CHAPTER 2
.:Dreams and Hidden Shadows:.
The rain-slick streets shone with a strange, pale light. The streetlights, dark and utterly useless, lined the streets like prison guards. Dark clouds blocked the light of the moon. A girl wandered through the lonely streets, searching. But for what?
A dark shape appeared out of nowhere, confronted the girl. It was a lion, a wolf, a lizard, a beetle, a songbird, all at once: yet it was of no recognizable shape at the same time. Then it was a panther.
The girl reached out to the magnificent jungle beast, petting it, whispering to it. Then she became one with it, merged with it. The great cat turned towards the invader who was still watching it, it's gaze defensive, fearful- and in the very back of it's eyes, there was a powerful, hidden, lurking of pain. Not physical… the pain of keeping a secret for too long, knowing that if you tell anyone their very lives might be in danger.
The panther stared at the intruder with human eyes. Familiar human eyes. A friend's eyes. Those eyes were…
The black panther leaped at the intruder, suddenly. Seeing the huge mass of muscle and fur, teeth and claws leaping at her…
Dinah was jerked into wakefulness, shaken, drenched in a cold sweat. She didn't understand any of her dream.
A girl, a panther- no the panther! The girl... she looked familiar... the eyes of the panther... were her eyes.
"I'll finish puzzling this out in the morning," Dinah said quietly to herself, trying to shake the feeling of unease that had settled over her since waking. Deciding that since she was already up, she'd get a drink, she headed to the kitchen area. After pouring a glass of fruit punch and grabbing one of Helena's pop-tarts headed back to her bedroom.
She put the glass on the table and started eating her pop-tart. After finishing the snack (made of pure sugar, but what wasn't these days?) she decided to see if the storm had ended yet. Gym in the rain wasn't very enjoyable, after all. Tiptoeing to the door to the balcony outside, she peeked out. Then, seeing that it wasn't raining, sneaked out onto the balcony itself.
Already the dark clouds were receding eastward towards the sea to pick up more life-giving water, which would go to another city elsewhere. A band of star-filled sky, just above, revealed the North Star, the guiding light of travellers since the beginning of time.
But Dinah wasn't looking at the sky. She was gazing intently at a dark form on the ground. The panther. It had possibly saved her life, it was plaguing her dreams, and now it was walking through the streets far below her.
It stopped walking and looked up at a ledge on the clocktower near the ground. After carefully analyzing the distance between itself and the ledge, it lightly jumped. Then it looked for another ledge about the same distance from itself as the last, and found one too. Carefully the panther made it's way to the top of the Clocktower.
Dinah ducked inside the building. Even though this creature had saved her life, it was still a wild animal and therefore unpredictable. This panther was apparently trying to make it's way to the top of the enormous structure. Perhaps it knew there were people there. Maybe it just wanted to find a place to sleep.
Carefully closing the door and wishing there was a lock on it, Dinah stood in the shadows just to the side of the clock face. After about two minutes after Dinah last saw the panther she heard a soft sound on the deck outside. Peering through the clock face near the edge she saw a dark form lay down where she had stood just moments earlier. Was it sniffing, trying to trace her scent? Or was it just lying down for a sleep?
Neither, in fact. It lay still for a moment, it's tail slowly twitching back and forth as all cat's tails do. An experienced cat owner would have recognized the motion as one of comfort and peacefulness. But the only one there to see this graceful predator of the night was Dinah, who had never been around cats long enough to pick up on body language. There had been cats in one of her foster parents' homes (several, in fact), but she only lived there for three months before she was sent away.
As Dinah watched the mysterious jungle cat looked up at the night sky, where the stars were. Flicking by the numerous other constellations it stared directly overhead at one of the brightest stars in the large strip of cloudless sky. After gazing unblinking at the North Star for a minute or two the panther turned it's eyes to the clock face.
From her vantage point Dinah could see it's eyes- so human, where had she seen them before! The little emerald eyes studied the hands as if telling the time. Surprise- human surprise- flashed across those eyes, concealing for a second something Dinah hadn't noticed before. Tiredness, the kind where you feel you're on the point of collapse and if you don't get into bed right this second you will collapse.
Then came a huge surprise for Dinah. Strangely, inexplicitly, the panther changed. Into a bird, a songbird. Like the one in her dream.
The songbird took off from the edge of the balcony and flew towards the outskirts of New Gotham.
*******
As Jack walked into the brilliance of the room, a figure by the fire stirred.
"Well?"
Jack jumped at the sound of the other man's voice. "I-I'm s-s-sorry. The brat got away."
Turning around, the figure by the fire surveyed the stuttering Jack. The look this man gave to him was enough to scare anyone you'd find on the street, that was for sure. It took a rare breed to stand up to this man.
Jack was definitely not of this breed. Nowhere near, in fact. As the man by the fireplace took in the many cuts and bruises his employee had acquired since the last time he saw him, Jack was shaking like an old blender on top speed.
"One little girl did all this? I wonder if you are fit to work for me anymore. I don't tolerate sissies, you know that."
"She wasn't no ordinary girl! She coulda kicked a ninja's ass!"
"Now now, what have I said about whining? It's not very becoming. I want you to go back out there and get another one. And I don't expect you to fail this time."
The shadowed man's voice carried a subtle threat, but it was enough for Jack.
"Yessir, it won't happen again."
*******
When May got back to the warehouse, she was exhausted, which was probably due to the fact that it was four in the morning and she'd been out all night. She knew she was going to regret being up this late, but she had so enjoyed herself. This called for a Pepsi Blue, which she didn't have. She was probably too tired to drink it anyway.
How am I going to get up tomorrow morning? Or I guess I should say this morning.
Dragging her suddenly heavy feet towards the door she dragged it open and headed inside. In the soft darkness of the factory she expertly wound her way around and between the machines until she reached the door to the business section of the building. A short trip down the hall, through the door, and a few feet into bed, where May collapsed and fell instantly into a deep sleep.
*******
Outside she saw everything. Another teenager, dressed in an expensive-looking suede leather coat, watched May fall into her deep slumber. After waiting a couple of minutes she jumped off the ledge on which she was standing and through the window. Silent feet carefully padded across the faded linoleum as she made her way to the desk. The teenager carefully peered at the surface of the desk until she found what she was seeking. After setting the alarm clock to 7:00 am, she crept over to the sleeping girl.
"Nice try, May, but you know that wherever you go I can and will follow."
As she tiptoed back to the window she looked back, one last time, and the light caught her face.
May's identical twin sister then jumped out the window and onto the street below. Leaping up onto a protruding ledge on a building across the street from the factory she made her way across the rooftops.
.:Dreams and Hidden Shadows:.
The rain-slick streets shone with a strange, pale light. The streetlights, dark and utterly useless, lined the streets like prison guards. Dark clouds blocked the light of the moon. A girl wandered through the lonely streets, searching. But for what?
A dark shape appeared out of nowhere, confronted the girl. It was a lion, a wolf, a lizard, a beetle, a songbird, all at once: yet it was of no recognizable shape at the same time. Then it was a panther.
The girl reached out to the magnificent jungle beast, petting it, whispering to it. Then she became one with it, merged with it. The great cat turned towards the invader who was still watching it, it's gaze defensive, fearful- and in the very back of it's eyes, there was a powerful, hidden, lurking of pain. Not physical… the pain of keeping a secret for too long, knowing that if you tell anyone their very lives might be in danger.
The panther stared at the intruder with human eyes. Familiar human eyes. A friend's eyes. Those eyes were…
The black panther leaped at the intruder, suddenly. Seeing the huge mass of muscle and fur, teeth and claws leaping at her…
Dinah was jerked into wakefulness, shaken, drenched in a cold sweat. She didn't understand any of her dream.
A girl, a panther- no the panther! The girl... she looked familiar... the eyes of the panther... were her eyes.
"I'll finish puzzling this out in the morning," Dinah said quietly to herself, trying to shake the feeling of unease that had settled over her since waking. Deciding that since she was already up, she'd get a drink, she headed to the kitchen area. After pouring a glass of fruit punch and grabbing one of Helena's pop-tarts headed back to her bedroom.
She put the glass on the table and started eating her pop-tart. After finishing the snack (made of pure sugar, but what wasn't these days?) she decided to see if the storm had ended yet. Gym in the rain wasn't very enjoyable, after all. Tiptoeing to the door to the balcony outside, she peeked out. Then, seeing that it wasn't raining, sneaked out onto the balcony itself.
Already the dark clouds were receding eastward towards the sea to pick up more life-giving water, which would go to another city elsewhere. A band of star-filled sky, just above, revealed the North Star, the guiding light of travellers since the beginning of time.
But Dinah wasn't looking at the sky. She was gazing intently at a dark form on the ground. The panther. It had possibly saved her life, it was plaguing her dreams, and now it was walking through the streets far below her.
It stopped walking and looked up at a ledge on the clocktower near the ground. After carefully analyzing the distance between itself and the ledge, it lightly jumped. Then it looked for another ledge about the same distance from itself as the last, and found one too. Carefully the panther made it's way to the top of the Clocktower.
Dinah ducked inside the building. Even though this creature had saved her life, it was still a wild animal and therefore unpredictable. This panther was apparently trying to make it's way to the top of the enormous structure. Perhaps it knew there were people there. Maybe it just wanted to find a place to sleep.
Carefully closing the door and wishing there was a lock on it, Dinah stood in the shadows just to the side of the clock face. After about two minutes after Dinah last saw the panther she heard a soft sound on the deck outside. Peering through the clock face near the edge she saw a dark form lay down where she had stood just moments earlier. Was it sniffing, trying to trace her scent? Or was it just lying down for a sleep?
Neither, in fact. It lay still for a moment, it's tail slowly twitching back and forth as all cat's tails do. An experienced cat owner would have recognized the motion as one of comfort and peacefulness. But the only one there to see this graceful predator of the night was Dinah, who had never been around cats long enough to pick up on body language. There had been cats in one of her foster parents' homes (several, in fact), but she only lived there for three months before she was sent away.
As Dinah watched the mysterious jungle cat looked up at the night sky, where the stars were. Flicking by the numerous other constellations it stared directly overhead at one of the brightest stars in the large strip of cloudless sky. After gazing unblinking at the North Star for a minute or two the panther turned it's eyes to the clock face.
From her vantage point Dinah could see it's eyes- so human, where had she seen them before! The little emerald eyes studied the hands as if telling the time. Surprise- human surprise- flashed across those eyes, concealing for a second something Dinah hadn't noticed before. Tiredness, the kind where you feel you're on the point of collapse and if you don't get into bed right this second you will collapse.
Then came a huge surprise for Dinah. Strangely, inexplicitly, the panther changed. Into a bird, a songbird. Like the one in her dream.
The songbird took off from the edge of the balcony and flew towards the outskirts of New Gotham.
*******
As Jack walked into the brilliance of the room, a figure by the fire stirred.
"Well?"
Jack jumped at the sound of the other man's voice. "I-I'm s-s-sorry. The brat got away."
Turning around, the figure by the fire surveyed the stuttering Jack. The look this man gave to him was enough to scare anyone you'd find on the street, that was for sure. It took a rare breed to stand up to this man.
Jack was definitely not of this breed. Nowhere near, in fact. As the man by the fireplace took in the many cuts and bruises his employee had acquired since the last time he saw him, Jack was shaking like an old blender on top speed.
"One little girl did all this? I wonder if you are fit to work for me anymore. I don't tolerate sissies, you know that."
"She wasn't no ordinary girl! She coulda kicked a ninja's ass!"
"Now now, what have I said about whining? It's not very becoming. I want you to go back out there and get another one. And I don't expect you to fail this time."
The shadowed man's voice carried a subtle threat, but it was enough for Jack.
"Yessir, it won't happen again."
*******
When May got back to the warehouse, she was exhausted, which was probably due to the fact that it was four in the morning and she'd been out all night. She knew she was going to regret being up this late, but she had so enjoyed herself. This called for a Pepsi Blue, which she didn't have. She was probably too tired to drink it anyway.
How am I going to get up tomorrow morning? Or I guess I should say this morning.
Dragging her suddenly heavy feet towards the door she dragged it open and headed inside. In the soft darkness of the factory she expertly wound her way around and between the machines until she reached the door to the business section of the building. A short trip down the hall, through the door, and a few feet into bed, where May collapsed and fell instantly into a deep sleep.
*******
Outside she saw everything. Another teenager, dressed in an expensive-looking suede leather coat, watched May fall into her deep slumber. After waiting a couple of minutes she jumped off the ledge on which she was standing and through the window. Silent feet carefully padded across the faded linoleum as she made her way to the desk. The teenager carefully peered at the surface of the desk until she found what she was seeking. After setting the alarm clock to 7:00 am, she crept over to the sleeping girl.
"Nice try, May, but you know that wherever you go I can and will follow."
As she tiptoed back to the window she looked back, one last time, and the light caught her face.
May's identical twin sister then jumped out the window and onto the street below. Leaping up onto a protruding ledge on a building across the street from the factory she made her way across the rooftops.