مثل یک سنگ

CHAPTER TEN

Like a stone

Catwoman helped Lone down the stairs. She knew they were in great danger. They had to escape fast.

Armando ran up the stairs towards them with a gun.

Bang!

They turned back and went up again. They found a door and went through it. It was a large, dark room. The only light was the light of the moon. There were photographs of Laurel everywhere.

Armando ran into the room after them. Laurel and Wesley were with him.

Catwoman and Lone hid behind a huge photo. Lone was very weak. He had lost a lot of blood.

‘Listen,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.’

‘It’s OK,’ she said. ‘Stay here. I’ll be back when it’s safe.’

She disappeared into the darkness.

Catwoman jumped up and sat on top of a wall of photographs. She could look down on Laurel, Armando and Wesley. She saw them go different ways.

She decided to attack Wesley first.

She jumped on him and hit his face with her knee. He fell to the ground then lay still.

‘One down, two to go,’ she thought.

At that moment, Armando found some blood on the floor. He followed the blood to the place behind the huge photo. but Lone wasn’t there.

Suddenly Armando heard someone behind him. He turned and Lone hit him in the face. Once, and then again. Armando fell and everything went black.

Catwoman was sitting on top of the wall of photographs again. She was watching Laurel below.

When Laurel was exactly under her, Catwoman dropped a large box. It missed Laurel by a few centimetres. Catwoman jumped to the floor.

Laurel shot at her again and again, but Catwoman was too quick. Then, suddenly, Catwoman was on the floor and Laurel was standing over her. She was pointing her gun at Catwoman’s head.

‘Goodbye, Kitty,’ said Laurel with a smile. She tried to shoot, but nothing happened. There were no bullets. The gun was empty.

She threw the gun away and jumped on Catwoman. Laurel hit Catwoman again and again, pushing her back towards a huge window. Catwoman tried to hurt Laurel but she couldn’t. Laurel’s skin was as hard as stone.

‘You can’t hurt me,’ said Laurel. ‘If a woman stops using Beau-line, her skin falls off. But if she continues using it, her skin becomes perfect. I’ve been using Beau-line for years. My skin is like a stone. I can’t feel anything. But you can.’

Laurel hit Catwoman again. Catwoman fell and a piece of metal cut her leg. She couldn’t stand up.

‘Who are you anyway?’ Laurel asked. ‘A madwoman? A robber?’

‘I’m Patience Philips,’ said Catwoman. ‘You killed me.’

‘Patience Philips, the designer?’ Laurel laughed. ‘You’re nobody.’ She kicked Catwoman. ‘You’re nothing.’

Patience was suddenly frightened. ‘She’s right,’ she thought. ‘I can only paint. I can’t fight.’

Laurel took a metal pipe and brought it down hard on Catwoman’s head. Blood ran down her face.

‘And now everyone will believe that you killed a policeman too.’

‘A policeman,’ thought Catwoman. ‘Lone. The man that I love.’ She became very, very angry.

At that moment Laurel brought down the metal pipe against the window and it broke. Catwoman began to fall. It was thirty floors to the street below.

‘I can’t let this happen,’ she thought. ‘No way! I can’t let Laurel win.’ She suddenly became strong again and jumped into the air. She hung from a pipe high above Laurel. Then she jumped down.

‘Beauty isn’t only about skin,’ she said. Then she gave a very loud miaow and jumped on Laurel. Laurel escaped but Catwoman cracked her whip and caught her again.

She hit Laurel across the face and cut her skin with her claws. Laurel’s skin began to break like a glass mirror.

‘No,’ she screamed as she fell towards the window. ‘Please help me. Don’t let me fall.’

Catwoman caught her with her whip and started to pull her back into the room.

Just then, Laurel saw herself in the glass of the window.

‘No’ she cried. ‘My skin!’ She touched her face. ‘I’m not beautiful now.’

There were some pieces of glass under the whip. They were cutting through it. Suddenly it broke.

‘Laurel’ Catwoman screamed. She reached for Laurel but it was too late.

Laurel was falling back into the darkness - falling to her death.

Patience looked down sadly at Laurel’s body in the street below. Lone walked up behind her.

‘I saw you,’ he said. ‘You tried to save her.’

‘Are you surprised?’ she asked.

‘No,’ he replied. ‘Not at all.’

Catwoman kissed Lone. It was a kiss that felt like a new start.

Then Catwoman ran off into the darkness.

Lone watched her go.