Riddle me this, Riddle me Kat! *Watty Awards 2012 Completed*

Chapter fourteen

--Dream—

I woke up and looked around to see myself as a five year old in my house.

“Katrina honey!” mom yelled to me up the stairs. “Katrina! Dinner’s ready!” I looked around my familiar bedroom. It was green and purple. I had a dark purple bed set and emerald green walls. My ceiling was left white so that I could fall asleep a little better. My floor was a cream colored carpet that surprised my mother when it actually matched the color scheme. I had to check, was this real? I walked over to my closet and dug through all the clothes to the back wall. Sure enough, it was hollow when I knocked and I removed the hidden panel I had discovered months ago. I kept my special doll and stuffed animal along with some clothes and food in it. The space was no bigger than a medium sized tote box. I saw it as my emergency place.

“Katrina! I’m not going to yell again! Get down here for dinner!” Mom yelled again. I smiled and ran out of my second story room and down the stairs. I was going to see my mother’s face again. But sure enough as I neared the middle landing of the stairwell, men in black appeared and my mother screamed for me to run as she was slaughtered with my dad. I closed my eyes tightly and I was soon blasted with a cold wind and hard rain. I opened my eyes and was in front of Gotham High School.

“What?” I whispered to myself. It looked abandoned but all the lights were on and there was a static coming on over the intercom system.

“Katrina. Katrina Wayne, please report to the principal’s office.”

It was a strange scratchy voice and I couldn’t control my feet. They carried me to the front offices of the school entirely too fast.

“Have a seat.” The principal said before turning his chair around. I gasped as I saw Joker there instead. “It seems you’ve been influencing the children to leave. Are you afraid of something? Are you afraid of me?” he laughed manically. I couldn’t help but run out of the room as fast as I could. His laughter followed me around the entire school over the loud speaker.

“Katrina!” I stopped as I saw Riddler wave over to me and point at something. I looked and saw there was a big green box with a question mark on it.

“What cheats, but without answers or paper? What plays without ever entering a game?” he smiled and pointed his brass cane at the box while wrapping his arms around my shoulder and pulling me closer.

“Give up?” he smiled; as he tapped his cane on the ground the box opened. I gasped as I saw Crystal and Austin wrapped up in each other. When they noticed their eyes grew wide and they tried to separate but couldn’t. They didn’t apologize after that, they just started to kiss again. I felt my eyes burn as I tried to fight back my tears.

“No. No. No.” I yelled and the landscape changed again. I looked at my feet and noticed a familiar tiled floor.

“Welcome home Mistress.” Alfred smiled at me. He was carrying a silver tray with a lid on it. “Curiosity killed the cat Katrina.” He laughed as he took off the top and I saw it was covered in nothing but blood.

“Alf… Alfred?” I backed into a solid human mass. I spun around to see Bruce glaring down at me.

“How could you?!” he yelled at me and I backed up the other way; onto the staircase.

“What are you talking about? Where did all that blood come from?!” I was yelling and trying to keep the tears from blurring my vision.

“How could you?! After all he’s done for you! How could you kill Richard?!” Bruce yelled as he advanced towards me. I saw anger and fire in his eyes. Something in his hand caught my attention and as he raised it I recognized it as a gun.

“Bruce.” I whispered wide-eyed.

“Don’t you dare say my name!” he yelled shaking the gun. “YOU KILLED HIM!”

“No! I didn’t!” I yelled back crying as I ran up the stairs and into my room as the bullets started to fly and caught me in the left shoulder. I ran to the far side of the room and crawled under my bed. There was banging on the door and it shook on it’s frame.

“I’LL GET YOU KATRINA! YOU’LL NEVER BE SAFE! I’LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU! YOU’LL DIE JUST LIKE YOUR PARENTS DIED!” he yelled and I put my hand on my mouth to stop any sound from escaping. It got quiet all of a sudden and I heard my door creak open.

Thunk.

Thunk.

Thunk.

The footsteps got closer and closer to the edge of my bed and the bed skirt at the end was being raised ever so slightly until I could see the face of the man I had wanted so dearly to call my father. I shut my eyes as the gun went off and my head started to pound.

“Katrina, Katrina, Katrina. Poor, poor dear.” I was on the floor curled up into the fetal position crying when I heard him smile to himself. “Just face the facts, you’re becoming one of us and you can’t stop it. But, do you WANT to stop it?” Harvey Dent got closer and closer and I just continued to cry.

“Leave her alone Harvey.” Edward said. I heard his footsteps thud against the floor and the noise the air made as he twirled that brass cane in his left hand.

“What’s she to you?” Harvey growled and I heard him cock a gun by my head.

“What’s she to you?” Edward growled back as he too stopped near me.

“Just another Wayne that’ll cause me problems in life. Just another Wayne I’ll have to kill.”

“I can’t let you do that Harvey.” Riddler smiled and I heard the sound of metal hitting bone followed by an ‘oof!’ and a ‘thunk.’ Two gentle hands wrapped around my shoulder and brought me to the standing position while wrapping me in a hug. I could smell his cologne, it was scented slightly like the woods. “Don’t worry love; I’ve got you.” He whispered in my ear sending chills down my spine. Then he pulled back enough to look me in the eyes and I instantly knew that I was in love with him. He kissed me in the gentlest way possible. I kissed him back a little more forcefully.

“Ah, so you do like to play that way?” He smirked against my lips and we went right back to it. Suddenly I was against a wall and I desperately needed to catch my breath. We both took a little break and he smiled at me while cradling my face with his left hand; the cane had long since been left behind.

“Katrina, such a beautiful name for a perfectly beautiful girl.” He whispered stroking my face with his thumb.

“Why?” I asked blatantly. Why me? He just laughed at me and got closer.

“Because, you’re special. You… interest me and I want you around. I want you… I want you to be mine. I don’t want anyone else to touch you or hold you. I want you to love me back.” He whispered the last part nervously.

“I… I do.” I said breathlessly. And I realized that’s why it’s a nightmare. As he leaned in and kissed me deeper, biting my lower lip causing my knees to go week and a moan to escape my lips. As I was becoming more and more involved with him I realized one of my biggest fears. I was falling hopelessly and madly in love with a psychopathic maniac that highly enjoyed giving life threatening riddles for fun; and I wanted to be more and more a part of it. Damn it I’m another Harley Quinn… shit.

I felt his hands on my waist and mine were tangling themselves in his red hair. I pulled him closer and he did the same to me. He was still being a gentleman, his hands never going any lower or higher than my waist and was still gentle on my lips. But there was something intoxicating in his kiss; pulling me in body and soul to him.

“Please tell me this isn’t the kiss of death.” I laughed in his ear.

“The death of your old life and birth of your new one.” He whispered. My fear was becoming more and more real every second I spent with him.