Chapter 1: Chapter 1
A sharp intake of breath and a slow steady exhale reach the girl's ears.
'Where am I?'
Taking a step back, she hears the dull click of boots on concrete echo.
Her eyes shoot upwards, slowly beginning to make out a high arched ceiling. Her feet move backwards suddenly in surprise and she trips, reaching out a long hand to try and stop her clumsy fall.
The floor is made of concrete and marble, utterly unfamiliar and foreign. Her heart races and she desperately tries to make sense of everything around her. Noticing a sign being reflected on the ground from a window, she squints in the darkness trying to read the backwards, faded letters:
Gotham Bank.
Panic begins to set in and she glances down, releasing an audible gasp when she notices that she has not recollection of the clothes she's wearing.
Nor any, following that logic, of why she would be in the Gotham Bank.
Stomach beginning to churn uneasily, she reaches up to her face, feeling the soft cotton of a ski mask. She lets out a cry and suddenly stands, panicking. This isn't possible. I'm dreaming.
The last thing I remember is- oh. The flood of memories is overwhelming and her legs give way to crushing memories.
My mother. My last relative, my shoulder to lean on, my hand to hold, my teacher, my protector, my best friend, is gone. Tears spilt and landed angrily on the floor below. Her vision blurred with rage and tears and grief. I will kill them.
Strength surged through her veins, quickly halted by a sharp, shooting pain. Body quivering in pain and anguish, her eyes shut as her back arches and a hiss escaped between clenched teeth.
Then, everything went away. Feeling raw and scared, she warily took in her surroundings once more. The walls and furniture stretched upwards and the girl felt a hysterical giggle rising in her throat, wondering if this is how Alice felt after drinking a funny bottle labelled "drink me".
She glanced down and froze, stunned. Large black paws replaced her hands and a quick nervous swipe of her tongue revealed sharp canine teeth. "Oh god." The words slipped out in a whisper, "The injection, this is what it did to me." She paused, hysterical enough to just accept the reality and simply wonder how to change back human. Catching a glimpse in the windows, lit by the moon, she stared at the reflection of a large wolf, fur spiked and tense in the darkness.
Beyond the reflection, the no-longer girl suddenly recognized red and blue flashes becoming more prominent with every passing second.
She cursed, broken out of her shocked stupor and took a tentative step forward. The canine gait came naturally and she swung her head around to find a large door with an emergency glowing exit sign above it. The sounds of slamming doors and deep shouts from the other side of the wall were getting louder as she raced and lept against the door, focusing all of her weight against the push bar just as the main glass doors were slammed open behind.
Panic and adrenaline rushed the shadowed form down the side alley and into the maze of Gotham City. In her panicked state, confusion and grief numbed all other senses, she wasn't aware of the curious dark figure watching from atop Wayne Tower.
Let me know what you think!
Edited 6.21.19