Fire and Ice [Slow Updates]

Chapter Seven

After finally brushing my hair out, I had promptly fallen asleep, exhausted.

When I woke up, I head a car engine running in the driveway, and I jumped up to look and see who was here. It was my dad's car, with both of my parents talking in front of it.

I hurried out of the house, moving to join them. They turned to face me, both of them looking solemn. I looked between them, attempting to figure out what was going on.

"We've decided to take a family trip into town, since we feel that Penn wouldn't want us to... live our lives in fear," my mom said, her forehead creasing as she spoke. My dad nodded, obviously agreeing with what she was saying, although his jaw was clenched.

"Really?" I looked at them each, stunned. I wasn't expecting them to decided to go out, especially not during "Joker time".

My mom nodded. "Yes; go get changed. We're leaving in fifteen minutes."

I turned, hurrying back into the house. In my room, I quickly changed into a pair of worn jeans and a tee shirt with my shoes. I chose to go makeup free, since I doubted that we would see anyone that I knew in town. People rarely went into town on weekends, surprisingly. They often opted to stay at their houses, or go to other houses to simply relax with their friends

Brushing my hair was a much simpler task today, and I powered through that before brushing my teeth and applying deodorant. I took a banana for breakfast to go, already taking a bit before I was out the door.

The car ride into town was tense. I could tell that obviously neither of my parents wanted to be doing this, but they were anyway, since they believed that it was what Penn would want. I couldn't disagree, since she was always such an outgoing girl. She rarely allowed we fears to get the best of her, and when they did, you weren't allowed to mention it unless you wanted to be seriously injured.

When we found a parking space, I nearly leapt out of the car, but my mom's firm grip on my wrist stopped me.

"We're only here because I feel that this is what Penn would want. I want you to stay with the two of us at all times, do I make myself clear?"

"Penn would hate that." The words darted out of my mouth before I could think about what I was about to say, and I watched my mom think to herself, eventually turning to my dad and raising her eyebrow. In response, he shrugged. "She's a free spirit, like her sister. You can't hold a free spirit down for long. They'll find a way out."

My mom sighed, turning back to me. "You have an hour to do whatever shopping you want. I'll give you some money, and we will meet at the Mexican restaurant in an hour. Clear?" She held fifty dollars out to me, and I took it after nodded, agreeing with her.

Once her grip on my wrist released, I darted out of the car, closing the door behind me as I skipped down the sidewalk. It had been over a week since I had been into town, and neither of my parents felt that it was "safe".

However, I was free now, with no supervision, money, and an hour. I wondered what all I could do with my money and limited time, before deciding to walk down a very dark alley that no adult liked that would take me to another shopping center. If you walked too far, it became a dead end, and you would have to retrace your steps to find the turn.

As I entered the alley, I felt a gust of wind blow my hair around. I combed it back behind my ears, paying little attention to it. What did catch my attention however, was the black shape that dropped down in front of me as I and nearer to the turn.

I turned on my phone light, jumping when I discovered that it was Batman. I shifted, not understanding why he was here. Nothing bad or wrong was happening here.

"Please shine the light onto you face for a moment, so that I can see who you are." A low voice commanded me, coming from the man before me.

I complied, shining the light onto my face for a moment. However, as I turned the light away, Batman gasped. I frowned again, confused.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

His next question struck me.

"Lily Ann--er, Penelope?"

-

I'm so sorry about the late update. I had a parade that I had to march in almost immediately after school, so I didn't have any time to publish.

The gif isn't on the very top because I didn't have time to get to a laptop to do that, so it's below where it usually is.

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