He makes his escape.

Staring intently into Batman’s eyes, the Dark Knight lost all sense of focus, his body going limp and heavy, lost staring into the the red pools of the vampire woman’s eyes. “Sigh… Well, I must admit I can finally understand why half the city is absolutely TERRIFIED of you.” Mused Dr. Mendez, her fangs exposed through her pursed lips in a satisfied smirk as she held the Dark Knight in her blood red gaze, his expression one of dazed confusion staring into her eyes. Playfully tracing a finger under his chin, she had to resist laughing out loud at just how easy it was to keep him in place. “My lover was right, I should have opened with this from the get go, so little hassle yet… At the same time there’s no satisfaction, no thrill of the hunt.”

Tilting her head to the side, her smile widened when Batman did the same, so transfixed with her eyes he was **** to keep eye contact with her. “Our little fun certainly helped rebuild my appetite littlie mousey, and I’m MORE than certain you’d be quite the meal.” Tracing her finger up the man’s cowl and mask, Dr. Mendez reached to pull the mask free. “Then again, my curiosity was always greater than my thirst, I’ve always wanted to know who was behind the mask.” With her thumb under the lip of Batman’s cowl, she went to pry the thing off his face, the second she did, a sharp hum of air filled her ears. At that instant the tables had been turned, an intense current of electricity flowed through her arm and across her entire body. Instantly going stiff and losing all control of her muscles, the vampire woman stood frozen, her entire nervous system lighting up with 10,000 volts of electricity that finally separated the two and sent her convulsing back to land like a mannequin on the dock work wooden floors.

Shaking his head and staggering back, Batman looked down to see the woman shake and convulse, unable to control her spasming muscles as electricity continued to flow through her. The failsafe to his mask worked perfectly, he had worried if 10,00 volts were too much but with THIS woman he wasn’t even sure it was enough to keep her down for long. He needed to make his escape, NOW! Regaining his strength, Batman reached into the back of his belt for his grappling hook. As soon as he pulled it free and aimed it towards the edge of a nearby building to make his escape, he was shocked to find Dr. Mendez already in front of him with her hand wrapped around his grappler, crushing it like an empty soda can.

“That… Hurt!”

In a split second too fast for Batman to react, the woman grabbed him by his wrist and tossed Batman across the docks until he slammed back first into a shipping container several meters away. Apart from the ringing in his ears from the impact, Bruce noticed the sound of something crack, he wasn’t sure if it was his shoulder, or his collarbone but what he did know for sure, he couldn’t feel his right arm.

“NO MORE GAMES!” Sneered Mendez, her fingers brandishing long black finger nails like talons and her hair flowing above her shoulders to some unnatural winds. “I should have torn you apart the second I saw you!”

Leaning against the shipping container and holding his limp arm with the other, Batman was running out of options. He was currently outclassed and so far, nothing else he had was enough to keep this… Monster of a woman down. Darting his eyes around, he tried to find an escape, ANY means of escape. In a bout of desperation, Batman took to a sprint towards the harbour.

“Where do you think YOU’RE going little mousy?!”

Ignoring Dr. Mendez’s taunt, Batman didn’t want to waste a precious second to look behind him. He already knew she was right behind him. Running as fast as he could, he finally reached the edge of the docks and jumped. A brief jolt snapped him back in mid air when he felt the woman grip at the tails of his cloak, but her grip was too tight, tearing a small handful of the fabric off and letting him fall feet first into the cold Gotham waters. Kicking his legs to keep afloat and gasping for air once his head appeared above the water’s surface. Finally letting himself have the chance to look back, he found Dr. Mendez standing at the edge of the docks glaring back at him as he swam keeping afloat with only one good arm. Turning on his back and kicking with his legs, Batman held his broken arm with his other and swam, all the while keeping an eye on the woman glaring back at him like a tiger denied its hunt. Seeing her spread her arms and dive into the water, he knew she would give chase. She was fast, inhumanly so, but in water he had no idea if she could catch up with him, but at least it bought him time.

He expected her to start swimming and try to keep after him, what happened sent a chill down his spine. The scream she gave off as soon as she broke the waves made his blood curdle. Like a banshee, Dr. Mendez screamed and wailed in total agony, hot steam billowing out where she splashed and desperately tried to keep afloat. Not wanting to stay idle, Batman swam across the Gotham river, trying very hard to ignore the screaming as the docks grew further and further away.

*

She never knew such pain, EVER! It felt like her entire body was on fire, and yet she was surrounded by water all around her. Clawing at the crashing waves and frantically trying to swim back to the docks, the burning sensation only burned hotter. Smoke billowed off her formally smooth pristine skin, now looking withered and aged. Clawed fingers dug into the seaweed clumped wood of the docks as the woman crawled her way up and out of the river. Rolling onto her back and still steaming, she was a shadow of her former self. Aged wasn’t even the proper word to describe her. She looked like a corpse left out in the desert heat. Leathery and wilted, she was reduced to skin and bones, her lips pulled back to expose her fanged teeth and her hands frozen in heat rigor. Curled up in a fetal position she laid motionless, dead-like. A low hiss escaped her clenched teeth. She was still aware, even through sunken eyes and gnarled limbs, she felt like all the life in her, even the life she had stolen had been drained from her. Bitterly she came to realise the sensation her victims felt since she first changed and knew the thirst.

*

Finally making it across the Gotham river, Batman’s cowl rested against the stone laden rocky shores. Gasping for air to ease the burning ache in his chest, Batman reached out with his good arm and pulled open the communicator on his wrist guard.

“Alfred… I need a pick up, the Gotham river 200 meters east of the bridge just outside of the steelworks.”

It was only a second later that his loyal butler responded later. “Right away Master Bruce.”

“I also have a broken arm, don’t know how badly.”

“I understand Sir, I’ll be there as quickly as possible.”

A mere five minutes later, the Batplane flew overhead hovered 10 feet over the beach of the river where a cable descended from an open bay under the belly of the black flying machine. Gripping the cable, and wrapping it around his wrist, he gave it a sharp tug and the onboard winch pulled Batman up. Within second he was in the bay of the Batplane where Alfred was already prepared for him, holding him steady and moving him towards a gurney at the side of the plane before punching a consul button to close the doors. Finally pulling his cowl and cape off with his good arm, Alfred looked over his hurt limb, checking for broken bones. “Seems you’ve dislocated your arm Master Bruce, I’ll reset it.” Giving the man something to bite down on from the first aid kit on the wall, Alfred carefully gripped his arm and pulled. With a wince and a pop of cartilage, Batman’s arm was realigned, and Bruce could finally lay down on the gurney with a sense of relief.

“I can better treat your injuries back at the mansion Master Wayne, just rest now, we’ll be on our way back soon.” Managing to take Batman’s armored chest piece off, Alfred had to blink back at the black and blue bruises smearing Bruce’s chest and sides. Only Bane could cause as much trauma as what he was seeing on the man. “Who was it that gave you so much trouble Master Wayne?”

“Dr. Rochel Mendez…”

Raising an eyebrow, Alfred folding the costume shirt and set it aside, moving over to the controls of the Batplane to set them back to the Batcave. “Taking her vitamins, I would presume master Bruce?”

Too tired to move, his injuries finally catching up with him, Batman continued. “I couldn’t beat her, not with the equipment I had… I had to jump into the Gotham river just to get away.”

“One would think that the young lady would be an excellent swimmer with her physique, any reason she did not give chase?” Alfred wondered, typing in commands to the black flying machine as engines whirled and the vessel began to move.

“Because the undead can’t cross bodies of flowing water Alfred.”

Looking back with confusion, Alfred’s curiosity had been peaked.

“Alfred, when we return home, I want you to buy as much garlic as possible and I want you to lace the doors and windows with them.” Turning his head to face the confused butler, Bruce continued. “Then I want you to go to the Gotham chapel and pick up a list of items for me, I want to be ready the next time I deal with Dr. Mendez and her consort.”

“Consort?”

“We’re dealing with a vampire Alfred, and if what the late doctor told me is true… We’ve got more than one.”

*

At the other end of the river, two police officers had arrived when they got a report of a woman screaming. From what they were told from several witnesses was that the scream could be heard for blocks all around, scaring the locals and even terrifying the local cats and dogs. When they arrived at the docks and started looking around, they found the remains of five dockworkers and the sight nearly made one of the officers wretch up his dinner.

“Jeeeee-zus!” Coughed the man, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. What the hell happened to them?!”

“Probably the same thing that happened to this one… Damn!” Catching his partner’s attention, the two policemen looked down at the mummified remains of a woman in a black cocktail dress, hunched in a fetal position. “Holy hell, she looks like one of them mummies at the museum… Without the wrappings.” Crouching down to take a better look, the officer aimed his flashlight down to get a better look at the corpse. To his astonishment, the raisin dry pits of her eyes turned to look right at him. With the strength of a bear trap her boney clawed fingers grabbed hold of whatever she could, and her teeth sunk into warm flesh to get at the lifeblood within.