The Eyes Behind The Mask

THE EYES BEHIND THE MASK.

I would give her anything she wanted but I couldn’t give her life back.

That cold November afternoon, she stumbled into the apartment, pale and bloody. She fell into my arms, and her eyes looked up at me, apologetic. She didn’t want to die. We were happy up till then. She clutched her chest, trying to stop the blood from flowing out too fast, trying to buy some time before she died in my arms.

Or maybe.. She still had hope.

A week later, it was three in the morning and I was wandering in the underbelly of this madhouse of a city searching for answers. Cecilia was a reporter, true to her profession. But the truth got her killed. I will never know how she ended up on the wrong side of Oswald Cogglepot’s goons. All I knew was I had become an empty man wishing he could turn back time.

The derelict shadows of the Gotham docks beckoned, it’s dark alleys lit up by burning trashcans providing warm relief to the unfortunate inhabitants of this little hell. And the moon shone that night, the devil’s moon; pale, just like my wife’s face when she died. The gun in my pocket felt heavy, a shiver ran through me as my fingers brushed the cold metal. All I could learn in the last two days from unseen faces speaking in hushed tones was that Rhino did it. That was enough. I just needed a name. Rhino, the terror of the Gotham City docks, a former henchman of Scarface, now a part of the Penguin’s private army. Mr. Oswald Cogglepot a.k.a the Penguin, Satan taking confessions from six-year olds in church, that’s all I can compare the man to. And what about the city? I compare it to the priest behind the altar, gagged and bound, waiting for the devil to come and eat him, after he’s done with the children. And who are the children, you may ask. That’s you and me and all the normal people of Gotham, who try to lead a normal life in a city ruled by jokers and madmen. Rhino was one of the tools in this game of domination. And he killed my wife. Rhino, who’s always at Eddie’s Joint when he’s not outside “dominating”.

Eddie’s Joint was blinking at the end of an alley as I walked on like a zombie. It was an oasis for the damned in a desert of sin. The hate built up in me and as I got closer I walked faster towards its swinging doors. A hooker appeared out of the shadows to my left and uttered something, a cigarette dangling from her lips, but my head was buzzing too loudly to even care. Then I stepped into Eddie’s Joint.

It was bright inside and I was blinded for a few seconds, but my eyes adjusted fast enough while my hand instinctively crept into my pocket. I saw him straightaway, recognizing him from snapshots I’d seen a day earlier. He was at a table on the far end of the floor, flanked by two young girls. Maybe it was his day off, he seemed alone besides his lady companions. I felt sorry for their parents, if they had any.

My eyes were fixed on him, and he noticed. Suddenly I panicked, and I didn’t realize I was screaming. I pointed my gun at him, but I was shaking too hard and let one go harmlessly above his head into the low ceiling. From the corner of my eye I saw something, or someone rushing at me. I tried to turn and duck but something crashed into the back of my head. As my whole world turned black while my knees wobbled I could not help but realize that I had messed up. The dull pain in my head swept across my body and it was all over.

Cecilia.. I have failed you.

The last thing I saw was Rhino standing over me and grinning.

When I came around, it was cold. They had gagged me and tied my hands and feet to a pole. To my horror I saw the sea below me gushing in its black and polluted vengeance. They had tied me up on a pole on one of the many abandoned piers on the East Gotham harbor. How many people must have felt this way before? Tied up on the edge of one of the most toxic waters in the whole of the east coast, knowing that they will soon be fish feed and the leftovers will be discovered in pieces, one more for the statistics department. The cops couldn’t care less; they had more than enough just with the corpses they could identify. And I bet Rhino must have lost count himself. All these thoughts rushed through my head as I saw him and one more of his accomplices walking towards me. As the other man came nearer I saw his rodent-like face sneering at me. I wondered if he was there when Cecilia was getting shot. Rhino staggered towards me and pulled out a gun from the inside pocket of his overcoat and when the moonlight shone on his face, I saw his glazed drunken eyes glinting with murder. He was pretty drunk, but not drunk enough to not be able to pump one into my brains. The rodent smiled at me, like he was getting a kick out of it. I felt cold sweat trickling down the back of my neck like a dying man’s last tear. He didn’t come too close and lifted his weapon towards me. I braced myself into a stance as graceful as my posture allowed me. I had decided that I would not give them any extra satisfaction by dying a frightened man. At least they shouldn’t see that I was scared.

Scenes of my life flashed before my eyes. My parents, my first bicycle, Cecilia, our wedding just three months back, her warm blood dripping onto my arms that fateful afternoon, Eddie’s Joint… and I wondered if they would ever find my body. I couldn’t help closing my eyes as I heard Rhino breathing like a beast a few feet away.

A cold whip of air made me look again. I saw something, like a solid shadow on the creaking planks of wood. It pounced on Rhino and I heard a gunshot. The rodent man stuttered back to his hole in the alleys. The shadow rose up and looked at me.

It was him. I always thought he was a myth, but he had just saved my life. Rhino was out cold, sprawled on the pier. It happened so fast; it was almost mundane, except for the fact that my life was saved. Goliath on the rocks, but this was no David standing in front of me.

The Batman looked at me, and I heard sirens wailing. For a moment the moonlight sneaked through the clouds and I looked into the eyes behind the mask. What I saw made the salt run up my throat and I choked a sob through the rag across my mouth.

For those few seconds his eyes spoke to me. I saw myself in them.

I saw no triumph. I saw frustration, I saw futility, and I saw anger. I saw a tired man, a man who wished he could turn back time. I had seen enough, so I looked up at the skies, thanking not God, but my savior from the shadows. Somehow I knew he was already gone, as quickly as he came. He didn’t even untie me. He must have read my mind. I would have just gone over to Rhino and pushed him into the sea. The Batman had left, he does not linger. That is why he is a myth.

The police cars arrived but I was still staring at the heavens, a warm tear running down my cheek. I wanted to scream but I was still gagged. I wanted my life back. I wanted Cecilia back. I felt like a small boy, all alone in a cold dark place. A little helpless child sitting on the bloody remains of his world. Was I going into a state of regression? Or was this how everyone felt when their life turned itself inside out. The Batman even?

He must have. There was no victory in those eyes. Instead, I saw my pain reflected back at me. I believe we both wished we could turn back time. I heard the water flow below me as I was being untied by some very relieved policemen. The sea has its own stories to tell but that night my story remained with me. My story and Cecilia’s too. And another, that has never been told.

Cecilia… I failed you.

I failed the day I lost you.