"Mommy?" I call out into the dark room in front of me, "M-Mommy?" I hate the dark, it scares me so much, I know it shouldn't, I'm a big girl now, but I act like a baby. The kids at school pick on me, call me a 'Mama's Girl' and a 'Scardey cat'. I hate them all. One day they'll all be sorry for how they've treated me, when I'm rich and famous; Mommy always said I'd be a star.
"W-Where are you?" I call out again, stepping into the small room, my heart pounding so hard I thought it would jump out of my chest; then it stopped...All together. I felt numb as I looked at her, my heart just seemed to stop for that period of time as I struggled to breathe. Reaching out, I touched her face, recoiling away at the feel of her icy skin, tears stinging my eyes. Nudging her, I waited for her to move, for her to breathe, for her to do anything. "Please wake up..." I whisper, taking her hand in my own. I feel something oozing through my fingers and down my hand, but I can't let go, I just keep hold of her as I stare at the blood dripping from her wrists. A pool of it has collected on either side of the chair where he arms hung limply; an empty bottle of pills sitting in the middle of it.
Throwing her hand down, I take a few steps back before running as fast as I can out of the room, slamming the door shut behind me. Shaking helplessly, I slide down the door until I'm crouched in a small ball on the floor, tears streaming down my face. Breathing heavily, I look up to see Rosie, my small white kitten gazing up at me. Scooping her up in my arms, I stand up and trudge over to the phone and press 911...
It's been seven years since my Mother's death, I'm fourteen now, and I still feel just as bad as I did back then. Time doesn't lessen the pain, it just makes it harder. I'm not one for tears though, not any more, I've learned it's better not to show pain or defeat, it just makes the bullies think they're winning. My father was always a bully. I think that's why my Mother did what she did , it was the only way she could get away. I was left with him. I'd say she was selfish, couldn't take the beatings so she killed herself and left her daughters to suffer. I tried to protect my little sister Maggie, she was younger than me and he scared her a lot more than he scared me. I was the only one left to look after her, and I wasn't planning on letting anyone hurt her, especially not our Father.
I promised my Father I'd stay with him, he was distraught after Mother killed herself and he needed someone to keep him sane. I thought I could help him, I really did. I thought that things would get better, that we'd become closer and the pain would stop; but it didn't. If anything, it all got a lot worse, his temper flared and he became a raging alcoholic. I wanted to get away like Mother, but there was no way I would take the cowards way out like my she did; I couldn't leave Maggie to fend for herself. I'd just have to put up with it until I could move out on my own.
Curling up on my bed I hold Rosie close to me. She's the only real friend I've ever had, she didn't laugh at me, she didn't desert me, and she would never even dream of hurting me. She's very much like me, too proud for her own good, always getting herself into trouble, but I'm always there to pull her out of it. I've protected Rosie over the years, stuck up for her like no body ever stuck up for me. My smile drops from my face as I hear the front door slam shut. He's home. His footsteps echo in the narrow hallway leading to my bedroom as he approaches. Dropping Rosie to the floor, I watch her scramble underneath my bed ,where she'll be safe, as I prepare myself for another brutal beating; thankfully, Maggie had chosen to visit a friend tonight.
Bursting through the door his eyes fixate on me as I cower away from him I the corner. "Y-You..." He slurs, pointing a shaky finger at me. I can't tell what else he says, it's all nonsense as he moves towards me, hands clenched into fists. He's so much bigger than me, so much stronger, I'm as helpless as a kitten as he grips me by the shoulders and shakes me violently. I stay silent, not letting him know how terrified I really am. Holding me up with one hand, he pulls the other back, ready to strike, when he suddenly stops, just inches from my flinching face. I blink away the tears as he remains still, his face contorted in agony. I'm not sure what's happening, but he drops me and steps back, gripping the wardrobe for support as he clutches his chest, gasping for breath. Pulling my knees to my chest, I watch him stumble, watch him cough and fall to the ground, writhing in pain until he stops moving all together. Slowly, I crawl over to his still form and pick up his wrist. Horrible memories of my Mother flood back as I hold it in my hand, feeling no pulse...
Shivering, I pull the bedsheets around me as I huddle up on the corner of my bed. My hands clench into fists as I watch my sister merrily packing her bags, humming a happy tune as she does so. I hate this orphanage, I hate the care workers, and at the moment, I hate Maggie just as much. We've been here for months now, this below average orphanage is the closest thing I have to a home now, and Maggie is the only family I have left. Now she's leaving me, and she looks pretty damn happy about it too. After she leaves, I won't have anything left. No family, no friends, the other girls here don't seem to like me much, and to top it all off, I don't even have Rosie. Once Father had died from his heart attack, we were sent here, to this hell hole. They don't allow pets here. Rosie was put down, they said it was the best thing for her, that she wouldn't be able to find a new owner to take care of her at her age. Funny, that's the same thing the kids here say about me.
Maggie's been fostered. She's being placed with a nice family, a couple that can't have kids themselves. I should be happy for her, happy that she's going to have a good life after everything we've been through; but I'm not. I don't want her to leave me, I know how selfish that sounds, but she's the only thing I have left. There's no chance of me being fostered like her, she's young, lots of people wanted her, but no one wants a fifteen year old with a tendency to take what isn't hers. No one wants a thief in their house.
"You'll be fostered soon Selina." She suddenly chirps, flashing me a smile.
"Fat chance." I spit, glaring at her.
She sighs. "You can come and visit you know, Luke and Angie are really nice-"
"Just shut up about them!" I yell at her. "Just pack you bags and get gone already!" I continue, I don't mean it, but now I've started I can't seem to stop. "I'm better off without you anyway! You're the only reason I stayed and let Dad use me as a punching bag!" Just stop now. "It's you're fault Mom killed herself, she was depressed after she had you! We were all just fine without you!" Oh God stop..."It's all you're fault!"
I finally stop, panting as I stare coldly at her. I shouldn't have sad that, it wasn't her fault, none of it was her fault. She's stood still now, barely breathing as she drops her head and sniffs. Oh God, what have I done? I watch the tears fall to the floor as she closes her suitcase and drags it off the bed. "Goodbye Selina." She mumbles softly, and then she leaves.
I run a hand through my raven locks as I feel the tears trickling down my own face. Turning to the window, I stare out at the last person I truly care about as she clambers into her new parent's car. "Please don't leave me..." I whimper as my fingertips touch the freezing glass. That's it, I've had enough of this now, I've lost to many people, hurt those I once held close to me, and I won't let it happen any more. Selina Kyle will never let anyone in ever again.
Yelping, I pull my hand in close to my chest, cradling it as I grit my teeth, cursing myself for letting out such a pathetic cry of pain. It doesn't hurt as much any more, after the hundreds of times they've done it before, it kind of lost its effect. "Get back to your room Kyle." The director ordered.
Nursing the welts on my wrist, I decide to do as I'm told, it's not worth the hassle right now. Slinking off back to my room I glare at the brutes following me, making sure I do what I was ordered to. I've not been here to long, around a month, but it feels like a lot longer. I'd rather be out on the streets than in Seagate. It was basically like a prison, only for under age criminals such as myself. I figured if no one was going to foster me, and I had no one to care about other than myself any more, I might as well do whatever the hell I liked. It seemed good at the time, but now I was wondering if it was worth it.
I still hardly ever do as I'm told, I still don't see the point if I'm honest. The director hates me, she's locked me away from the other girls, not that I care, I prefer to be alone. Of course, that didn't stop me sneaking about, didn't stop me from finding out things I'm not supposed to. I've got dirt on her, the director, and she's going to pay for what she's done to me. Nobody hurts Selina Kyle and gets away with it, not any more. I'll get her soon, I'll just bide my time, for now, I need to get some sleep.
A noise awakens me, rips me from my dreamland as I sit upright, eyes wide. I'm suddenly grabbed from behind and I feel a cloth press against my mouth and nose, smothering me as I try to scream, only letting out futile mews. Then I can't think as the chemicals take their effect, my eyes droop and I moan softly...
I wake up, choking as water fills my mouth, spluttering as I scream for help. Is this it? Is this how I die? I don't know what's going on, all I know is that I'm in some kind of sack, a sack that is slowly filling with water. I start to panic, thrash about in the sack as I claw at the fabric with my nails, desperately trying to escape before it's too late...
Dashing across the rooftops, I clutch my bag close to me as my cat, Isis, follows my every move. I've gotten myself quite a reputation now, The Catwoman, they call me. I like that. I can hear his behind me, he's getting closer to me, ready to stop me. I adjust the goggles on my leather catsuit as I leap down onto a lower building, glancing back to see where he was. Smiling, I turn back around, only to run face first into Batman's chest. I fall right onto my backside as I'm left bewildered, after all the years I've fought him, I still have no idea how he does that. Frowning, I swing my leg and knock him down onto his back. Gracefully, I jump back to my feet and run back the way I came, preparing to jump into the alley way below, only, it wasn't an alleyway.
I hold my breath and come to a sudden halt as I stare at the river below me. Damn, bad planning there. I then feel two strong arms pull my own behind my back forcefully, "What's wrong, the cat doesn't like water?" He mocks.
"Shut it." I hiss, trying to move away from the ledge overlooking the river. I've been deathly afraid of deep water since what happened at Seagate. That brief moment, in which a cruel director attempted to kill me, I lost one of my lives, thankfully, I still had eight left. She got what was coming to her.
He turns me around so that I'm facing him, still being careful to keep my hands firmly behind my back as he stares down into my emerald eyes. There are sparks between us, neither of us can deny it, but neither of us really act upon it. We've kissed once or twice, just quickly, nothing too serious. I have a feeling that's going to happen again. I shake my head and pull my hands out of his grip, pushing him away from me. He has the jewels I stole, but I don't care, I just need to get away before anything happens between us. I'll admit it, I do have feelings for him, strong feelings, but I can't, I can't let him close to me. Bad things happen to the people I let in, awful things. I grips the whip hanging around my waist and swing over the river, wanting to get as far away from him as I could.
Rolling over in bed, I groan as I close my eyes. I don't want to get out of bed, I don't want to go outside, I'm not even sure I want to do anything at all. I slowly run a finger over the scar on my chest and sigh. Things just never got any easier for me, it was just one disaster after another, one of my nine lives lost after another. I'm currently living with Ivy and Harley, we've formed some sort of alliance after everything that's been going on. Nothing has ever gone right for me, even as a child everything was wrong.
I swore I'd never let people close to me again, but somehow, a handful of people wormed their way in, one of those people being Bruce Wayne, otherwise known as Batman. Our relationship was odd, on and off for a long time, never really heading anywhere. Then of course, it had to happen. Everything went wrong again, and Bruce was cruelly taken away from me too, after I'd been used to make him suffer by that madman Hush. He literally ripped out my heart, hoping to make Bruce's heart die a little too. Once he was gone, Jason Todd arrived on the scene, and things just got a lot messier. Bruce had fallen victim to the curse that had followed me throughout my life, he was another innocent person that I unintentionally hurt and then lost.
However, It didn't matter that I'd grown close to new people, fate had a sadistic way of bringing my past back to haunt me once again. Maggie, oh how I missed her over the years. We were never really close again, not after what happened between us, but that didn't stop that bastard Back Mask from taking advantage of her and her husband in order to get to me. I angered him, made him long for revenge and he got it, through those two. I can't bare to think of what he did to them, but it's a sight I will never forget, just like I'll never forget the sight of Black Mask's brains splattered across the wall after the bullet hit him right in the forehead...
All of this...Everything, it's all what led me to give Helena away. I couldn't bare it if something happened to her because of me. I had to put her up for adoption, after she'd already been targeted twice, I couldn't risk it happening again, and no one could know where she went, not even myself. I miss her dearly, I miss them all dearly, no matter what went on between us, I miss everyone that I've lost. I just feel alone now, like nothing really matters. I won't follow anyone else's rules any more, there really is no point in it, I'm a lost cause. There's no one left to put me on track, no one left to be a good influence and help me set my life straight once and for all. I am Selina Kyle; I am Catwoman; I am a criminal.