Inside the theater, the lights gradually dimmed, and on the big screen, "the mask of zorro" was playing at its most exciting part, with tense and thrilling music and captivating visuals drawing gasps of awe from the audience.
Despite it being a highly anticipated movie and a wonderfully exciting plot, Brucey felt a little unfocused.
She had been so excited, begging her parents to watch it with her.
The movie's plot was indeed very interesting, and she genuinely liked it.
But for some reason, a wave of drowsiness, like Water, quietly crept over her.
Before entering the cinema, Brucey had been full of energy.
Yet now, barely an hour later, her eyelids felt increasingly heavy, and they involuntarily began to droop.
She tried hard to keep her eyes open, attempting to fight off the sleepiness and continue watching the movie, but the fatigue grew stronger.
When she wanted to fall asleep, the intermittent sounds in the cinema were too loud for her to do so.
And when she wanted to continue watching the movie, the annoying drowsiness relentlessly clung to her.
This made Brucey feel a pang of discomfort, silently blaming herself.
Martha quickly noticed her daughter's unusual behavior. She gently nudged Thomas beside her, signaling him with her gaze to look at Brucey.
Thomas turned his head, saw his daughter looking drowsy, and couldn't help but frown, asking softly, "Brucey, is there something wrong with you?"
"No... I'm just... sleepy..."
"Then let's go home first, you can get a good sleep in the car?"
At this point, Brucey was completely enveloped by drowsiness, and she nodded in a daze.
Thomas and Martha exchanged glances, their eyes filled with concern and helplessness for their daughter.
The two carefully led Brucey, slowly leaving their seats.
Their figures gradually receded into the dim theater aisle, leaving only the flickering light and Shadow on the screen and the audience's laughter.
Perhaps the air in the theater was too stuffy, or for some other reason.
In any case, Brucey's condition improved slightly after leaving the theater.
Although her eyelids were still heavy and she was drowsy, at least she could walk steadily on her own.
Her small hands tightly held her parents' hands. Although she regretted not being able to finish the movie, a warm and happy feeling quietly spread through her heart as she held her father's and mother's hands.
The family of three walked out of the theater door, along the winding path, and entered Park Row.
The Wayne Family had walked this street countless times over the years, knowing it as intimately as their own backyard.
But tonight, Thomas felt an inexplicable unease, a sense of foreboding that hung over him like a Shadow.
And as expected, disaster struck without warning.
A dark figure rushed out from a blind spot in the street, clutching a gun.
Under the dim light, the cold metal surface gleamed with a terrifying, eerie light.
The robber's eyes revealed undisguised greed and ferocity, like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey, staring intently at The Wayne Family, blocking their path.
"Hand over the money!" the robber roared menacingly, his voice echoing back and forth in the narrow alley.
Thomas reacted quickly, instinctively shielding Martha and Brucey behind him: "Friend, let's talk this over. I'll give you the money, just don't hurt my family."
However, as he said this, he suddenly realized that his wallet was Gwen's new protective device.
And while the robber was also very tempted by Thomas's wallet, it wasn't what he valued most.
When he saw these three people, his gaze was instantly drawn to one thing.
It was a pearl necklace, and although the street lights were dim, the necklace shimmered with a soft luster, like stars in the night sky, emitting a light that attracted the robber.
"And that necklace, take it off quickly!" the robber roared frantically, the gun in his hand shaking more violently, its dark muzzle like a ferocious beast ready to devour someone.
Martha was terrified, clutching the necklace tightly with both hands, her body trembling uncontrollably.
This necklace was a gift from her eldest daughter, and if not for this dangerous situation, she would never want to give it up.
But for some reason, the necklace seemed to have taken root, sticking stubbornly to her neck, impossible to remove.
Just at this critical moment, the robber's hand suddenly twitched.
Whether due to nervousness or some other hidden reason, the trigger was pulled.
A sharp, piercing gunshot instantly ripped through the silent night.
The bullet instantly struck Thomas in the chest.
Thomas's eyes widened, filled with shock and unwillingness, as his body slowly fell.
The robber was actually a bit confused about this.
He had clearly aimed for the target's head, yet the bullet hit the chest.
His aim was a bit off.
But what Thomas thought in the moment before he fell was... wasn't the wallet Gwen gave him new protective gear? Logically, it should have been able to block a bullet.
Moreover, even if the wallet couldn't block a bullet, the bracelet Gwen made at the very beginning, which he had always worn, should have acted as a double insurance.
Also, after being shot, his body should be in a lot of pain, so why didn't he feel any pain at all?
Was this increasing drowsiness a sign of Death? Why did he feel like he had just been given an anesthetic shot?
Carrying many questions, Thomas lost consciousness and slowly fell to the ground, his left chest gushing blood like a small fountain.
Martha was equally stunned, and before she could even cry out, the now irrational robber fired another bullet. Martha's eyes widened, her body swayed a few times, and then she collapsed into a pool of blood.
Before Martha lost consciousness, she glanced at her chest.
As the wife of a Doctor, she truly felt that her and Thomas's bleeding was not right.
This amount of bleeding meant that even without being hit in a vital spot, within a minute, both of them would die on the spot from excessive blood loss.
But the problem was, why didn't it hurt?
Thinking of this, whether it was an illusion or not, Martha only felt her eyelids grow heavier and heavier, and finally, she slowly closed them.
Brucey witnessed all of this, and her entire being was struck by lightning, frozen in place.
Her small body trembled violently, her eyes wide, as fear and sorrow, like a surging tide, completely engulfed her.
A moment ago, her parents were by her side, but now they were brutally murdered before her eyes.
She was filled with remorse; if only she had forced herself to stay awake and finish the movie, if only she hadn't suggested watching this movie, perhaps none of this would have happened... After the robber snatched the wallet and necklace, he realized what he had done and quickly disappeared into the depths of the dark alley like a stray dog.
Only Brucey knelt helplessly beside her parents' bodies, her expression stiff and numb.
Everything around her seemed to instantly freeze, and time stopped flowing.
Darkness, like a tide, completely swallowed him, and Brucey felt an unprecedented sense of loneliness and despair.
In this quiet alley, only Brucey remained, accompanied by two gradually cooling bodies, with fear and sorrow as his constant Shadow.
The streetlights' glow gradually lengthened and slanted.
The girl's figure, illuminated by the light, gradually distorted and twisted.
It was like... a Bat.