Chapter 28 : Confessions of Mortality
Wind brushed across her rigid features while Vedette leaned her stiff body against the ledge, her hand cradling her swollen stomach. She barred her teeth together while fighting the intense waves flowing through her veins. Her olive eyes narrowed to the golden cat pendent wrapped around her neck. She took a few deep breaths as her tortured mind filled with a haunting memory that hadn't surfaced in years.
"Jane."
Suddenly she was six years old again, untouched by the poison of mortal sin and decay. She stood against the pillar donning ceremonial black garments as her curious eyes stared directly at the carved statue of Baset. Her mother, Ama's hand touched her cheek. "Mother."
"Jane, listened to me...I never meant for you to live this life. I wanted you to be free from it."
Jane felt the warm tears slide down her cheek. "Mother, I don't understand." She buried her face into her mother's chest and sobbed. Ama stroked her fingers through her daughter's hair. "What's going to happen to you?"
"Shh...Everything will be as it should." Ama replied. "You must not wear this name anymore for it will not protect you. You will be called Vedette." She pulled her daughter away and looked steadily into her teary eyes. She kissed Vedette on the forehead." Remember that this was never your fault; but mine alone." She straightened from the ground as two women, dressed in black with ski-masks, grabbed her by the arms and started dragging her way.
Another masked woman wrapped her arms around Vedette's body and placed a veil over her eyes while she listened to the sound of her mother's voice, and the chanting that echoed into her ears. "It is time for you to display your commitment to Baset."
Vedette's body quaked as she was dragged into the altar room. The smell of burning incense was strong as the stench of stale blood made her stomach churn. She saw only dark shapes form around the stone altar and a high priestess next to her mother's strapped down body.
"Tonight, my sisters, we shall watch the birth of a new leader within this chamber." The priestess hissed looking down at Ama. "This defiler will allow Anubis to claim her soul once the blade has pierced her heart." She turned her cold gaze to Vedette. "…by the child that she loves."
Ama slammed her eyes and pleaded. "Please don't make her do this...she doesn't deserve this fate. Do want you have to with me, but leave my daughter out of it."
"Your pleading means nothing. You are nothing...but a fading stain that will be removed from this society." She pointed at Vedette. "Bring the child forth and let her fulfill her destiny of being an executioner."
Vedette felt a stinging in her chest as the veil was lifted and she stared at the motionless body of her mother. Before she could escape from the tight grasp of her captor, a dagger was placed into her tiny hands.
"You are ready, my dear, to lead these followers. You are ready to become a member of the House Baset. First you need to commit your heart to our justice. With this blade, pierce it into your mother's heart; end the curse that she has bought forth onto us...by defying our laws of having another child."
'No," Vedette refused. "I will not harm my mother."
The priestess laughed. "Foolish child...she doesn't love you...why do you think she is having another baby. You have no place in her heart. Do not show any weakness with compassion. End her sin with this blade."
Vedette inched closer, fingers gripping the handle of the blade as she narrowed her throbbing eyes to her mother's ashen features and looked at her rounded stomach. "It's true you have no place left for me in your heart mother..." Her eyes became darker with jealously and hatred to the child that was growing inside Ama's womb. "I am nothing to you."
Ama swallowed. "No...I love you." she said, wetness was on her cheeks. "I love you so much."
'Do it," the priestess said in a voice laced with venom. "She will replace you with the child that she carries. You will become the outcast."
Vedette stepped forth and raised the blade, aligning it with her mother's chest as her innocence was stricken by hate. She smiled devilishly. "You were right about one thing mother...this is the life that I am meant to live...Tonight I give you freedom." She forcefully jabbed the blade into Ama's chest with a look of mixed emotions as she watched her mother's eyes roll back. She backed away in shock as if waking from a nightmare. "No...What have I done?"
"What was necessary, my dear." The priestess answered, gripping her shoulder. Now you are ready for the next step of your journey. Are you ready to begin this new life, Vedette Countess?"
"Yes." Vedette said with infused remorse, glancing over at her mother's lifeless body. "I am ready."
"Mistress?"
A masked mercenary's voice brought Vedette back to reality with a sudden jolt to her system. She bashed her eyes open. The old stabbing pain of her childhood pierced through Vedette's heart, an ache that never truly faded out and always seeped inside her bones as she was preparing to engineer the greatest act of suffering that the people of Gotham ever faced. Every detail, deadly toxin, the blood pouring out on the streets, and the city falling into madness was her life's work. Now she was carrying an unwanted child inside her womb...A baby that will either be a blessing or a curse to her future.
And now, thanks to a grim memory resurfacing, the throbbing in her chest was increasing.
"Mistress?"
Vedette glared at the mercenary, placing her hand on her swollen stomach. Her jaw clenched as she grabbed focus on the mission, and displayed no emotion in her cold eyes. She wasn't ready to give into the weakness of disbelief, and closely move to the edge of a place in her life where her hesitation didn't want to be. She regained a strict composure, her lips were firm and she compressed her thoughts.
"I am ready," Vedette said. "Tell your men to create a little obstacle for the police. I don't want them to interfere with this cleansing."
The mercenary nodded, "Yes, Mistress." He bowed his head and left her presence.
The streets were empty and dark as the convoy of GCPD patrol cars and armored SWAT vans were all speeding down a freeway, past road barricades that denied traffic access from the side streets and on-ramps. Suddenly, an ambulance lumbered to a stop at the intersection where two officers were holding up traffic.
The two officers ran from their post at one of the barricades and approached the ambulance that had a spray-painted word "slaughter" on the side. One cop tapped the driver's window and backed a few steps away as the driver stared directly at him. "Sorry sir, but you have to wait like everyone else," he told the driver.
The driver shook his head. "I have a very sick man in the back." He answered with a nervous voice, turning his head to the body lying on the stretcher. The officers moved to the back and opened the doors and stared at the motionless body for a second until the patient reeled up and sneered with his bloody marred grin. He pulled the trigger and watched both officers drop dead from the blast of his shotgun in his hands.
The Joker straightened up and placed a corpse on the stretcher. He quickly removed himself from the back, shot the driver in the back of the skull, then walked over the lifeless bodies of the cops. Within moments, the vehicle set a blaze and he walked down the right lane of the street as the glow from the flames retracted in his dark eyes.
The stench of urban decay blanketed the narrow alley; a rusted metal dumpster was inches away. Glimmers of moonlight were captured in the puddles; dented trash cans were overflowing with litter...broken shards of glass cracked beneath her stiletto heels. Selina crinkled her nose as the smell of rotten garage entered through her nostrils. She was impressed. She thought that in some ways the people of Gotham would at least start to clean up the streets, make the backdrops more livable instead of a piling garbage heap.
Selina walked beside Batman as their feet dragged against the glazed pavement, both knowing that they had a mission to fulfill. Batman undid the latch and opened one side of the container which revealed darkness. The light flickered on, and parked inside was a painted black high-tech motorcycle.
"Fox designed this for you...It's called the Prowler." He said with a hint of a smirk played on his lips."I made sure it came in black."
Her eyes lit up, "Oh, love the name..." Without waiting for an invitation, she walked inside the container and straddled her legs against the metal of the high-tech bike. She stretched her lithe body out atop of it, grabbed the controls with her gloved hands and gripped the handles.
Batman stood a few inches away, cape draped over his shoulders. His hazel eyes stared at her under the graphite slits and then he spoke gruffly. "The Joker has created an obstruction on Lower Fifth. He's blocking all points of entry for Gordon's reinforcements. The cannons have enough fire power to clear a path."
She marveled at the newest weapon of her arsenal - her own mode of transportation to command through the streets of Gotham. Machine guns, missile launchers, grappling hooks and even a few secret compartments on the sides to store her weapons; what more could a girl of her talents ask for?
"A girl can do some damage with this baby." She smirked, arching her back.
"Just be careful," he instructed with concern. "I haven't time to beta test it." Before he could finish, he heard the engine come to life as she started the throttle. His boots absorbed the vibrations of the vehicle's raw power. She smiled as the Prowler roared like an untamed panther.
"I think that won't be a problem." She said, looking into his darkened eyes. Batman moved closer to her with a serious posture. Her dark eyes narrowed underneath the domino mask. "Bruce, I can handle this."
He knew that she was right.
"Remember - you need to focus…"
Selina flashed her eyes and shook her head, "I know what I have to do, Bruce. I don't need to be reminded."
"I'm looking out for your back, Selina." He replied deeply. "We're dealing with two psychopaths that want this city to burn. Countess is unpredictable with her attacks. We need to be alert at all times."
She rolled her eyes and then turned her focus to the exit of the alleyway. A slight hint of a chagrin etched crossed her brow, her lips tightened as she recollected all that transpired in the past few days. She almost lost the man she was in love with; forever inside that fleabag body Vedette imprisoned him in. She was prepared to strike the witch down with her claws...but right now she needed to focus on the mission while feeling forced to follow instructions.
"A cat is always ready for the hunt," she explained, feeling a sudden sense of dread. "I will make a clear path for Gordon's men and then I will meet you at the treatment plant."
"No," Batman growled. "This is my fight...I can't..."
Selina's lips formed into an unnerving scowl. "Can't what?" she seethed, a few flickers of anger ran her veins.
He just stood there silently as his mind replayed thoughts of her being trapped in the ICU at Gotham General after she endured the contemptible treatment of the Joker. He almost lost her...just like how he lost Rachel. He promised himself that he would never allow the woman he treasured to be a soldier in the front lines of his war on crime.
Batman felt a sting in his chest. For years he kept all his emotions locked inside the dark caverns of his soul. He had never been so open with anyone… He parted his lips and then swallowed, "I can't lose you." he confessed, looking steadily into her eyes.
He closed his eyes and then reopened them, looking down at her. He turned his angle away from her, keeping his distance. Selina mashed her teeth into her bottom lip.
"Bruce," she switched off the engine and slid her body off the bike. She moved closer to him.
Batman's piercing gaze looked into her dark brown eyes, and his voice was strained as he rasped. "I wouldn't know what to do you if anything happened to you, Selina."
She didn't respond at first as silence hung between them. She brought her hands to the sides of his cowl and slowly pulled it off...She stared into his severe emerald-hazel eyes and brought her gloved fingers over his warm cheek and smiled. "We've both survived worse storms," she said, looking at the cowl in her hands. "We're survivors, Bruce..."
Bruce cradled her face with his hand, rubbed his thumb over her soft lips. "Selina, I love you...I love so much but I need you to do something for me."
"Okay," she replied softly, something froze within. "What do you want me to do?"
Bruce wrapped his black cape around both of their bodies, as her breasts rubbed against his armor torso."I want you to return to Wayne Manor after you cleared the path. This is something that I have to do alone... and I need you to stay with Emily and assure her safety."
"Bruce, you don't stand a chance against these guys...They're damn tricksters."
He placed his hands firmly on her shapely shoulders. "Like you said - I've survived worse." She turned her gaze off of him and then looked at the surrounding umbra around them, and he held her into a tight embrace and murmured. "Selina…"
Bruce angled her head and she looked in his eyes once again. His expression was intense without any hesitation he groaned and covered her mouth in a hungry kiss. Selina responded immediately, surprising herself. She closed her eyes; his mouth was warm and the caress of his lips softer than all the intimate moments they shared.
He tasted tentatively with his tongue and Selina opened her mouth with a low moan. They deepened further into the kiss, releasing shaky exhales until he pulled away breathless and placed his hand on her cheek.
"Just come back to me in one piece." She implored as he pressed one last kiss tenderly on her lips.
"I'll try," he said, adjusting the cowl. "Be safe." He turned and vanished into the night. She gazed after him for a moment, and then hopped back onto the Prowler.
She licked her lips as the lingering taste of his own lips remained on her plump redden flesh. She flipped down her goggles and gunned the engine.
The Prowler sped out of the alley and into the opened streets. She raced across the city, trying to outrun the surging doubts of failure, grief and death in her mind.