Unraveling

Our harlequin lay silent on the unforgiving pavement. Unfocused eyes look listlessly at the cloudy sky above.

It had been a night to remember, but she would not remember it. Her face, once warm and full of passion, was now covered by a cracking porcelain mask.

The first thing to disappear was her flesh memories. She could not recall the tingling feeling of his thumb brushing her red lips. Her fear of him, driven by the memory of crack fingers, bruising, was vanishing. Just barely could she hold on to her love for him. Her unrequited, unrewarded love. The index finger of her blood stained glove twitched.

The adrenaline rushed under her skin. She faced the masked vigilante, this city's 'hero'. Calling him a hero was a mockery. He was a paranoid schizophrenic with cocky side, and that was all. But now he had her corned. Behind her 40 stories of air, and the an unmoving ground.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," came a new voice. The fear-costumed man turned to look at the man now behind him, a playfully large gun pointed in his face. "Don't you know to leave another man's girl alone?"

The masked man took a step forward toward the hell-circus painted man. The latter's face was lit up with sick pleasure. An uncomfortably wide grin stretched across is face.

His beautiful face...

She couldn't even remember how her heart had fluttered when he had called her his girl.

After seeing his face, she didn't remember what happened next. She only remembered a shove, then air, and then she was dropping. She didn't remember feeling pain, she just remembered hearing it.

The night at started so perfectly...

Her sweetheart looked at her golden face. It was her favorite mask. A venetian style golden mask, with simple designs etched around the eyes.

Tonight was going to be a night to remember. Tonight would be a sort of...masquerade. Especially for her. No one knew who she was. Of course there had been rumors, but she was still a mystery. No one knew for certain. Her emotionless, shell of face would inspire fear, though beneath it all she was smiling. Smiling that she was doing something. Smiling because she was with him.

More than once, she had tried to pinpoint why she loved him. But, she couldn't. Maybe it was just some unknown subconscious need. Or maybe like a drug.

Even now, she viewed him as a guardian angel. His poisonous words, though they hurt, were comforting. Even as his grip would crush her wrist, she was...happy. Happy that he was paying attention to her. She supposed a kiss with a fist was better than none.

Her eyelids drooped slightly, a calm...sort of numbness washing through her bones. No matter what anyone said, no matter what he did, he belonged to her. He was hers, and she was his.

Her eyes unfixed themselves from the cloudy sky, and her neck went loose, resting her cheek on the ground. Her skin was the same temperature as the pavement. The cracked half of her mask fell from her face with soft clink.

Everything faded as her eyes would not stay open anymore.

The last thing she heard was footsteps a few feet away.

And then her lover's voice -

"Harleen..."