Chapter 2 – Lucky I'm wearing Black
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Ebony roused back to consciousness to find her wrists and ankles zip tied to a chair.
She had a cover over her head but could make out a single globe hanging above her head through the tiny holes in the scratchy hessian material.
She must still be underground, in the sewers.
But more importantly, where was… her father's beloved camera?
She wanted it back, needed it back.
Right.
Now.
She was more than concerned, in fact she was furious.
How dare they take her camera from her.
Ebony's fury spurred her into action.
She squirmed in the chair desperately, attempting to get her wrists free.
This continued for a short while unsuccessfully.
The only thing Ebony achieved was to shift the chair a few inches.
After some time, she heard two sets of footsteps enter the room, one with much heavier strides than the other.
And loud breathing.
Mechanical.
Strange…
'How did you find us?' An amplified voice stated, like nothing Ebony had ever heard before.
More mechanical breathing followed.
Ebony figured this guy would know where her camera was.
'Wasn't hard,' she stated. 'Followed some 'workmen' down a dead-end laneway.' Ebony said lathered with sarcasm.
'If you are trying to stay hidden, you are going to have to train your men better than that.' She added.
'Do you… work for one of the newspapers? The Gotham Times.. the Gotham Post?' The strange expressive voice asked.
Ebony shook her head.
'No. I'm freelance.' She replied, the slightest hint of anger in her tone.
'What is your name?' The voice demanded.
With the hood over her head, Ebony could only see outlines of figures provided by the light of the single globe above her.
The man interrogating her on her left was significantly larger than the one on her right.
'Ebony.' She finally said. 'What's yours?' She asked in a tone, not realistically expecting a reply.
She was still angry at having her camera taken from her.
Even more than being hit over the head and tied to this steel chair.
'And do you… have a last name, Eb-on-y?' The voice scrutinized.
Ebony was reluctant but finally said, 'Ebony… Schwarz.'
The voice paused a while.
More loud breathing.
'It seems your parents have a sense of humor, Ebony… Schwarz.' The voice finally stated with perfect German pronunciation.
'Both your first name and last name mean black. So essentially your name is… Black Black.' The voice seemed mildly entertained.
Great we have a comedian.
Whoever this guy was, he was intelligent.
Perhaps he spoke many languages.
Although, she couldn't place his slight accent.
Perhaps he had lived in many countries.
Worldly.
'Yes, I suppose they did… have a sense of humor.' Ebony said.
'Did? You mean they are no longer alive?' The voice enquired.
Ebony confirmed with a nod.
Why was she even telling him all this? He had no right to know anything.
She decided it was her turn to ask a question.
'Where is my camera? I want it back. Now.' Ebony demanded.
The voice suddenly turned hostile.
'You are in no position to be making requests…Ebony… Schwarz.' The voice cautioned, continuing.
'Your camera has been confiscated. If I were you, I would be more concerned about the severity of the situation than about a piece of equipment.' The voice paused.
It was obvious that this guy had no idea how much her camera meant to her.
'The pictures you took down here have already been deleted. And now that you have discovered our location, you also must be… extinguished.' The voice stated.
Ebony's eyes widened as her heart raced.
Fuck.
'But first, it seems that there is something else you have that I want. You… are holding out.'
Shit, how could he possibly know that?
He didn't.
But he was smart.
He just assumed that she had been working somewhere...
The event of the weekend.
The who's who of Gotham had been at Wayne Manor.
Something that may be of interest to… anyone.
And she wasn't about to give up her money shot of Bruce Wayne to this asshole.
Even if he was huge and slightly terrifying.
Ebony remained silent, thinking that this guy was probably smart enough to smell a lie.
'I think you have it on you. We could kill you and then search you, but let's play a little game instead.' The voice boomed.
'My colleague here, he is an excellent shot. In fact, the best in the business. But he also likes playing with knives from time to time.'
Ebony kept still as she heard a chair being dragged before her and the smaller man sat down close in front of her.
'It remains how far you will go before you give it up.' The voice continued.
Ebony's gaze underneath the hood shifted from the big man's outline to the smaller man as she thought she made out a large blade glinting in the light.
'He will cut your garments, one at a time until we find what we are looking for.' The larger man announced. 'Unless… you tell me where you have hidden the other memory card.'
Fuck, he knows. How does he know.
'Let me warn you that he is not as skilled with a blade as he is with his guns.' The large man said coldly.
Ebony kept still but her breathing increased and her adrenaline surged as she saw the blade being brought towards her.
She felt the flat of the blade land on her hood covered cheek, before she felt it's point travel down her throat to the top of her collared shirt.
As her chest heaved, Ebony felt the blade hook itself under the top button.
With a quick upwards motion, the blade popped the button right off, also nicking her skin in the process.
Intentionally.
Ebony inhaled sharply with the sting of the blade as both men watched a single trickle of blood trail down the now exposed pale skin of her decolletage and underneath her shirt.
She was angry and somehow instead of making her scared, this made her even angrier.
Just give me my fucking camera back and let me go.
Ebony felt the blade hook itself underneath the next button on her shirt.
She refused to be intimidated.
The hood covering her face, hindering her sight was finally removed.
Ebony blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light, seeing the tree trunk of a man before her with an unusual device over his nose and mouth.
Well that explained the strange voice and the mechanical breathing.
His arms were as hairless as his head, showing off rippling muscle and defined tendons, which was amplified by shadow.
His chest was covered with a heavy steel plated vest which made his bulk even more ominous.
Viewing each other for the first time, both held perfect poker faces, neither unwilling to break the aggressive stare first.
From that moment, Ebony had a strange feeling that he was not just calculating her from the outside, but searching deeper, underneath her skin, within her soul…
The large man scrutinized the woman before him with big eyes, pale skin and long dark ponytail.
She wasn't a detective or a double agent, she really had just stumbled down here alone.
It was clear she wasn't trained in combat or interrogation techniques but surprisingly, she was holding it together rather well for a civilian.
Either that or ignorance was bliss and she didn't realize how much danger she was in right now.
'Do you have anything to say?' The big man questioned.
'Nice Halloween costume.' Ebony replied, holding her breath bracing for more pain. 'Let me guess… Hannibal Lecter.'
The larger man's eyes shifted to the smaller man.
And there it was, another button popped off her shirt as she felt another sharp sting, a second trickle of blood fell, breathing through the stinging sensation.
Judging from his reaction, the big man didn't appreciate her humor so much.
Ebony scowled at the smaller bearded man with a red bandana tied around his neck holding the threateningly large blade.
It was the same man that had found her and hit her over the head.
'Trying to compensate for something with that knife?' She spat, glaring at him with gritted teeth, through the pain.
This continued, until Ebony's shirt was completely undone revealing her black bra embellished with lace trim.
'You have ruined my favorite shirt.' She said, giving the smaller man an evil look.
This was a less than ideal situation.
Tied to a steel chair with her shirt undone was not how she thought things would go when she decided to follow the men down into the sewer.
Trying to control her breathing through the pain, Ebony looked from the blade to the big man, to the smaller man sitting beside her.
Whilst the large man grew impatient, the smaller man seemed to be enjoying this.
Almost like he was getting slightly… aroused.
Creep.
Ebony looked down at her front. Multiple trails of blood stained her skin.
The wounds were far from life threatening but they were visually unnerving… at least to her.
Death by a thousand cuts perhaps.
These men were trained, disciplined soldiers… mercenaries, she had no doubt this could go on until they got what they were after, and she was the one on the wrong end of the blade, but… Ebony still wanted her camera back.
'You guys are lucky I'm wearing black. Blood stains are almost impossible to get out.' She said, again masking her fear with another smart comment.
The large man remained still, only the slight twitch of his fingers gave away his growing… impatience.
'It seems you have some tolerance for pain Ms. Black. We could continue, but I don't have all night.' The huge man sounded slightly annoyed.
'So how about this. If you don't give up the memory card, I will break your hand.'
The curious thing was, he didn't say it in a threatening way, more like that was announcing something that was going to happen, before it happened.
A prediction, so to speak.
Ebony's eyes widened.
He had made a smart calculation about her.
She thought it over.
She loved her work.
It was the only thing that made her feel alive, forget her troubles, be in the moment.
If she did somehow get out of this alive, with a broken hand, she would never be able to work properly again.
She wasn't ready for that.
To Ebony, that was a fate worse than death.
He was testing her, and she didn't expect him to be so… convincingly effective.
The larger man closed in quickly, towards her.
Towards her right hand, slowly reaching out to touch her, hurt her.
Crush bones…
'Alright… alright.' Ebony finally breathed. 'It is in the hem of my jeans. Right side.'
The larger man stepped back as the smaller man went to work.
Placing his hands way too far up her right thigh that Ebony gave him an evil look, the smaller man ran firm palms over her bent knee, down her calf to her ankle, locating the micro card hidden in a tiny compartment sewn into the cuff of her jeans.
Handing it to his huge colleague, they both departed the room leaving Ebony in all her glory, restrained to the chair with her shirt open and wounds trickling blood down her cleavage and beyond, like streams meeting to form a river.
Ebony let out a long breath as her mind raced, attempting to make sense of her situation and find a way out of her predicament.
Now they have what they want they are going to come back in and kill me. I discovered their secret. They can't risk it getting out…
After what felt like forever to Ebony, but was more like a half hour, the pair returned to the holding room.
The larger man moved fluidly for someone his size, halting directly in front of her, feet apart, muscular arms hooked into his vest.
A perfectly balanced pose of strength and power.
'It seems you have a keen eye for detail, Ms Black. You may have captured the first sighting of billionaire Bruce Wayne in almost a decade. That is some feat indeed.' The large man said enthusiastically.
'That explains why you didn't want to surrender the memory card.' He added.
They must have enhanced her photos.
From what she had seen before, it looked like they had enough equipment down here to do… anything.
So it really was Bruce Wayne standing on that balcony after all.
'And if I hadn't come down here, my pictures would be all over the morning papers.' Ebony started like they were just having a chat.
'Not to mention the substantial pay check…' She added regretfully, realizing that she had told no one of her discovery. Not even Blake.
'And… it seems you are who you say you are, Ms Black.' The large man commented, satisfied that she was alone, and her story was genuine after conducting some research of her.
'But, the question remains, what to do with you.' He said, folding his arms, achieving the most threatening stance Ebony had seen him do so far.
'I have no doubt that you would have shared your photos from down here also. That would have posed a grave dilemma indeed… for you.' He spoke with authority, contemplating something important.
He could kill her and no one would ever know what happened.
Her body would wash up in one of the sewer outflows like many others before her…
In the silence that followed, Ebony eyed the smaller man as he casually picked dirt from underneath his fingernails with the point of the large blade, awaiting instruction.
Ebony's heart started racing as her breathing increased.
Seconds felt like hours.
This could be it for her.
She may never see daylight again.
Was her life going to end, here in this very room? Would he cut her throat? Stab her? Break her neck?
The large man remained motionless, watching Ebony eye the blade closely, weighing up what she would do to stay alive.
He noticed her chest heaving, shallow but rapid.
She was bracing for more pain.
'I should kill you now, but… you may be of some use.' He announced, pausing.
Ebony's eyes darted straight back to the huge man in anticipation.
'I am Bane.' He said proudly as if Ebony should know exactly who he was.
'I have… a proposition for you, Ms Black...'