Edited the first two chapters a bit, felt like I overdid the details. Hopefully this is better, enjoy!
The young girl ducks behind an alley in the Narrows as cop cars with blaring sirens roll by. Normally she was able to pull off minor thefts without a hitch thanks to being a disarming blonde and blue eyed girl. But on her run from the scene of this particular crime, she had slid on black ice and sprained her ankle giving Gotham PD a chance to almost catch up with her. Almost.
Thankfully for her, most cops didn't dare go into the Narrows as it was known gang territory and cops didn't make enough money to risk their lives over petty theft. The blonde's phone vibrates in her pocket, flipping it open, she sees a text from Arlo Maroni: Where are you?
"Shit," she mutters under her breath. The nephew of the Italian mob boss was not a patient man. She fumbles with her phone to type back a hurried message, not noticing the shadow creeping up on her.
As she hits the send button, a large hand grabs the girl from behind. The next thing she knows, a sack is placed over her head and a needle is injected into her arm. The last thing she hears before losing consciousness is someone mutter, "found her."
The blonde awakens in a chair in a dimly lit white room. "Where am I?" Her vision is still a little blurred from the drugs.
"Arkham Asylum," a male voice across from her responds.
The girl hadn't noticed him before, but a balding man wearing a white lab coat is sitting a few feet in away of her.
Karma Dupont? he asks questioningly as he looks at a clipboard in his hand.
The girl in question gives a small huff of annoyance.
"No you're not reading that wrong. See my mother used to be a drug addict whore and one particular evening she was more fucked up than usual and screwed a customer without a condom. 9 months later, I was born. That's Karma," she mutters, finally feeling normal.
Doctor Strange raises an eyebrow at her revelations, leaning forward in his chair. "Do you know why you are here?"
Oh she had a good idea why she was now sitting in Arkham Asylum, but Karma doesn't bother to dignifying the question with a response.
"You are here because your step father, Richard Westing is the second wealthiest man in Gotham, making him a highly esteemed and influential figure. Despite discrepancies with your mother's habits and past, your step father values his marriage and cannot afford to have an insolent child, of no blood relation nonetheless, spewing venomous information that is private family business. Your increasingly criminal behavior is also a concern and he will not tolerate you smearing his image any longer."
A small sadistic smile touches the Doctor's face.
"I have been paid handsomely to ensure you are, quite literally 'scared straight'. By any means necessary."
Karma isn't too surprised because her step father had always tried to make her life miserable from groundings to military school, but she still pales. She knew he was a proud man, but to have her committed to an insane asylum was a little crazy even for him.
"I know this is illegal, I am an adult and in a sound state of mind. Keep the money, I would gladly see him lose every dime. Besides," the young woman drawls. "I'm sure it wouldn't look too good for Richard Westing to be involved in such a scandal."
Doctor Strange lets out a gruff guffaw of a laugh much to Karma's bemusement. "My dear, when I am through with you, you won't be mentally stable enough to ever talk about Arkham Asylum to anyone."
Seeing the sudden flames of hatred in the young woman's eyes, the doctor discreetly presses a red panic button below his chair, signaling the guards to rush in.
A growl escapes Karma's throat as she lunges a well aimed fist at Strange's face. Her knuckle only barely collides with his nose before she is grabbed by two sets of strong rough hands that pull up and successfully restrain her.
Strange's face contorts to that of anger as he pinches his nose to stop the bleeding that has slowly begun to ooze from his nostrils. "She is to be with her fellow dangerous criminals," he hisses. "Bring her to Quinzel's ward!"
Realizing exactly what danger Strange is putting her in, Karma shoots him a death glare.
"You will pay for this."
The 2 men had hauled her to the Maximum Security Wing and handed her off to a fat security guard who'd introduced himself as Lyle. It seemed all the staff knew of her predicament because the man turns his head to give his best attempt at a comforting smile.
"I just want you to know, I don't agree with what Dr. Strange is doing to you. Everyone goes through a rebellious stage, you maybe more so than others, but you sure as hell don't deserve to be locked up with these psychos."
Though Karma forces a smile of appreciation to form on her face, inside she's screaming in fury. If you know it's so wrong then why don't you report him to the authorities?
"Well, I'm glad I have someone on my side," she grits out, allowing the bitterness in her tone to seep through.
Lyle hesitates for a moment and Karma wonders if he'd actually registered that her sarcasm was directed at him. But of course not. The oaf simply gives her a sheepish grin.
"Don't worry I won't let anything happen to you. Just keep your head low and deal with Strange's bullshit until he decides you've had enough," he reassures an unconvinced Karma as he opens a door labeled, Group Therapy.
Lyle guides Karma over to a brunette woman in her early 30's wearing thick rimmed glasses. "Doctor Quinzel," this is Karma Dupont and her case report." He hands over a brown folder, the contents of which make Quinzel's thin eyebrows rise.
"Thank you, Lyle." Her voice is cool and professionally indifferent with just a touch of self-importance. Karma immediately doesn't like her.
The Doctor turns her gaze to the new patient with an air of superiority. "For you convenience, patients with pasts of sexual assault or rape have been scheduled for separate group therapy sessions and are not to have any contact with you during lunch and dinner periods." the words roll off her tongue in a distasteful manner.
The daunting realization in Karma's eyes must have been apparent because Quinzel seems to know exactly what the young blonde is thinking.
"These precautions have been put in place as you are currently the only female patient in this wing."
Karma is too overcome with a sudden rush of emotions to respond, mainly sheer rage at her mother for marrying Richard Westing and utter loathing for the bastard himself for trying to make her life a living hell.
Quinzel doesn't even bother introducing the younger woman to the 20+ criminals huddled around the room's only t.v. and Karma couldn't have been more grateful, she wanted to remain unnoticed. The Doctor gestures to some bookshelves in the back of the room. "Feel free to have a seat, this period is basically an indoor recess. Lyle, Steve, and I will be here if there's a problem."
Karma spares a glance at the buff, unruly ex-criminals in the room compared to the 2 young security guards and female doctor. Comforting, she thinks miserably as she grabs a random book and sits at the table farthest from the tv. She immediately makes herself look busy, staring at the pages, but not seeing the words as her mind tries to devise an out from her current situation.
An intelligent pair of eyes follow's Karma's movement with interest. The man approaches her table giddily, plopping down ungracefully in the chair across. The young girl does her best to ignore the curly haired man in a straight jacket, but he begins tapping his toes to an imaginary rhythm, causing her patience to snap.
"Can I help you," she mutters coldly, glaring at the man from behind the safety of her book.
The man's eyes widen in mock surprise at her defensive manner. "Oohh feisty," he chuckles dryly, licking his lips disturbingly loud before giving Karma a sideways glance. He then leans forward waggling his eyebrows mockingly. "I likeee you."
Karma immediately recognizes his voice, but doesn't want to believe her hearing. Two jagged scare running up the corner's of his mouth to his cheeks confirms her fears.
Noticing her attention on his scars, the Joker fixes her with a lazy, but dangerous smile. "Like what ya see, doll?" His voice still holds some amusement, but there's now unconcealed malice in its tone.
Karma had heard his face was a touchy subject so she does her best to compose herself and ignore the question. "Is there something you want?"
The man stares her down for a moment before clicking his tongue.
"There is a reason I uh, invited myself over. It didn't look like you found that-ah very interesting anyway," he says, dismissing her book with a flick of his head.
Karma can tell from his exaggerated body movements and loud lip licking that the Joker is definitely a few cards short of a full deck. Still, something about his eyes makes the hair on the back of her neck stand on end even though she'd been around her fair share of dangerous criminals.
"You know," he drawls out, interrupting Karma's train of thought. "It's uh rude to ignore someone when they're talking-ah." His eyes had become so dark they looked like merciless little pits that glared at her in childish resentment.
"Sorry," she grinds out apathetically, trying not to let any weakness show. "You said you had a reason for coming over here and bothering me. Do tell."
The deranged man lets out a high pitched giggle that seems almost demonic compared to his calm, low speaking voice. "You are a ri-ot. That's a pretty convincing act you've got there tough guy. But-ah. You don't fool me. Not. One. Bit. See, I can tell you're different and in here," he gives her a predatory smile, flashing his stained teeth. "That's not a good thing. See these guys," he gestures slightly to the other patients with an incline of his chin. "Are all caged animals. Sure they're uh mostly harmless when the good doctor's got them all jacked up on meds and people like Lyle," he says the name as if it leaves an unsavory taste on his tongue. "-are around. But being locked up...DOES things to you!"
His voice raises bordering on hysterical. "And things can uh get a little crazy in here, if you know what I mean." The Joker gestures down to his straight jacket with a lopsided grin. "Especially when the others see who you really are. Then this place is going to really be...a maaad house!"
The Joker looking extremely pleased with himself as the other criminals turn to look at the pair. Now Karma had caught everyone's attention thanks to this wolf that had sniffed out her insecurities. Not wanting to seem weak, she glares at the other criminals and the Joker.
"I think I can handle myself, you and I are not as different as you think," she sneers, signaling the end of the conversation.
The Joker rolls his eyes dramatically, "I really hate liars, but in your case I'll uh make an exception, for now. You and I are gonna have a LOT of laughs, doll." He begins shaking in uncontrollable fits of that bone chilling, hyena laugh.
Much to Karma's relief, Lyle and Steve rush over before the situation gets out of hand and drag his howling form away, leaving Karma alone with a sense of weariness and unease.