Chapter One
And here we go...
It's weird how some stories are about some costume hero going out every night to safe his or her city. How awesome it would sound if you could meet your hero and then the next day tell your closest friends about it. How you stood out in the rain so you could catch a glimpse of them after they just saved your life. You're living in a fantasy realm if you think that's the most amazing thing ever.
In Gotham, life is not so amazing. Unless you're wealthy. Gotham is full of criminals, insane psychopaths and mobs. I'd really like to think myself as a luck person for living in such a city. Maybe I am lucky and just don't know it. My story is not for the faint of heart, literally. Most stories about someone dying, falling in love, starting a family, blah, blah, blah. This is not about that.
This is about what happened two years ago. The details are a little blurry but I'll try my best to remember. I know they brought in D.A. Lawyer, Harvey Dent. Good looking, blond haired, blue eyed, Harvey Dent. But that's not what they called him down at GCPD (Gotham City Police Department). Batman has been our savior for over a half a year. Nobody trusts a giant winged bat to save our city. I think I'm the only one who really does. Gordon and his men were working on a case about several bank break in's. A man dressed as a clown has been killing people left and right. Nobody could get their hands on this guy.
I remember on night I walked all the way to one of the convince stores for a couple of chocolate bars and a Pepsi. It was pretty late. Just as I was paying the cashier, they came in. Guys with clown masks. I didn't know if they had followed me or if it was just a coincidence. Then he came in, as casually as walking into a coffee shop. The cashier looked as though he had been wounded. I stayed right where I was.Their leader came in and gave the signal to wait outside.
The clown looked tall but he hunched when he walked. He wore different shades of purples and greens. His hair was filthy green with dark brown patches here and there. His face was smeared with white, there were scars cut into either side of his cheeks. Black circles smeared around his eyes, making the real color of his eyes dark and mysterious. His cheeks and lips were smeared with red, like a garish grin, even though he held no expression what so ever. He walked about the small store, licking his lips with his tongue every so often. He kept one hand in his coat pocket. The other hang loosely at his side.
His footsteps lightly echoed on the dirty linoleum floor. He made "uh huh" sounds every once in a while. He would reach out and pick up a candy bar and just look at it. I found this odd. What was he playing at? I watched in sheer fear. I was nervous. I had heard this guy would be easy going one moment and then become horribly violent the next. He finally made his way to the cash register. He had stuffed a couple of candy bars in his coat pocket. That's when he took his hand out of his pocket. He was holding a switch blade.
As he passed me, he gave one small glance but nothing more. He approached the counter and just leaned on it. He tilted his head as though he were about to ask about the weather or something.
"Y-you-n-ne-need-t-ttt- to p-p-pay-f-i-r-st", the cashier stuttered in fear.
The clown rolled his eyes and took hold of the back of the cashier's neck, pulling the guy forward so they were just nose to nose.
"Here's what you're gonna do", the clown replied and then paused to lick the side of his cheek, "We're going to play a little game. It's called the ten second game. Do you know how I got these scars?"
I didn't know what he was talking about but the cashier looked like he was going to shit his pants. The clown stared at the clock behind him and counted under his breath. I watched in horror as he slit the guys cheeks on either side. He let the cashier go and the cashier fell back onto the floor behind the counter.
"Look at that beautiful smile", the clown muttered with no remorse or anything, he then turned to me just a casually as he had walked in, "Ya know what they say, what doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger".
I just nodded as though I understood but he must of smelled my fear because he got really close to me and walked around me once and then stood in front of me a second time. I stood my ground and didn't do anything that would give him a reason to hurt me. But he had no reasons for doing anything. He licked his top lip and looked at me like he was examining a piece of art work at a museum.
"Why is it that women cut themselves up, get transplants, hair treatments, and other things so they don't look like you? I believe in simplicity. That's why I use a knife. You get to know a lot about a person in their last hours when they're laying there beginning you to spare their lives", He replies.
He was comparing me to a super model. Me. Plain Jane me. Me with my dark red hair, my blue eyes and my baggy clothes. Sure I have a nice figure but I like my jeans, black sweat shirt, pony tail and dirt covered converse sneakers. I was waiting for him to come at me with his knife and cut me up. But he just merely stood there.
"You must have voted for that D.A. Lawyer. But you don't look like the kind of person who has time to listen to such plan making. See, I'm not a planner. I just do things. Dent, Gordon, the Batman, they're planners. I believe in chaos and they believe in order. But where would order be if they didn't have chaos. Did you know life is one big joke? It really is", The clown replied squinting his eyes as he talked, "And I want everyone to know how meaningless their lives really are", he also gestured with his hands a lot.
I still didn't understand and maybe I never would. But as long as he understood the big joke, that was fine with me. Most people didn't like to explain a joke because then it would be ruined and it wouldn't be a joke anymore. He put his knife away and held out his hand to me. He gestured with his fingers for me to take his hand. His face lay on expression. His voice had held no warmth and yet no bitterness. He had no morals, no limits, nothing. I set my bag on the counter and did the one thing I knew would keep me alive. I took his hand.
"Welcome to my chaos", He muttered, barley speaking but enough for me to hear.
We stepped out into the cold air. The chill that ran down my spine that night, ran down my spine many nights afterwords. I was never part of any of his ideas. I was never there when bad things happened. Maybe I should of told someone but course, you can't trust many people in Gotham. The last night I saw him was the night Rachel Dawes died. He told me about his plan involving Dent and that he was relieving me. After that, I couldn't bare to face anyone. The pain was too great. Poor Harvey. Harvey was scarred for life.Literally . One half of his face is burned and scarred.
Like I said, that all happened two years ago. Harvey fell to his death and the clown, now known as the Joker is in Arkham. I cut my hair and changed my clothing. I put out applications for jobs. I sobered my memories by forgetting them. I've even tried to forget about him.
I wonder if life would've been the same if I hadn't been at the convient store that night? Or would I still feel horrible because I'm the sort of person who feels for others? I don't know who am I anymore. I've always been in the background. Now I'm working as a nurse in a child's hospital wing. Although, it is a great job and I love the kids. There is so much to tell about myself. My parents are both dead. My mother died after giving birth to me. My father died in a car accident when I was thirteen. I had no friends when I was in school. A group of kids would follow me home every day and throw rocks at me until I was bleeding so bad I'd have to go to the hospital.
I went to college for two years and then quit because I didn't feel good about myself. I've lived in the same apartment since I was sixteen. I'm twenty eight years old if you want to know how old I am. I had to sell my parents house because living there made me depressed and bitter. Since living on my own, I've come to like myself again.
Batman keeps Gotham safe from criminals and other such people. Commissioner Jim Gordon once said "Batman is the hero Gotham Deserves but not the one it needs right now". Gotham doesn't deserve Batman. Batman protects us. He's are silent guardian. But we treat him like a criminal. Maybe I feel hatered towards the people in this city for treating Batman like crap. He is the hero we deserve and we do need him, right now. If there was no order, there's no chaos. But one part of me wants to see the order burn in flames. Let chaos run loose.
"Some men just want to watch the world burn".
That what he wanted. To watch everyone in Gotham do. Run around with their heads cut off. He doesn't plan, scheme or do anything. He just shows everyone how pathetic their lives really are. Maybe the clown wasn't so crazy after all. He just seemed crazy because nobody understood him. I still don't. I try not to think about him. He's in my past. And that's where I want him.
I'm sorry to say I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Erin Knightly. I'm a lone spirit. I've got nothing to give or gain. I've got nothing to hide and nothing to keep hidden. My life changed the very night the Joker walked into that corner store. My whole life changed because I got the munchies. Things happen for a reason. There are no plans. You can't plan what you're going to do. I was hungry, so I got up and went out. It was fate. If you want to call it that.
Chaos or not, I'm not sure if fate delt me a hand or not. Maybe I'm not really sure if fate had taken a chance or not. Unbiased, unpredictable and fair. A coin didn't decide my fate, I did. Whether I like or not, I can't stop to wait for something to happen. I must go with the flow. I'm not a planner, schemer or anything. I'm just a citizen. I'm just me. Plain Jane me.
Over all, "What doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger".
Author's Note: I hope this is much better than my other ten stories I've written. I'm doing this because I'm crazy and can't wait for the next Batman movie. That and I love writting Batman fanfiction. I hope you like this and I will keep writing if you want me to. I won't update consently but I will update as soon as I can. Read and let the reviews roll in.
