Arcanus

[3]

 Bat applied the final touch to her makeup, and stared at herself in the broken mirror.

She ran her fingers through her long, midnight-black hair, and closing her heavily made-up eyes, she reached forward to touch her reflection.

Just as her fingers met the battered glass, a quick, light knock startled her out of her trance. Must be Kylie, back from her meeting. Bat thought. Running down the old, creaky stairs, Bat reached for the faded, rusted bronze doorknob.

She hesitated slightly before opening the worn down wooden door.

Throwing open the door, she peered outside.

Standing in the door's shadow, was a woman in a faded leather jacket with a high collar, her ponytail frizzled and she had a tired look in her sea-green eyes. Her hands fell loosely by her sides, and she was covered in dust, sweat, and...was that blood?

Instinctively, Bat flinched away. She was everything that repelled Bat- dirty, unkept, and wild.

"What do you want?" The words came out sharper than Bat intended. The woman smiled half-heartedly at Bat.

"Hello, Bat." She said softly. "How are you?"

"Fine." Bat said crisply. "Who are you?"

The woman paused. "Raven." She said shortly. "I was a friend of Kylie's."

Bat narrowed her eyes. "You were a friend of Kylie's?" She said suspiciously.

Raven bit her lip, then closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry Bat. Kylie is dead."

"What? I'm sorry, I think I misheard you, Miss Raven."

"You didn't. I'm really sorry."

"...how?"

"I, uh, I found her body drifting down the Greenhart River this morning when I was, uh..."

Raven paused. "Uh, washing."

"Washing? Like, washing your clothes? Or like, bathing?"

"Washing my clothes." She said quickly, her cheeks heating up.

Bat wrinkled her nose delicately.

"You're lying." She stated bluntly.

Raven seemed to catch herself.

"Ok, fine, maybe I was bathing."

Bat didn't trust the woman, but she offered her inside her home anyway.

"Tell me more." She commanded.