"I forgot how uncomfortable these strip fake lashes are," Adriana said after Harri placed them onto one of her eyelids without glue to see how it looked.

"Do you want individual ones instead?" Harri asked. "I got both."

"Yeah," Adriana said. "These are so heavy."

"No problem," Harri replied.

"Is this going to take much longer?" Damien walked into the bedroom where Harri was doing Adriana's hair and makeup.

"We don't have to be there until an hour from now," Adriana said to him. "We're almost done."

"You look nice," Damien said.

"Thanks," Adriana said and looked up from the checkers game on her phone.

"You haven't seen the dress yet," Harri said with a smile.

"Hopefully I get to see it soon, as we head out the door," Damien said and left the room.

"Okay," Harri said and unscrewed the cap on the eyelash glue. "Let's get these done."

.

.

"I know I've said it about eight times already," Damien whispered to Adriana as they entered the gala. "But you look amazing tonight."

"You're sweet," she smiled. "So do you."

The enormous hall where the gala was being held was decorated wonderfully. The walls were white but the lighting in the room made them appear to be various shades of purple. Adriana looked up at the lilac hues over the elaborate carvings on the ceiling in awe. Six beautiful crystal chandeliers also grabbed her attention as Damien held her arm and followed a well dressed member of the staff to their assigned seat.

"This is so nice," Adriana said. "I almost feel out of place."

"You shouldn't," Damien answered. "You should feel right at home."

"Why do you say that?" Adriana laughed.

"No reason," he smiled and kissed her cheek.

The large display of purple and deep blue flowers in the center of the table, the elaborate decorations and the high profile people in the room made Adriana feel a bit misplaced, but appreciative that she had been invited.

"Do you feel like being social?" Damien asked and looked around at the rest of the guests who were dancing, talking and gathering in groups to chat and laugh. "There's the mayor..and the governor over there."

"If you want," Adriana said and followed Damien as he comfortably walked up to random groups of people and struck up conversations. Adriana was mostly silent as he was his usual social butterfly self.

"Champagne?" a server offered her.

"No, thank you though," Adriana said as Damien reached for a glass.

As Damien began discussing recent events in the city with a judge and his wife, Adriana turned away and noticed Lucius in the room. He was talking with an older couple and smiling brightly.

"Brave enough to approach the governor with me?" Damien asked with a smile.

"Sure," Adriana smiled back. As they walked over, she and Lucius made eye contact and exchanged smiles.

"You know that guy?" Damien asked her.

"No," Adriana said. "Do you?"

"Nope," Damien said. "There's the governor. Mark Wallace."

The governor's back was towards them and his wife was standing across from. He was a very tall man and as he stepped to the side, Adriana noticed he was talking with Bruce. Bruce looked amazing in a black three piece suit and she could see even without hearing his words, that he was speaking charisma. His smile was confident and relaxed and the woman on his arm looked happy to be seen with him. She was almost as tall as he was with long blonde hair that was silky straight and almost to her hips. She wore a silky deep purple gown that matched the ambiance of the room. It was simple but she made it look amazing.

As Adriana and Damien approached the governor happened to turn in their direction as he was speaking.

"Hey, I recognize you," he said to Damien. "You work for the police force."

"Yes, sir," Damien said with a cheery smile.

"I've seen you on the news," Mark Wallace said and reached to shake Damien's hand. "You're doing excellent work."

"Thank you, sir," Damien nodded. "So are you."

"Thank you, officer..."

"Ricard," Damien said. "Damien Ricard."

The governor and Damien spoke for a few moments and Adriana made eye contact with Bruce who was smiling as he sipped champagne.

"And you," the governor turned to Adriana.

"You look familiar," the governor's wife said. "Were you in the Miss USA Competition this year?"

"No," Adriana laughed a bit. "No, I wasn't."

"I watched it," Bruce's date chimed in. "You look like Miss Florida from this year."

"Oh, thanks," Adriana said. "I missed it."

"You're much prettier though," the girl said. "I'm Lucy Crawford, and you?"

"Adriana Navarro," she replied.

"Bruce Wayne," Bruce finally spoke.

"Well, of course we all already know that," the governor laughed.

"Sorry if I interrupted you two," Damien said to Bruce and the governor.

"Not at all," the governor said.

Adriana suddenly felt as is she heard someone whispering behind her, very close to her ear. She turned around quickly and saw no one was even close by. She couldn't make out what the whispering was saying..but something in it felt very sinister. Dark. She turned back to the group who was still talking but Bruce was eyeing her as if he could tell something was wrong. Adriana gave a weak smile as Damien took her hand and continued talking to the governor and his wife.

Again the whispers started again. Adriana couldn't understand a word..she realized it may be in another language and tried to listen closer.. Italian?

"Excuse me," Adriana said. "I'll be right back."

She walked away from the group who continued their chatter. She felt like she had to look for something. It was an indescribable feeling..something she had never felt before. A weak whisper pulling her across the room. The whisper began to get louder as she walked over to the north side of the room..louder and louder until. Silence. The whispers were gone.

"Ms. Navarro," a familiar voice surprised Adriana as she turned to see Lucius behind her.

"Looking for someone?" he asked but as she turned to face him his look became a bit concerned. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "No, I'm not looking for anyone. I think I need a drink."

"Champagne?" a nearby server overheard her and offered her a glass.

"Thanks," she said and held it for a moment before taking a sip. "Wow," Adriana sighed and relaxed. "That's so good-" Adriana froze after hearing the whispers again. She was wondering if she was hearing thoughts again..against her will. She tried to block them but the whisper didn't feel like intrusive thoughts. It sounded like a very physically present audible whisper, dark and growling.

"You sure you're ok, Miss Navarro?" Lucius said after noticing her go silent and begin looking around.

He looked concerned and Adriana decided to try to get a grip before he started to look at her like she was crazy. She had been looked at that way enough in her life.

"Yes, I'm-" she said and heard the whispers again and turned and began to walk away. She walked past a few of the high windows which showed the moonlit sky and tables decorated with flowers and candles until she found a narrow doorway which let to a short set of stairs. After walking down them, the whispers stopped again. She opened another door which led to a long hallway which was dimly lit but was nearly as stunning as the gala hall. Along the corridor was another series of rooms and intuitively she approached the third door.

"Miss Navarro," Adriana jumped in surprise as she realized Lucius was still behind her.

"Wow," she breathed. "You scared me."

He was quiet for a moment and looked at her a bit confused.

"I was trying to ask you where you were going," Lucius said as if he had been speaking to her the whole time. "You didn't hear me at all?"

"No, I-" she said. "I don't know what's going on. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Lucius said calmly. "Do you want to go back now?"

"I just.." Adriana touched the door in front of her. "I feel like something's wrong."

"In here?" Lucius said.

"Yes," Adriana said Lucius reached in front of her and slowly pushed the door open.

The room was completely dark. He reached around on the wall for a light switch and lit up the room which looked like a library, wall to wall with shelves of books and a few couches in the middle. Adriana gasped when she was what was on the table in the center of the room but Lucius approached it.

"Is that.." Adriana asked and walked behind him carefully.

"A bomb?" Lucius answered. "Yes."

"What? Why is there a bomb here?"

"I would assume this is an act of terrorism. Nineteen minutes and thirty seven seconds until it detonates," Lucius looked like he was examining the device before touching it. And pulling out his phone to touch a single spot on the screen before putting it away.

"Wait, shouldn't we leave?" Adriana asked in fear and she observed him over his shoulder. He didn't answer.

"What's going on?" Bruce entered the room.

"How did-" Adriana wanted to ask how Bruce had found them. But he walked over to Lucius immediately.

"You found this?" Bruce turned to her.

"Yeah," Adriana said. "I don't know how-"

"Can you find who placed it here?" Bruce asked immediately.

"Um.." Adriana thought and then relaxed her mind again and before she knew it she was pulling Bruce out of the room by his arm and back into the crowded gala and over to one of the windows and pushed the heavy curtain open more.

"There!" she said surprising herself, not knowing how she had even accomplished this. A man in all black was smoking a cigarette as he crossed the street, not even walking quickly. He pulled the baseball cap dangling in his left hand onto his head and began to walk to the end of the street.

"Stay here," Bruce said.

"And Lucius?" Adriana wondered about the explosive device.

"He can handle that," Bruce said as he left quickly.