Val's delicate fingers ran over the keys of the piano, not applying any pressure. She had always wanted to learn the art of music as a child, but had never been given the chance. Still, she kept the piano pressed against the wall of her living room, always dusted and freshly polished, just in case. Sighing, Val took a seat on the bench, the leather cool against her palms. Her encounter with the Batman had been rather tiring. She had not fished through someone's mind in a very long time and the act of doing so was draining. That was not to say she had not found some very interesting facts. Who would have thought that Bruce Wayne was a masked vigilante by night? Of course, Val considered herself one of the good guys. She figured it would take a lot to get Batman's identity out of her mouth. Besides, now that the Joker was in jail, who would want it? At that thought, Val's mind shifted gears. Her focus was now entirely on the strange man whom Bruce had 'shown' her. A short man, with a rather large nose, who enjoyed wearing top hats; a man who wanted to be known as the Mad Hatter; and a man whose plans, Val could not foresee. As if Gotham wasn't already strange enough. Now there was a man running around like a character out of a Lewis Carroll story.

Suddenly, Val's back stiffened and her fingers twitched against the leather. That was the answer. All she had to do was find her copy of that damned story. She jumped up and felt her way across the apartment, stumbling once or twice in the darkness, to her familiar bookshelf. Val knew she had a copy of Alice in Wonderland amongst the hundred or so books that she owned. Starting from the bottom left-hand corner, Val ran her fingers across the spines of the books, her mind processing images of cover pages in rapid succession.

It wasn't until the second shelf that Val found what she had been searching for. Her fingers trembled as she pulled the book from its spot and opened it, the cracking of the spine magnified tenfold in the silence. Truth be told, Val had no idea what she was seeking within the frail and crinkled pages of the story, but nonetheless she ran her fingers up and down the pages, over the bumps, skimming through the tale she knew so well.

"Come on," Val muttered, already more than halfway through the book and still clueless, "There's got to be…" Her voice died in her throat as macabre images flooded through the darkness in her mind. Val's eyes shot open and suddenly, she could see. She wasn't exactly sure where she was, but it was somewhere outside; dark and damp. There was not a sound to be heard aside from Val's own breath. Carefully, she looked around, taking in the full scene around her.

There was a person lying on the floor, no more than three feet away; a girl from the looks of it. Her back was to Val and she wore a long red dress, contrasting her snow white skin and sleek black hair. Val approached her slowly, noticing that she was completely unmoving. It didn't even seem as if she were breathing. That was when Val noticed the blood.

With a gasp, Val ran over to the girl and turned her over. The sight that met her eyes was something that made her stomach turn; something she would never forget. The girl may have been stunningly beautiful, but her beauty was shrouded by her brutal death. There were red roses painted on her cheeks and there was blood; blood everywhere. It covered Val as she screamed, desperate to wake the girl up. However, inside, Val knew this was quite impossible as the girl's heart laid several steps away from her body. The source of the blood was the gaping hole in her chest. With one last scream from Val, everything went black.

The familiar feel of icy ceramic told Val she was back in her own apartment. So did the darkness. Val may have not been able to see anything, but the images of her vision played back in her mind vividly. Trembling, she got to her feet and tried to remember where she had left the telephone. With her legs close to useless, Val staggered over to the sofa and felt around for the cordless. After a moment her fingers had wrapped around the plastic device and she quickly entered the memorized number of her best friend; hoping to whatever god there was that Bruce Wayne had heeded her advice and dropped in for a late-night visit.

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Okay, so please review! I am getting REALLY discouraged, especially because I love this story. It's very interesting and fun for me to write. Even if you don't like it, please leave a review and let me know how to improve. Thanks…