the fuck!” Richard shouts, standing up and slowly taking a few steps towards the direction of the scream.
“Mikey? Joe?" He asks only to be met with silence.
His jaw clenches slightly as he begins to get annoyed. "You two better not be pulling a prank on me; we have a job to do!”
CRASH!!!!
A loud crash comes from behind, making Richard turn around fast to see a body on top of the now broken table. He carefully walks towards the body, his eyes widening in fear as he sees Joe lying there, his face completely swollen.
“What the fuck!” Richard shouts, looking around as he pulls out his gun.
“I don’t know who you are!" He shouts, scanning the area. "But you better show yourself right fucking now! Or else I'll blow her brains out!”
Just before he could aim the gun at her, a black projectile comes out of nowhere, cutting his hand and disarming him.
“Fuuuuck!!!” he shouts, grabbing his bloody hand.
THUNK
THUNK
THUNK
Richard steps back in fear; he looks around anxiously, trying to locate the source of the sound.
“Show yourself, goddammit!!!”
“Gladly,” a voice comes from behind.
Richard turns around only to be punched in the face, breaking his nose. The thug screams in pain as the dark figure continues his assault. They pummel the thug's face bloody before throwing them to the floor. The thug desperately tries to crawl away, only for the figure to grab him and slam him onto the nearby wall. The thug’s vision turns blurry from the assault, but as his vision returns, he is face to face with the dark figure's glowing white eyes.
His eyes widen in fear. “I–it’s you…”
He knows him. The other guys he hangs out with have told him about it. The bat, a monster that hunts people like him and beats them until they can’t walk anymore. Just last week heard how a friend's cousin was feeling grabby with a girl only to end up with both arms broken. Some of the usual dealers he remembers being around ended up closing shop or moving out entirely to avoid dealing with it. If the rumors are correct, the one guy that was on the news making weird ass dolls of people died because of it.
“Wait plea—”
The vigilante doesn’t let him continue as he headbutts the thug, knocking him out. He throws the thug to the floor without a care as he slowly makes his way to the girl. Getting closer to the girl, he sees she’s not looking fine, seemingly lost in her world. Her breath was shaky, her eyes unfocused, staring off into space. He can see tears trailing down her cheeks.
Batman slowly kneels, “...Miss?”
“...”
“Can you hear me? Are you okay?”
“...”
Batman quickly cuts the ropes, hoping that would snap her out of her trance, but nothing. If anything, she’s becoming worse as her whole body begins to tremble uncontrollably.
I hope this works...
He takes off one of his gloves and gently holds her hand. He can feel how cold and clammy her hands are. The unexpected warmth of his hands is enough to snap her out of her trance. She flinches a little as her frightened blue eyes come close to Batman’s white glowing lenses. Seeing her startled and afraid, he turns off the glowing lenses and pulls down the bandana.
“It’s okay…” Batman says before turning off his voice modifier. “...see?”
“You’re safe.”
“...”
“They’re gone.”
“...”
“They won’t hurt you anymore.”
Tears begin to roll down her face. Not out of fear but out of relief; the nightmare is finally over. He notices she is finally calm but is still trembling slightly. He stands up, taking his coat off.
“Here…”
He wraps the coat around her shoulders to help her warm up.
“There you go, now you won’t be so cold.”
She holds onto the coat tightly. Letting the warmth seep into her body. She can smell the coat; it smells faintly of worn leather, oil, rain, and wood. It felt heavy around her body, but most of all, it felt safe. Something that she hasn’t felt in a long time.
She looks up to take a better look at her saviour. “Who are you?” She whispers.
Batman says nothing, hearing the police sirens getting closer. He looks back to see the police lights beginning to appear.
“Stay here; the police will help you,” Batman says, getting ready to leave.
She quickly reaches out and grabs the edge of his sleeve, holding it tightly, afraid that if she lets go, he will disappear forever.
“...wait…I…” she tries to say something, but the words don’t come. She can only stare at her saviour's white eyes as he gently frees himself from her grasp.
“They will take care of things from here. You’ll be in safe hands.” He says as he slowly begins to melt back into the shadows.
She stands there as he disappears. She wanted to thank him. Wanted to know her saviour’s name. Wanted to have him stay with her. But sadly, he left before she had the courage to speak to him.
THUNK
THUNK
THUNK
She can only hear the faint echo of heavy boots slamming on the roof before disappearing completely. Moments later, the police rush through the warehouse doors as they find her untied and unharmed. With a black coat wrapped around her and 3 unconscious thugs with broken limbs.
SOMETIME LATER - LAPD PRECINCT
A young man bursts through the precinct door; he had received news about his missing sister and rushed over to the precinct as soon as possible. He quickly makes his way to the receptionist, slamming his hands on the desk.
“Is my sister here!?” he demands
The receptionist, startled by the young man’s aggression. Tries to say something, only for someone to beat them to it.
“Adrian Morretti?”
A voice comes from behind. Adrian turns around to see an older man standing there, perfectly calm. Detective Alvarez was on his way to the entrance to meet Adrian and take him to where his sister is, only to see him startled the poor receptionist. But the older man knows the man has been worried over his sister's safety for hours.
Adrian nods fast. "Yes, that’s me. Is my sister here?”
Alvarez nods. “She is. Come, I’ll show you where she’s at.”
Adrian takes a deep breath, running his hand through his dark chestnut colored hair, smoothing it out before adjusting his crooked tie. “Lead the way, detective.”
Adrian follows behind Alvarez as they approach Alvarez’s office. Adrian spots his sister sitting in one of the chairs, her black hair looking like she came from a fight, but otherwise she looked completely unharmed. His eyes widen in relief as he rushes over to her.
“Bianca!”
Bianca looks up to see her brother rushing towards her. He kneels to look at her. Alvarez, seeing the siblings reunited, steps out to give them some privacy.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did those bastards do something to you? I swear I’ll make them—”
“I’m okay…” she responds softly, her hands pulling the coat tighter around her as she gives her brother a small smile.
Adrian freezes.
That smile...
He hasn’t seen her smile like that in a long time. Not since that night. His throat tightens a little as he rubs his eyes, not wanting to cry in front of her. She extends her hand to rub his hair.
“Your hair is so messy, and your suit is all wrinkly. Seriously, when are you going to actually take care of your looks?” she chastises him.
Adrian grins, “Yeah, yeah.” He stands up, extending his hand for her to grab. “Let's go home.”
She turns to look at Alvarez, who already stepped back inside.
“She’s clear.” Alvarez says, “Best to take her back home to rest.”
Adrian nods, grateful to know they can leave now.
“Thank you,” Bianca says quietly to the detective.
She gives the detective a small smile of gratitude before grabbing her brother's hand. Letting him guide her to the car. Alvarez smiles as he watches their retreating figures, happy that the case was brought to a good end.
The ride back home was unusually quiet. Adrian would normally try to fill the silence with a joke or sarcastic remark. Anything to distract Bianca when things got difficult. But tonight, he just couldn’t find the words; all he could think was that his sister was safe. His eyes flicker towards his sister every few seconds. He finally noticed that she was wearing a black duster coat. He can tell it’s important due to how tightly she's holding on to it.
“...Do you want to talk about it?”
Bianca stays silent for a moment, staring out the passenger window.
“I thought I was strong,” She begins, “I was always prepared for the worst. Nothing was left to chance; I always had a plan that could help me, but when I was in there…” she whispers, her voice cracking slightly. “I was helpless; every plan I made was useless.”
Adrian's hands grip the wheel tightly, but he says nothing. Letting her speak her thoughts.
“I tried to stay calm, but I couldn’t. It all came back to me.”
Adrian knew what she meant: “The alley…”
She nods, “I was back there as a kid..." She pauses a little, wrapping the coat tightly around her as her breath hitches slightly from the memories. "I saw mom and dad. I saw how they died. Even now I can still smell the rain of that night, their blood, and the gunpowder.”
Adrian feels something in his chest tighten. Ever since that night, he’s done his best to help her. For 10 years, he got the best doctors, therapists, psychologists, and hypnotists. Went through entire self-help books about trauma, nightmares, and self-coping. Anything that could’ve helped her regain that light she lost, and yet nothing works. No matter how hard he tries, she is still trapped in that night.
“What happened next?” he asks softly, the car stopping at a red light as he turns to look at her. Bianca gives him a small smile.
“He came.”
“Who?”
“My saviour.”
“He…” She pauses, finding her words.
“He was gentle and kind.” Her fingers gently brush the coat. “He told me I was safe.”
“And…” she smiles, “I believed him…”
Morretti Manor
Adrian walks Bianca upstairs to her room. Like he always did ever since she was ten years old. She eventually insisted that she didn’t need to be coddled like that anymore, but tonight, she let herself be coddled by him.
“Are you sure you don’t need anything?”
She rolls her eyes. “I’m fine Adrian, thank you.”
“If anything happens, anything at all, just holler at AURORA and she will come get me.”
“I know, brother. Can I go now?”
Adrian smiles as he leans and kisses her forehead.
“Okay, good night.”
“Night…”
Adrian stands there for a while before making his way to his personal lab. Half-finished inventions covered almost every available surface. A blue hue fills the room as a holographic projection appears in front of him, revealing a woman in her late twenties with white hair tied in a simple ponytail, snow-white skin, unnaturally bright blue eyes, wearing what looks to be a futuristic white and blue dress.
“Good Evening, Adrian.” The hologram greets Adrian, doing a little bow as he entered.
“Evening, AURORA.” Adrian says, undoing his tie, “How’s the avatar? Is it good? Any suggestions?”
She smiles brightly, “It is perfect, sir.” She tilts her head slightly. “How may I assist you?”
Adrian leans on his workbench. “I need everything you can get on Bianca’s savior.”
“Description?”
“Hmm…” Adrian rubs his chin, trying to remember what his sister described. “Wears black from head to toe and has bat ears sticking from his head.”
Aurora processes the information before pulling everything she could find on the screen in front of him. Which was basically nothing. Only blurry photos, some anonymous forum posts from the dark corners of the web, and surprisingly Batman comic books.
“Information insufficient. Are you sure such a person exists, sir?”
“I believe my sister; if there’s a guy dressed as a bat operating in this city, then I believe her. Hack into the police database.”
AURORA frowns. “Are you sure, sir? The last time you hacked into government property, your sister gave you an earful. She said, and I quote, ‘Do that again, and I’ll revoke your lab access for a month.’ We both know she will do it.”
Adrian waves Aurora’s concerns aside. “We’ll be fine; it's not like we are hacking the Pentagon like last time. This will be our little secret.”
AURORA's frown deepens, clearly not agreeing with her creator's decision. But does it anyway. If things go wrong, she will tell Alice she tried her best to dissuade her brother.
They bypass the police firewalls and encrypted servers. A few seconds later, new files begin to appear: incident reports, witness statements, 911 calls, photographs of bound criminals, and police reports. Each of them mentions a figure in black with bat ears on its head. Digging a little bit further, Adrian finds something interesting.
“Batman…” Adrian says out loud. So this is his sister's savior. Who would’ve thought that a real-life comic book superhero is out there?
He stares intently at the blurry photo of the vigilante once more.
“So you’ve been out there for some time now.”
He continues looking at the blurry photo as he grabs an old picture from his desk. Depicting both him and Bianca when they were younger. Before the tragedy destroyed her.
“Thank you for bringing her back to me." He says, looking up to see the blurry photo once more. "I hope one day we can meet each other.”
Bianca’s room
The warm shower runs for several minutes as Bianca stares at the wall. Usually, she would use this time to think about things that could've gone wrong for her, especially after what happened tonight, and yet she can't muster the strength to think of anything right now. She turns the shower off and steps out of the bathroom. Already changed into some comfortable pajamas. Her wet hair wrapped in a towel, she makes her way to her bed. She can feel exhaustion weighing heavily on her body. She sits on her bed and stares at her desk. The black duster coat rests on her seat. For a couple of seconds, she could only stare at the coat her savior wrapped around her.
She stands up and reaches out for the coat. Gently picking it up, she feels the weight of the coat in her hands; even at this distance, she can tell the coat has been through a lot. That he has been through a lot.
She goes back to her bed, her fingers tracing the rough fabric. Her mind recounts tonight's events. The warehouse was cold. The ropes burned her wrists. The voices of the men echoed in her mind. She remembers being afraid; all her planning, all her contingencies that she made to keep herself safe, were useless. Just when she lost all hope, he arrived. She was startled by his appearance. He sensed it; he could've dismissed her fear. Instead, he made the glowing white eyes disappear, wrapped his warm hand around hers, and gently told her she was safe. Even now she can hear his voice echo in her head.
They won't hurt you anymore...
She closes her eyes; for years, whenever she closed them, she saw herself back in that alley. Her parents lying on the pavement. Their blood staining the concrete floor as their eyes looked up at her with fear. But tonight, she didn't see her parents. She saw a pair of glowing white eyes in the darkness. Providing comfort instead of fear.
She slowly opened her eyes again, pulling the coat closer to her body as she lay down on her bed. The heaviness of the coat nearly swallows her like a warm weighted blanket. She brings it closer to her face, taking a whiff of the coat's scent. The smell of worn leather, rain, oil, and wood brings her a comfort she has never felt before.
She clutches the coat tightly against herself, not wanting to let go. As exhaustion finally creeps up to her, she lets herself go. Closing her eyes, she doesn’t dream of that night in the rain-soaked alley. No gunshots, no screams, no smell of blood. Tonight, there was only warmth, silence, and peace. She dreams of her savior taking her away from that nightmare, and for the first time in years, she finally sleeps without fear.