Disclaimer: This story is fiction. There are two celebrities who will appear from time-to-time. The other characters are fictitious. Any similarities to persons living or dead are completely coincidental.
In this story, I have continued the adventures of Batman, my Batman, which his story first began in "Tales of a Real Dark Knight" in the Boy Band section of this archive. It spanned 250 chapters. You will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this.
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.
The Vampire Chronicles and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
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Chapter 31 Mind Touch
"Eric! Oh my God, what's wrong?" Lance touched me and it happened. I felt us being pulled somewhere and suddenly, we weren't in the cave any more. We were inside someone or something looking around. There were men with lab coats and a Military Police Officer stood at a door. I tried moving my hands but they were held fast. I felt trapped and afraid.
'What's going on, Eric?' I felt Lance ask.
'I don't know.'
"He's fighting again," one man in a lab coat stated.
The other got up and grabbed a syringe. After filling it with a liquid, they brought it over to me and stuck it in my side. I immediately felt compliant and docile, but I also felt a strange sensation in my back, like my skin was crawling. Before I realized it, the liquid flowed through my body and out the back. A force took over and kept me from fighting to be free.
'I'm trapped,' a gentle voice said to me. 'Can you help me?'
'Who are you? Where are you?'
'My name is J'onn Jonnz and I am trapped in a structure deep below a hangar bay. I believe I heard someone call this area Dayton.'
'I know where you are. You are in the state I grew up.'
'Why are you chained up?' Lance asked.
'They do not trust me because I look different from them. I am not from this world.'
'We've dealt with that before.'
I smiled at Lance's comment, although I didn't actually have a mouth to smile with.
"Sir, there's a mass amount of brainwave activity!" the young scientist stated.
'You must go. Or they will hurt me. Can you help?'
'I'll do what I can,' I replied.
There was a rush as if going through a tunnel at rollercoaster speeds and we were back in our bodies. I took a few deep breaths and looked over at Lance, who was rubbing his head.
A short while later, we were back at the house where Jessica was waiting to find out what was going on between Lance and I. We told her we didn't know what would happen between us but that we were thinking about fixing things. Then we relayed to her what we experienced with J'onn Jonnz in Dayton.
The training she received kicked in and her personal life was set aside. "Do you think the Council could get us information?" she asked.
"Probably not," Lance answered. "If it is Hangar 13 in Dayton, Ohio, the U.S. government will deny it exists. This will only be taken with force."
"Force will only get someone killed," I stated. "Probably a lot of someones. This mission needs stealth, and one person going in."
"Who do you suggest?" Jessica said.
"Me."
"What?" Lance said. "You can't bust into a military installation by yourself!"
"I did with the Joker."
"But that was an ordinary installation. Hangar 13 is top secret. Guards there have orders to shoot to kill. Just like Area 51."
"Someone needs help, needs rescued. Isn't that why I'm here? To rescue those who need help? This person's life is in immediate danger."
Jessica took a deep breath. "How do you propose you get there? And what do we do about everyone else?"
"Well, I was thinking that I could head up there tomorrow during the day. I can't stay with my family since they don't really care to see me ever again in life. I could probably stay in Columbus, I know a few people who live there. Then, I could head to Dayton after sunset. Hopefully, by the following morning, we'll be back here safe and sound.
"As far as the kids here, Jessica, you have been doing an awesome job training them. I would ask that you continue training them. Lance, I'll need you to keep an eye on the daily operations of the Center."
Jessica nodded and put her hand on my arm. Then she smiled at Lance and left.
Lance walked over to the door and locked up the house. He turned and faced me.
"How are we going to deal with the sleeping arrangements?"
"You can sleep in the guest room," I said as I walked toward the steps. "I'm not sure I'm ready for us to share a bed again."
Lance nodded and hung his head in sadness. I walked past him and headed up the stairs. Once inside, I closed the door and walked over to my side of the bed where I stripped down to my underwear and sat looking out the window that overlooked the back of the house. Things didn't seem the same any more. Could they ever be that way again?
I climbed into bed, turned out the light, and slowly drifted off to sleep...
My mind went back to the image I had seen earlier in the evening, the one of Lance in the harness and the men having their way with him. Lance seemed to be enjoying it in my dreams as if he were mocking my pain. I sat up abruptly and looked around breathing hard. The room was dark and still. I got up and walked into the bathroom where I washed off my face at the sink. There was a clock in the bathroom so I checked the time. It was nearly 6 o'clock in the morning. I hadn't slept much as we had gotten back around 3 a.m.
I decided to go for a swim, hoping that would relax me, so I changed into a swimsuit and went to the kitchen. I looked out and saw movement in the trees in the back. Stretching out my powers, I tried to determine whether it was an animal or intruder. It was a person. I opened the door and yelled up, "Who are you?"
The being dropped down and I saw that it was Catman.
"What do you want here?" I asked.
"I came for you, demon."
"Demon? What do you mean? Demon? I'm no demon."
"You are the bat. You are the demon, the one who killed my mother."
"What are you talking about?"
"The alley, ten years ago. Don't you remember? My mother was helpless. You drained her of her blood. I watched."
"Chrisine," I whispered.
"That's right."
'My God,' I thought. 'When she told me she had three children, it wasn't the unborn child she was referring to. It was a third, older child. Oh my God, I failed someone again.'
"I watched as you drained my mother dry. After you left I went up to her to speak to her. Her body lay lifeless on the ground. Then Catman came to me and told me that you killed her. He offered to train me to beat you."
"Catman! Catman is a vampire! He's the one who killed your mother! Not me!"
"You lie! You care for my brother and sister as if they were your own children! You contaminate their heads with lies about the past! It's your last act of harming her!"
"I was a friend of your mother! Her name...her name is Christine! We went to school together! I knew something was wrong with her, but she wouldn't open up! Her last words to me while she was dying was that I take her children into my care! I promised her they would want for nothing!"
"Is that so? Then why did you leave me?" Catman screamed angrily. He reached up and pulled off his mask revealing red hair and deep, brown eyes. "If you truly meant to care for her children, why would you leave one behind?"
I didn't think I could reason with him. He seemed so far gone.
"I didn't know her third child was actually the first-born. As far as I knew, she had two children born, and one unborn. Had I known, you would have been here growing up with your brother and sister."
I made a move toward him but he perceived it as threatening. He raised his clawed hands. I stopped and raised my hands slowly.
"I don't mean you any harm," I said, hoping it would relieve some of his anxiety. At least, it would make him even remotely doubtful of whatever lies the true Catman told him.
"Liar. He told me you would try to convince me you were the good guy."
"Who is this person you are talking about?"
"The one who raised me."
"Tell me, has he aged since you first met him?"
"I know he's a vampire."
"Have you ever seen him feed?" I asked.
This Catman stopped for a moment, pondering what I had requested of him.
"You haven't, have you? Tell me, have people been found dead near where you lived?"
"You don't...you can't understand. He isn't..."
"A vampire? I know vampires. Most of them are soulless, demon-possessed shells. There are only a few who have souls. Chances are he isn't one of them."
"How would you know?"
"Those with souls are very selective in who they turn into vampires. Does the face of this vampire contort and his eyes turn yellow?"
Catman didn't say a word.
"Those are the soulless kind. Chances are he was the one who killed Christine, your mother."
"Lies!"
"You!" a voice said from behind me.
Catman looked over my shoulder as I turned to see Preston standing in the doorway.
"Preston, go back inside."
"I've seen you before," Preston continued. "You were at the club the night Batman and, well, you showed up. You had been watching us all evening."
"You only glanced at me a few times," Catman stated, "so quickly that you couldn't have possibly remembered me."
"I have a gift of remembering details. Later that night when you and Batman showed up, you protected Sarah from a bottle. Are you really our brother?"
"I am."
I looked from Preston to Catman and saw the physical similarities. Even though Preston was blonde with blue eyes and Catman was a red-head with brown eyes, they had similar facial features and body types. Still, could they truly be siblings? What if the real Catman, the vampire Catman, had found someone who resembled them to fool us into believing they were related? That was just as possible. I never met the vampire Catman for any length of time so I didn't know if deception was his modus operandi. However, knowing many vampires, deception and trickery were common.
"Did you really come to kill me?" I asked Catman, getting us back to the reason he was here at our home.
"I did."
"Because the previous Catman told you that I killed your mother?"
"He didn't have to tell me. I saw you do it."
"What if there was some way for us to prove to you that I didn't do it?" My mind was going to J'onn J'onnz and his amazing ability to pull my mind and Lance's mind into his own so that we could all witness what he was witnessing. We could use J'onn's ability to search Preston's memory, perhaps bring his unconscious memories to light, as well as combine what this Catman saw with what I experienced. Maybe misinterpretations would be cleared up.
"I know what drives you right now," I added.
"You don't know anything about me. How could you?"
"If you are Christine's child, I know how much she loved and cared for her children. I could understand your anger and hatred for the one who killed her. But what if you are being lied to so that an enemy could be rid of? What if you are killing the one person she trusted enough to watch over her children? What if you are being used for someone else's gain? How would that make you feel?"
Catman hesitated for a moment, pondering what I had said. "I see your point. What do you suggest?"
"Give me time to gather proof that you would believe. Then, let me show it to you. If you don't believe me afterwards, then you can kill me."
"Dad, don't say that!" Preston stated.
"He isn't your true father!" Catman spat back.
"It is okay, Preston. He's too smart to allow simple vengeance destroy an innocent person."
"How do you know this?"
"I knew his mother, your mother. And truth mattered most to her."
Catman pulled the mask back over his face. "I give you three days, Bat. You have until then to get what you need to prove to me what you say is true. If you don't have anything by then, I come after you and your husband."
Catman jumped up to the wall and darted over it into the shadows. I turned to Preston who stared at where Catman was. Then he turned to me.
"Is he really my brother?"
"I don't know," I said as I walked up to him. "That's one of the things I'm hoping to prove."
"How are we going to do that?"
"I've got some ideas. Let's get inside."
To Be Continued...
Hmm, Catman, or at least this Catman, is Sarah and Preston's brother? Do you think this is true? Who do you think is their father? Remember, Catman told them that Eric wasn't their father. Do you think Catman knows who their father is? I'd love to hear your thoughts.