Thanks to kindleflame5 for being the very first reviewer! :) Means a lot, honestly.
Okay, so... I hope this story is going good so far! I really would like a... is it.. BETA reader? Aha, no ideaaaa.
Anyways, I don't wanna make this long, so enjoyyy!
I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING THAT BELONGS TO DC, JUST MY ORIGINALS. xx
3rd Person
Chapter 2
The Call
Melina stumbled back, her hands looking for anything to use as self defense.
" Melina, it's me!" His deep voice echoed, stilling me for a moment. Melina let out a heavy sigh she seemed to have been holding. All her muscles relaxed, and her arms fell momentarily to her sides awkwardly.
" It's only me Bruce." He said, stepping into the filtering light from the moon shining through the window. Melina had her eyes closed, lashes wet with tears, and pressed her hand delicately to her racing heart.
" I overreacted, I know... I'm s-sorry B-Bruce." She said softly, letting her eyes lift up to his. Bruce sighed, his face full of concern, and stepped around to wrap his arm protectively around her. At first, Melina felt stiff, uncomfortable, but after a second, she gave in, and wrapped her arms around him, letting herself sob into his chest. The strong arms he had wrapped around her, felt like a protective barrier. It was comforting, knowing she had someone she could begin to count on, to maybe finally trust.
He murmured comforting words, and rubbed her shoulders to soothe the melancholic state she was in.
Melina sniffed, and pulled away abruptly, rubbing her eyes with her fingertips, while smudging away the mascara she chose to wear.
" I hate to see you cry, what's wrong?" Bruce asked, deeply concerned for his newly found daughter's sorrow. He obviously knew that part of it was of her mother's death... Rachel. How come she had never told him of her pregnancy? How had she hid it so well? Bruce shook his head, That's the past... it's time to move forwards. He also had a feeling there was something else which held her sorrow, as well as her fear. The way she responded to his second sudden appearance.
"I-I, well, it's just the whole idea of you, and finding that I actually have an existent dad has come and crashed down on me, and well... I've lived my whole life thinking my dad just abandoned me, left the country for all I know... I didn't even know, you were my biological father!"
Bruce stiffened, he'd left the country before... But he was here, with his daughter in the present; he had to live for the moment.
" I'm here now, and you are here now, too." Bruce said smoothly, looking down at her with a sincere smile. Melina could not help but smile back up at him. That's when his face slowly fell. Melina looked taken aback, but he wasn't directing the gesture towards her.
" Oh, I just about forgot about my date." He straightened, and looked back down at his daughter, who stood uncomfortably. There was a brooding glimmer in his eyes, and that made Melina shiver.
" I'm very sorry Melina, I have to get going now. Can't keep the lady waiting, you know? I have a reputation to uphold, and I promise to make it up for you." He moved towards the door, but turned back slowly, a real smile on his lips.
"If I were you, I'd would take advantage of the spa bathtub in your bathroom, nice and relaxing." He grinned sheepishly now, his eyes sparkling.
"Good night Mel."
"Thanks. Have a nice date, Bruce." Melina said, and watched her father walk out of her site, the diminishing sound of his dress shoes down the hall delcaring his final departure.
...
The most strangest thing was that Melina hadn't heard him leaving, or even seen him driving down the driveway for the city. She sat for quite a while in the window, her mind deep in questioning.
It could have possibly been that he left a different way, but the only exit and entrance she was familiar with were the front gates.
Melina sighed before standing up, and making her way into the bathroom.
It was after a hot bath that Melina strode from her private bathroom, clad in a bathrobe tight around her slender body. Her eyes were a little blood shot from crying earlier, but the bath had certainly refreshed her mind, and she couldn't help but feel a lot happier.
She threw herself on the bed, lavishing at how comfortable the egyptian cotton felt against the bare knick of her long legs, and stretched her arms over her head.
Suddenly, Melina's cell phone began to ring, which sat on the small end table next to her bed. She swung her arm over her, and took the phone unsteadily. The caller I.D. was private, she noticed, before the phone was pressed to her ear.
The voice was low, in a quiet whisper, and definitely belonged to a male.
"Ah, Melina soon to be officially a Wayne." The voice spoke, clicking their tongue loudly into the receiver.
"Who the hell is this?" Melina said, furrowing her brow. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and sat straighter. A low chuckle came across the other end, and a loud smack of lips echoed in her ear.
"HAHAHOOHEEHAHEHEHAHA... I may come around for a visit, very shortly..." An eruption of cackles followed before the line was cut off entirely.
The dial-tone vibrated loudly into her ear, and Melina threw her phone down onto her bed, staring at it as if it were something disgusting.
It must be a sick joke one of her friends from her highschool were pulling, but it still scared her. She'd tell Alfred about this. It would rightfully be the best idea, maybe. He'd probably get worried sick, and tell Bruce... which she did not really want.
As quickly as she could, she slipped on a pair of dark wash jeans, and a simple black tank-top. She had her feet bare, and slipped them into a pair of slippers from her luggage.
I'l unpack all of this later... She said, sorting absentmindedly through folded clothing. First, I should go find Alfred.
Unsteadily, she headed out down the hallway, her soft slippers padding across the half covered carpeted hall. The phone call would not leave her thoughts. She was still wrapped around how weird it was, and how it made her feel. The laughter, how strangely familiar it sounded.
Okay, anyone could call her sounding exactly like the Joker. Melina thought, running a hand through her hair, tied up in a loose pony.
A sudden distant click stopped her dead in her tracks.
Okay, now you're being totally paranoid, he isn't here! He is not here to get you!
Melina spun around slowly, peering around as if somebody was watching her. Was someone watching her?
Shit.
The sound of a heavy thump echoed up the stairs from downstairs, right down the vast hall.
Alfred?
" Alfred?" Melina called, now breaking into a light jog towards the stairs. "Alfred!" She yelled, her voice echoed off the walls.
A shuffling sounded from behind her, and in her panic, she screamed.
" Miss Melina?" It was Alfred, thank God. "Why are you screaming?"
" I'm so sorry, I thought it was something else!"
" Do not be sorry, it is quite alright dear." He said softly, stepping out with a first aid kit. Melina furrowed her brow in questioning. Why would Alfred need a first aid kit, unless he cut himself, but he seemed in quite a hurry. The previous phone call Melina received was cut short from her memory, for now it wasn't the right time to tell him.
Alfred headed for the stairs in a hurry, passing Melina with a quick worried glance. There was something of fear in his blue eyes, and Melina felt her heart pounding against her chest.
" What's going on, Alfred?" Melina followed behind him, half jogging to meet with his quick, hasty steps. He simply continued forwards, taking every step carefully, yet quickly.
" I will leave Master Bruce to explain everything." His voice was strained, but Melina didn't question any further, what else was there to ask? She wanted her father to explain, and she would get an explanation.
They crossed the threshold that led towards the front doors, and entered another hall. These halls were so unknown to Melina, but Alfred told her that the Southwest corner of the manor was one where no one ever really went. Many rooms in this area were untouched, unfinished, not even yet started in construction.
A door came into view, and Alfred pushed it open, revealing an intricate study, where bookcases lined every wall, except for one, where windows were covered in thick, antique looking curtains. Melina noticed a photograph, resting on a small table. It was of Bruce himself, and both of his parents, her grandparents. Tears formed in her ears, and she blinked them away as quickly as she could.
Alfred walked up to a clock, and spun the dial to a time: 10:47. Suddenly, one of the bookcases swung open, revealing a dark, stone pathed hallway. Nervously, Melina follows behind Alfred, who is almost running down the path. As soon as both her feet are touching the cement flooring of the interior, the bookcase groans to a close, leaving her to only catch up to Alfred. He waits for her patiently in an open elevator shaft, and as soon as Melina steps in, shutting the doors behind her, he abruptly pulls down a lever. The lever sends them literally falling down at a feverish speed, yet with a gentle end, where Melina's knuckles are turning pearl white from gripping the sides so hard.
Alfred runs from the elevator, with Melina still in tow. She flinches at the sound of bats from above her, and narrows her eyes as she realizes that this was a cave.
There is also a distant sound of a waterfall, as well as water drippings.
Melina walks from the shadows, and reveals herself in the light. Her eyes widen at the sight.
To the right of her, there is a series of computers, technology she had yet to know, and medicinal equipment, and supplies. Across the cave sat a black tank like vehicle, parked diagonally, with the top hatch pushed back to reveal the front seats.
The bats, the technology she'd never seen before, the medical supplies that resembled hospital supplies, the tumbler, the cave...
It suddenly all came to her like a tidal wave. That was the bat mobile... the tumbler. Where was Batman? Batman... Bruce... My dad?
Melina turned her head to come into view of Alfred, who was unsteadily sorting through the first aid kit. Before him, a black kevlar clad man lay across a surgical table. The top part of his suit was missing, along with the cowl, which lay on it's side on the ground. Batman seemed to be groaning in pain, his head whipping slowly from side to side. An antiseptic cloth was covered his side, seeping with blood. Fresh blood.
Her stomach churned in a tight knot at the sight of all the blood. She'd never been good with seeing or even hearing about blood.
Alfred quickly walked over to where Bruce or Batman lay, and pulled the cloth slowly from his side, careful and very observant to what he was doing.
The sight of his wound, and all that blood, it was enough for Melina to pale.
Her cheeks went from a normal, healthy color, to a white, sickening tone. Her nose also smelled the tinge of copper in the air, and she fainted.
Succumbing into blackness.
AH, Yes! I revised this chapter! :) I didn't like it, and suddenly I kind of got an idea for how this should end up going.
Anyways, please leave a review. I would honestly appreciate it.
Muaaah ,
xx
Rosabelleee