Hello Dear Readers,

I am sorry once again for the late posting this week. I honestly just gaped it and I regret this. Also, my family and I were very busy today which is why I am posting at this late hour of day.

(Trigger Warning) Though it is not graphic there is the aftermath of a rape described here in. (Trigger Warning)

Once again I anticipate you will all find this chapter as captivating as the previous ones. I do hope that all of you are at a good time in your life. Also feel free to message me any questions you may have about the story.

Thanks for reading and have an oddly delightful day.

Sincerely,

RJ Meijers

Chapter 6: Cannot Cope

Once winter break came Harleen felt some relief knowing that she had three whole weeks before she had to worry about things again. The girl had no plans for the holidays but was just glad for the time away from everyone.

It was Christmas Eve and Harleen had decided to go for an evening stroll as it was not as cold as usual that day.

As Harleen walked along the path out of the apartment complex she heard voices ahead of her. She intended to keep walking until she recognized one of the speakers. It was Pamela, Harleen thought this odd as the woman had never mentioned knowing anyone else in the complex aside from her.

Harleen glanced down the pathway to the open porch door Pamela was standing in front of. She was talking to another woman who sounded quite cheerful. The conversation suddenly ended and then Harleen noticed them kissing one another. The kiss was not the type shared between friends or family members. After they broke apart Pamela turned around as the other women closed the door quietly behind her. She noticed Harleen standing there looking surprised.

At first Pamela said nothing then suddenly uttered trying to sound cheery, "hi Harleen."

Harleen walked up to Pamela before replying, "hello."

"What are up to this fine evening?' Pamela asked Harleen trying to sound calm even though Harleen could see the alarm in her eyes.

"Just going for an evening stroll," Harleen answered with a small shrug with a bored expression on her face.

"Oh, mind if I join you?" Pamela questioned sounding slightly panicky as she stuck her hands in her jacket pockets.

"It's fine with me," Harleen stated then began to walk towards the gate to leave the apartment complex.

It was a few minutes before either of them spoke. "Umm, about what you just saw," Pamela began sounding more than a little worried.

"Pamela, it honestly doesn't bother me if you have a girlfriend," Harleen stated before the other women could finish her sentence.

"Oh well then, that's good," Pamela replied in a surprised tone.

Harleen though it only polite to ask some light questions to show acceptance. "How long have you been dating? If you don't mind my asking," Harleen inquired as they passed an oddly dressed older gentlemen.

"Almost six months," Pamela replied as she glanced up at the starry sky in contemplation.

"I'm assuming she's nice," Harleen put forward as she to looked up at the stars.

"Very actually, she's the best girlfriend I've had so far. My mom absolutely loves her," Pamela answered sounding happy but nervous.

"That's nice. It's always good when parents are accepting of those things," Harleen responded as she watched a car over take them.

"Mhmm, though she was a little alarmed the first time I brought a girl home," Pamela mentioned as she glanced at the same car.

"I'm guessing you never came out to her," Harleen put forward as she fidgeted with a receipt in her pocket.

"Nope, never really felt the need to with her honestly," Pamela responded as loud music could be heard coming from the house they were passing.

"That must have been nice. I've only heard and read about the bad reactions," Harleen replied as she recalled her own fathers' prejudice with some bitterness.

"I know what you mean. Luckily, she explained things to my dad though they're divorced now," Pamela brought up as she glanced over at Harleen.

"Mine are as well," Harleen chimed in with a dismissive shrug.

Unsure of how to continue the conversation the two continued to walk in silence for some time before Harleen decided it was time for her to head home. "Well this is where I leave you," she told Pamela as she stopped suddenly.

Pamela had stopped slightly in front of Harleen and glanced back before replying, "okay then." She then walked on as the girl turned around to walk the other way.

As time went on and Harleen settled into things she wondered how long it would take her to reach her goal. She was already drafting a letter to allow her some field experience within the next year. She was only asking for the stuff that did not involve live patients.

Even though Harleen was training to be a criminal psychiatrist she would also need to have all the basic medical knowledge. The girl did not want to waste her time on such things as she wanted to focus on getting psychiatric experience to enter her preferred place of work as soon as possible.

Recently they had announced that they would be opening a new facility for the people they were labeling super criminals. In the last few years things had gotten very bad in the city. Only since the masked vigilante had shown up had things begun to improve. There was a lot of speculation though that he was the leading cause of this new more ferocious wave of crooks.

Harleen had already drawn her own conclusions about the masked vigilante as well as the other more well-known crime bosses who had popped up over the last few years. All of them were vermin in her eyes, she wanted nothing more than to eliminate them for That Man's sake.

Harleen's semester so far had been uneventful aside from having to go to several meetings with the board of directors in order to get her exemption to start her field training. After thoroughly explaining her reasoning for this they had agreed only on the condition that she practice on cadavers and pretend scenarios with her colleagues at her placement.

Harleen then applied to several of the local hospitals with help from her professors. Her placement was to be a paid internship position and was set for when the semester ended.

It was now early march and the snow had finally started to melt. Harleen was walking across the inner courtyard to get to one of her classes quickly when she noticed her sister was walking towards her.

Harleen's sibling was a mess. Kathrynn's hair was unkempt, her clothes were not coordinated at all and she wore no makeup. All of this was highly odd for her sister who always insisted on being at the height of fashion.

A small part of Harleen wondered what could have caused this change but then the answer was suddenly shoved at her as Kathrynn stopped suddenly in front of her.

Kathrynn stood there for a moment before handing Harleen a small black envelope then she walked off without a word.

Harleen entered the building and took off her gloves before opening the letter. It was a funeral invitation, her mother had passed away. She was a little shocked at this as there had been no other communication from any of her family members since her sister had slapped her. A part of her wondered vaguely what happened but she had more important things to worry about. She pocketed the card then proceeded to her afternoon lecture.

It was a few days later that Harleen remembered about the funeral and that was only because she found the card as she slipped on her spring jacket. The weather had gotten cold again after that first nice day and only now was it warming up again. She checked the date on the card just to see, she had no intention of going.

Harleen had no interest in such things thinking them just a waste of time as the person was already dead. The girl knew this would probably further upset Kathrynn but she decided to deal with that issue when it arose.

Harleen was getting ready for a series of interviews at the hospitals she had applied to. The girl had all of her paperwork and clothing ready to go. She knew she must be perfect, must be the only one for the job.

Setting off for her first of five interviews that week Harleen walked swiftly to the largest of the hospitals in the city. The girl wanted to work at this one the most as it had the best trained staff as well as the largest volume of patients.

Harleen knew where in the hospital she was going as the secretary had given her the directions the previous week. Now as she walked along part of her wondered vaguely how many people used the hallway she was going down. It looked older than the rest of the hospital and so far she had run into no one.

Just as Harleen was thinking she may be lost someone walked into the hallway from a side door.

He looked even more out of place then Harleen felt. He was wearing a full suit and had his black hair slicked back. Even the man's shoes were polished to a high sheen which reflected the overhead lights. His attire was more suited to a fancy dinner party then a hospital.

As the two approached one another the man stopped and asked Harleen sounding concerned, "are you lost?"

A small part of Harleen felt relieved at the question. As he had gotten closer she had noted more about him. He had very broad shoulders and was obviously hiding a well-built body under the overly fancy suit he wore. His features would probably have been considered attractive by most people but such things did not interest her.

After considering all this quickly Harleen to stopped and stood in front of him. "I think I might be," Harleen answered sounding slightly apologetic.

"I thought that might be the case, very few people use this old hallway," he said with a small chuckle. "Where are you trying to go?" He questioned sounding curious.

At this Harleen showed him the small map she had drawn as well as the office number. He looked the map over quickly then looked back at her with slight concern.

"I can take you there, but may I ask what your business is here today?" he inquired sounding a little stern.

"I have an interview today for a paid internship," Harleen replied with a questioning look she wondered shy this man thought it appropriate to ask such questions.

"You look a little young to be working here," he said with skepticism.

"This interview had been specially set up for me by the University," Harleen explained as she pulled her student card out of her pocket. "I assure you I may be young but I am fully qualified for the position," she stated sounding slightly annoyed at the man's disbelief as he had not so much as introduced himself and was acting like he owned the place.

"May I see your recommendation papers," he asked Harleen holding out his hand with an air of importance.

"I'm sorry but I don't even know who you are, so no you cannot," Harleen told him forcefully as she backed away a little. The girl was beginning to lose her patient with this man and was thinking of walking past him.

Before Harleen could do that though he chuckled slightly and replied, "sorry for upsetting you that wasn't my intention, I am Bruce Wayne." The man then pulled out his wallet as well as a business card. He showed the girl his drivers' licence and birth certificate and then he handed her the business card.

Harleen stood there stunned for a minute before she stammered, "I-I am so sorry, I d-didn't." The girl then glanced down at the card having been truly caught off guard for the first time in a while.

Bruce held up his hand at her apology and said, "it's alright, I mean what are the odds of meeting someone like me in a place like this." He then put his wallet back in his pocket.

Harleen handed over her papers to him before he could say anything else. As Harleen stood there and Mr. Wayne looked over her papers she was thankful she had decided to arrive very early to her interview. Once he finished looking through her folder he handed it back to her.

"Well that all seems to be in order. I'll take you to the office now," Mr. Wayne said as Harleen stood there mutely.

"That's alright, you can just give me new directions," Harleen suggested as she looked up at Mr. Wayne feeling slightly embarrassed.

"It's fine, I have a meeting near there soon anyway," Mr. Wayne explained as he began walking back the way he came. "What's your name by the way?" The man asked Harleen as the two entered one of the main hallways.

"Harleen Quinzel," she replied as people stared at them as they passed.

Mr. Wayne simply nodded and continued to walk on towards their destination with Harleen following closely behind. The girl could not believe she was being walked to her interview by the richest man in the city. Couldn't believe that she was walking just behind the very man who owned this hospital.

They arrived at the office rather sooner than Harleen had expected, she had been so lost in thought that she nearly bumped into Mr. Wayne as he stopped just outside the door.

"Well here we are," Mr. Wayne informed Harleen as he turned around to look at her with an encouraging smile on his face.

"Thank you so much," Harleen said sounding as grateful as possible. The girl had finally gotten over her shock and was back to playing nice.

Bruce chuckled slightly at Harleen's response before saying, "no need to thank me Ms. Quinzel." He then extended his hand to shake hers.

"P-please you don't have to address me so formally," Harleen told Mr. Wayne as she quickly shook his hand.

"Well I'll have to once you start working here, well bye for now," Mr. Wayne said quickly then walked off before Harleen could say anything else.

Harleen glanced at her phone before entering the room and breathed a sigh of relief, she still had fifteen minutes before the interview started. The girl informed the secretary inside why she was there and then took a seat.

The interview went well, and on the way home that afternoon Harleen hoped she would get in. The girl knew it was unlikely and that one of the smaller hospitals was more practical but the possibility was still there.

So Harleen was very surprised when she got a call just after four that afternoon from her interviewer telling her she had got the position as well as her start date. After thanking the woman profusely before hanging up the phone she thought of running into Bruce Wayne and wondered if all this was his doing.

That evening Harleen phoned the other hospitals and canceled her interviews for the week explaining to them that she had already been offered a spot.

The attire Harleen would require for the job was much different than anything she owned. The girl had never worn scrubs before and did not know how to shop for them. Harleen decided to call up Pamela and ask for help with this.

"You want help with what?" Pamela asked sounding more than a little surprised at Harleen's request.

"I want your help shopping for work clothes," Harleen explained again as she grabbed a glass out of her cupboard.

"Okay, when were you planning on going and what type of clothes are we talking about here?" Pamela questioned further still sounding skeptical

"I have some free time two weekends from now on the Saturday, and I need to buy scrubs," Harleen answered as she grabbed ice cubes and juice out of her refrigerator.

"Oh well that time works, but why do you need help buying scrubs? From what I know they're all pretty much the same," Pamela inquired as Harleen removed ice cubes from the tray and deposited them in her glass.

"Well I don't know how they're supposed to fit. The hospital said to make sure they're not excessively baggy because of the department I'm working in but I'm not sure what they mean by that. I just don't want to call them back over such a trivial thing," Harleen explained as she headed towards her couch with the drink.

Pamela sighed then answered sounding slightly amused, "alright I'll come but under one condition."

Harleen sat back on her couch before asking, "which is?'

"We also look for a proper bra for you," Pamela stated quickly as Harleen choked on her drink a little.

After coughing quite a bit she enquired still gasping slightly, "why do we have to do that?"

"Because you're getting to the age where you need one. Plus if you're working with cadavers do you really want all the gunk from it to get on your boobs," Pamela expanded as Harleen tried to think of a way to get out of this part of the trip.

"Ya and I don't want to waste money on something that has no purpose except to make my breasts have a certain shape to them when under a shirt," Harleen retorted sounding annoyed.

"Well how bout we just look, you don't have to buy it if you don't want to," Pamela suggested sounding hopeful.

Harleen held in a sigh at this, she knew her friend wouldn't back down and Harleen didn't feel like arguing with her over something so inconsequential. "Fine, I'll see you then, bye," she finished then hung up the phone quickly.

The shopping day was actually the same day as the funeral. The two ate bagels and drank tea as they browsed through the stores that sold the clothing Harleen would need. Trying on the uniforms wasn't as awkward as Harleen thought it would be.

"I told you it wouldn't be to bad," Pamela stated as Harleen walked out wearing her fourth set of scrubs.

"I'm just glad I get to pick the colours," Harleen said as she stared down at the dark red top and black pants.

"Did they say anything about shoes?" Pamela inquired as she noticed Harleen's old sneakers.

"I just need non-skid shoes. They also advised I wear a long sleeve shirt under these," Harleen answered as she re-entered the change room.

"Makes sense. Don't you get some kind of smock to wear over your clothes as well?" Pamela inquired as she tried to recall the garments Harleen would be wearing.

"Yep, those are looked after by the hospital though. I think I've figured out the sizing now," Harleen told Pamela as she changed out of the scrubs.

Now that Harleen knew how the garments were supposed to fit she managed to find a good number of them for herself. After storing them in Pamela's car, she owned a small car but hated to use it because it was bad for the environment.

Now they were driving towards another mall to try on the one thing Harleen was dreading. Pamela practically dragged her into the largest lingerie store in the place. After getting fitted which Harleen found very awkward the two were lead around the store by a sales woman who reeked of perfume. After trying on all the bras that were given to her she found one that fit quite well but decided not to buy it due to the price.

They left the store after Pamela bought three things herself. "It sucks that the only one you liked was to pricey," Pamela stated looking over at her friend.

Harleen merely shrugged in response as the two walked on.

"I'll drive you home now as it's getting late and I promised my mom I'd cook tonight," Pamela explained as they headed for the exit.

"That would be good. I could do with dinner myself," Harleen stated sounding a little exhausted.

"At least you got everything else you needed," Pamela said with a small shrug as she unlocked her car.

"Ya, now I just gotta wash them and make sure I bring enough extras with me when I start," Harleen responded as she got into the car.

Just after turning on the car Harleen popped the radio on as she did not feel like talking.

This turned out to be advantageous as just before the song ended the emergency broadcast for the city came on.

The broadcast said to avoid the downtown financial area as one of the infamous crime bosses was currently having a standoff with the police there.

"I wonder which one it is this time?" Pamela mumbled to herself in an annoyed tone as she now had to take a longer route back to Harleen's place.

"I prefer it when they say which one it is, rather then this general garbage," Harleen stated in a somewhat irritated manner.

"Why's that?" Pamela questioned sounding confused.

"Because of my studies. If it's one of the ones I'm doing my research on this helps me determine whether or not it's worth looking up what happened. Without a solid identification I'll have to look it up myself and possibly waste my time," Harleen explained as the music came back on after the regular radio announcer.

"I can see why that would be bothersome. I mean you already have a lot of work after all," Pamela pointed out as she turned another corner.

"Ugh, you have no idea," Harleen lamented as she leaned back in her seat and looked out the window.

"Which ones are you studying exactly?" Pamela inquired in an interested voice.

"Are you familiar with their aliases or their actual names?" Harleen queried as she was not sure of Pamela's level of knowledge on this subject.

"Honestly I don't even know if I remember the aliases. So far no one I know aside from you has any interest in these things except to stay as far away as possible from the whole mess," Pamela told Harleen as she pulled over slightly so an ambulance could rush past them.

"Do you remember their physical descriptions?" Harleen questioned as she tried to figure out how to explain things.

"Probably," Pamela answered as she resumed driving at the normal speed.

"Well there's the guy who has to be kept in the cold suit. The one with the deformed hands and the one who looks similar to a clown. There are other criminals as well but those are the ones I'm specifically studying," Harleen informed Pamela as they stopped at a traffic light.

Once home Harleen put away everything neatly, then instead of eating booted up her laptop to do some more research for her scrapbook.

The following Monday just before Harleen was about to head home she ran into her sister. The young women looked positively livid as she stared at her younger sister. "Why didn't you come?' Kathrynn asked in a low whisper, her hands balled into fists at her sides.

"I didn't think it would be a good idea," Harleen answered simply as she stared back at Kathrynn with a blank expression.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kathrynn questioned sounding slightly vicious at Harleen's response.

"Well, seeing as you and Nathan were likely both there and you both don't want to be around me I thought it best I didn't attend," Harleen explained as Kathrynn's expression kept getting more furious.

"Don't give me your bullshit Harleen. I gave you that invitation cause Nathan and I agreed you should be there. We agreed because she wouldn't want us fighting with you like this," Kathrynn retorted as tears formed in her eyes.

"That may be so, but you didn't tell me any of that when you handed me the invitation. I'm not psychic Kathrynn so it's not like I would have known unless you said something to me," Harleen stated as her expression remained unreadable.

"Stop making excuses, stop blaming us for your uncaring attitude," Kathrynn yelled back as she stepped closer to Harleen.

Harleen sighed before replying sounding annoyed, "As this conversation is going nowhere and I have other places to be I'm going to leave now."

As Harleen turned to walk away from Kathrynn her sister grabbed her by the hair quickly and yanked her back. "You don't even care, you don't even care," Kathrynn screeched as she pulled her sister around to face her then punched her in the face.

Harleen yelped at the sudden blow and stumbled back almost falling over. As Kathrynn advanced on her to continue the assault she threw her hands up instead of hitting back. Harleen allowed Kathrynn to bring her to the ground and continue punching her as she knew it would not last long.

It took only a few seconds for Harleen to hear people yelling and running over to them. Her sister was pulled off her by two guys as another leaned down to see if Harleen was alright.

Harleen glared at Kathrynn with tears in her eyes and yelled, "this right here is why I didn't go. Cause I knew no matter what I said or how I said it you two would end up misinterpreting it. I do care Kathrynn, she was my mother too." The girl then appeared to break down sobbing.

Kathrynn looked stricken by what she had just done to her sibling. "Harleen please I," she began as she reached towards her younger sister.

Harleen inched away from her and said in a pleading voice, "p-please just s-stay away from me. All you people ever do is hurt me. And besides I don't see how you could have wanted me there as you sided with that bastard when he beat me for doing what was right." Harleen practically threw this last bit of information in her sisters face.

Kathrynn backed away unsure of what to do. One of the young men who had come offered to take Harleen to the on-campus nurse. "Yes, thank you," she replied as she turned to follow him.

After visiting the nurse Harleen was sent home with an ice pack and a letter to get the next day off. Once she was home she examined all of her injuries as usual and noted them in her journal. There wasn't much visible damage but her back ached quite a bit. She assumed this was from when she fell over as her sister leaped on her.

Harleen went to class the next day anyway as there was an important test and she had to hand in an extra credit assignment about her placement that summer.

Once the semester ended and Harleen's job started she felt more relaxed. On the very first day she was shown were she would be working and it was full of equipment she had only read about. There was also a fresh corpse being prepped for transport to the morgue.

They were starting Harleen here on body prep then later on that month she would be trained on how to process bodies down in the morgue. She looked forward most to this as she had never seen an actual autopsy herself and couldn't wait to try it herself.

As the summer passed and Harleen got more and more invested in her job she completely forgot to phone John and Pamela for almost six weeks.

It was a week and a half before Harleen's birthday when Pamela phoned Harleen up sounding worried. "Why haven't you returned my calls," she asked sounding more than a little hurt.

"Sorry Pamela I've just been so caught up with work. All the in-field stuff is just so interesting, before I know it I'm at the hospital till eight or nine at night," Harleen explained apologetically.

Pamela sighed before replying in a slightly annoyed tone, "you always get to caught up in work."

"I know and I'm sorry. So what did you want, why did you call?" Harleen asked as she fell backwards on to her bed.

"I called to talk and to invite you to something," Pamela answered still sounding a little miffed.

"Invite me to what?" Harleen questioned as she stretched out her legs.

"I'm having a party with all my Eco Warrior friends and I thought you might like to come as it's just after your birthday and we can celebrate together before the party starts. I guess if you're working so much though you won't be able to come will you?" Pamela explained sounding disappointed.

"Hmmm, that depends on when you're having it. The hospital is making me take some time off in the next couple of weeks because with everything I've had to learn I've been going in everyday and they don't want me to use up all my contracted hours before the new school year starts," Harleen informed Pamela as she got up off the bed to go and check her calendar.

Pamela told her the date as Harleen scanned that week. "You're in luck I have both the Friday and the Saturday off so it should be fine," she told her friend quickly then turned away from the wall.

"Oh that's awesome, thanks so much," Pamela exclaimed excitedly.

"You're welcome. Now I have to go, I have a bunch of research to do for tomorrow's mock group therapy session," Harleen stated as she headed back towards her living room.

"Okay, bye," Pamela answered sounding cheerful.

Pamela and Harleen met up early the morning of the party. The two went shopping for the food for the party as Pamela was planning on making nachos and home made pizza.

Pamela brought Harleen to a small café that did custom cupcakes for her birthday present.

"So what base do you want?" The shop owner asked as Harleen scanned the shelves.

"Hmm, that one," Harleen answered as she pointed to a red velvet cupcake.

"Alright, well tell me what ya want on it and I'll split it for the two of ya," the woman told them as she turned to look at the topping board above her head.

Harleen chose red and black cream cheese icing with rainbow sprinkles.

They headed back to Pamela's place after this and began setting up for the party.

As the guests began to arrive they introduced themselves and began putting their own food and beverage items on the table. Harleen noticed that most of them were around Pamela's age or older and almost all of them brought alcohol.

Harleen mostly kept to herself and just enjoyed the food for the first while as not many people were bothering with it at first.

It did not take long for a few people to start getting drunk. Harleen felt completely out of place as she sat silently next to Pamela who was getting steadily more tipsy.

"Hey you need a new one," Pamela asked as she leaned towards Harleen, her breath smelling heavily of booze.

"Sure, just remember no alcohol," Harleen answered sheepishly.

Pamela waved away Harleen's comment and replied, "ya, ya I know miss underage." The woman then got up to get them their drinks.

Harleen watched her weaving slightly as she walked towards the kitchen where a small group of people were sitting by all the liquor. The girl was thinking of getting up to leave as it was getting late and people were beginning to act out due to their drinking.

One of the guys sitting across from Harleen suddenly asked, "hey what's your name again?'

"It's Harleen," she answered looking over at him.

"Harleen huh, that's a nice name," he said with a smile as he leaned forward in his seat. "I'm Adrian," he told her as he extended his hand for her to shake. The girl shook his hand quickly as Pamela sat back down next to her. After Harleen took a large gulp of her drink Adrian asked, "how do you know Pamela?'

"Oh we met at University, we had the same elective class in our first year and we just sort of got along after that," Harleen answered then took another sip.

"Oh I see what class was that," Adrian questioned and then took a sip of his own drink.

"It was Movies and Film in The 20th Century," Harleen recalled as she set her drink on her leg with her hand covering the top.

"I never took that course. Was it any good?" Adrian questioned sounding interested.

"It was okay," Harleen answered truthfully as she took another sip of her drink.

Harleen and Adrian kept talking like this for a while and that was the last thing she remembered. Next thing the girl knew she woke up face down on a bed that did not feel like hers.

Harleen lifted her head up and felt pain instantly shoot through her whole skull. Harleen blinked several times as the room around her came into focus. As the girl's senses came back to her she realized not only that she was in a strange place but that she was entirely naked and sore in all the wrong places.

Harleen yelled in anguish as she realized what must have happened to her. The worst part was she didn't remember anything about the previous night beyond half the conversation she had with Adrian. As the girl got up slowly she listened to make sure she was alone. It seemed the girl's assaulter had already left and she was in a cheap motel room.

Harleen gingerly got out of bed and tried not to look at herself as she knew it would only disgust her at that moment.

As Harleen gathered up her clothes and checked her phone which was miraculously still in her purse she wondered vaguely where she was.

After getting dressed and quickly checking her appearance Harleen left the room and began to walk along the road. The girl did not recognize where she was but she hoped she was still in the city.

Harleen had been walking for thirty minutes and had just begun considering asking for directions when she saw up ahead of her a building she recognized. It was the local library which was a good hour long walk from her current home.

After catching the bus home Harleen immediately got into the shower and washed herself with scalding hot water.

Harleen had to resist the urge to punch the shower walls knowing that it would do nothing but hurt her hand. The girl wanted to track down whomever had done this to her and disembowel them, she wanted to skin them alive to do the things to them she was being taught in her cadaver classes.

After getting out of the bathroom Harleen heard her phone ringing. She answered and heard Pamela on the other end, "did you make it home alright last night?"

Harleen had an urge to yell at her friend but knew it would do no good. Pamela probably didn't know what had happened to her any more than she did. She already knew the woman wasn't the type to allow these things to happen to others. "Ya I did," was all Harleen said in response.

"Oh good, I figured you went home last night since you weren't here when I woke up," Pamela stated with a yawn.

"Ya I'm fine, things just got a little to rowdy for me is all," Harleen explained sounding apologetic.

"Sorry about that. It really isn't fun to be the only sober person at a party like that," Pamela said sounding sorry herself.

"It's alright. The food was good anyway," Harleen told Pamela which was true.

"Ya it was wasn't it. Well I gotta go Harleen, everyone who stayed over wants to go out for breakfast," Pamela stated as someone began talking to her in the background.

"Kay well I'll talk to you another time, bye," Harleen responded then hung up the phone.

As the weeks went by after what happened to her Harleen wanted more and more desperately to forget.

It had started coming back to Harleen in snippets and she just wanted more then anything to get these images out of her head. She knew what she was suffering from due to her research but try as she might her attempts at self counselling did nothing.

The worst part though were the nightmares that had started just a week after. The girl would wake up in a cold sweat and she was unable to fall back asleep again even if less then an hour had passed.

Harleen began to look up everything he could on how to get rid of nightmares but nothing she tried worked.

It had been almost six weeks since Harleen had been raped when Pamela phoned her once again.

Harleen could barely understand her friend as she spoke rapidly, "I have to get rid of the alcohol or I'll lose my lease."

Harleen didn't know why Pamela just didn't throw the stuff out. "And you can't throw it away why?" She asked sounding more than a little annoyed.

"Because my landlord is coming in an hour and I don't have time. Most of them are still half full or unopened and they're already in my car. I don't want to just get rid of them either as some of them are very expensive," Pamela explained as Harleen sat there was her head in her hand.

"Fine whatever, just don't forget to pick them up as soon as possible," Harleen told Pamela as she stood up.

"Oh thank you so much, I'll be right over," Pamela said then hung up the phone.

Pamela left immediately after dropping off the alcohol. Harleen couldn't understand why she had so much of it. There were three bags full of different sized bottles. All of it was either wine or hard liquor and as she said it was largely unopened or half full.

Harleen felt thoroughly annoyed now and decided to go out and kill again as she had just procured the last thing she needed to do this.

It did not take Harleen long to capture a blue jay as she patiently waited by its empty nest.

The small creature was no match for Harleen as she tied its beak shut and vivisected it slowly.

Unfortunately, the only past she found somewhat calming was when she slowly took apart it's feet. This she summarised was probably due to how delicately she had to work to separate each tiny part as the bird struggled.

The rest of the operation left her feeling unsatisfied and slightly sour about how bad things were for her at the moment.

A few more weeks had passed since then and Harleen still couldn't sleep. It was getting so bad that her work was being affected and she had begun to nod off at her desk. Her other colleagues had begun to notice and her supervisor even asked her if she was doing alright.

"I'm fine, just haven't been sleeping well recently," Harleen explained looking up at her supervisor.

"You sure you aren't overworking yourself?" The women asked looking concerned.

"Yes I'm sure. I just been having trouble falling asleep is all," Harleen reassured her.

"Well just in case I want you to take tomorrow off and rest," she told the girl sounding stern. Harleen knew there was no point in arguing this so she agreed.

As hard as Harleen tried that night and well into the next day she either couldn't sleep or if she did drift off it wasn't long till the nightmares started. She was at her wits end and didn't know what to do.

Harleen had tried killing animals in various ways but even that had not helped in the slightest. The girl had even contemplated stealing a cat from a far away neighbourhood or else trying to find ally cats downtown.

Harleen was pacing around her apartment in frustration when she kicked her wardrobe. She heard a tinkling sound coming from inside and looked inside in curiosity. The girl had forgotten that she had hidden the bags full of alcohol in it. She used the wardrobe for her excess winter clothing so she didn't go in it often.

Harleen slowly reached into one of the bags and pulled out a bottle. It was an unopened bottle of rum. As she stood there looking at the bottle something in her brain kicked in automatically and she opened the bottle and took a swig. The taste was terrible and it burned her throat. The girl bent over coughing and spluttering from the harshness of it. Harleen straightened up after a few minutes then glanced back at the bottle. The girl didn't like what she was contemplating but at this point she was desperate.

That night Harleen drank till she felt sleepy and she knew she must be drunk. The girl finally fell asleep and didn't dream. When she woke up the next morning she felt a little better. She had no hangover as far as she could tell and her body was rested for the first time in over a month.

Harleen began drinking every night to avoid the nightmares. No one noticed as it didn't affect her grades or her work. She only ever drank enough to sleep and nothing more.

Harleen's mind though was violently protesting her actions. The girl knew this was bad for her, knew she should deal with what was happening to her. She also knew the stigma attached to what had happened to her and she didn't want to deal with all the trouble it would bring.

Harleen had begun to self-harm once more but this time she used her wrists. Since she lived alone and generally wore long sleeves she knew no one would notice.

At Harleen's work she was usually fully suited up and wore long sleeves under her scrubs due to the air conditioning.

Since Harleen's performance level at her internship was once again back on track and she was still doing well in school no one suspected a thing. She also decided if Pamela asked her for the alcohol back she would lie and say she had to get rid of it.

Things went on like that for quite some time without issue until John said to Harleen, "is something wrong?" he seemed to be watching her more than usual lately.

"Nope," Harleen answered as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Well I noticed you haven't been talking as much lately or eating as much," John informed Harleen as he peered down at her.

"I'm fine John really, you don't need to worry," Harleen assured her friend before taking another bite.

"Alright," John responded though he did not sound convinced as he looked at Harleen with concern.

Harleen new John was sharper about these things than most people and decided to put in more effort to act as though things were the same as ever.

Now as the months went by and Harleen began running out of alcohol she knew she had to think up something. What the girl did decide to do though she knew would be highly illegal if she got caught.

Harleen made herself a fake I.D and began trying to apply makeup. She had never done this before as she saw no use for the stuff. The girl also knew she would have to go to bars in the shadier parts of town in order to not get found out.

After figuring out everything Harleen knew she would need to bring along protection of some kind. People in that area wouldn't be deterred by things like mace or keys so instead she modified a small backpack to carry what she would need.

Harleen made an invisible compartment on each side of it to carry hammers. Harleen knew from experience that they probably wouldn't be lethal but they would at least subdue her attacker if she swung them right.

Once Harleen had everything in hand and her booze supply had truly run out she decided to try out her idea.

Thanks for joining me again and I trust you enjoyed the read. Because if you didn't, well there's nothing I can do about that anyways.

I also want to take this opportunity to inform all of you that I after the next chapter posting in two weeks I will be posting monthly there after. This is due to me needing more time to commit to writing the book I am working on. If any of you are interested please follow me on twitter or instagram.

Until next time my dear readers, I bid you a fulfilling day.

Sincerely,

RJ Meijers