Beep…beep…beep…
I grumbled. I don't want to get up. I'm not always a morning person. I push up from my bed and search blurry-eyed for the stupid alarm. I spot red numbers on a screen and reach above it for the snooze button. After the persistent beeping stopped I climbed out of my bed and walked into the bathroom connected to my room.
I was a girl of 18. I had graduated top of my class in Gotham State University, in engineering. I was 5'7, and slim. My hair is a dirty blonde and cut in a bob. I always hated having to take care of long hair. So I decided to chop it off. I had moved out from my parents place at 16, considering they were both drunks and drug addicts. My life hasn't been very easy, and I tend to get pissed off rather easily. But, having a hard life does have its perks. You won't let anyone push you around.
I work at Wayne Enterprises, with Lucius Fox, in weapons engineering. He came to the university and offered me the job before I had even graduated. So of course I took it. It has some really great pay.
I climbed into the shower and turned the water on cold. I grabbed my Herbal Essences shampoo and scrubbed my hair. I rinsed and smoothed in some conditioner and let it sit while I scrubbed down my body. I took a second to just stand and let the cold water run over my body. Sighing I turned the water off and grabbed a towel.
I stepped out of the tub and stood in front of the mirror. I reached to the bottom drawer of my cabinet and took out my makeup bag. After applying a very small amount I dried my hair and walked back into my room. I peeked at my clock. It was five-thirty. I needed to hurry up. Running to my closet I picked up a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I rushed to the kitchen and poured a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. I choked down the cereal as I pulled on my jeans and shirt.
Putting the empty bowl in the sink, I rushed back into my bathroom and brushed my teeth. And about five minutes later I was running out the front door to my building and down the street. Suddenly my cell was ringing and I reached in my front pocket to retrieve it. It was Lucius.
"Hey, Lu. What's up?" I asked.
"Nothing much. Are you on your way?"
"Yes. I am walking down the street as we speak."
"Ok. Be careful and see you in a few."
I ended the phone call and stuck it back in my pocket. Lu always called me in the morning to see how I was doing. He always seemed concerned about me. I think it had something to do with what we worked on. Me and Lu made things like armor and weapons, sometimes a vehicle or two. He always said it was for the military but I didn't believe him. The stuff really wasn't military standard. I would try to slip one up on Lucius and see if I could find out what we really made the stuff for but he was quick for an older man. I grabbed my iPod out of my Other pocket and put in my earplugs. I turned it on and just let it start playing.
I turned the corner and had only four more blocks until I reached Wayne Enterprises. My iPod started to play my favorite song, Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace, blaring on high in my ears. I was halfway down the current block when I started to slow down. There was a tall man leaning up against the wall of a antique store. He wore jeans and a purple jacket, and had a cap hanging low on his head. He really wasn't doing anything but standing there. But there was something somewhat unsettling about him. As I get closer I try to get a closer look at his face. The cap hid most of his face but I could see one side of it. And I stop completely.
There was something on his cheek. It started at the corner of his mouth and reached about mid-cheek. It was puckered and disfigured. Suddenly he looks up and looks right at me. He smiles and chills run down my spine. His smile was made creepier when the main lyrics came in, 'So what if you can see the darker side of me? No one will ever change this animal I have become…' I turn away and start walking again. But I stop after I passed him. I realized then that on his face was a scar. There was only one person in all of Gotham that was known for scars on his face. I turn back around but the man was gone. I look around at the flow of people but I didn't see him anywhere.
I mentally slap myself. It couldn't be him. He wouldn't walk around like that. He's not stupid. I turn back around and continue walking to Wayne Enterprises.
"Hey, Lu." I said as I walked into the lab. He turned around and smiled.
"Hey. You ready for work?"
"As ready as I'll ever be. But before we start, there is something I'm wanting to ask you." I stand next to him and lean against the work table.
"Sure, what's up?"
"You know about that new criminal in town? The one that wears that silly clown makeup and has scars on his face?" He looks at me weird.
"Yes of course."
"Well, do you think he ever goes around without his makeup?"
"Ugh, I guess he might. Wait, where is this coming from?" He asked. He looked really worried.
"Well, there was this guy I saw on the way here. He had scars on his face, like the Joker. He was really creepy. Oh I don't know. I'm sure it was nothing." I turned around and pretended to examine a blue print.
"You know there are people that have gotten scars like his. Those that survive an attack by him. You've heard about how he likes to give people scars like his." He sounded really worried now. I shouldn't have brought it up.
"Yeah, your right. It was probably someone else. I mean he wouldn't just walk around like that."
"Well maybe he thinks most people wouldn't be smart enough to put two and two together. But don't worry about it, Kate." Lu smiles and pats my shoulder.
"Oh. Also there is a fundraiser tonight. Mr. Wayne is hosting it for Harvey. He wants you to come so he can discuss some designs with you." I groan. Lu holds his hands up in defense.
"Come on, you know I don't care for parties. And why is Bruce wanting to discuss designs with me at a party?" I ask.
"He figured it would be easier. And it would be the only way he could get you to come, so…"
"Fine. But I don't have anything to wear to a fancy party." Lu smiled and I knew I was in for some trouble.
"I already have that taken care of. Your dress will be delivered by five tonight. And there is a car picking you up at eight-thirty. No way out."
"I hate you. You know how to corner me." He laughed and I couldn't help but smile.
"Time for work. Ok we need to figure out how to reinforce our armor against dogs, while keeping it light weight…." Lu trailed off and I knew it was going to be a long day.
When I got home at four-thirty that night I collapsed on my bed. Me and Lu worked on that armor all day and we came up with about three different solutions. We would probably be working on it for a while. Then I remembered the party. Lucius said the dress would be here about five. I groaned and sat up in my bed. My bed was a full size with various shades of purple and green sheets and pillows. My room was painted a light lavender color. To my left there was an enormous bookcase overflowing with various genres of books. I had a giant butterfly chair sitting next to it with a lamp on the wall. In the corner was the door leading into the hallway.
Directly in front of me was a dresser packed with pajamas and comfy clothes. To my right was my closet and the door leading to my bathroom. I looked beside my bed and saw my iPod on my dresser, along with my alarm clock and a black lamp. I looked at the clock. Four-fifty. I jumped from my bed and walked down the hallway. I came into my spacious living room, and walked to the left into the kitchen.
Opening the fridge I grabbed a piece of cold pepperoni pizza and a Pepsi. I snapped open the Pepsi and took a long swig. Leaning against the counter I finished eating my pizza just as the doorbell rang. I set my Pepsi on the table and rushed to answer the door.
"Mrs. Pierce?" There was a man in his mid-twenties at the door. He had a box balanced in one hand and a clipboard in the other.
"Yes?" He smiled and handed me the box.
"Could you please sign here?" He set the clipboard on top of the box and pointed to a line at the bottom of the page. I signed it and he took it back.
"Thank you. Have a nice evening."
"You too." I walked back in and shut the door. I went back to my room and set the box on my bed. Opening it, I gasped. I pulled it out and held it up. It was a one-shoulder and floor-length. It was black with clear beads threaded through the bodice that started to disperse in the skirt. I knew it probably had to cost a lot. I set it back down and went into my closet and pulled out some black strappy heels. I hated heels but it was the only thing I had that would look good with the dress. I set them in the floor beside the bed.
I had about three hours until the car got here so I sat in my chair and picked up Eragon. I grabbed my iPod and set the alarm for seven-forty.
I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. The dress was gorgeous and fit perfectly. But suddenly I frown. I stared at the only problem. I knew there was nothing I could do about it. At the base of my neck there was a start of a scar. The one-shoulder hid most of it, but it was still visible. It reached from the base of my neck and over my shoulder and down part of my back. I have no problem with scars. It is just that people tend to stare and sometimes ask about it. It kind of makes you uncomfortable. I can hide it most of the time with t-shirts and the such but not tonight.
I pulled on my heels and grabbed a small clutch that came with the dress. I looked out my window and saw a black car waiting at the curb. Five minutes later I climbed into the car and was on my way to the party. It was at Bruce Wayne's penthouse. Soon I started to think about what the designs might be that Lu was telling me about.
"Ma'am? We are here." The driver opened my door and helped me out.
"Go to the top floor." He said kindly and smiled.
"Thank you." I returned his smile and walked into the building. I headed to the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.
When I walked in I was greeted by a waiter with a platter of champagne. I took a glass and thanked him. The front room was very large. It was filled with people who were all high up on the totem pole and rich. I spotted Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent standing together in the room. When she spotted me I smiled and waved. She smiled and started walking my way.
"Hey, Kate. How have you been?" Rachel asked.
"I've been fine thanks. So where is Bruce? Apparently he has some new design ideas to show me." Rachel rolled her eyes and sighed.
"I don't know where he is. You think he would show up to his own party. Come on, I want you to meet Harvey." I followed her over to Harvey.
"Kate, this is Harvey Dent. Harvey, this is Kate Pierce." Rachel introduced us.
"Hi." I smiled and shook his hand.
"Hello. So how do you know each other?" Harvey asked conversationally.
"Well, Bruce actually introduced us." Rachel said.
"Yeah. I had just started working for him and I didn't know many people. So he introduced me to Rachel." I offered.
"Yes, and we've been good friends ever since." Suddenly there was the sound of a helicopter. Outside a helicopter was landing. Bruce Wayne stepped out with three pretty girls in tow. He delivered a enlightening speech on how he believed Harvey Dent was right for Gotham, after which everyone applauded. I looked at Rachel, who seemed pissed off.
"Excuse me." She said to both me and Harvey. I watched her leave and sighed. Now I was stuck with the politician.
"Oh, great. Now what do I do." I muttered under my breath. Harvey looked uncomfortable.
"Um. So I would rather talk to you then these other bigwigs." Harvey said.
"Well gee. Thanks for having me as your second choice." I laughed. Harvey's eyes widened.
"Oh, no. I didn't mean it that way. I mean these other people kind of scare me." I laughed more and he smiled.
"So, you aren't afraid to be shot at, but you are afraid of a bunch of rich people. Interesting. I'm completely with you on that one." He laughed this time. I looked out at the balcony Rachel went out. She was coming back in and heading this way. I figured I better give her and Harvey some time.
"Excuse me. I'll see you around." I walked away to a corner of the room and sipped my champagne.
"Kate?" I turned around to find Bruce. I smiled.
"Hey. What's up? Lu told me you wanted to go over some designs." I said.
"Yes, follow me. I have them in my office." I followed him through a few hallways and into a decent sized office space. He walked over to his desk and grabbed a portfolio, when his phone rang.
"Sorry, give me just a sec." He started to talk into his phone, and I turned away. I set my clutch down on his desk and looked around the room. I heard his phone snap shut.
"Kate. I need you to go back out there and stay close to a group. Don't draw attention to yourself." Bruce looked very serious.
"What's going on? Is everything ok?" I asked.
"Please Kate. Go. Don't draw attention to yourself." He disappeared. I rushed back out into the main room. There was a small crowd of people in the corner of the room and I hurried toward them. I was on the outskirts of the group when I heard a gun shot.
"Good evening, ladies and gentle-men. We are…tonight's entertainment." I turned around to face the center of the room to find the Joker. He was walking around with a gun in his hand.
"I only have one question. Where is Harvey Dent?" When no one answered him he pointed the barrel of the gun at a few girls before grabbing a glass of champagne, sloshing the majority of it out on the floor. Then he went back to asking where Harvey was, if they knew who he was.
"We are not intimidated by thugs." Joker was standing in front of an old man, who stood up to him.
"You know. You remind me of my father," The Joker was talking now, "I hated my father." He grabs the old man at the back of his neck and holds a switchblade to his cheek. Screw drawing attention to myself.
"He's not here." I say while stepping forward from the group. Joker looks at me and I can see recognition flash through his eyes.
"Well, hello beautiful." Joker says as he starts to slink over to me. I do my best to stand tall and seem unafraid, even though my heart was trying to hammer its way out of my chest.
"And where exactly is Harvey uh." He stops to stand in front of me. His tongue snakes out and plays at his scars.
"I don't know. But he had to leave early." He stares long and hard at me. With him being this close I can see his scars very well. I can tell that he is the same man I saw this morning even though I really didn't see him well.
"You know, I think your lying." He growls. He grabs behind my neck and brings his switchblade to my face. I feel the cold metal press against my cheek. I grab at his wrists but he only tightens his grip.
"You want to know how I got theses scars?" He asks.
"No, not really." I say before he can get into the background of his wounds. He frowns and I feel him press the knife harder into my skin. I feel something start to roll down my chin as I feel stinging pain.
"Would you like some scars like mine? I think they would look goood on you." Joker whispers dangerously. I try to pull my head back a little but he has a lock on me.
I whisper real low, so only he can hear, "No thanks. I already have some scars of my own. But thank you for the offer." He looks taken aback. He cocks his head to the side and his tongue darts back out at his wounds.
"Ok, stop." I hear a familiar voice say. I try to turn my head to see who it is, but quickly stop as his knife digs into my cheek more. Joker looks back at me for a moment before sighing and throwing me backward. He points to someone behind me and hands grab my elbows and pull my arms back.
I can finally see who stood up for me. It was Rachel.
"Rachel no." I say as I try to break away from the hands holding me, but only get a gun pointed at me by another clown thug. Joker turns back around and looks at me.
"I'll get back to you in a moment." He says. He turns back to Rachel.
"Well, this party is just full of beautiful women. You must be Harvey's squeeze uh." He says as he continues walking over to her.
"And you are beautiful." He starts to circle around her.
"Oh, you look nervous. Is it the scars? You wanna know how I got 'em?" He asks. "Come here." He grabs at her face and brings the switchblade up. She tries to pull away but can't.
"Hey, look at me…So I had a wife who was beautiful, like you. Who tells me…I worry too much. Who tells me I oughta smile more. Who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks." Rachel keeps turning her head, trying to pull away. I yank and pull at the guy holding me, but the one with the gun just presses it into my abdomen.
"Hey. So one day they carve her face. We don't have any money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just want to see her smile again, hmm? I just wanna let her know I don't care about the scars . So, I stick a razor in my mouth and do this to myself," he moves his face side to side, "And you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves. Now I see the funny side. Now I'm always smiling!" He sweeps his arms up dramatically. Rachel takes this moment to knee him.
"Oh, there's a little fight in you. I like that." He says as he straightens back up.
"Then your going to love me." There was a gruff voice as Batman appears next to Joker and punches him. I had never seen Batman up close. Now I could see something very familiar on his armor. The clown holding me drops me and runs to his bosses aide. I scramble up and rush over to Rachel. I grab her and pull her toward the side of the room as we watch Batman, Joker, and various clown thugs fight.
"Are you ok?" I ask her. She nods but then frowns.
"Oh my God. Are you ok?" She sees the gash on my cheek and I reach up to touch it. My hand comes away red.
"I'm fine. That was stupid." I say. We back up as the fight comes our way. We watch as Joker throws one of his clowns at Batman. The clown jumps on him as Joker starts to kick him, laughing. Batman pushes Joker away and he falls to the floor. He scrambles to the side and grabs a gun on the floor. He runs to us and grabs Rachel.
"No!" I yell as he backs up to the window behind them with the gun pointed to her head. Batman turns toward the Joker.
"Drop the gun." He says.
"Sure. You just take off your little mask and show us all who you really are. Hmm?" He laughs and shoots the window out behind them. Turning around he holds Rachel out the window.
"Let her go." I look at Batman in horror as I realize his mistake.
"Hmm, very poor choice of words." Joker laughs as he lets Rachel go.
"Rachel!" I yell as Batman rushes out the window after her. I run toward the window, not even thinking about what I was doing. The Joker grabs me and holds me around my shoulders.
"No, no, no. Don't want you going over now do we?" He points the gun at my head and turns to face the crowd.
"If anybody moves ah, or calls the po-lice, this room will get a new paint job." He threatened as he moved us toward the elevator, kicking his clowns awake as he went. I dug my feet into the floor trying to slow him down. He sighs and yanks me off balance, to where my feet drag. He walks into the back of the elevator, and when all of his conscious clown thugs pilled in he clicked the lobby button and the doors closed.
He still held on to me tightly but had lowered the gun somewhat. Soon he starts to hum some sort of tune. I grunted and tried to pull away but he held fast. I was waiting for him to shoot me but he hadn't yet.
"Well?" I asked.
"Well what uh?" He looked down at me annoyed and I did my best to turn my head to look up at him.
"Aren't you going to shoot me? Or are you going to wait until you get outside?" I asked. He looked at me like I was the crazy one wearing clown makeup.
"Why would I shoot you?" He asked, a genuinely puzzled look on his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You like knives don't you? Ok, when are you going to stab me or cut up my face again?" I did my best to put on a serious face. His grip was getting rather painful.
"Why are you so sure that I'm going to, uh, kill ya?" He asked, waving the gun around.
"Oh, just that your hostages usually don't last more than twenty-four hours." I shrugged my shoulders. Suddenly he starts breaking out in manic laughter. His grip doesn't loosen so I end up getting shook around with him. Some of his clown thugs start to chuckle nervously. Joker stops laughing and looks at his henchmen.
"When did I say you could laugh uh?" He asks. All of the clowns freeze and start to fidget. He raises his gun and shoots one of the clowns, who falls to the floor with a thud. I look at the body shocked. He just shot his own guy.
Suddenly the elevator does a cheery ding and the doors open leading into the lobby. The clowns walk out and hold their guns up at the surprised people. Joker walks out dragging me with him. I do my best to kick and squirm around.
"You just enjoy being complicating, don't you?" He huffs. He lets go for a split second and grabs my waist in one arm. Bending down he grunts and throws me over his shoulder. I gasp.
"What? Let me go!" I yell at him as he starts to skip through the lobby, me bouncing painfully on his shoulder. I look at the people around me who are frozen in fear. I hear a gun go of and some dull thuds. Joker stops dead.
"Well, if you insist." I realize my mistake too late as he lets me go and I fall to the floor painfully.
"Owww. You ass." I groan.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such language." He bends down and picks me back up. He starts to skip again and hum to some tune. I grip the back of his jacket to hold on. When he gets outside, I hear a vehicle coming down the road that stops in front of us. Joker walks over and opens the back door, tossing me inside. He climbs in after me, followed by his clowns. I scramble up from the floor and sit on the bench. I glare at Joker, who just sits beside me and smiles.
"You didn't answer my question." I tell him.
"I didn't, did I?" He asks innocently.
"Why haven't you killed me yet?"
"Well, aren't we eager? I'm not going to kill you yet, darlin'. No, no, no, you are just too much fun ah." He grins mischievously, licking his scars, and starts to laugh again. He laughs so hard he starts to bounce up and down in his seat.
After he calms down he pulls his switchblade out. He clicks it open and plays around with it. He looks back up at me. In the blink of an eye, he has my face back in his hands. He puts the knife back up to my cheek.
"You said you had some scars. Where are they?" He asks, his voice low and menacing. When I don't answer he sighs and lays the knife against my already injured cheek. I grimace as he presses the blade against it.
"If you don't tell me, uh, I'll just have to look myself." He smacks his lips at the end of his sentence. I look down over at my right shoulder, where the one-shoulder covered up the majority of it. Though you can see the start of it. He follows my line of sight and smiles. He licks his lips.
He removes the knife from my face and uses it to push back the fabric. He cocks his head at the sight of the knife wound. It was puckered and it hadn't quite healed right.
"How far does it go?" He asks.
"Down part of my back." I whisper. I feel him tug at the fabric with his knife. I hear the fabric tear and it fell loose. It was good that the dress was tight around my chest. I shuddered as he traced the scar with his knife. Suddenly, I start to feel angry. And I lash out at the closest thing. Joker.
I yank away from him and punch him right in the face. There was a look of shock, before it was replaced with anger. He drew his hand back and slapped me hard across my injured cheek. I felt fresh blood start to flow down my chin. That only made me angrier. But when I saw blood flowing from his nose, I calmed a bit. The blood mixed with his red makeup. Then he started to laugh again. He put his knife back in his jacket pocket.
"You've got a lot of fight in you." He popped the t at the end of fight. "I like that, I like it, I like it. You are going to be real fun." He giggled.
"Boss, we're almost there." The goon that was driving said. Joker looked at him then sighed. He turned back to me. I watched as he reached into his other pocket and pulled out a rag. He reached forward and grabbed the back of my head. He pressed the rag up to my face and I panicked when I smelt chloroform on it.
I bucked and kicked at him. I tried holding my breath for a while. Eventually he got frustrated.
"What are you doing? Holding your breath? Just calm down uh. When you wake up, this would have been all a bad dream." He chuckled at the end. Finally I couldn't hold my breath anymore and sucked in deep, which I soon regretted doing, because my head swam painfully. I tried to push him off me again but I was too weak. My vision started to blur. The last thing I heard and saw was Joker, his maniacal laughter ringing in my ears and his painted face lingering even after I closed my eyes.