Third Person P.O.V.
The moon hung low in the sky, it's full, glowing light, shining down on the restless city. Gotham never fully slept, there was always some sort of action, but tonight it was eerily quiet. A dog barked, the sound echoing off of the buildings. A shadow peeled itself off of the wall in an unnaturally well-kept neighborhood, slinking and sliding from one shadowy corner to the next.
His target was a simple two-story home on the very edge of the neighborhood. One might guess that he targeted it because it was the nicest, but that was far from the truth. He came because they had to collect something that rightfully belonged to him.
The man with a head as bald as a newborn babe stepped out of the shadows, the moon glimmering off of his pale skin.
"Time for some fun." He said. His voice as smooth and sharp as the blades he carried. His watery blue-grey eyes passed over the home, taking in the neatly trimmed yard and flower curtained windows that were lit up with light. Lip curling, the man knew that he'd take pleasure in what he had to do, more than usual anyway. With deft movements, the man silently stalked toward the house. Oh yes, he'd enjoy this very much.
A young girl, no older than six, bounced excitedly on her bed, not believing that it was her birthday. Her parents had promised that she'd get to stay up until midnight as a special treat. Her parents promised her many things, and to say that she was slightly spoiled was an understatement. She was always respectful though, never once bragging to anyone.
The girl smiled and turned as her mother entered the room.
"Momma!" The girl squealed, jumping into the woman's arms.
"My darling little girl." Her mother said, grey eyes full of love and compassion. "It's midnight. Time for you to go to bed."
"But momma," the girl whined. "Can't I stay up with you and daddy?"
"No my child," the woman said patiently, stroking the girl's hair. "You must sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day for you."
"Bear's coming over right?" The girl perked up.
"Yes," the woman said. "I heard he has something very special to give you for your birthday. But you won't get it unless you go to sleep."
"Ok!" The girl declared. "I will sleep!" She scrambled out of her mothers' arms and crawled under her covers.
The woman chuckled, "Good girl. Shall I call your friend in?"
"Yes!"
The woman gave a low whistle and within seconds, a large brown and black mass hurtled into the room, it's feet splaying on the wood floor as it tried to gain its balance. The girl giggled and held out her arms and the German Shepard jumped onto her bed, licking her face with gusto, causing the girl to laugh harder.
"He'll protect you." The woman said with a smile. "He'll always be with you where ever you go."
"Even in my dreams?" The girl asked, looking up from where she's buried her face in the dogs fur.
"Even in your dreams." The woman promised.
A sudden crash came from the downstairs and the woman started.
"What was that momma?" The girl asked as her mother slowly turned towards the door.
"Nothing to worry about dear." Her mother said. "It's probably daddy accidentally dropping something. I'll go down and check."
"I wanna go with you!" The girl cried.
"No." Her mothers' harsh voice made the girl pause. He mother had never used that voice with her, the girl was suddenly scared. "Stay here alright? I'll yell out secret code word, then you can come down and have a little birthday treat, ok?"
"Ok!"
"Keep her safe." Her mother patted the dog on its head before disappearing out the door.
The girl chatted with the dog as she waited.
"What do you think the surprise will be?" She asked. "Ice cream? Cake? Ooo, what about ice cream cake?" She got a dreamy look on her face and flinched in alarm as another loud crash issued from downstairs.
"What do you think is going on?" She whispered to the dog. "I wanna go down and see but momma said not to. What do you think?"
The dog let out a huge yawn before flipping down on the bed with a sigh.
"Stay then?" The girl asked. "Oh alright, but only until momma says it's alright to come down."
She snuggled closer to the dog and her eyes fluttered close only to snap back open when she heard yelling.
"Don't touch her you bastard!" She heard her father yell.
The girl had never heard such language come from her father. Bear had occasionally cursed around her, but he always got reprimanded by the girls' parents. 'Don't say that around our daughter.' They'd say.
The sound of shattering glass reached the girls' ears and she tried to block it out by covering them.
"I'm scared," she whispered to the dog. "What's going on? Are momma and daddy in trouble?"
The girl became conflicted. Her mother had told her not to come down until she'd called, but she's also taught her to help those that were in trouble. There was a possibility that her parents were in trouble, so what should she do? Stay and wait or go and try to help?
The combined need to know what was going on and to help is what drove the girl to summon the courage to leave the safety of her room. The dog perked its ears as the girl tiptoed towards her door.
"Come on." The girl whispered. "Momma said that you'd protect me."
The dog lept off the bed and followed the girl out into the hall. Creeping down the hall, the girl peered around the corner. The once spotless living room was now trashed, with the couch overturned and the coffee table smashed. Hearing noises from the kitchen, the girl hesitantly stepped into the living room. Picking her way through the mess with the dog close at her side, the girl gradually grew closer to the kitchen.
She was stopped, however, when a large mass cut across her path. The dog laid back his ears and snarled.
"Don't do that." The girl said. "It's just daddy." She recognized the purple shirt that he was so fond of wearing.
"Come on daddy." The girl said crouching down and shaking his shoulder. "Get up, momma and I need you. It's no time to sleep, the living room is a mess."
Getting no response, the girl shook him harder. "Daddy? Wake up!" She became desperate then, he wasn't responding to her. What was wrong?
Grunting, the girl heaved her father over and he landed on his back with a muffled thump. His once warm brown eyes were dull and lifeless.
"Daddy?" The girl asked softly. She wasn't young enough to not know about death, but she'd never come in contact with it before. Not like this. "Daddy!" The girl searched frantically for anything to save him, though in the back of her mind she knew it was pointless. There were deep knife wounds on his body, on his sides and chest. There were a lot of them to, the girl could see where they were because of the rips in his shirt.
The girl would've gone on trying to garner some sort of understanding of what had happened, but the dog growled again, this time at the kitchen door where the sounds of a struggle emitted.
Reluctantly the girl rose unsteadily to her feet, her body swaying. What was going on? Why was her dad on the floor clearly dead? Who'd killed him and why? Where was her mother?
These questions clouded the girls' mind, her already overloaded brain causing her head to hurt. A quiet sob slipped out of the girls' mouth as she tottered towards the kitchen. What she found there was even worse.
The dining table was pushed roughly against the far wall, the middle of the kitchen occupied by a man dressed in black who was grappling with the girls' mother.
"You'll never get her!" Her mother snarled, wrenching the man's knife out of his hand and tossing it behind her.
"We always get what we want!" The man hissed back, his bald head glimmering with a thin layer of precipitation.
"Over my dead body!" The girls' mother yelled.
"Then I'll just have to take the liberty of it." The man said, baring his teeth in a terrifying smile. He pulled out a small pistol and pointed it at the girls' mother.
The dog barked but stayed by the girls' side. The mothers' eyes widened when she saw the girl standing there in the doorway.
"What do we have here?" The man said, turning to face the girl and her dog. "My my looks like I won't have to go searching for you." He swung his gun around and aimed it at the girl. "What to do, what to do." He gave a thoughtful look.
"Run!" The girls' mother yelled, rushing the man.
"Now we can't have that happening, can we?" The man dodged the woman and pinned her to the island.
"I'll kill you before you so much as move an inch."
Even if the girl could move, which she couldn't because of fear, she would've stayed to help her mother.
"Leave her alone you big bully!" The girl yelled, running forward.
A gunshot as loud as thunder, magnified by the small space, ensued. The girl felt the rush of air as the bullet missed her by mere inches. There was a loud yelp from the dog and the girl turned to see what was wrong. The poor animal was on the ground, it's leg bleeding.
"You bitch!" The man snarled at the woman, who'd used her last remaining strength to knock the man's aim off course.
"You'll never get her." She said, eyes burning with a silver fire.
"Not right now, no." The man said smugly. "But I sure as hell can get you."
Before the woman could react, the man pushed the gun against her forehead and shot her at point blank.
"Momma!" The girl wailed as the woman's body fell to the floor, lifeless.
"You meany!" The girl yelled, running at the man again.
"You're no match for me." The man laughed humorlessly. "You're too weak. Such easy prey for me to hunt tonight."
He backhanded the girl, sending her flying into the dining table with a crash. The girl whimpered at the pain, bolts of pain shooting up her arm. Glancing down, the girl stifled a shriek when she saw that it was at an unnatural angle.
The dog, limping heavily, made its way over to the girl and placed itself between her and the man, giving a weak growl of warning.
The man stopped a few feet away and tilted his head, considering. Analyzing.
"Such a fine creature." He said at last. "Such loyalty towards its owner. I suppose I'm no different, a dog at the neck and call of its master." His lip curled. "I hate it."
The girl grabbed the dog as it fell, it too was dead. She started to cry then, realizing that now no one was in between her and her attacker. Her fingers dug into the dog's rough fur as she trembled.
The man walked over to where the knife had landed and picked it up. Running a finger over it carefully he advanced towards the girl.
"This is much better." He said. "I've always loved to closeness only a knife could give."
He crouched down next to the girl who leaned away.
"No need to be like that." The man chuckled. "I may not be able to kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't have some fun now."
He roughly grabbed the girl broken arm and she cried out in pain. He ran the tip of the knife down the pale inside of her arm.
"It'd be cruel to do any more damage to your poor arm." The man said. "Unfortunately for you, I'm not a very sympathetic person."
He drove the knife in deep and dragged it down the girl's arm.
"Scream for me." He cooed. "Let me hear your pain."
Unable not to, the girl obliged, tears running down her face.
She screamed and screamed until she couldn't anymore.