Footsteps Of An Angel
"Death Leaves a Heartache No One Can Heal, Love Leaves A Memory No One Can Steal"
Chapter 4: The Engagement
"Emily?" Kory rapped lightly on her friend's door, "Are you awake?"
"Yeah, come in" came the reply as Kory turned the handle and stepped inside to see Emily sitting on the bed with a photo album in her hand.
"I wanted to talk to you" she said joining the bed as well.
"What is it Kor?" Emily put aside the album and sat up straighter, "Do you need something?"
"No, no its not that" she replied shaking her head, "I just wanted to see you"
"You're worried about Tara?" Kory nodded.
"I've lost so many people in my life already"
"I know it must be hard for you" Emily said softly, "Have you seen my cousin?" she picked the album and handed it to her.
"What happened to her?" Kory asked as she started looking the pictures of two toddlers.
"She… She got murdered" she sighed, "By her boyfriend"
Something clicked in the back of her mind, "What was her name?"
"Mallory Waters"
"No way!" Kory exclaimed, "Mallory is your cousin?"
"Yeah, did you know her?"
"I was the one who replaced her in the band after she ran away" she replied, "And later we got to know she died"
"I told her not to trust that bastard" Emily muttered, "That's him in that picture, you can hardly see him though"
Kory poured over the photos to see the guy, in one picture they were standing in front of the lockers but you could only see his eyes. And Kory knew those eyes anywhere.
"Did you ever meet him?" Kory whispered, not believing her eyes, "Her boyfriend?"
"No, never" came the reply, "But if I ever get my hand on him I'll wring his neck"
"That's Roy" Kory said.
"What? Roy Harper?"
"Yes"
"Kor… I think you're mistaken-"
"I know his eyes anywhere…" Kory put aside the book, "All the more reason to hate him"
It was a few weeks since the funeral and Vanessa was on her way to the Wayne Manor to visit Rachel about the arrangements of the engagement party.
Vanessa parked her car and got out to find herself staring at the building; it was huge, literally huge and oh so beautiful with a haunting touch to it. She picked up her things and starting walking up the stairs and rang the bell. As she waited she looked over to see a metal plate on the wall. It was old and it had something written on it in decorative writing.
"Wayne" she read and jumped as the door opened to reveal a tall, well dressed and elderly man standing there, he smiled at her his eyes twinkling.
"Hello" he greeted as she returned his smile back.
"Hi, sir, I'm Vanessa Cole" she took out her hand as he took it, "Perhaps Xavier told you about my visit?"
"Yes, Master Xavier did mention something about you" he replied, "Do come in please"
She nodded and cautiously stepped inside to be further awed by the grandeur of the house, "Its beautiful" she whispered, "Whoever built it must have a very good taste"
"Master Wayne had it rebuilt after a fire" the man replied, "Though he made very few and precise changes here and there to his liking, beside that five generations of Wayne before him have lived here"
Vanessa nodded, still fascinated, "And you are?"
"Alfred Pennyworth" he replied, "Good to meet you"
"Charming" she replied, taking a great liking to him.
"Here, let me have you coat" he took it from her and hung it, "I will take you to Miss. Roth, she is in the parlor with her friend"
"Yes, thank you" she said, following him.
They entered through a archway and then through a wooden door to see Rachel and Mist lounging on the sofas.
"Miss Rachel, you have a visitor" Alfred said and stopped to let Vanessa go over.
"Hi" she greeted and tried not to smile at Mist's expression.
There was a long silence as they looked at her, it was Alfred who finally broke the ice.
"Would you like some tea?" he asked as she looked over at him.
"Just a glass of cold water, please" she replied, nodding her head.
He left the room and the silence continued, "I… uh, hope I'm not disturbing" Vanessa started, "I thought Xavier might have mentioned that I will come"
None of them moved, it was five seconds to be specific when Rachel spoke in her usual monotone, "I thought he was kidding when he said you looked like Kory"
"Are you like… even real?" Mist exclaimed getting up from her seat to stand in front of her and put her hand on her face, poking her cheeks.
"Uh…"
"Wow, this is strange" she continued as Rachel coughed from behind.
"Mist let her sit down will you?" she said as Mist let go.
"Heh, I'm sorry I got a little overboard" Mist apologized, "I'm Mist but I'm guessing that you already know that, right?"
"I do" Vanessa smiled fondly at her as she followed her to the sofas and sat down.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Vanessa" she replied.
"So Xavier told me you took a job through Gar to be Dick's assistant" Rachel asked as Alfred entered the room with the water.
"Yeah, you can say that" Vanessa said shrugging casually as she took the glass from Alfred and leaned back on the sofa, crossing her legs, "Thank you"
He nodded before leaving as Vanessa continued, "The job is hectic but I really need the money for Trevor's kindergarten" she took a small sip, enjoying the refreshing sensation.
"Who's Trevor?" Mist asked.
"My son" she replied simply.
"Woah! You're married?"
"No, my fiancé died before the birth"
"Oh, I'm sorry" Vanessa smiled in understanding.
"So shall we get started, Miss Roth?"
"Sure" Rachel managed a small smile as she watched the girl open a notebook.
"Is everything ready for tomorrow?" Richard asked.
"Yes, I just came back from the hotel and I'll be leaving early morning for last minute things" Vanessa replied as she placed her cell between her ear and shoulder as she complied all the papers.
"Okay, thanks" he replied, "I want you in my office in five minutes; I want to give you this file"
"I'm on my way" she hung up and put the phone in her bag as she got up towards a mirror that was on her wall to check her reflection.
Tomorrow was the engagement of Rachel and Xavier and tonight Richard had returned from his conference in New York. She wanted to look good when meeting him after a week. She looked over her reflection and decided it was quite presentable. Her blonde hair was straightened and open, she wore a black fitted turtleneck full-sleeves shirt and a grey micro tweed skirt as a pair of Vera Wang open toe black platform pumps adorned her feet.
She smiled to her self and ran a hand through her hair and went out to make her way to his office. It was late, past twelve and the building was mostly deserted. She stopped at the door and knocked before going in. It was completely dark in Richard's office except for a lamp in one corner. He sat on behind his desk, his appearance disheveled and a glass of wine in his hand.
"Close the door Vanessa" he said, his voice was tired and heavy.
She obeyed, "Richard?"
She cautiously made her way to him as he spoke again, "Come here"
Again she did what he asked her to and went to stand next to him. It was a while before he spoke again.
"Today was supposed to be our anniversary if Kory was alive"
Vanessa felt her heart sinking at the realization, "But she isn't and I'm with Babs" he continued.
He chuckled, "I proposed to Babs today"
A ton of bricks onto her head as she realized at what he just said, she felt like crying as tears formed in her eyes.
"Do you love her?" she asked quietly, waiting for his reply.
Instead of replying he stood up and faced the window, looking down at the city lights. They stood unmoving for what seemed like hours before he turned around and walked towards her, he came so close that she had to back up against the desk.
He lifted his hands and cupped her face bringing his forehead against hers and closing his eyes. She could feel his hot breath on her face as she closed her eyes and placed her hands on his.
"Richard…" she started to be stopped by him.
"No… Don't speak…" he whispered, brushed his lips against hers, sending shivers up and down both of their spines, "Don't speak"
His hands left her face and encircled around her waist as he gently brought her body closer. Richard leaned onto her slightly as she put her hands on the desk to steady herself, he kissed her face; first her nose, then her cheeks and her forehead and lastly brought his mouth closer to her, kissing it ever so tenderly. He pulled away and she gasped slightly as Richard kissed her once again, this time with much more force. Vanessa kissed back this time, putting her hands on his chest.
It wasn't long before he had her lips parted and his tongue roaming around her sweet mouth, and brushing against her tongue. They broke away, panting, after a fifteen minute make out session. Richard looked at her with his blue eyes gleaming in the night.
"I love her"
The place was damp and cold and water could be heard dripping somewhere. The man slightly stumbled over the wiring and then steadied himself. Clearing his throat he continued to walk down the corridor, his footsteps echoing. An over head light blinked as a door came into sight on the left end of the corridor.
He entered through it into what appeared to be a control room a national T.V. channel. There were millions of screens all over the walls showing different locations. In the centre a little further a figure of a girl could be made out by her slender figure backlit against the huge main screen.
"Is everything according to plan?" she asked.
"It is" he replied, "Everything is going to be perfect and soon we'll get him out"
"What about Slade?" she asked, with her back still to him.
"We shouldn't think about him, he's in much greater security than the other one and we can only get one out at a time" he continued, taking a seat on a worn out chair and taking out his cigarette and lighter, "Though I might admit, that little stunt you pulled out on the Dunst girl wasn't your brightest moment"
"It was a sign to tell the world that something is stirring in the criminal world, my friend" she turned around and walked over at a screen showing several different shots of Kory, her heels clicking loudly on the cemented floor.
"And that something begins tomorrow"
Everything was going absolutely perfect.
The décor, the welcoming of the guests and even the music.
Vanessa picked up a champagne glass from a passing by waiter, after taking a sip she stood up and smoothed out her dress. She was dressed perfectly for the occasion; a simple black Calvin Klein dress that ended at her mid-thigh and the one that complimented her petite figure perfectly, her long legs were absolutely gorgeous as they got their full justice in the dress as well. She had decided to keep her make up smoky and clear lip gloss on her lips and her hair up in a messy up do.
She sighed contentedly and smiled proudly at her work. Nearly the whole of Gotham elite was pouring into the great hall of the Wayne Hotel and she could hear compliments of this and that coming from here and there. As she was walking around Gar came up to her, looking utterly handsome.
"You did a great job Vanny!" he gave her a hearty hug as she chuckled at the nickname, "You could become an interior designer!"
"You mean to say party planner slash decorator?" she grinned pulling away and smiling.
"Yeah, that!" he laughed, "So how are you?"
"Good, perfectly fine" she replied taking another sip from her glass.
"How's everything with Dick?" he lowered his tone.
She averted her gaze away from Gar and sighed, "We haven't talked since last night, but its no big deal"
"I can tell" he muttered, rolling his eyes, "Anyways I have to go, you enjoy yourself okay?"
"Yeah, I will" she managed a smile as he walked away, "Thanks!"
She giggled as he winked at her before disappearing into the growing crowd of the city elite and Vanessa found herself completely lost. Two women eyed her curiously as she took another sip of the alcoholic drink cautiously when her eyes fell upon Richard as he entered the room with a pretty looking Babs latched onto his arm as they greeted people.
They both look good together, she thought sadly with a hint of sarcasm. Richard was absolutely striking in black tuxedo and unruly hair which were not gelled as Babs wore an elegant red dress that reached the floor with a plunging halter neckline.
She quickly looked away as Richard caught her eye, she turned around to bump into the very same woman who was looking at her previously.
"Oh, please forgive me" she apologized as the woman glared at her and turned around and walked away.
"Sorry…" she repeated to herself as she gave the waiter nearby to refill her glass.
It was another twenty minutes of wandering around and staying out of sight from Richard before Bruce finally came up on the first few stairs along with Richard and Barbra who stood at the corner of the staircase, with his arms around her waist.
"Ladies and gentleman" Bruce began after everyone was aware of his presence, "A very big hand for my son Xavier and his fiancé, the charming heiress to the Rothella Industries; Rachel Roth"
Everyone clapped as Xavier and Rachel appeared at the top of the staircase, arm in arm, and started walking down.
Vanessa smiled happily and clapped along with the others for her friend.
"She looks beautiful!" came a voice from a nearby girl and indeed Rachel looked absolutely stunning in a pearl colored full length gown that had the whole bodice studded with real pearls and a few diamonds. They both reached the bottom of the stairs and hugged Bruce, shaking hands with Richard and Babs along with Gar and the bands and a few other who offered them their wishes.
Vanessa made her way to the crowd to wish them congratulations; she went up to Rachel and Xavier and slightly cleared her throat before speaking.
"Hey, you guys" she smiled as they both smiled back at her, "Congrats! It's a happy day"
"Thanks Vanessa" Xavier said as Rachel nodded in acknowledgement.
"Way to go for the arrangement" he later added as she smiled her thanks to him. They went back to other people and she saw Barbra standing with Richard and Bruce.
"Congratulations, Mr. Wayne" she said when she reached him.
"Thank you, Miss…?"
"This is Vanessa, Bruce" Richard answered before she could, "She works at the office"
"Pleasure" Bruce took her hand and slightly brushed his lips against it.
She smiled before turning to Babs, "Hello, Barbra"
"Its Babs, BTW" she replied, rolling her eyes.
"Err, yes… My mistake Babs" Vanessa corrected herself.
"Whatever, see you later" Babs walked away, swaying her hips slightly. Vanessa shook her head before catching a glimpse of something silver… something sharp near Rachel.
She looked over carefully before realizing a man behind Rachel was holding a small dagger behind his back, her eyes widened in astonishment and alarm as she walked to wards the man.
"Rachel, look out!" she cried but her voice was muffled and a deafening noise of an explosion as the wall blasted and she fell down by the force, people shrieked as suddenly men in black suits and orange masks appeared everywhere.
She opened her eyes to see that many other people had fallen down as well and the men in black were firing at the ceiling and shouting at everyone to get down on.
She sat up a little as she felt a little blood in her mouth, she gingerly touched her lips and realized that she'd cut the corner of her mouth by the broken shard of the glass in her hand and now it was bleeding.
Looking over at Rachel she saw a man had her hands behind her and was holding her at gunpoint. Richard was near the stairs along with Bruce with Barbra not far away.
"Anybody try anything funny and you say goodbye to your little bride to be" the man holding Rachel said loudly and everyone stopped moving and shouting.
"What do you want?" Richard asked, his hand in his coat, probably on his gun, "Who are you?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk" came a voice from over the rubble of the broken wall, a man with also a mask and a gun in his hand, "You ask way more questions than I can answer, Mr. Grayson"
He jumped down from the debris and started advancing towards the staircase, "We just wanted to have a little fun, that's all since you didn't invite us we thought how about we make our own double door entrance, hm?"
He pointed at Barbra to one of his thug and the other man pulled her up at gunpoint too.
"What are you doing here?" Xavier asked through gritted teeth as the man ignored him.
"You all will do exactly as I say" he yelled, "Everyone move out into the other hall at once, except you all and remember nothing funny" he pointed at the little party of my friends and Bruce, including me.
All the guests started moving towards the doors and went out surrounded by men with guns. And in less then two minutes the hall was empty.
"Now, let's get this party started, shall we" he walked up towards Rachel, "Well, well, well Miss. Roth you're even more of a feisty bitch than I've heard and I really like feisty bitches, in fact I was in a hot and heavy situation with one of your friends a while ago"
Rachel glared at him before spitting at his face, "You can say all the shit that you want, you bastard"
The man was clearly angry and he hit her, hard.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Xavier moved forward and stopped when he realized that she was having a gun on her temple.
"Overprotective as usual" the man continued towards Barbra this time as she looked fearfully at him.
"And aren't you the prettiest thing ever?" he whispered, "I've always had a thing for redheads"
Vanessa looked up to see the man walking away from her as well and stood a bit nearer to herself.
"What do you want?"
"Revenge!" he bellowed, "I want revenge!"
"Why?" Bruce asked, "Who are you?"
It was a while before the man turned around to face Richard and Bruce and spoke, "You all ruined my perfect plans… And now you all are going to pay for that shit"
He took off his mask and threw it on the floor to reveal his face.
"Roy?" Xavier asked in bewilderment.
Vanessa could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she saw Roy walking up towards her, she kept her face down and silently cried not to be seen by him.
"Surprised?" he said to Xavier, "Well I'm not the dumbest criminal you have ever caught"
He was going to say more but stopped right in front of Vanessa and kneeled down beside her, "Oh, look the duplicate herself"
She was forced to look at him as she saw him stare at her sinisterly, from the corner of her eye she could see Richard taking out his gun and pointing it at Roy.
It all happened very fast, Richard came forward; Roy grabbed her and turned her around putting a knife at her neck as she shrieked.
"Shoot and watch her die, Richard" Roy was speaking as Richard froze and lowered his gun.
"You let her go!" he cried, his gun still pointing.
"Well, as you might have guessed I can't do that" he looked over at the man who was holding Barbra and pointed to the stairs, "And your little outburst can cause your girlfriend big time"
The man holding Barbra nodded briskly before taking out a small cloth and pressing it against her nose, she struggled a little and then fell limp in his arms as he carried her out. Richard watched with expressionless eyes but Vanessa could tell he was furious.
"Where are you taking her?" Bruce asked as the man disappeared.
"Not to worry he's just gonna hide that little bitch somewhere and you'll have to find her before she dies" Roy was saying as all eyes turned to him, "Everyone else tries something and Kory here is gonna have a worse fate than her"
"I'm not Kory!" she yelled and struggled but stopped when he pressed the blade harder against her skin.
"Now, you know me better than them" Roy whispered, running his tongue on her neck, "You should be careful"
There was silence before he spoke again, "I have my revenge for you too… For giving me to the police"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" she replied as his hand tugged near the hem of her dress.
"I think you do"
"Don't touch her!" Richard said, dangerously, "She hasn't done anything to you"
"Oh, really?" Roy traced the knife down to her stomach as Richard watched helplessly.
He brought the blade near her mouth where her lip was cut and set it there, causing her to whimper in pain.
Richard could feel his breath getting shallow as he realized what Roy was about to do, "NO!"
The blade cut deeper into her wound making her scream and thrash around wildly, her cries echoing all over the hall.
"God damn it!" Richard muttered punching the stone column banister, his heart pounding and aching for her. Rachel had her eyes brimming with tears and Xavier looked helplessly at her.
"No, please!" she shrieked as he continued his torture, "Stop! Please! No, AHHH!"
Her sobs quieted down as Roy finally drew the knife away, "You're sick!" Rachel yelled.
"This is not over Kory, I know who you are" he whispered in Vanessa's ear, "You stay quiet about that and nothing happens to your precious baby"
"No, not him… Please" she whispered.
He ignored her plea, "Oh, and if you wanna save Miss. Gordon you probably know where I hid her"
Roy grinned at Rachel before dragging Vanessa backwards, towards the exit.
"Stop!" Xavier cried as Roy threw something at the floor and smoke filled the room.
Richard coughed badly, his eyes watering. By the time the smoke cleared he could hear Xavier calling for Rachel.
"Rachel? Rachel! Where are you?" he was saying.
"I'm alright, I'm fine" she murmured as Xavier bent down beside her and took her in his arms. Richard looked around frantically and saw Vanessa's body lying on the floor, getting up he ran towards her, slipping in the way and getting up again.
Her body was shaking as she cried, he helped her sit up, "Vanessa, are you okay?"
She was crying so badly that she couldn't manage to answer and grabbed onto him, sobbing onto his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" Richard mumbled into her hair as he put his arms around her, "It's okay…"
"Vanessa, are you okay?" Rachel asked kneeling down beside them as Xavier called for an ambulance, "Let me see your lip, is it bad?"
She drew back and let Rachel examine her mouth.
"Get her to the hospital and stitched up, I don't want her to end up like Joker" Richard muttered to Gar as he nodded.
"It'll disappear, it hardly reaches her cheek" Rachel said.
Richard ignored her, "I gotta find Babs"
"Wait" Vanessa spoke out softly, "I know where he hid her"
"That was quite a show you had there" the woman said as Roy entered the room, smirking.
"Well a criminal deserves an entrance as well as the hero" he said, kissing her lips and settling down beside her.
"So what's next?" she asked.
"It's all up to you my dear…" Roy answered, "This story has only had a prologue today"
She smiled as he got up, "You know what to do?"
"Of course" her smile only grew wider with anticipation.
"Hey" Vanessa looked up to see Richard standing in the doorway of the hospital room.
She managed a small smile as he took a seat beside her, "How's the lip?"
"They stitched it up" she replied, her voice coming out muffled, "Hurts like hell"
He just stared at her, "I'm sorry"
"No, don't be" she said, putting a hand on his, "It wasn't your fault"
"I could've done something" he was saying.
When she didn't reply for a few seconds he went on, "How did you know where Babs was hidden in the laundry room?"
"He told me" she replied simply, dreading the original reason i.e. she and Roy had once spend an adventurous hour there.
"Did he say anything else?" he asked as she shook her head.
"Well, see you later" he got up, "Babs will be waiting for me"
She nodded as he bent down to kiss her forehead in a goodbye gesture and left the room without another word or glance at her.
Rachel was in the kitchen making some tea for her nerves, the episode from earlier today had left her shaken and she was trying to get over herself. Xavier was still with Bruce, trying to figure out how Roy escaped from jail. It was a comfort to know that Slade was still behind bars but something told them that it wasn't going to stay that way for long.
Today was supposed to be the one of the most memorable days of her life and it couldn't get any worse. She was tired, disappointed and major upset. The events of the day played back in her mind as she remembered the fear that hung in the air at the moment.
She snapped out of her trance at the sound of the whistling kettle. Putting on a mitten she took it off the stove and poured the steaming liquid in her mug. She jumped a little at the sound of her cell ringing, picking it up she saw it was an unknown number nevertheless she picked it up.
"Hello?"… "Hello, who is this?"
"Rachel, is this Rachel Roth?" the voice was distorted and hard to her and sounded far off reflecting urgency.
"Yes, this is her speaking" she replied, frowning, "Who are you?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you at this time of the night but I need to see you right away, it is a matter of great importance"
"Well… Uh, I'm not sure that's a very good idea"
"Please it is an emergency"
"You gotta tell me something" Rachel was getting really annoyed now.
"I can't, try to understand, meet me at the docks on pier 14. Take no one with you… I'll be waiting"
The line went dead and Rachel sighed frustrated. First Roy and now this, but to her it didn't sound like some prank.
Taking a sip of her herbal tea she thought over it, it might be dangerous. But curiosity got the better of her and she put her cup down and grabbed the keys to her Porshe.
Red X was standing on the top of a building over the city that his communicator picked up a message, it was from Bruce.
"Get to the hospital as soon as you can. Rachel was in a car crash"
Woah! Now how did that happen? Hehe, so anyways keep reading to find put n thank you all for the reviews! N PLEASE keep 'em comin'!
RainWalker104
