Until We Have Faces

Fernanda found herself standing outside of Kristen Kringle's home at eight in the afternoon. They had agreed to meet outside of her house to have their 'girls night out' which also included some of Kristen's friends. Fernanda was still unsure of why she was invited to this- she had barely met Kristen that same day.
By what Fernanda could tell, Kristen seemed to have trust her too quickly- something that had annoyed her for quite some time now. She knew she posed no threat to anyone- she was not one for starting fights, but wouldn't it mean that she looks weak in the eyes of others? It was a thought that had always plagued Fernanda since she had realized why others were so quick to trust her.
Fernanda has also been unsure of what to wear for the night, so she had settled for a black button up shirt and some black pants- it wasn't that she had no sense of fashion, but she wasn't really looking for anything- especially not in Gotham. For the few weeks she had been in this city, she had realized that there were no people worth pursuing so because of that, she hadn't put any effort in her appearance since she had arrived. She dressed comfortably and professionally- just because of her apprenticeship at the funeral home. That was the only thing stopping her from wearing shirts that were three sizes too big. The only thing she did do differently than what she normally wore for work, was put on heavier makeup.
Her work was not necessarily strict, but she did sometimes have to attend to families that came in the funeral home, so she couldn't wear the kind of makeup she liked. She always had to dress more subtle... act more subtle.
Fernanda was suddenly brought back from her thoughts as she heard the jingle coming from the door.

"Fernanda, are you ready?" Kristen asked her as she walked outside of her doorway and locked it behind her. Kristen had fashioned her hair down with a roll on one side. Fernanda observed her as she locked the door and turned around- she wore a dark purple dress with a black hem. Black peep toe heels and a silver brooch that sat atop of her right breast. "Why are you not wearing a dress?"

"I didn't feel in the mood- especially around here." Fernanda replied, it was not the truth, but not a lie either. That had also played a role in why she had chosen not to wear a dress. She was still not sure what else could go wrong in these parts of the city- she was still a bit shaken from the incident when she had had her bag stolen from her. Well, just a bit shaken.

"Oh." Kristen said as she looked at her for a second before she spoke up again, "Evelyn is just around the corner.. come on."

Once they had arrived to the club that Kristen and her friends had dragged Fernanda to, she had lost sight of them amongst the people. Back home, she had never been to places like this, even when she was away at college, it was an experience that she was getting the opportunity to be a part of for the first time in her life and she was alone. She had drifted to the back towards where the bartender was serving drinks to people. Leaning a bit forward she ordered something and as soon as she got the drink she took it in her hands and stared down at it. Fernanda began to wonder whether she should have come in the first place, she knew that Kristen was not in a good state of mind since she was still thinking about Tom, the man that Fernanda had seen getting murdered by Nygma in front of her house earlier that day, and how he had not contacted her yet. She knew that Kristen was out having fun with her friends and trying to forget about it, but Fernanda felt a bit annoyed that she had been dragged out here, only to be left alone the second they got in. 

"Hey... Fernanda, right?" She heard someone ask beside her as she looked and spotted one of Kristen's friends from the car ride.

"Yes. Evelyn, correct?" Fernanda asked as she smiled at her. She knew her name- she remembered all of their names, but she had gotten in a habit of asking people just to make sure. 

Evelyn had seemed the odd one out of all of Kristen's friends- Fernanda had caught sight of her as soon as she had gotten in the car. Sure, Evelyn, from what Fernanda had gathered, was not the craziest of the bunch, but she seemed like someone who could get a bit wild if she had to. She was the only one out of the girls who had sported a black long sleeve dress, red harness, and dark makeup; almost like what Fernanda was wearing on her face- apart from the black lipstick.

"Yeah. Not having fun?" Evelyn asked as she ordered a drink for herself.

"Not sure." Fernanda lied as she took a drink from her glass. The ice cubes bumping on her top lip slightly. "Not really my crowd. Although I don't think I would know what my crowd was to begin with."

Evelyn cracked a grin as she grabbed her own glasses from the bartender, "Not your style huh? I was hoping you would say that."

"Why's that?" Fernanda asked as she turned to face Evelyn who downed her drink in one go. 

"Finish your drink and I'll show you, come on."

Fernanda anxiously downed her own drink in one go as she followed Evelyn through the crowd of bodies swarming to the rhythm of a song she had never heard before. She followed Evelyn outside of the club and across the street to another building. She could hear the music even standing outside where all the other people stood in line waiting to get inside.

"Is this another club?" Fernanda asked as she walked toward the line to wait.

"Yes, come on. We don't have to wait." Evelyn said as she pulled on her and linked her arm in hers as they walked toward the person guarding the door. 

"Eve.. plus one." Evelyn told the man as he took one look at me and nodded as he let us go through.

"I take it as you come here often." Fernanda said as she walked beside Evelyn up darkened stairs that were illuminated by violet lights.

Fernanda could feel the beat of the song as they walked up the stairs. The sound of heavy beats echoed through her as she walked beside Evelyn and entered another room.

"You could say that." Evelyn responded as she lead her into the room that was illuminated by the same violet coloured lights as the ones that had illuminated the stairs. There were people dressed in black swaying to the music while others were sitting on leather coaches as they conversated with eachother. Fernanda's eyes darted toward another set of stairs and then another open archway which, by the way people were coming in and out, she could tell was probably another room with different types of music. 

Fernanda felt a bit overwhelmed, but not as overwhelmed as she had felt in the other club where the music was a bit too soft and the lights were a bit too bright. Here, she did not feel judged as no one seemed to be paying any attention to her and she was happy that she could blend in easier with all the sea of darkness. 

The night progressed in a blur of black and purple as Evelyn dragged Fernanda to the middle of the dance floor with the swarm of bodies dancing to the beat of the music. Evelyn had also bought them drinks as sort of a "new friendship" type of thing. Fernanda had to admit that she was having fun with this person- she was now glad that she had come- this had exposed her to a new friendship, one that hopefully would be good. 

"I'm tired. I'm just going to hang out and check the place out for a bit. You want another drink?" Fernanda said into Evelyn's ear as she tried to keep her voice down.

"Nah. I'll find you in a bit. They keep playing my songs!" She said as Fernanda nodded and walked out of the swarm of bodies and onto the outskirts of the dance floor. From this angle, the dance floor seemed larger than what it had looked like from he inside. Fernanda began walking towards the room they had first been in and was reminded about the stairs that led up towards the second floor- after a few moments, she found her way through the people and made it up the stairs. She was greeted by groups of people sitting in more black leather couches and another bar with another dance floor. To her far right, she noticed more stairs that led upward. Fernanda began to wonder how many floors this place had, she had noticed that the building had not been high enough to have more than three floors. The next room caught her off guard as she was greeted by dark red lights and people in stations being whipped, amongst other things. A bit bewildered, Fernanda explored deeper as the thumping of the music vibrated through her entire body- it almost felt as if her heart was beginning to thump to the rhythm of the music. 

This was the first time that Fernanda had seen these things, she certainly had not been sheltered from such behaviors, but she just simply hadn't had gone out that much back home- so she never got to experience the world around her. She was unaware of what this was, sure she had witnessed many things while she was studying, but this was unlike anything that she would ever find in textbooks or in journals. She found herself lingering at one in particular- a man was being tied with rope in an intricate pattern as he laid on a metal like device. At this point, Fernanda was unsure of whether it was just the alcohol in her system or if it was really her own self that wanted to stay a while longer and watch what happened next. She made herself wander deeper until she was brought to yet another dance floor. This one was still adorned with the red lights, just as the other room had been. The music in this room seemed to be unlike anything she had ever heard, there was a lot of movement coming from the dance floor as she walked into it- unsure of what to expect. Fernanda walked into the dance floor and found herself standing in the middle of it. She glanced around at the people dancing around her, none of them giving her as much as a glance. Glancing upward after a few moments of standing in the middle of the dance floor, Fernanda locked eyes with someone on a balcony over the dance floor. The man stared intently at her as a grin spread over his features- she didn't know what to do so she just continued to stare at the man as he held her gaze a moment longer.

"Fernanda! There you are. I've been looking all over for you." Evelyn said into Fernanda's ear as she looked over at her. It had startled Fernanda, she had not expected her to yell into her ear- trying to be heard over the loud music. 

Fernanda glanced upward again, but the man she had seen before was no where to be seen. "Sorry. I- I was just looking around."

"I see you found your way up to this floor. Didn't know you were into this kind of thing." Evelyn said as she laughed.

"I'm not. Well, I've never experienced this before to say the least. It was quite eye-opening." She said as she began to walk out of the dance floor with Evelyn at her side. "Is this the last floor?"

"Yeah. I mean, sometimes people rent out the balcony up there." Evelyn said as she motioned back to the balcony, "Although I don't think anyone is up there tonight. Why?"

"No reason, just curious." Fernanda responded quickly. She didn't feel like mentioning the man she had seen in the balcony before Evelyn had distracted her. For one, she didn't know who the man was- she assumed that Evelyn would only ask questions that she didn't have the answer to so she chose to remain quiet about the encounter.

Throughout the rest of the night, Fernanda could not shake the feeling that she was being watched. And with that came the memory of the man looking down at her grinning- something about the way he had looked at her felt off, but she just couldn't think why it had felt that way. The red light had illuminated his pale skin in a way that made it seem as if he had red skin- which could have been a reason as to why it had felt off. The only other thing she had noticed about him was that he had no hair and was in all black- his clothing was a bit forgettable since everyone she had seen thus far had been in black clothing. 

Even once they left the building to meet up with Kristen and the rest of her friends, Fernanda felt that she was being watched. She glanced back at the building before she got in the car and she noticed the man outside of the club- watching her intently. She felt something in her throat tighten as she stared back at him until he was out of sight. 

A/N: I don't know about this, let me know what you think thus far.