A Little Birdy Told Me (Bat Family)

Lie If You Have To

Michelle

Kidnapped. Me. I was kidnapped. I looked around at the other girls and found their hair was matted, skin dirty, and they had tear marks running down their faces. Oh no. Is this really happening? Why? Where was I? I looked around better. The door was behind me... So they just threw me in? I got up shakily and went over to the door. I found my pants were loose. I looked down. Oh god, no. I fastened my pants quickly. Suddenly I felt very dirty. I did a quick inventory of myself. My coat, backpack, shoes and socks were all missing. I swallowed my tears and fears and walked over to the door. I placed my hands on it, feeling the cool metal.

"There's no use in banging, if you were thinking of banging, Juley. Everybody here tried it. You will only hurt your hands. They won't come until dinner." Birdy chirped on.

I looked back at the small girl, still kneeling in front of the spot I used to be laying. I realized that I was now Juley. "Dinner?" I asked quietly. "What time is it?" How long was I out??

"Yeah, dinner. It's sometime at night. I don't know what time it is. They don't give us a watch or clock or anything. Even if we had a clock I wouldn't be able to tell the time. I can't read it unless it says all the numbers. Can you read the clocks that say one through twelve?"

I looked at the door and I felt a tear fall from my eye, I secretly wiped it away like I was brushing my hair out of my face. I took a deep breath and turned towards the little girl. "Yeah I can read those clocks." I walked back over to her and sat in the spot I was laying unconscious a few moments ago.

"How old are you? I just made six today. Olly is the oldest, she's thirteen, well unless you're fourteen then you're the oldest. I'm the youngest at six, then it's Lucky at eight. Patty and Andy are both eleven but Patty is older. How old are you?" I have never met anyone as talkative as her. The name 'Birdy' fit her, the way she rattled off words at the speed of a hummingbirds' wings.

"I'm ten." I said simply.

"So that makes you the fourth oldest, cool! I wish I was the oldest sometimes, but I like being the little sister, I was always the little sister. Chrissy is eight years older than me. We have a brother too, his name is Danny, he's only two years older than me. He's mean, I share all the time with him but he never shares with me." She ranted.

I gave her a sympathetic look. "What happened to your family? Where are they, how did you end up here?" I asked quickly and quietly.

"Weeeell." She stretched the word. "My mommy and Daddy are celebrities and they travel a lot so it was just me and my sister, My brother did bad stuff so he had to leave, then on my sixth birthday-"

"Wait, you mean today?" I cut her off, confused.

Then a girl came out of the shadows behind Birdy and put her hand on her shoulder. "Oh, hi, Lucky." Birdy said to the girl. "Lucky, meet Juley, she just got here." I looked Lucky over, she had tangled blonde hair that reached her shoulders, sad, brown eyes, her face was dirty and her clothes ragged and ripped. She didn't seem lucky at all. Her frail frame was a little bigger than Birdy's.

"Birdy, I think you should tell her the truth." her voice and eyes soft with an undertone of fear, making me wonder how long she's been here, or been alone for that matter.

I looked to Birdy, she had her head lowered a little. "You tell her then." she whispered.

Lucky nodded. "Her parents died when she was five, her sister took care of her and Danny, but Danny ran away... On her sixth birthday. Crissy went to go look for him and never came back. She wandered the streets and ended up here... Its been two years since her sister went missing." she told the story like she rehearsed it a million times.

"How do you know all that?" I asked.

"Her sister was here for one of those two years." she bit her lip.

My eyes widened. That's horrible, they missed each other like two ships in the dark or whatever. I'd be so angry if I missed somebody like that... My mom, what if I'm missing my mom. What if my dad moves away by the time I get out of here? What if I never get out of here? I shook my head. I am getting out of here. I will find my mother. She's depending on me. I looked to Lucky. "What happens here? What happens when we get out?"

Two other girls; a red head and a brunette, made their way over to us and the girl with red hair and blue eyes spoke. "We don't know what happens when we get out." she spoke aggressively, she was the one who called me a cry baby earlier... Andy.

Her counterpart, who I guessed was Patty looked a little more welcoming, soft black hair, soft brown eyes, soft brown skin. "But they just keep us here. They feed us the old food from the store upstairs, we tell what time of year it is by the seasonal stuff they give us." She said quietly.

"When we're good, they give us heat, and real food." Lucky chimed in.

"Yeah. And when we're bad, we starve." Andy rolled her eyes. She stared at my face. "So whats your story?"

I looked away at the floor. Her eyes made me uncomfortable and on top of that I didn't want to jinx my mission to find my dad.

"Lie to us. If you have to. Most of us don't know the full story about each other anyway." Patty forced a smile.

"I only ask cause you don't look like a street rat." Andy crossed her arms over her chest. And after I blinked and tilted my head she continued. "Your hair is too long and its silky, your skin is clear, and you're not so skinny. What are you, rich? Did you runaway cause your rich parents got you the ruby necklace instead of the diamond one you asked for?" her voice raised.

My eyebrows knitted together. "Actually no. I live in a two bedroom apartment with my mother and two cats. I was on a trip to visit my father when I stopped at the store up stairs to get some snacks and the two men snatched me." Not a full lie... Not a full truth.

"Hn. Well I bet your father is rich." she put her hands on his hips.

"Not even." I smirked, not a lie, my mom could have never fallen in love with some rich guy who only loves his money. "He... He's a private detective, just like my mom." in my dreams they were spies but that wouldn't make my argument convincing.

"Well if they are private detectives why haven't they found you yet?" she pryed.

Dammit. "Its cause they don't know I'm missing yet. My mom was on a miss- er a case and my dad wasn't expecting me." mostly true.

"You know, I actually almost believe you. But every time you lied, your eyebrows lowered." She smiled, the frendliest smile from her yet.

"What?"

"Your parents are not detectives, you weren't here to get snacks when you got snatched, oh, and your name isn't Jewel."

"How...?" I was speechless.

"It's what she does." Lucky grimaced.

Andy shrugged. "When you're on the street it saves lives to know when people are lying."

"Your name isn't Jewel, then what is it? Why didn't you tell me your real name? I'll tell you my real name if you tell me yours." Birdy chirped in the background.

"You are pretty easy to read, but it was difficult cause you weren't telling that many lies. You must be a little near-sighted, right? You keep your eyebrows raised to see better, and you lower them when you're not focusing."

"That's awesome... But why?" I asked.

"Sometimes... Sometimes, they put girls in here who are kind of.... Brainwashed... And they try to do the same to us." Patty was careful with her words. "We had to make sure you were... Okay. You understand right?"

I nodded "Yeah, totally; so I pass?"

Andy smiled. "You pass."

A|N: So what do you think? Don't hold back, don't lie, lol. I promise we will get back to the happenings over at Wayne Manor soon enough.