Hello Readers,
Honestly just kept forgetting to post this as I have now been working full throttle on my book. I'm actually almost finished. I decided to post this right now though cause I remembered it was finished.
Not sure when I'll post again but it may take months. Sorry guys I just really want to finish something I've started for once. Anyway I think you'll find this interesting. Either way it's up to you though.
Sincerely,
RJ Meijers
Chapter 7: Second Encounter
The guy at the front door to the club Harleen had chosen let her in easily. She knew this place was probably just looking for fresh customers and being young and female the boys would follow.
That was the one thing the Harleen hated about this, she had to expose herself in a way that was uncomfortable and foreign to her. The clothing was the worst part as the girl had to hide the scars while at the same time showing enough skin to make the right impression.
Harleen drank her fill of booze as quickly as possible then slipped out a back entrance to get back home. As this became a nightly routine for her, she quickly learned which bars where a better bargain for her money and which ones watered down their booze.
Harleen was at one of the four bars she now frequented when the bartender handed her a drink before she even asked. As the girl had not watched the man prepare the drink, she purposely spilled it after pretending to drink a little.
For two months Harleen managed to pull off this ruse with almost no problems. That was until she noticed her alcohol tolerance was going up and she was still slightly drunk the next morning when she went to class.
John had also been increasingly vehement that something was wrong with her and even Pamela had started to take notice. Harleen brushed them off each time just saying that her internship was getting more demanding as they were beginning to conduct mock exams for her group therapy skills.
"Have you asked them to slow things down a little? If you're overworking yourself that won't end well," John advised Harleen in a mildly stern tone.
"Like I said it's only for the next little while that it will be this busy. I can hold out and besides if I slow down my internship will take longer," Harleen pointed out in a somewhat sour voice.
John let out a frustrated sigh before saying, "just don't overdo it. You won't be able to finish at all if you burn yourself out."
"Like I said don't worry so much. It will be over soon then I can get some more rest," Harleen reassured John then took a sip of her water.
It was another Friday night and Harleen had decided this was the last time she would go to the bars as her tolerance was becoming to high. After entering the bar she sat down on the far side of the bar front and ordered her usual.
Harleen was on her second drink when the last person she wanted to see walked up beside her and ordered a drink.
It was John and he instantly recognized Harleen as she sat there looking more than a little alarmed. Instead of waiting for his drink the young man grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away from the bar without a word. Halfway across the room he signaled at someone else then proceeded to drag the girl outside.
John only let go of Harleen once they were outside and to her dismay the other person with him was Pamela.
"What the hell where you doing in there?" John practically yelled at Harleen sounding extremely angry.
"Probably the same thing you were," Harleen retorted sounding equally as angry.
John paused for a moment, caught by surprise at her truthful retort. John then sighed and asked, "is this why you've been acting weird lately?"
Harleen sighed as well knowing there was no point fighting about this, though she had to think fast to cover her tracks. "Partially yes, I was using it as a bit of a stress reliever," she told him trying to sound slightly guilty.
"Harleen, you know that's one of the worst things you can do," John informed Harleen crossing his arms.
"Maybe so, but what about you then?" Harleen replied sounding a little resentful at John's words.
"Sorry Harleen, it was my idea. I wanted to go out tonight and had no one to go with," Pamela chimed in sounding remorseful.
"Really, and you guys are lecturing me," Harleen stated sounding even more frustrated.
"How bout we all just forget about this and go home," John suggested as he looked from one young woman to the other.
Harleen shook her head slightly then seemed to deflate in a defeated sort of way. "Ya, alright," the girl responded in a tone of finality.
Harleen felt terrible that she had been caught as this would mean she would have to come up with another idea to stave off the nightmares.
As the three of them were about to exit the alleyway behind the bar a man turned the corner and blocked their way.
"Excuse us," John said then tried to step around the man.
"I think not," the man replied pulling out a small handgun.
At the sight of the weapon Harleen instinctively reached for the hidden hammers in her backpack. She had made sure the openings where at her hand height so as not to arouse suspicion in a situation like this.
Harleen released the small snaps holding the compartments closed and allowed them both to drop down somewhat. This way she was holding them by her sides near the very end of the handle. The girl knew this would give her maximum swing strength if she got a good amount of momentum.
The man backed the three of them up against the alleyway wall. Harleen watched him closely as John fumbled for his wallet clearly in a state of panic. The instant the man lowered his gun slightly Harleen took her opportunity.
Harleen took a wide step forward and swung the first hammer up directly at the man's chin. A split second later as the man stood slightly dazed the gun only vaguely held now, she swung the second one directly at his back. He crumpled slightly, the girl took this time to swing back down with her left hand landing a blow directly on the top of his head.
Once he was down from this Harleen did not stop, she kept swinging wildly. Part way through she realized the thrill she was getting from this. More than alcohol almost as good as killing the animals. Something seemed to solidify in her mind as she continued to beat the man into a bloody mess. This was fun, beating people was exhilarating.
Finally, as the man at Harleen's feet stopped stirring she paused panting, with a crazed smile on her face. She stood there for a good few minutes before her adrenaline-fueled thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clapping.
Harleen's head whipped around at the new sound and she saw to her utter astonishment that Man. He was slowly walking up to the three of them and was clapping rather enthusiastically, as though he had just seen an entertaining show.
He stopped about two feet behind Harleen before he finished clapping. "Well, well, that was quite the performance if I do say so myself," he stated as he swayed back and forth on his heels with his hands held behind his back.
Harleen was unsure how to reply, but she also felt overly thrilled. He was here, he had just seen what she was capable of. The girl stood up and stepped slightly away from the man's bloody body.
This is when Harleen saw her handiwork for the first time under the glare from the artificial light in the alleyway.
Harleen could clearly see several sunken in parts of the man's face. His arms and legs were splayed out and the upper half of his shirt was a bloody mess. Both of his eyes were blackened and his nose and teeth were almost all gone by this point.
Even the pavement was covered in dark streaks of fresh blood.
The man walked around to the body and leaned down to examine it. All the while Harleen never took her eyes off of him. He felt the man's neck then made a slight tutting sound. "Still alive," he said sounding a little disappointed.
Harleen felt the world crash down around her slightly. She had not done a good enough job, even though it was an impromptu one.
The Man straightened up then faced Harleen. "Well, for what I'm assuming is your first try, it was rather impressive how much you got into it," he told her with a slight smile.
Harleen said nothing to this as she knew Pamela and John were still standing there watching in horror.
He stepped closer to Harleen and put his hands on the back of her arms. He slid his hands down to her hands then said, "if only you were a little older," he began then slid his hands up her bare wrists feeling the fresh cut marks there. "And a little more battle scarred," he finished then took the hammers from her.
"Wha," Harleen began sounding confused.
The Man held his hand up and Harleen fell silent. "I'll take the blame for this one, after all this was supposed to be his initiation," he explained as he glanced down at the man still unmoving on the ground.
"Ummm," Harleen said unsure of what came next.
"Go, I'm sure if you keep doing these things we'll meet again," The Man told Harleen then walked off in the other direction.
Harleen's mind finally seemed to catch up and she bolted without a single word to Pamela or John.
Harleen ran flat out for several blocks before finally pausing to catch her breath. She knew she must be in a horrible state and needed to get home quickly. After glancing around and realizing where she was the girl knew she could be home in ten minutes if she walked fast enough.
Once home Harleen ran to look at herself in the mirror. Most of her body and clothing was covered in small flecks of dried blood and her hair and makeup were a mess.
After getting cleaned up instead of writing in her journal as Harleen would usually have done after this sort of thing she went straight to bed out of sheer exhaustion.
No nightmares came to Harleen that night and she was surprised when she woke up in the morning feeling refreshed.
As Harleen made her breakfast she went over the previous night in her mind and came to one conclusion. She needed more training, but not the intellectual kind.
The Man had made Harleen realize just how weak she was and that she knew must be rectified if she was to be indispensable to him. The girl also had the idea that it might help her sleep and would definitely come in handy if she had any more unwanted encounters.
Before looking into these things though Harleen made another passage in her journal about her latest encounter.
Harleen first noted the details of how she beat the man who tried to rob them. After this she went over what she could remember of the blood splatter both at the scene and on herself. Lastly, she wrote down everything she could recall about That Man, right down to their short conversation.
After looking through a few different websites Harleen found exactly what she was looking for. An all women's mixed martial arts training group. Once she looked over her schedule and that of the groups various training times she knew she would have to do some reorganizing to fit it in.
On Monday Harleen felt a little worried about what Pamela and John might say to her but to her relief neither of them sought her out. The girl thought this a little odd but just assumed they were still sorting things out in their own heads, either that or they were now afraid of her. This did not bother Harleen though as she never really wanted to bother with them in the first place.
After Harleen's classes were finished she went to the building where the martial arts group was being held. Upon entering she noticed there was a lot of different sections to the gym area. The entryway was well lit and looked like any other office building entry with a small desk at the front and several doors leading to other rooms. The only difference being the many trophies and medals that adorned the walls. The older lady at the desk smiled at her cheerfully.
"Hello, are you looking to sign up for classes or just a tour?" The woman asked Harleen kindly.
"I'd like to sign up, but I would like a tour first, if that's okay?" Harleen asked giving the woman a small smile.
"Sure thing. Just one moment please," the woman replied then grabbed a phone on the desk.
She waited a few moments before someone on the other end picked up. "Hey Cheryl, I have a young lady here who would like a tour before signing up for classes," the woman explained to the person on the other end of the phone.
The woman on the other end said something Harleen could not make out then the other woman replied with, "alright, see you in a few minutes." She then hung up the phone and looked back up at Harleen.
Harleen was looking at the woman somewhat expectantly. "Cheryl will be here in a moment to show you around. You may take a seat over there," the woman informed Harleen then nodded towards a row of metal folding chairs against the opposite wall.
"Thank you," Harleen stated cheerfully then took a seat.
Harleen glanced behind her at the medals strung up on the wall just above her head. The awards had been given to various different people in all different martial arts categories.
Just as Harleen was about to get up and inspect some of the larger trophies that where lined up on the floor by the desk a short, somewhat plump woman, with dark brown hair that was kept short, walked out from a door to her left. The woman looked over at Harleen for a moment as though caught off guard.
Harleen knew she did not exactly look the type to sign up for martial arts classes, what with her business attire and glasses dangling from her neck.
"Are you the one who wanted the tour?" The woman asked in a slight southern drawl.
Harleen stood up and turned before answering, "yep." Then she gave the woman a cheerful smile.
"Alright follow me, the names Cheryl by the way," the woman stated then turned as Harleen walked towards her.
"I'm Harleen," Harleen responded then followed Cheryl through the door.
The facility was rather larger than Harleen was expecting. Not only did it have three dojos, there was also a gym and even a sparring area specifically for matches. The locker room had showers and everyone it seemed had their own personal locker.
"That about does it," Cheryl told Harleen as they walked back through to the reception area.
"Thank you," Harleen said pretending to sound eager as she looked around the room once more.
"You're quite welcome," Cheryl said then handed Harleen off to the receptionist who was just hanging up the phone.
"Well what did you think?" The woman asked sounding expectant as she looked up at Harleen.
"It was a lot bigger than I thought," Harleen answered truthfully as she heard loud voices coming from an adjoining hallway.
"I hear that a lot," the woman responded then chuckled a little.
"Are there any forms I need to fill out?" Harleen asked stepping closer to the desk.
"Yep, here you go, and here's a pen," the woman responded then handed Harleen a small package of papers and a pen.
"Thanks," Harleen said then took the items from the woman.
It did not take long to read through the few pages but then she noticed she needed a guardian signature for being under eighteen.
Harleen went up to the desk to inquire. "Umm, for the guardian signature. I'm actually emancipated from my parents and have full legal status as an adult. So, would it be alright to bring in my paperwork showing that so I can sign it myself?" The girl asked as she pointed out the line on the forms.
The receptionist looked slightly confused at this as she had obviously never heard of this before. "I don't see it being a problem but let me just get the manager to look into things first and we can call you back about it," she told Harleen as the girl stood there looking expectant.
"Alright then, I'll return the forms as soon as I can after you find out," Harleen replied as she picked the papers back up. "I guess I should just leave my name and number for now?" Harleen mused as she opened her laptop bag to put the papers in it.
"Yep," the woman replied as she handed a pen and a sticky note pad to Harleen.
It was almost a full three days before the manager finally got back to Harleen about the papers.
"I looked into it and from what I can see you signing for yourself should be fine," the manager confirmed as she leaned back in her swivel chair.
"Oh good, I'll drop the forms off tomorrow then," Harleen told the woman sounding pleased.
"Well I hope you enjoy it here," The manager stated in a satisfied tone.
"I'm sure I will, and thanks again," Harleen replied as she switched hands.
"I guess we'll see you tomorrow," the woman answered as Harleen heard the sound for the other line going off. "I think I have another phone call so I'll let you go," the manger informed the girl as Harleen took a sip of her tea.
"Alright then, bye," Harleen responded then hung up the phone.
"Well that all seems to be in order, you can start tomorrow. Just make sure to bring clothes that are easy to move in or you can purchase some of the gyms training clothes," the woman informed her as she opened a drawer full of files under the desk.
"I think I'll just see what you have available here," Harleen answered sounding unsure.
"Very well, just let me find a catalogue," the woman told her then began opening drawers in the desk.
After a few minutes of rummaging around the woman handed Harleen a rather thick magazine. "Here you are. We keep most of the stuff in stock here so just show me what you want and I'll write it down and have someone check for your size. Also you'll need to bring a lock for your locker," the woman told her as Harleen began to flip through the catalogue.
After choosing several outfits as well as some sparring gear Harleen paid for all of it and the woman had someone bring the stuff up.
"Try it all on at home then if anything doesn't fit just bring it back and we'll exchange it," the woman stated after putting all of Harleen's purchases in bags.
"Thank you, I'll do that," Harleen responded as she picked up the bags and gave the woman an appreciative smile.
Harleen started classes the next day and although she found following the rhythm to be boring she knew this was a means to an end as without the alcohol and no means to tire herself out the nightmares had begun to come back.
Harleen chose to practice at home as well as her lessons at the gym for this seemed to exhaust her enough to sleep peacefully.
Within a few months Harleen noted the changes in her body that this new regime was causing. Marking down her progress in her journal she had even begun to spar with others at the place. The girl knew she had to hold back during these times but sorely wished she could swing as hard as she wanted.
During this whole time neither Pamela or John approached Harleen and whenever they passed her in the halls they all but ignored her. This suited her though as she felt she had no time for them what with her internship becoming more demanding as well as her time spent at the gym.
Harleen's instructor took notice of her devotion to learning all the different styles and mentioned entering some upcoming competitions. The girl declined however explaining that it would interfere with her schooling.
"That's a damn shame Harleen," her instructor stated sounding a little disappointed.
"I'm sorry instructor Joanna, it's just I'm in the middle of the most critical part of my education," Harleen explained sounding apologetic.
"No need to apologize," Joanna said waving her hand dismissively. "You gotta get your education after all. You're just about finished high school aren't cha?" the woman asked sounding curious.
"No actually, I'm actually in an advanced course to become a criminal psychiatrist," Harleen explained sounding a little sheepish.
Joanna looked understandably flabbergasted at this news. "But you're only like seventeen aren't cha?" She asked sounding more than a little confused.
"I'm fifteen actually, I won't be sixteen until the summer," Harleen explained as the woman's astonishment mounted.
"Wow, you must be one smart cookie then. What are you doing wasting time here?" Joanna asked sounding a little skeptical.
"Well I figured since I'm likely going to be working in a prison or high security psychiatric hospital I should know how to defend myself," Harleen informed Joanna with a timid smile.
Joanna nodded then said, "makes sense. Well keep up the good work is all I can say."
"I plan to," Harleen replied with a cheerful smile.
"Well I guess I'll let you get back to practicing," Joanna stated then nodded towards the training area.
"Thanks," Harleen responded then turned to renter the training area.
After being at the gym for several months and having gone up a few belts in a very short amount of time some of the other women who were training there began talking behind Harleen's back.
Harleen noticed them congregated in small groups muttering to one another and as they glanced in her direction. The girl chose to ignore them as she had no time for petty jealousies.
There were no problems until the woman she had most recently sparred with came up to her. "Hey can I ask you a question?" The woman inquired sounding slightly cocky.
"Okay," Harleen replied trying to sound offhand.
"Why do you hold back when you spar with us?" The woman asked having clearly noticed Harleen's tendency to not use her full strength.
Harleen thought for a moment unsure whether to feign ignorance or answer somewhat truthfully. The girl knew from observation that this woman was rather amicable with everyone so hurting her pride would probably be a bad thing.
Harleen decided to choose her words carefully as she answered the woman, "well we've been taught to end the matches quickly while causing minimal damage, at least that's the message I've been getting from the instructors."
The woman gave Harleen a look like she was not satisfied with this answer. "Well that may be true, don't you ever want to test your limits?" The woman questioned further as she leaned against one of the arena posts.
Harleen contemplated this inquiry while she starred up at the ceiling for a moment and then replying, "well sure, but I'd rather not send someone to the hospital in the process."
The woman along with the other female's who were standing a little off to the side listening in giggled a little at this. "You really think you're that strong?" The woman asked sounding both smug and sarcastic.
"Well it's not just a matter of strength, there's also the techniques you utilize, as well as the ability to read your opponent," Harleen explained rather matter of factly.
"So, you're saying you think you know more than us even though we've been here longer," the woman stated sounding a little offended.
"I never said that," Harleen replied with a slight shake of her head. "I was merely explaining why I don't use my full strength," The girl finished with a slight shrug.
The woman looked as though she was about to reply in anger when one of the instructors walked in. "Alright ladies it's lesson time, follow me," she told them in a booming voice.
Without saying anything further Harleen turned on her heels and followed the instructor out of the training room.
Harleen had done her best not to take the woman's bait. She knew the woman was just trying to get her riled up enough to challenge her or make a fool of herself. There was also another reason Harleen had used this tactic though, she was afraid of loosing control.
Harleen had felt it a fair few times during her sparring matches. The urge to use all her strength, the urge to keep going even after her opponent had fallen. The girl knew she could not do these things though, at least not until she had gotten to a black belt level in all the martial arts offered at the center.
It was a good two months since Harleen had spoken to the woman but it seemed as though she had not gotten her fill. Somehow the woman had arranged another sparring match between her and Harleen.
The day of Harleen knew she must end the match quickly as the woman was likely out for blood.
After the bell sounded Harleen's suspicions were confirmed. The woman who Harleen finally realized was named Lisa thanks to the ring announcer came out with a powerful high kick aimed at Harleen's dominant hand.
Harleen was ready though, she caught the blow easily and threw it back at Lisa, throwing off her balance and causing her to stumble back. Harleen took her chance and jabbed with all her strength at the woman's now exposed midsection aiming specifically for her ovary. The woman crumpled more and Harleen stepped in aiming an elbow directly down at the Lisa's shoulder. The woman went down with a pained grunt, Harleen had felt something crunch under her elbow.
As Lisa collapsed to the floor the ref called time out and Harleen made to step away from the woman. As she turned though Lisa grabbed her by the legs causing her to fall over. Harleen caught herself just before she fell flat on her face, upon catching herself though she felt a shooting pain go through her hand.
"I'm not done yet," Lisa stated panting through the pain.
Instead of kicking Lisa as she would have done instinctively Harleen reached down to shove the woman off of her. The woman grunted in frustration at this and grabbed Harleen's arms then made to pin her. Just as the woman was about to thrust her to the floor two of the instructors grabbed Lisa from behind and dragged her off of Harleen.
"I said I'm not done yet," Lisa growled out in displeasure.
"Oh yes you are," the larger of the two instructors replied sounding slightly panicked as they dragged her out of the arena.
Harleen pretended to lay there in a daze until a third instructor came up to her and asked, "are you alright?"
Harleen turned to the woman with fake tears in her eyes. "I-I just, why would she," Harleen began but seemed unable to continue.
"Hey it's alright," the instructor stated squatting down next to Harleen.
"I just wanted to end the match quickly as I have a lot of homework. I told her before I don't like to draw out matches," Harleen explained stretching the truth a little.
"Hmmm, well someone like her who's been here a long time don't much care for it when new people appear to upstage them," the instructor explained with a weary sigh.
"I wasn't trying to, I just don't have that kind of time to fool around. I mean it's not like I can keep coming here forever with how demanding my schooling is," Harleen explained in a rather loud voice as she finally got up off the floor.
"Well unfortunately people don't always take those sorts of things into consideration," the instructor replied sounding slightly disappointed.
"Well I wish they would. I just want to be able to protect myself is all. I don't even like these sparring matches but they're mandatory for the belt qualifications," Harleen said in a worn-out tone as she made to leave the arena. Lisa was finally out of the training room after much dragging from the other instructors.
"I understand where you're coming from but unfortunately we gotta see you can apply these techniques in an at least slightly practical setting," the instructor told her as she followed after Harleen.
"I know, I just don't like it when that's the kind of result it yields," Harleen responded as she nodded in the direction Lisa had just gone.
"All I can really say is try to keep your head down and if anything happens and let us know right away if any of the other woman are harassing you or anything," the woman informed Harleen sounding sympathetic.
"I will, thanks for trying to reassure me," Harleen answered with a small smile.
"You're quite welcome," the instructor stated returning the smile.
Harleen had made sure to talk of these things cause of all the people gathered to watch the match that day. The girl wanted to ensure that no one else would bother her so she made it appear she was as busy as possible.
A few days after Harleen heard some of the other members talking about what had happened to Lisa.
"I heard after being lectured by the head instructor the only solution they could come up with was to transfer her to another gym," one woman with large box braids told the other four women that were standing around her.
"I'm surprised they didn't just kick her out of the whole circuit. I mean she was nice, but anytime she thought someone would surpass her she would act like a brat," a woman with bright purple hair that was shaved on the sides quipped in with a slight shake of her head.
The other women muttered in agreement at these words.
"What about that Harleen girl though? Is it really true what I've heard about her being in an advanced university course?" A woman that appeared to be in her forties with slightly graying brown hair asked sounding skeptical.
"Not sure, though I guess we could always ask her," the woman with the braids responded in a slightly intrigued tone.
"Ya maybe, though she doesn't seem all that sociable," a very petit woman chimed in though her voice was rather lower than one would expect for her size.
At this point Harleen decided she had had enough of eavesdropping as it appeared these women were no threat to her, so she got up and headed towards the training area.
"Oh, speak of the devil," the middle-aged woman said upon spotting Harleen walking past them.
Harleen gave them a quick wave but did not stop to chat as she saw no point to it.
At the university Harleen had finally been approved to start her residency even though she was still sixteen. They had originally wanted to wait till she was eighteen but she had convinced them using all her current work and by showing the beginning of her research papers which she could not complete until she had her psychiatric placement.
The university and the hospital did not want Harleen to keep being held back by such a technicality as it could ruin their reputation.
Harleen started at her residency in the ER just one week after turning sixteen.
The first few days in the emergency department were slow as Harleen worked the day shift. The most she got to see injury wise were a few broken bones and several children needing stitches.
It was not until the sixth day that anything remotely challenging happened. It was around the time of morning rush hour and a call came in for a large group of patients from a multi car pileup caused by one of the super criminals.
As the patients began to arrive one after the other Harleen rushed between about ten different patients and three other trauma doctors had to be called in to contend with the mess. After stitching together, the stomach of her forth patient who had internal bleeding Harleen wondered which villain had caused such a ruckus.
Harleen made a mental note to check the news once she was done her shift, she was worried about the state that Man might be in if he had caused this.
By the time Harleen's shift was over everyone was stitched up and the head ER surgeon wanted a debriefing before he would let the shift change occur.
"Alright, first off, good work everybody. I'm glad to see our new residence are quite skillful and that we had no casualties," the doctor stated sounding slightly prideful. "Now as this is her first experience with such a large batch of life threatening injuries I would like to hear your impression of how things went during the shift, Harleen if you would," he continued then directed his attention to Harleen.
Harleen leaned slightly forward in her chair and tried to look both eager and empathetic. "I would say I am glad that everyone here feels they can already rely on me to handle some of the larger emergency situations until you arrived. I also wanted to let the next shift know that Mr. Pertons mother may need some reassuring again soon about the progress of his condition as she would not take my word for it and wanted someone more 'experienced' as she put it," Harleen informed them with a sheepish smile.
"Well thank you for the praise Dr. Quinzel, is there anything else you would like to add?" The head surgeon asked in an encouraging tone.
Harleen shuffled through the notes on her lap. "Let's see, most of the patients have been moved to trauma recovery already, there are still two left here, Mrs. Luggins and Ms. Wallins. Both are stable but Ms. Wallins keeps insisting on taking no pain meds even though six of her ribs are broken," Harleen told them as she read off of her report.
"That seems good enough for now, if you could hand those papers to Nurse Daniel there you can begin getting ready to head home," the surgeon told Harleen as he clasped his hands together and gave them all a swift smile.
When Harleen arrived home she immediately got on her computer in order to see who had caused all the drama that morning.
To her relief it was not That Man but another new super criminal that she had not heard of before.
Harleen scanned the articles anyway as she knew they may be of use for her studies. It did not take long for her to find the criminals alias and for some reason it reminded her of Edward from when she went to the upgrading school.
After this first batch of trauma patients there seemed to be a never ending stream of them. This was due mainly to the increasing numbers if the super criminals in the city. It seemed a new one popped up every two weeks or so.
Harleen found the endless litany of patients exhausting as she was performing so well in her job that they were asking her to come in on her days off.
Harleen did this on the agreement that they would count it as work experience so she could move on to her psychiatric placement sooner. The girl knew she would not get into where she wanted until she was at least eighteen.
That though was only two years away and she knew her residency was supposed to take three years.
At the gym the woman with the purple hair came up to Harleen and held out the girl's cell phone to her. "You dropped this," she told Harleen as the girl paused to grab her phone.
"Thanks," Harleen stated as she walked over to were her water bottle was so she could take a drink.
"Do you practice at home?" The woman asked as she joined Harleen at the side of the room.
"Sure do," Harleen answered as she set her cell phone down next to her water bottle.
"That's why you got so good so fast," The woman responded then looked over at Harleen. "I'm Darlene by the way," she said as she held out her hand for the girl to shake it.
"Harleen," the girl introduced herself as she shook Darlene's hand.
"Are you planning on getting a black belt for all the styles?" Darlene questioned as Harleen walked back over to the punching bag.
"Not sure yet, I may not have the time," Harleen told Darlene as she realized the woman was just digging for information.
"Oh, why's that?" Darlene inquired sounding slightly confused.
"I'm afraid that's not your business," Harleen stated in a polite yet firm tone.
"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be nosey," Darlene replied sounding sheepish.
"Well I don't know you and I've only really come here to train," Harleen explained as she turned to face the punching bag. "And to that end I would like to get back to things, so if you could please," Harleen said in a tone of finality.
"Umm, sorry," was all Darlene could think of to say before walking off.
Since Pamela and John were no longer in the picture Harleen's desire to make friends was dampened even further. With all the demands on her now between training and her residency she had zero time for socializing.
Harleen had not even bothered to try to get chummy with her fellow coworkers at the hospital. The girl could no longer be bothered beyond making the right impression to her superiors.
As Harleen steadily gained the hours she needed the girl also sent many essays and research papers about her placement to the university. She wanted to showcase the extra hours she had devoted without pay to her job.
Harleen's superiors had even volunteered to write recommendation letters for her so the extra hours could be counted.
"I hope these really do help," the head ER surgeon for that day said.
"They should from what I know. Also, thanks again for writing them. I really appreciate everyone being on board for this," Harleen told the woman as she leaned back in her chair.
"I still can't believe how fast you've progressed," the ER surgeon stated sounding somewhat perplexed.
"Well I'm here almost everyday and often stay for ten hour shifts when I can," Harleen pointed out with an ironic smile.
"Just don't burn yourself out," the woman advised in a knowing tone.
"Wasn't planning on it Doctor Hastings," Harleen reassured the woman as she sat up a little straighter.
"Either way, here's the letters," Dr. Hastings responded as she held out the envelope for Harleen.
"Thanks, are there any more missing?" Harleen inquired as she grabbed the rather thick envelope.
"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure we all agreed to it and as far as I know the last one came in today. Just in case though double check when you have the chance. After all the more the better, right," Dr. Hastings replied with a cheerful smile.
"My thoughts exactly," Harleen agreed as she opened her bag to put the envelope in it.
At home that evening Harleen ripped open the package and examined every letter carefully. The girl wanted to ensure she really had left the right impression and that no one tried to sabotage her progress.
From what Harleen could tell all of them were full of praise and admiration for her work. None of them even mentioned how much she avoided her other colleagues as she never showed this side of herself in front of her superiors.
Harleen had finally managed to get her coworkers to mostly leave her alone as she always dismissed their invitations. Now the girl only got an invite once a month but continued to turn even these down.
Harleen knew even after she handed in all the letters it would still be sometime before she heard anything back but hoped the response would be favourable.
Just in case Harleen also decided to draft more letters about where she wanted her future psychiatric placement to be after her medical internship was over.
With everything she was doing before Harleen knew it the first year of her medical residency was almost finished.
In order to celebrate this Harleen decided to celebrate by killing a new animal.
Harleen's medical residency although educational did not give her any thrill as she was saving lives instead of taking them. The girl had many a time fantasized about just killing her patients but knew she could never act on this. This was because she knew it would look bad if to many of her patients died. Harleen was also aware that the more people she saved the closer she got to her goal.
So, left with few options for stress relief beyond her martial arts training Harleen had scoured several neighborhoods for a possible victim.
To this end she had discovered to her delight her former professors place of residents.
Harleen had stumbled across it by accident when she recognized Professor Landry leaving a small convenience store.
Professor Landry looked as put together as ever, wearing his usual button-down shirt and grey slacks. The only difference Harleen noted about his appearance was that he was now considerably balder.
Harleen planned it out carefully as she stalked Professor Landry in unnoticeable ways. It did not take long for her to figure several patterns the man followed. She also thought it lucky that he lived on his own. The girl had figured this out by finding the mans hidden spare key.
The plan Harleen had was to keep Professor Landry locked in his own basement and slowly kill him over a few days. She was going to strap him between several unfinished posts in the man's basement. By watching him for so long she had noticed once a month the man would stay in his house for four days straight. This usually occurred either the first or the second week of the month.
Harleen was executing this plan just before her birthday as a sort of gruesome early present to herself.
Harleen's strategy was to use the man's own tools against him. The girl was glad she had broken in and studied everything carefully.
Sorry to leave it on such a cliff hanger.