章 15: Chapter 13
Mia is in the cemetery now.
This was her first time in this place at night. Generally speaking, she would visit her mother with Aunt Chloe during holidays, bringing flowers and food.
They would climb up the high hillside, walk past tombstones, and finally find the one with their mother's name engraved on it among countless identical stone monuments.
Then they would place flowers and food in front of her, and Aunt Chloe would kneel on the ground and wipe her mother's picture, even though there was no dust on it - the cemetery caretakers took good care of it and they would do it regularly Come clean up the weeds that have grown up, wipe away the dust that has fallen on them, and leave a wild flower or two in front of the tombstone.
Those small, white flowers swayed gently in the breeze, looking like the dead people were using this to say hello to them.
Sometimes if she can see ghosts on the day she visits her mother, she will also see the undead sitting on her tombstone and chatting with her neighbors about what happened to her during her lifetime. They said that this is the cause of her death. After discovering that Mia can see them, he will also ask her to send a message to his family.
For example, where is his personal money hidden, or what he hopes his family can bring him when they come next time... There are so many and miscellaneous requests that Mia has to take a notebook to write them down every time.
While writing down their needs in her notebook, she asked them what it was like where they lived. She had never heard from her mother. She had so many things she wanted to tell her mother every time she saw her that she always forgot to ask the question.
"It's no different from here. We have to work, we have to make money to support ourselves, and we will go back to our tombstones to see our relatives during holidays, and then leave after no one remembers us." One of them named Aaron Smith's middle-aged man answers.
"Leave? Going to another place? Like moving?" Mia asked doubtfully.
"No," Aaron smiled and shook his head. "The undead are things that rely on memory to exist. If no one in the world of the living remembers us anymore, then we will disappear forever..." "But I
I will remember you!" Mia shouted before Aaron could finish his words. She raised the notebook in her hand, which contained detailed records of all the undead she had encountered so far and their requests.
Granny Jones said she wanted her children to bring her a cake from the shop on the corner the next time they came to visit the grave, and David said the gift he bought for his mother was the second one from the left that he hid in the closet. In the coat pocket...and Aaron.
"You said you wanted to apologize to your daughter Bella, tell her that it was your fault in the first place and that you should care more about her, and asked her to go home and visit if she wanted to. I remember everything very clearly." Mia continued.
She looked at them stubbornly, as if to say that she would definitely fulfill those requests and never forget them.
In fact, Mia was working very hard to complete this matter. She called their families according to what the ghosts told her, and told them their demands and unexpressed emotions.
But unfortunately, no one believed her at first. They called her crazy, and some said they would call the police if she did it again. Even people with the best attitude would get angry after hearing her words. He asked her not to call again.
Those bad words pierced Mia's heart like the most hurtful weapons, making her feel sad. She didn't understand why things were like this, she just wanted to help them.
So she cried and ran to Aunt Chloe, who told her after hearing her question, "It's because they are sad about the death of their loved ones." "
Why?" Mia asked lowly.
"Because they left," Chloe replied with a sigh. She held Mia in her arms and wiped the tears from her face distressedly. "You have to know that not everyone can see ghosts like you. Yes, Mia, for most people, death means that they can no longer see their loved ones, they can no longer chat and eat with them, and they can no longer live with them..." "That sounds very strange
. It's sad,"
Mia said, her mouth pursed.
"Yes, it's sad," Chloe nodded, "So their relatives are in a very sad stage now, and they can't allow others to make fun of their relatives." "
But that's not a joke." Mi Ya retorted, her voice muffled, and even Aunt Chloe's hug didn't make her feel any better.
"But they don't know this. It's just a joke to them." Chloe said. She looked at Mia and after thinking for a while, she asked, "Do you want to eat cake now?" "
No. , I don't have an appetite right now." Mia said negatively, she flipped through the notebook in her hand, and there were many people's phone calls on it that she had not called.
"Okay, how about we go to the restaurant at the intersection to eat together when you feel like you have an appetite? I remember you like the pizza there." Chloe asked again. She didn't know how to comfort Mia, nor how to cheer her up. Maybe her sister would have a way. She could always make her forget those things quickly, but she would never be able to do so again. She got the answer.
And just as she was thinking, the phone suddenly rang. Mia was stunned after hearing the sound. She stopped flipping through her notes and looked hesitantly at the place where the sound came from. After hesitating for several seconds, she picked up the phone and put it to her ear.
But before she could open her mouth to cry, a sound came from the phone. It was a woman's voice, and she kept saying "I'm sorry" and "Thank you" to her.
After angrily hanging up the phone, she went to her son's room out of curiosity. She had never stepped foot in here since his death. The coat was thrown carelessly on the bed, and the books were spread out on the table, as if the owner of this house would come back soon.
But she knew it was impossible, that her child would never come back, that she had lost him, forever.
So she chose to skip the parts that made her sad and went directly to the closet. She found the coat as the strange girl said and reached into her pockets to rummage around. She didn't know what she was expecting or why she was doing this.
Obviously she knew very well that she would not find anything at all, it was just a prank, but when she touched the gift box, the mixture of complex and conflicting emotions such as surprise, joy, and sadness made her directly Cried loudly.
She quickly took out her mobile phone and dialed back the call. She wanted to ask her how her child was doing, whether he was hungry or cold, whether he was bullied, but when the call was connected, there was only " She couldn't say anything other than "I'm sorry" and "Thank you". Tears fell down her cheeks and dripped on the gift. The sun shone on her through the window, like a warm hug.
After that, many people called Mia. They asked her about the situation of their relatives. "I'm sorry" and "thank you" with tears in their voices came down the phone, which made Mia happy.
She looked at the people she hadn't contacted yet, then looked at Aunt Chloe, who was looking at her with a smile--apparently she'd heard the voice on the other end of the phone--and asked her if she wanted to go to the restaurant now. .
"No," Mia shook her head, she raised the notebook and shook it, "I still have a lot of calls to make!"
After that, Mia fulfilled many wishes of the dead. The cake she wanted to eat appeared in front of Granny Jones's grave. David also successfully gave the gift to his mother...except for Aaron, because his daughter left home. It took too long and Aaron could provide her with too little information. Even though Aunt Chloe posted a message on the Internet asking for help, she couldn't find Bella's contact information. This disappointed Mia.
She squatted in front of the tombstone and looked at the inscriptions on it. Because no one knew the name of the dead prostitute, they just wrote "Ann" on it. That's what everyone calls her.
Batman stood next to her, taking out a fluoroscopy device from his belt to examine the cause of her death. That was something newly developed by Wayne Group, which allowed him to directly scan the victim's body without digging the grave. Although it is not as good as Superman's super vision, it is completely sufficient most of the time.
He looked at the screen, which showed multiple bruises and cracked bones on her body. Before her death she suffered
an almost violent beating. The strangle mark on her neck was the cause of her death.
"Fuck, I was strangled to death by that bastard!" Just as Batman was thinking, a female voice suddenly sounded. It was Ann, sitting on her tombstone with an angry look on her face.
Batman:?
He hesitantly looked at the ghost that appeared in front of him, and then looked at Mia. After receiving his gaze, she looked at him proudly, "I found the magic that can summon the undead in the magic book," she said happily He explained to him, but after seeing Batman's very disapproving look, his voice began to gradually become smaller, "So I think it would be more convenient to ask me directly who the murderer is."
On the way to the cemetery Batman briefly told her about the case.
"Yes, that's right, this..." After hearing Mia's words, Ann shouted before Batman could say anything. She jumped down from her tombstone and said something about the name of Mia. Hesitantly, if she remembered correctly, Robin seemed to be a little boy.
"Robin," Mia reminded in a low voice, "Today I am Batman's Robin!"
"Oh, okay," Ann nodded, and she looked at Batman seriously again, "This Robin is right Yes, instead of investigating over there, you might as well ask me directly. I can tell you responsibly that I was strangled to death by that man." "He was just
a pervert and a lunatic, even if he was thrown into the sewer. A bug that no one cares about, a coward who has done nothing but vent on people like us!" Ann shouted, she said a lot to them angrily, but when Batman asked her who that person was, stunned.
She didn't know who he was. No one would hand over his business card and tell her his name when looking for a prostitute.
The only thing she remembered was that the man was not her regular customer. He came here for the first time. He was wearing a shabby jacket and his beard was carefully groomed, because this was rare among the guests who came to find her. She paid special attention to some.
"And he also prepared his own clothes. Although this is not uncommon in my work, after all, those men always..." An complained, but when she saw Batman's disapproving eyes and Mia's curious eyes, she still He chose to swallow the rest of his words and continued to talk about his findings.
"Well, he gave me a very old-fashioned dress. To be honest, even my mother would not wear this kind of dress. And I seriously doubt whether he has some Oedipus complex. He was always beating me. He calls me an old woman, but occasionally he calls me 'mom'." "
But shouldn't that mean he hates his mother?" Mia corrected in a low voice. At least she has never known or heard anyone call her mother an old woman.
"Oh, that's true, but do you know Jack the Ripper?" Ann said, "In many literary works, he is a character who was abused by his mother and went to kill those who had the same characteristics as her mother after her death. "The image of a person."
"This image later greatly influenced the criminal methods of some criminals. They would vent the hurt they received from their mothers or other people on weak people who had the same characteristics as those people, and Prostitutes are their first target."
"But that still sounds like he hates his mother," Mia muttered.
This made Ann a little nostalgic. Her appearance reminded her of the days when she was still at home. At that time, she would often act like this when hearing her father's reasoning. She also said that she wanted to be a police officer like him. , but now, "Because only love can make people feel hate." She answered, and then looked at Batman.
He was contemplating something. Judging from An's description of the murderer just now, he was probably a middle-aged man aged 40 to 45 with no stable job and low income. Of course, it was not ruled out that he wore that old jacket on purpose, but Judging from the fact that he shaved himself, he groomed himself before committing crimes.
And this also proves from the side that he is a careful person, or maybe it was his mother's request. She asked him to shave off his beard when he went to see her, and he also regarded every crime he committed as a crime. Meeting with mother.
"Okay, but that sounds really annoying," Mia muttered.
Together they returned to Crime Alley, where there were still many women standing outside, wearing revealing clothing. This serial murder case did not have any impact on them. Between the two options of not working, having no food, being severely beaten, and possibly being killed, they decisively chose the former.
Ann followed them, watching all this in silence, and finally stopped with them at the place of her death, her apartment.
Normally she wouldn't work here, it was like her home and she didn't want to bring her work home, just because her roommate had to go out to work that day, and the price the man offered was too generous. , if she can really get that money, then she can save enough money in advance to go home. She missed her dad.
So she agreed to his request and took him to the apartment. Unexpectedly, the money did not allow her to leave the city in the end.
An sighed when she thought of this. She looked at the empty room. Many things in it had been taken away or sold by her roommates.
This is the default rule here. When a person dies and his family cannot be contacted, people he knows will help dispose of his body so that he will not be eaten by wild dogs, but they will also take it away His stuff as payment.
"Do you want to deduce the crime process, Batman?" Mia asked after seeing Batman's actions. She turned her magic book to a page in the middle as if to please. There was a page on it that could trace back the events. magic.
"No magic allowed." Batman refused.
"Okay then." Mia closed the book in her hand disappointedly. She didn't know what she should do now, and Batman didn't seem to need her help.
"He looks just like my dad." An suddenly whispered after seeing the interaction between them. She floated to Mia's side, "But seriously, how did you become Robin? After all, he looks so real. ..." She did not finish what she said, but everyone present understood what she meant.
"I haven't officially become Robin yet, this is my test." Mia replied with a pout. She already began to feel that it was impossible for her to pass this test. "What about you, Ann, where is your father?"
"I don't know. I haven't contacted him for many years." An shook her head. She looked at her bed. There should have been a photo of her and her father there. It was her only photo, but now what? All gone.
"Does he also know you exist?" Mia asked. She had never contacted Bruce before he knew she existed.
And Batman didn't miss this, he silently took those words to heart.
"No, he knew, it was just because I did something wrong and we had a big fight, and then I chose to run away from home and never contacted him again." Ann answered, and she told Mia her story.
It was a very ordinary story, so ordinary that it was even a bit messy. A child who grew up in a single-parent family tried hard to attract his attention when facing his busy father, but those wrong methods only made him fall in love with her. It serves no purpose other than becoming more disappointed.
They began to quarrel more and more frequently, and the anger and tears made them look less like father and daughter, and more like enemies.
Until one day she finally couldn't stand that kind of life anymore and ran away from home with her things.
"Then what?" Mia asked.
"Then it became what you saw." Ann answered, shrugging and looking at Batman who was standing below, looking for someone else to investigate. After listening to his questions, those women told him most of the things they knew.
No one here would want to hide it from him. They knew that he was helping them, and compared to the police, Batman was obviously much more reliable.
"I feel sorry for you," Mia said dullly, "but I know many ghosts. When you go to that world, you can tell them that you know me, and they will take good care of you!" "This is a hug.
Thighs?" An asked with a smile. She didn't pay too much attention to Mia's words. In fact, she didn't even know why she told this past. She had obviously never mentioned it to anyone in these years.
But maybe because
she was too bored right now, Batman didn't let the two of them join the investigation.
He asked them to stay on the roof of this building on the grounds that ghosts were not suitable for appearing in front of others. Until now, they don't even know how far the investigation has progressed.
"I must have failed the test. I can't become Robin." The little Robin bird once said. She looked at Batman in the distance with her face raised, with disappointment and resentment in her eyes.
Although she forced Batman to give her a chance, this feeling of being left out still made her unhappy.
Of course, it may also be because she is dead, and she hopes someone can know her, remember her, know her past experiences, and remember her name, Bella Smith, not Ann.
"Bella Smith?! Your name is Bella Smith?!" Mia yelled after hearing her words. She stood up from the ground, "Then your father's name is Aaron Smith?!" "Ah
...Yes, his name is Aaron, do you know him?" After hearing Mia's words, Ann, no, it was Bella who nodded. She looked at her with a puzzled expression, not understanding why she became like this. .
"I... you, you all..." After suddenly finding the person she had been looking for for a long time, Mia felt a sense of unreality. She stood there and looked at her, and after being silent for a while, she continued, "Of course I know him. He is a very kind gentleman. Although he looks a bit serious and has scars on his face, he is actually very easy to talk to." "
Yes, he is such a person. That scar was something he did to save his life. People get it. I talked about him for a long time, but he regarded it as a police medal. So how is he doing now? Has he been promoted? Has he met someone he likes? Has he been formed? There is also a new family." Bella paused when she said this, "Did he also have other children..." "
No, he didn't, he died," Mia shook her head. Looking at her with a serious and serious expression, she would do this when fulfilling the wishes of every deceased person. This is a sign of respect for the deceased and his family, "He wanted me to tell his daughter, Bella Smith, that he I'm very sorry for what happened these years. He should focus more on you instead of focusing on those damn jobs..." "
...If you are still willing to accept me as an unqualified father, Then come back and take a look, this will always be your home." Mia finished the last sentence according to her memory. She looked silently at Bella, who was sitting in front of her and was crying uncontrollably.
Batman stood beside her equally silent. After identifying the murderer from the previous investigations, he returned to the roof. He originally wanted to take Mia away to hunt down the murderer, but he didn't expect this to happen.
Small and suppressed cries sounded on the rooftop, and the moonlight stretched their shadows very long.
That night, Batman caught the murderer who killed Bella and the others. He was, as she said, controlled and abused by his mother since he was a child. After her death, he began to vent his emotions towards his mother in those On a prostitute with the same red hair as her.
And when everything ended, when she and Batman returned to the cemetery and prepared to use magic to send Bella to where she should go, Mia also learned from Bella that Batman might have put a tracker on her body. reminder.
At first, Mia didn't believe Bella's words. She slapped her chest and assured her that it was absolutely impossible for Batman to do such a thing. At the same time, to prove it, she also found a magic spell from the magic book that could detect electronic devices on her body.
With the advancement of the times, in order to ensure the confidentiality of magic, magicians overnight developed magic that can detect things like trackers and bugs on themselves to ensure that they will not leak the secrets.
She recited the incantation with great faith, and then found a black bat-shaped tracker on her back.
Mia:? ? ? !
Mia: "Batman!!!"
Batman: / guiltily removed his eyes.jpg
Later, after a long time, Mia went to see her mother again and found that there was another tombstone next to Mr. Aaron's tombstone. It says "Bella Smith, a brave girl,
finally returned to her father after years of adventure alone."
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