Why am I here? What is my purpose? Where do I belong in this world?
There's not a single person who hasn't asked themselves those questions at some point in their life, but few ever truly find the answers. Me, I've been asking myself those questions since I was a kid, and as I ride in the back of a cop car to my new "home", I feel my hope of ever finding the answers I've always longed for grow smaller and smaller.
My name is Rosemary Quinn, but I call myself Rose. The cop was driving me to Arkham for a crime that should have earned me a cell in Blackgate Penitentiary, but certain details had instead gotten me an indefinite stay at the asylum.
"You nervous about going to Arkham?" asked the cop.
"Not really, after all it can't be much worse than the orphanage," I said listlessly as I looked out the window at the rain battering the window. "The only difference is that the loons at Arkham are actually certified."
He laughed and said, "I guess that's one way of looking at it."
"You don't seem very bothered by the reason I'm being sent there."
"You get used to this stuff living in Gotham, it's part of the job. Besides, I can understand why you did what you did. I mean, you did go overboard, but you seem more, I don't know, normal, than most of the people who live there. You'll recover and be out in no time."
"Here's hoping," I said as I flashed him a smile.
When we got to Arkham, I was surprised by how gothic it looked. It looked more like a haunted house than a hospital. The cop walked me inside, and the second the door was opened I heard screams. They weren't frightened screams, they reflected the madness of the patients within.
"That's odd," said the cop once we were well inside. "They knew you were coming, but no one's comin' to get you. Guess I'll just wait with you until someone comes."
He led me to a little waiting room. In it were a few chairs, old magazines and an empty receptionist's desk. As we sat down, the cop picked up a sports magazine and began flipping through it. I wasn't interested in any of the reading material this place had to offer, so I looked around the room to try to occupy myself while I waited. The little waiting room was just as dark and creepy as the outside, but in a way was worse because it looked like they had tried to make it look cheery, without success. The walls were painted a dingy shade of yellow and there were pictures of flowers hanging on the walls, but it failed to make you forget you were in an asylum. By the desk was a door, just an ordinary-looking door with nothing special about it, but I could tell it was the door that led to the rest of the asylum where the patients were held. The howls and wailing I heard seemed to be coming from behind it, and I knew that pretty soon I'd join them. Maybe I'd join in on the screaming, just to frighten the next poor soul to be sentenced here and just because I had some irritation and frustration at being sent here I needed to release.
After about five minutes of waiting, still no doctors had shown up, but Batman, Robin, and the Joker did. As they entered the waiting room, I couldn't tell who had taken the worst beating, as they all looked pretty messed up. The cop nodded to the Bat respectfully but if he noticed it he didn't show it. The Joker was talking about something and they seemed to be ignoring him. They were about to lead him through the door when a doctor finally showed up. He burst through the door, looking terrified. When he saw Batman, some of the fear vanished, but most of it was still there.
"Batman!" he gasped. "Killer Croc escaped his cell in the sewer, he's already killed two doctors! You have to stop him!"
"Stay with Joker," Batman ordered Robin.
Batman and the doctor ran off, and I was left alone with the cop, the Bird Boy, and the Clown Prince of Crime.
"Can you believe that?" exclaimed Joker angrily as he took a seat. His suit was torn in several places and there was blood smeared on his chalk-white face, but I wondered how much of it was actually his. "Bats just left me alone with one cop and a couple of teenagers to fight an over-grown lizard. Apparently Croc is more dangerous than me. This is an outrage! I guess my bad deed of the day just wasn't good enough for Bat-Brain, I'll have to try harder next time."
Unable to stop myself, I asked, "What did you do?"
He turned to focus his attention on me, and when he did the insulted look on his face melted and was replaced with a brilliant smile. His emerald green eyes flashed with something I couldn't decipher, and he said, "You know, curiosity killed the cat, but since you're not a cat I'll tell you. As you probably know, I've been outside my cell for a few months now, and a week ago my hideout was destroyed by a few disgruntled henchmen. They were upset because I hadn't paid them and they were tired of risking their lives all the time in my crazy schemes, and I tried to tell them it was in the job description, but they wouldn't listen. So I disposed of them, but I needed a new hideout. While I was searching I happened to stumble across a quaint little retirement home. I stayed there for a while until I grew bored, and then I killed everyone in there and arranged their bodies outside in a message that could only be read from the sky. Did you know we had that many old people in Gotham? I didn't. Anyway, I spelled out Age is just a number, and so is the amount of people making up this message. Batman didn't find it very funny though, and that's how I ended up here. How about you, kid? What's your name, and what are you in for?"
"That's enough," said Robin firmly. "You have no business talking to her."
"That's right," piped up the cop. "Leave the girl alone."
"So just because I broke one or two minor laws I can't have friends?" he asked innocently. He fixed his gaze back on me and said, "We were just having a friendly conversation, and not to mention this girl is clearly old and wise enough to decide who she does and doesn't associate with. Besides, what's to stop me from breaking into the record room and reading her files?"
"My name's Rose, and I'm in here because I murdered some people." I knew it was stupid to give the Joker any information about me, but I had seen him on the news and read his biography (the author of which who was now dead) and I knew that refusing the Joker generally wasn't a good idea.
The Joker raised an eyebrow and said, "Wait a minute, didn't I see you on the news a while back? Yes, you were on the news, and I have to give you points for that seeing as you're a first-timer. The next time I see you on the news I expect you to step up your game, I can tell you've got some true potential, kid."
"That's enough!" said the cop. "Not another word, clown."
"Meanie," said Joker as he turned away.
Just then, Batman came back, looking more tired and worn than before, but still as strong as ever. He grabbed the Joker by the arm and led him away with Robin following close behind. Before he left the room, the Joker turned back and winked at me and said, "See you around, Snow!"
After he was gone, I couldn't help but wonder why he had called me snow. Sure I was kind of pale, but not enough to be called snow. In the end I decided it didn't matter, as this was the Joker we were talking about, and I figured that as long as he wasn't trying to kill me with laughing gas or his acid-squirting flower he could call me whatever he wanted.
A few minutes after that a doctor came and finally signed me in, and then handed me over to a couple of guards. They led me through the door and the screaming, of course, only got louder and harder to ignore. They had me undress and take an icy five-minute shower, and then I was given an asylum uniform and was led to my tiny cell. Actually, it wasn't just my cell. I would be sharing it with someone else.
A girl with fiery red curls was laying on a cot on the right side of the room, and as soon as she saw me her face filled with anger.
"Who is this? I told you I didn't want another roommate!"
"It's not my job to care about what you want, Zelda," growled the guard. "We're running low on space, so you'll just have to deal with it."
"Aren't you afraid I'll kill her or something? Or is it not your job to care about patient's welfare?" shot back Zelda.
"Trust me, this one doesn't need protection from you," said the guard indifferently. He ushered me inside and then walked away.
Zelda scowled at me, and I met her gaze. I could tell this girl wouldn't be going out of her way to make my stay more pleasant, but I wasn't about to let her think she would be able to intimidate me. We stared at each other like that for a while, until an orderly knocked on the glass.
"Medicine," she said simply. She slid a tray through a tiny slot, and waited until we had taken the pills off the tray before she pulled it back. I looked at the three pills in my hand; two were familiar, I had been taking them as long as I could remember for my blood-disorder. I could only guess as to what the other was, but I took it anyway, too tired to care if the pill I had just taken was helpful or harmful. Zelda hid her pills in a hole cut into her mattress, and I wondered if she was stocking up or just didn't like taking her pills. Maybe both.
I laid down on my cot and tried to sleep, but sleep didn't come easy. I was a little worried that the Joker might come and kill me, but quickly dismissed my concerns. If he did decide to kill me, surely it wouldn't be because I had engaged in conversation with him.
Just as I was about to fall asleep, I felt something cover my face, cutting off my flow of air. I grabbed at the thing covering my face and pulled it out of my attacker's hands. The thing turned out to be a pillow, and my attacker was Zelda. I could tell I had surprised her by fighting back instead of continuing sleeping, but her surprise didn't last long and she socked me in the jaw. Before I could fight back she grabbed me by the throat and pulled me to the floor and began to squeeze. Unable to breathe, I fought back by clawing at her face, making several scratches down her face and drawing blood, but she didn't let go. Her face was filled with anger and her brown eyes filled with hatred. Black spots burst before my eyes as I used up the last of my strength to grab a handful of her hair and ram her head into the side of my metal cot. This fazed her a bit and her grip on me loosened slightly, and I took advantage of her momentary weakness and beat her head into the side of the bed again, and continued to do so until she let go. I threw her off of me and gasped for air, and before she could strike back I pinned her to the floor. When she tried to escape I jabbed my knee into her stomach and slammed her head into the floor. She finally gave up and stared up at me. Her furious expression disappeared as a mischievous grin stretched across her face.
"My last roommate didn't put up nearly so strong a fight, I can see why they put us together, they were probably hoping we'd kill each other." She paused, then said, "You know what, you're all right. If you let me up I promise I won't try to kill you again, at least not while you're sleeping."
"Why should I trust you? What's to keep you from trying to kill me again? I'm tired and I don't want to have to defend myself."
"Pinkie promise?" she offered. "It's not like you have much choice, you know."
She was right, I didn't have a choice. I couldn't keep her pinned to the floor forever, so I released her and sat down on my cot and watched her carefully as she did the same.
"What was the point of killing me, anyway? And while I was sleeping?"
"Yeah, it was kind of unfair of me to do while you were sleeping, but I figured that by smothering you I could kill you without anyone noticing and in the morning the guards could deal with your body. It's nothing personal, I just don't like sharing a cell. It was to prove to my doctor that forcing me to share a cell is a bad idea, but I think you and I could learn to get along. Let's start over and forget the murder attempt." She held out her hand and said, "I'm Zelda Rainey, and who are you?"
I reluctantly took her hand and said, "I'm Rose."
"Well Rose, I'm going to sleep," declared Zelda as she laid down and turned toward the wall. I did the same but couldn't sleep. I was too keyed up from the fight and I had to be on my guard in case Zelda changed her mind, although since I had probably given her a concussion she probably wouldn't be up for murder, at least not tonight. My mind couldn't sleep, but the fight had exhausted me, and so against my will I began to drift off to sleep.
"Home sweet home," I muttered under my breath as I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness.