My Ghost

three

I still sit across from Black Mask as one of his men brings in a silver platter with two wine glasses on it. I watch as he gently sets the platter down in between the two of us and exits as quietly as he entered.

"We ain't sending you out in the field yet," Black Mask tells me, reaching forward and grabbing his glass off of the platter. "Your father has established a charity ball in your name on Christmas at Gotham City Hall. You're going to make one big surprise appearance."

"Isn't that a little flashy, even for you?" I ask, crossing my arms. I refuse to drink the wine... for all I know it has something in it.

"Exactly. My men are going in to steal anything and everything of value while everyone gushes over the mayors daughter coming back from the dead!"

"A robbery? Thought those were beneath you."

"I'm a little short on cash right now thanks to our friend the Red Hood," he says. "He's blown up four of my trucks in the past week! Do you know how much money went down the drain?!" he yells. He takes a breath, straightening his tie. "Excuse my outburst. My anger is uncontrollable at times." I smile to myself and Black Mask stares at me. "What, you think this is funny?"

"Not funny, hilarious," I correct him, beginning to laugh. "You have no idea what you're up against."

Black Mask leans forward in his seat, setting his glass down on the desk. He sets his forearms on the table, clasping his hands together. "So you know this Red Hood character?"

"Who doesn't?" I scoff. "He's everywhere."

"How do you know him?"

"I don't," I lie.

Black Mask nods. "You know, Ray, I don't appreciate lying."

"And I don't appreciate being manipulated," I return. It's my turn to lean forward now, resting my elbows on my knees. "Listen Mask, you can threaten me all you want. You can keep using me time and time again but the bottom line is you won't get very far with the Red Hood in your path. He can tear your organization apart limb by limb without you even knowing it's happening."

Black Mask slams his glass down on the table and it shatters in his hand. "You think you're so fucking smart, huh? You think you know every little vigilante that runs around this town at night? Every villain lurking in the shadows? You haven't seen anything yet, Ms. Hady. I'm going to rob this entire fucking city blind with you as my puppet and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop me. They won't know what hit them," he snarls.

"It's cute how you think you have that much control over what I do," I tell him sweetly. "You have the upper hand, sure, but I'm always one step ahead. Red Hood? He's always two. And Batman? Three. So even if you truly do have me in your grasp, it's never going to stay that way."

Black Mask stares at me, and I feel as though he's staring directly into my soul. "You really think you're hot shit, don't you?"

I chuckle. "No. I know that I am."

Black Mask smiles, collapsing back into his seat. "Good, I'm glad. You'll need it when you see Gotham for what she truly is."

I lean back in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest. "So I'm just playing the mayor's daughter again?"

Black Mask shakes his head. "No, I'm still going to need you at night. You have too many skills not to utilize them. Don't worry, we have a much better getup for you than the stupid dress and short shorts you used to wear. No, we're introducing the Shadow in a whole new light."

"You're going to turn my name into a villain's."

"Correct!" he exclaims. "Let's go for a walk, shall we?"

Black Mask rises from his seat and I glare up at him. I wasn't going anywhere... and I also couldn't move really well still.

"Get up!" he shouts, and I sigh. I lean forward, grabbing the glass off the table and slamming it down. It shatters in my hand and I grip a long shard in my hand. I can feel blood running down my palm but I ignore it, standing up and turning to Black Mask.

"I'm bringing this in case I need to stab either you or myself," I state bluntly.

Black Mask howls with laughter. "This is why I like you, Ray. You're never not looking for a fight."

He begins walking across the room to what seems to be an elevator. I make my way slowly and shakily behind him, my head pounding and my hand dripping blood onto the already scarlet carpet. Black Mask presses the button to the elevator and looks back at my pathetic attempt to move.

"Is it that hard getting back on your feet?" he snarls.

"It is after you've died," I snap at him. Once I reach the elevator, the doors are open and Mask is inside. I collapse against the wall in the corner of the elevator, catching my breath and allowing the walls to hold my weight.

"We've got a lot of work to do if you're going to that ball in two weeks," Black Mask mutters. Two weeks? What was I going to do for that long?

"Did you know I would wake up today?" I ask. "It seems that your plan really banks on it."

Black Mask shakes his head. "I didn't plan it, no. But if you weren't awake by the end of the month we were going to pull the plug on the operation," he tells me. "You waking up is a big benefit for us."

I nod. "So if I were to kill myself again right here, right now, you would be put back in that sticky situation."

Black Mask looks over at me and sighs. "You don't want to do that, Ray. I've seen clones come back from the dead again and again and again. You might not be a clone but I guarantee you your brain will turn to mush in no time and you will be nothing but a brain dead zombie here to do my bidding."

I squeeze the glass in my hand and feel the glass press into my skin as I grit my teeth. There was no step ahead this time for me. There was no ending this by myself, I needed help. 

The elevator stops and the doors open, revealing a warehouse-like space. Boxes line shelves that go as far as the eye can see. The room is dark, with little light illuminating the different paths one can take when maneuvering through the room.

"What's down here?" I ask, pushing myself off the wall and forcing myself to stand on my own. My legs shake as I follow Black Mask off of the elevator and make my way into the dark room.

"We kept it down here in case you didn't wake up," Mask tells me over his shoulder. "We designed it specifically for you and tailored it to your skills. We also made sure that it would be able to handle any, uh, unexpected side-effects as well."

"I'm sorry, what is this?" I'm a few steps behind but keeping up better than I had before. Black Mask takes a left hand turn and stops before, what I assume to be, a large cylinder case hidden under a tarp.

"We're glad to have you on board, Shadow," Black Mask says, smirking. 

He pulls the tarp off and it falls slowly to my feet. I stare in awe at what lies before me.

"Holy shit."