The Demon Of The Night [OUTDATED VERSION]

Sarracenia Minor

Snow landed gently on Barbara's cheek as she stirred. She slowly opened her eyes, moving her body against the cold ground. As she gained full consciousness, a sudden sharp pain traveled over her legs, making her wince.

The girl looked down, panicking as she saw what had been the former Isley Mansion on top of her lower half. She started to squirm around, frantically trying to free herself from the rubble to no avail.

"No," she wheezed, pulling at her legs. "Please, no! Come on!"

"Help! Someone! Please!" She could feel the blood pouring down her forehead. "Help!"

Realizing no one was going to come, Barbara began to sob. She was stuck here, and if it wasn't the blood loss that eventually killed her it would be the cold. Or the ash from the still-smoldering wreckage filling her lungs.

"Someone... please." She pressed her gloves into the snow, watching as blood dripped onto it.

Barbara had just shut her eyes when she heard a car drive up and its door open. Harleen stepped out, taking in the destruction of her former home. She remained quiet for a few seconds,  seemingly ignoring the calls from the injured girl.

"Harleen!" Barbara reached her hand towards her. "Please, you have to help me!"

"Help you?" Harleen mocked. "Why should I help a brat like you?!"

"H-Harleen-" Barbara stammered as she watched the woman reach into her coat pocket.

"None of this would've happened if you hadn't decided to be that bloodsucker's slut!" Harleen pulled out a pistol, aiming it at Barbara's skull. "Don't worry, that'll be a painless death compared to freezing out here."

"Harleen, please! No! Help! Someone!" Barbara struggled against the ground, beating and pulling at the debris over her.

"I should've killed you when I had the chance! But I won't let it pass again! Nope!" Harleen's eyes twinkled with a mad gleam. "Now here's your chance to be one with your dead lover. Better not pass it up!"

Just as Harleen had placed her finger on the trigger, a black silhouette appeared behind her, throwing her into the snow like a rag doll. Her body landed in a contorted way, her arms and legs twisted in an impossible way. 

The wreckage was quickly lifted off Barbara, freeing her from its crushing weight. With blue eyes that burned with hunger, the figure started walking towards Harleen. She lied immobile against the ground, clutching the claw mark across her side.

"D-Don't do this. We don't gotta fight anymore." Harleen coughed up blood. "W-We can make this work."

Noticing the discarded pistol as she was hunched over, Barbara hesitantly picked it up and went towards the pair.

"Hey! Kid!" Harleen gasped upon seeing Barbara approaching with a gun. "Tell-Tell your boyfriend he doesn't have to do this!"

"Do what you like with her, Richard." Barbara placed her hand on his shoulder. He let out a low growl in response. 

She had not seen his face, but she knew it must have been horrifying since Harleen started screaming like a madwoman once he stood over her. He had not even sunk his teeth into her yet.

"It's a miracle you are even still alive!" Richard turned away from the body, finally allowing himself to be seen. "But I have to get you out of here now." He grabbed onto her hand without warning, proceeding deeper into the forest and away from the mansion.

"Wait, Richard." Barbara suddenly stopped him. "There's something you have to know... Jason- He was with me. But then the mansion collapsed and... I'm sorry."

"Jason... he was here?" He let go of her. "Then where is he right now?"

"Under the mansion," she murmured.

Richard opened his mouth to respond, only to quickly close it and push Barbara against a tree. She was about to protest when Richard hushed her. 

"It's Pamela," he warned. Barbara turned her head just enough to see the woman creep in the direction of her destroyed home. She looked perfect as always despite the fierce battle she had been engaged in. Not far behind her was Selina, looking haggard and disheveled.

"Hurry up, Selina," Pamela ordered. "Time is of the essence here. There are only four hours until sunrise."

"Don't get mad at me for Harleen running off on her own," Selina groaned. "She knew better."

"She will be the one I scold." Pamela continued to speak, but she was out of Barbara's hearing range by then.

"What is she saying?" Barbara asked the boy next to her.

"She knows something is wrong because she can see and smell the smoke coming from the mansion. Now she is on all fours running towards it."

It was not long before a devastating howl rang throughout the woods. Pamela must have found Harleen's body, and not too far away, her severed head. The howl quickly turned into one filled with rage before abruptly ending.

Silence filled its place.

Richard did not hesitate in continuing deeper into the dark. "C'mon. We have to keep moving. You'll only be in danger if you stay."

"I think we both are." She remembered Jason and how not even his kind was completely indestructible. "Jason certainly was." 

Richard sighed as he leaned against a tree trunk. "Maybe he escaped and you didn't see. Maybe Jason-"

"What about Jason?" A voice asked above them, making Barbara flinch back. 

"Bruce! Jason might be injured. The mansion collapsed on him," Richard explained, glancing up. "But we can't go back, not with Barbara here-"

"I agree," Bruce cut him off, moving down from the tree he was perched on. "She needs to wait here while we go back to the mansion."

"That is not what I meant!" Richard protested. "We cannot just leave Barbara, hurt and defenseless! Pamela is still out here!"

Bruce ignored him. "Where is Pamela? Have you seen her?"

"She walked by us earlier. Towards the mansion." Richard paused. "She must have found Harleen's body... I left it there for her to see."

Bruce blinked a few times, keeping his gaze steady. "Then I know where she is," he said quietly.

"Where?" Richard raised an eyebrow.

"You." Bruce finally looked at Barbara- his stare colder than the snow they stood upon. "You are staying back."

Barbara scoffed. "I am not staying out here in the dark, waiting to catch hypothermia!"

"Yes, you are." Bruce glared down at her. "You will be a hindrance if you come along."

"Who do you think you are?" Barbara pointed her finger up at the man. "No! I am coming-"

Before she could finish her sentence, her body suddenly collapsed. From behind, Richard stood with his arm outstretched, having knocked her out. 

"She is staying behind," Bruce instructed. "I hear police sirens. They will find her."

Richard lifted her up in his arms. "No, I will carry her if you think she is too much of a burden."

"If something happens to Alfred, then it will be on your head!" Bruce snarled back over the sounds of the rapidly approaching police sirens.