Even as the streetcar came into sight, Lois couldn't help but feel as though she was still being watched. It was unnerving; no matter which way she looked there was no one around at all, much less anyone looking in her direction.
It occurred to her that she might simply be unnerved by the lack of people; in Metropolis there were very few places where there wasn't at least a few homeless people watching. It was possible that her mind was simply searching for something that it assumed had to be there.
She'd be happy to get back to her sister and Jenna. Despite her martial arts training, there was safety in numbers.
As the streetcar pulled to a stop in front of her, Lois took one last look around then waited patiently for the door to open.
She smiled at the driver as she boarded, slipping her card into the slot. The streetcar was only thinly populated; she could see only five other people, three of them who looked as though they'd come together, tourists.
One was an elderly African American woman and the last was a teenager.
Lois took care to sit close to the conductor. There was something about the teenager that made her uncomfortable. Whether it was the way he sat, slouched too casually, or the glances he kept directing toward her when he thought she wasn't looking, Lois knew from long experience that it wasn't prudent to sit too close to him.
As the streetcar lurched into motion, Lois kept her eye straight ahead even as she watched him out the corner of her eye. Hopefully he wouldn't try anything with a car full of witnesses, bit if he did, he'd be surprised to find that her bag weighed twenty pounds and would make an excellent bludgeon.
The group of tourists got off at the next stop, and no one got on to replace them. Lois shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
The stop afterwards, the elderly woman got off, leaving Lois alone with the teenager and the conductor.
Her feeling of uneasiness grew. The conductor looked bored; she certainly didn't seem aware of the undercurrent of danger that was making Lois's skin crawl.
Lucy had made fun of Lois's instincts, but they had kept her out of trouble on more than one occasion. It worried Lois a little that Lucy didn't seem to have the same sort of instincts at all. She kept falling for men who were clearly bad news.
Lois waited for the teenager to get off at the next three stops, but he didn't.
Finally her stop came up. It was only a block from the hotel and with any luck the boy wouldn't follow her.
Lois got off at her stop, keeping a careful eye behind her. The boy was watching her now, but he didn't get up from his seat.
As the streetcar began to move again, Lois finally allowed herself to relax. Their hotel was only three blocks from the French Quarter, and she could hear the sounds of the crowds in the distance. The parades had already started and although she could see people in the distance, there wasn't anyone around for a block and a half.
Her only warning was the sound of footsteps behind her.
Her hand tightened into a fist even as she felt the arm going around her neck. She ducked her chin as she'd been trained, turning it into his elbow. She stomped on his foot and she twisted, pulling him up and over her body.
He fell to the ground, and she kicked him viciously. As far as she was concerned, he deserved whatever he got.
Grunting, he grabbed for her leg and she stepped back quickly.
“No!” she shouted, her voice echoing on the buildings around her.
“Bitch,” he said, crawling to his feet.
He was wiry and skinny, with a runner's build. Given the shoes she was wearing Lois didn't think she'd be able to make it to her hotel before he ran her down.
She saw something metallic in his hand, and everything seemed to slow down.
Despite her experiences in Metropolis, she'd never actually had a gun pointed at her. Somehow it seemed much more huge and menacing than it did in the movies. She froze, suddenly unable to move or look away from the weapon.
Time seemed to slow. Lois thought she saw a flash and that she heard the sound of thunder, but a moment later all she could see was blackness.
It took her a moment to realize that she hadn't died. Instead, she was seeing a darkness that seemed to ripple, like silk.
It was some kind of cloth.
Her mind wouldn't seem to work. One moment she was laying on the street, and the next she was in the hospital.
For the first time in her life, she fainted.
*************
“Someone called in the assault,” one of the detectives said. “The call was made from an empty hotel room overlooking the street.”
“An empty hotel room?” Lois asked.
She'd been photographed and interrogated and now she had questions of her own.
“The room wasn't supposed to be rented until later this evening. We've questioned the cleaning staff but no one admitted to making the call.”
“I don't understand...” Lois began.
The officer shook his head. “He's done this kind of thing before. Hopefully this time we'll be able to keep him locked up for a little longer.”
“Who brought me to the hospital?” Lois asked.
“No one knows. The conductor of the streetcar admits to seeing you get off when you said you did, and the time of the assault matches fairly well with the timing of the call. The problem is that that you were logged in as arriving here immediately afterwards.”
Lois stared at the officer. “Why would that be a problem?”
“The hospital is three miles from where you were attacked, but you were found in the emergency room less than a minute after the streetcar left your stop. Could you explain that?”
“The streetcar had to be ahead of schedule,” Lois said.
The lead detective smirked. “It's Mardis Gras.”
“Well, maybe somebody had their watch set a few minutes fast. What else do you want me to say?”
She'd told them the truth, as well as she knew it, except that she hadn't mentioned the black cloth.
“Are you going to find the guy who did this?”
“He's already in custody,” the detective said. “Are you sure you didn't hit him in the face? Maybe with your bag and laptop?”
Lois scowled. She'd considered hitting him but hadn't had a chance to do so.
“I've told you everything I remember.”
“And you didn't see a man in black?”
Lois froze.
“He kept talking about some guy in a phantom of the opera getup showing up,” the detective said. “But
don't worry. It's not likely a jury will go for the insanity plea.”
“Insanity?”
“Claiming he was beaten up by an urban legend. I suppose it'll sound better to the guys in the cell than getting beaten up by a girl who can't weigh more than a hundred ten pounds.”
She weighed a solid one hundred twenty pounds, although she wasn't going to give the detective the satisfaction of knowing that.
“Urban legend?”
“The Dark Rider,” he said. “Like in that movie five years ago starring Johnny Depp.”
Lois shuddered. They'd turned the Dark Rider into a Gothic avenging ghost, as terrifying in his way as the headless horseman.
She laughed uneasily. “People are idiots. You think he'll say the next girl he attacks was saved by the guy with the hook for a hand?”
“If you'll testify, it'll be a long, long time before we have to find out. He'd had too many prior convictions to get off easy.”
Lois couldn't help but wonder how many other convictions he'd had. He didn't look as though he was much older than nineteen.
She nodded.
************
“How does this keep happening to you?” Lucy asked.
Somehow she'd talked the nurse into letting her push Lois's wheelchair, which was clearly a mistake. Lois yanked her foot back as Lucy nearly slammed it into a wall.
“You're blaming me for this?” Lois asked incredulously.
“I'm starting to think you need more bodyguards than a rapper just to go get donuts.”
“Lucy!” Lois said, glancing around quickly.
She didn't know why these things kept happening to her. Just as importantly, she didn't know why these things never happened to Lucy.
Lucy said things out loud that would have gotten Lois assaulted, and nothing ever happened.
If she crossed the street without looking both ways, she'd somehow come out of it fine, while Lois would be in traction for weeks.
If Lois were paranoid, she'd think that the universe was out to get her.
As she yanked her arm out of the way of a collision with another wheelchair, Lois reflected that she was avoiding the one thought that earlier in the evening would have thrilled her.
Had the Dark Rider saved her?
She found herself uncertain, unwilling to speak the words aloud.
Writing about a urban legend wasn't the same as claiming to have seen one. Somehow Lois wasn't brave enough to come out to the world with a belief when she wasn't sure herself what had happened.
All she'd seen was a little black cloth. She hadn't heard the sound of hooves or smelled horseflesh.
Most likely a good Samaritan had stepped in front of her and saved her. She'd been confused and overwhelmed...and she hadn't eaten since breakfast. She'd always been a little hypoglycemic.
As Lucy turned another corner, Lois glanced back and she froze.
King Midas was standing beside the nurse's desk, looking at a chart.
