It was the day after Thanksgiving when it all happened. My Dad, my little sister Regan and I were at his house were preparing another feast. That year my mum had us on the holiday, but that weekend my dad had us, so we were having a feast of our own with more entertainment. I wasn't very spirited that day. I really didn't want to weigh 20 more pounds after all the fat I lost swimming the past three weeks. Unfortunately for me, I had no choice. My dad insisted to have us, though my big sister Paige got out of it because of a state football game for her college, and wouldn't be getting back till four o'clock the next morning.
Of course because of the holiday, I had nothing planned. All my friends were out of town or they too had been forced into quality family time. I wouldn't be seeing them till the following Monday at school. Lucky me. I died of boredom many times when I was at my Dad's.
As I was saying, my sister and I were busying ourselves with chores to fix up the house before the guests came. The only person my age that would be coming over would be my step-cousin Christian. And the last time he came over, well, he got himself in trouble behind our neighbor's house. So I really didn't want to be around the idiot that much. My Uncle Chris and Aunty Mary were coming, as well as a few other older people, but they would be busy talking about politics and boring stuff like that with my Dad. The only two other people that didn't belong to the other groups were my little sister and my little step-cousin Tory, Christian's biological sister.
Tory was adorable, and looked like a five year old rather than her true age at nine. She had this high pitched voice and a very girly perspective on things. The only thing I really did with her was act like a mother. Over the summer we went camping by this mucky mucky lake and by the end her hair was icky. But I enjoyed doing her hair. She had short silky hair, which I envied because of my annoying curly hair, and I was able to style it fairly easily. Each morning she was with us after the camp, I'd style it in a new way, and then go on my bike somewhere. She wouldn't follow me, because what I did wasn't much of an interest to her. Anything I did wasn't usually an interest to anyone else anyways.
So as we cleaned I turned up my Rock It Out Playlist on my I-pod. All the tunes that had the best hard rock beat was on there. I listen to it a lot, since I wasn't capable of getting any more songs on I-tunes due the fact that I lacked I-tunes gift cards. And while that played, my mind wandered to my La-la Land and daydreamed. Each song had a different dream. Chop Suey by A System of the Down I was a punk guitarist, and my favorite dream. I also nicknamed it "The Joker's Theme Song". It was dark and hardcore enough to be that way. I had a Swiffer mop in my hands when it came on and I started to act like it was a guitar, banging my head up and down. Unluckily for me, I needed a haircut and wouldn't be getting one till the next day after the Saturday morning swim practice. My thick curly hair was up in a pony-tail and it whipped my face with every jerk forward into my face.
I cursed lightly underneath my breath and dropped the mop. I could hear Regan laughing behind me.
"That was dumb," she chuckled and walked to the sink to fill up a bucket of water. I glared at her and picked up the mop.
"Unless you want to have my hair whipped in your face, then I'd be quiet," I hissed. She scoffed and dragged the bucket behind her. As bratty as she was, I really wouldn't threaten her like that. She was an all around gymnast. Five out of the seven days a week, she was at a gymnastics place that had trained an Olympian not long ago. To make a long story short, she was a muscle bond little girl that could flip me onto my back any time she wanted.
But she lacked what I had, skill and experience in fighting. I didn't get into fights at school, but no one ever bothered me in a bad mood. I was more than what met the eye. I had decked a guy before because he kept yanking my hair in the hall way, and he came away with a broken nose. I didn't get in trouble because he was harassing me, and that week I was having the monthly monster we girls have.
In 7th and 8th grade I had a boyfriend that taught me self defense. He wasn't the best boy friend to have, but I came away learning something. Also in the house my Dad had at the time there was a boxing thingy-bah-bobber in my room. I'd spend at least a n hour a day punching it or practicing my kicks. I even had a pair of gloves, which got lost in the transition to the new house. But that didn't matter. I could punch without them.
I also could wrestle like no other. Growing up with cousins as a tomboy, hung out with mostly boys till the whole cootie thing appeared in 3rd grade, my friend Abby that had a little autistic brother that could wrestle the heck out anyone, and finally a step sister a year younger that Regan that thought she was one tough piece of shit helped learning how to move correctly and get out of other grasps. Lexy, the ex-stepsister, was the biggest help. She annoyed me so much that I'd wallop her and I'd tackle her. Her mum didn't care, she just laughed. Not many people in the family really cared if we beat each other up. Lexy didn't have much of a chance. She was too arrogant to recognize defeat and I'd give her bruises if she taunted me too much. It's not like I wanted to kill her. She thought it was a game while I was trying to show her that she shouldn't mess with me. Once I had busted her lip tackling her to the ground and she also got away with a nose bleed, she finally got the idea I could seriously mess her up.
Once I finished mopping the floors I had nothing else to do besides wait. My Dad left to get last minute groceries and I had no idea when either he or the guests were coming. I goofed around a little on the internet and listened to my music while staring at the ceiling.
Then of course, my Dad comes home. He rushed me out of my room and had me get food ready. I was pouring salsa into a dish for tortilla chips when someone at the front door knocked. And then a big, "HEY UUP PEOPLE!"
I groaned. It wasn't the worst of my biological cousins, but the rowdiest of them, Brennan. I remembered the summer we spent with him and he dragged me across the carpet. Had a lot of rug burns that year and learned to jump when people tried to grab my feet. But now that I'm tougher, he doesn't mess around much and I don't see him since he's out of high school. His brothers Ryan and Logan, the identical twins, were probably not coming. Ryan was in college and I had no idea where Logan, who already finished his filming school. They were cool, just never got to see them much except for family gatherings over the summer.
Once Brennan and his girlfriend Mel made their entrance, there was a bunch of hollering of greetings and hugs. I gave them a hug each but then busied myself with a new task, making fruit platters and then to peeling potatoes. I really didn't mind the jobs, just the fact then when I had finally peeled and chopped up nine out of the fifteen potatoes, everyone else was sitting around a fire outside and were having a grand ole' time.
By the time I was done and finally my Dad came in to prepare the rest of dinner, the rest of the people came. I was lucky not to be pounced on my all the people wanting to give me a hug. I would have suffocated. There was just too many of them. In silence I went t downstairs and blasted the music. Chop Suey blasted again and I was content with just staring at the ceiling. No one was going to bother me, my music level would have annoyed most of them.
I was singing along with my songs when I somehow heard someone coming down the stairs. Well it sounded more like someone was charging down the stairs like rhinos.
'Oh dear god.' I thought then rolled back over. I needed entertainment, not rhinos.
My door burst open with Christian there, the same bored expression I must have had on my face. He plopped on to my bed and grumbled something inaudible.
"What?" I growled.
"Dinner is ready," he grumbled again, lifting his head slightly. I stood up and then fetched my I-pod and earphones.
Food. Though my stomach was growling along with me, I trudged up the stairs. I could hear the laughter and squeals of every one.
I reached for the knob when all of a sudden, I heard a gunshot and a scream, and then everything went quiet. I slowly opened the door, turned off the lights and heard Christian come up behind me. Everyone was stock still and those who were standing looked like statues, frozen in time forever.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," a chiming voice came from the entrance hallway. I automatically knew who it was. The Joker. Funny that he'd show up here. There wouldn't be any reason for him to be here of all places. His footsteps tapped towards the kitchen. He appeared around the corner with the gun pointed towards the ceiling. I looked over my shoulder to see Christian going back down the stairs. I was about to shush him when he slipped down the rest of the stairs. About five or six steps, I wasn't sure, but all I knew was that my blood froze. Slowly I turned my head and saw someone blocking the light from the gap in the door way.
'Oh shit.' I cursed in my head.
"Well hello girly," the Joker's voice came as he opened the door.
Squinting from the light as the door flew open and trying to plaster a grin on my face to hide my fear, I probably looked like an idiot.
Today was not my day.
The Joker broke out into his hyena laugh and pulled me forward, and a couple guys in clown masks blundered down the stairs to retrieve Christian who was trying to run away. I shrugged away from him, crossing my arms and walking to the table. He quizzically looked at me and asked, "Why so serious?"
"I want to eat," I retorted bluntly, "How about you join us?"
He laughed, seemingly amused.
Next to me some one whispered, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Keeping us alive," I whispered back. I sat down and gestured for everyone to sit. Silently everyone sat, and the Joker sat at the head of the table and next to me. He had the other clowns leave and go find a bank somewhere and they needed to come back when he called. Every one sat down uneasily, but Regan wasn't fast enough and had to sit next to Joker and across from me. She was shaking slightly and I kept my composure. Regan of course wasn't able to keep her cool when pressures from scarier people came close to her bubble.
"Would you like a drink?" I asked the Joker. He smiled and I went over to cupboard and retrieved a glass for him. I set it on the opposite counter and asked him if he wanted wine or water.
"Water. And with ice," he replied, scanning his eyes over the nervous occupants of the table, pleased with their jumpiness. I took the glass and filled it with ice and then water. I walked back over to the opposite counter.
"Lemon slice?"
"Sure," he said. His eyes seemed to be scrutinizing me, studying my reactions. I walked back over to the refrigerator and searched for a lemon in the drawer. I brought one out and set it on the counter, and opened up the drawers, looking for a knife to slice them. And one to use in a sticky situation. I pulled two out at the same time to make it sound like I was only pulling out one.
If it was anyone else getting ready to wield a knife, I would have been worried. May be not if it was my uncle or my dad, but they already had their teeth chattering. Even though I didn't fight with knives, I knew how to wield them enough to at the least defend someone or somewhat pose a threat. It would be really scary if Regan had a knife. She wouldn't last long, well, neither would I, but I would definitely last longer than five seconds. I slipped the knife I wasn't using for the lemon into my sleeve. It was big enough for damage, but small enough to conceal without being found out.
I cut up the lemon and placed a slice on the edge of the glass, then held the knife up to where everyone could see. The Joker's eye brows rose slightly. I guess he was anticipating that I was going to do something with it, and not for cutting up the rest of the lemon. I slowly put it down on the counter, making the steel clatter against it for more dramatic effect and to make sure I had the Joker's attention. Also catching him off guard would be a key to survival. A wary Joker is not a beatable Joker.
I picked up the glass carefully with the hand opposite to the arm hiding the knife. I leaned over his shoulder and set the glass beside his left hand. Everyone else already had their drinks, but didn't sip from them. I really wasn't in the mood for getting up again to serve myself. No one moved, and the Joker's eyes darted around the table.
I sighed, "Let's eat. The food will get cold." And I served myself some lemon-walnut green beans. Slowly and cautiously, the rest of the family began to do the same. I passed the food to the Joker, whose eyes seemed fixed on Regan. She was trembling slightly, her eyes staring at her plate. She wouldn't look at him when he passed her a dish, instead just looked at me with wild scared eyes. The Joker looked amused with her actions.
"Do I make you nervous?" he asked, his voice dangerously amused. He lifted a small steak knife from where it was sitting on a napkin. He brought it to her cheek, and she froze in fear. My blood began to bubble in my veins.
"Do I? Hm?" he continued. I could see it press against her skin with out breaking it. She shivered slightly, and slowly nodded without scraping her cheek. He smiled and pressed a little harder, still not breaking the skin. But I wasn't going to let him get to the point of blood, where possibly he could get out of control.
"Stop," I said as calmly as I could. But he ignored me, still in his little psychotic world. Regan looked close to screaming, and I couldn't take it anymore.
I drew out the knife from my sleeve and slammed it onto the table with my hand gripping it horribly tight. The table shook slightly and Regan's eyes got even wider. I normally didn't get as dangerous with weapons, but this was her life I needed to defend.
The Joker's head had whisked around when he saw Regan's eyes not concentrating on him. When he saw the knife, his grin spread even wider, and his scars were squishing together slightly, but still formed the smile. Then he began to laugh. I flinched slightly, and noticed that the rest of the table – including Regan – scooted away.
'Gee guys, thanks.' I thought, and stared at the Joker, trying to keep a straight face. He had thrown his head back to laugh. But as he lowered it to look at me, I saw something in his eyes that struck me strange. His eyes weren't glistening with a dark humor, but seemed to be genuinely happy, almost like a child receiving the Christmas present of his or her dreams.
But I didn't loosen my grip on my knife. It could be a charade, and it could not be. And now he was wary that I would put up a fight. My hopes of hiding the knife as long as I could just died. I mentally kicked myself, but kept staring at him.
He kept chuckling as he inched his face closer to mine. His eyes were locked with mine, studying something, almost trying to look into my mind through my eyes. I didn't back down, who knows what would happen if I did. Was the Joker testing me for my defiance, and could my defiance save the others?
He was the one to look away, slowly looking down at my lips. He got to close though. I wasn't going to be a toy. He laughed, backed away, back into his seat and winked.
"Let's eat," he said and shoveled a forkful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. Suddenly the tenseness in the room fell like weights.
Everyone slowly ate, still cagey and waiting for another move. But it never came. The Joker just kept eating and babbling about other things. Strangely enough, I was slightly paying attention. I had lost interest in my food, for it had gotten cold while I was facing him.
My knife had been set no the table, but not too far away from where I could get it. The Joker showed no sign of being ready to attack. But normally when I took a chance or risk, it never turned out for the best. Every one else was leaving the table, babbling on about how hey were stuffed and in response the Joker would dismiss them like a mother would. He must have felt all high and mighty for the smile on his face was that of arrogance. When it was just us he began to question me.
"Are you not afraid of me girly?" he asked.
"No, you're too predictable," I replied. I acted more interested in playing with the peas on my plate.
"Oh really?" he mused. I looked up, confused by the tone. His face was close again, and when I looked up made it seem closer.
A problem I always had was blushing. With Irish/Scottish skin, I blushed easily, and redder than most people. And I did it so often. Even though my personality seemed more like an I-could-care-less-what-you-think-about-me personality, I still had that problem. Even in a creepy situation like this. He chuckled slightly and he placed a finger on the upper part of my jaw, close to my ear. He traced a line from that point to my lips, then across my tight lips to the other side of my jaw. He was tracing a smile like his scars. I slowly backed away.
Here, I couldn't act or hide the emotion in my eyes. I was awe struck, almost freaked out. Though the rest of my body may have kept a calm composure, I felt like all that one emotion I had been hiding the whole time was acting like a lighthouse in my eyes.
"And there we go. You're finally ready to crumble girly," he whispered. It was weird hearing him whisper. I could never imagine the Joker whispering, he was just too insane to. He whipped out a cell phone from a pocket, making me jump slightly –probably the only thing that wasn't a weapon in the pockets- and dialed a number.
"Come pick me up. Oh and get the blindfold ready," he said sharply then hung up, stuffing it back into a pocket. I narrowed my eyes, finally regaining my defiance. He winked back. I stood up, and he did too, mimicking my movements. I took a step back to get away from my chair, and he took a step forward. But it was a bigger stride than mine, so it closed the gap between us more.
I had a feeling this was bad. Just a tiny smidge of a feeling. Not. My gut was wrenching in my stomach, knowing something was forming behind his eyes. I kept stepping back until I finally found myself in a corner.
'Grrrreat'. I thought. I had left the knife on the table. I pictured Tony the Tiger dancing in front of me, laughing at my anxiety. But no, of course not, I had the Joker standing there instead. He bent over and threw me over his shoulder. Well sort of, more like forced me to bend over rigidly and poked a shoulder into my stomach until I gasped and folded over. I yelled, hoping someone, anyone, would come and give me a hand. I pounded on his back and tried to kick him, put he didn't seem to complain. No, in its place he actually moved faster and towards the front door. I never imagined him to be athletic, being a psycho and mostly likely in a fight would use a gun, knife or some type of an explosive.
"You better not fart," I growled.
He laughed.
"Too late!"
I groaned and covered my nose with a hand. With the other one I reached out for the railing to the stairs. Luckily, I got a good grasp and I could hear people running up the stairs from the basement. They were all bunkered in the basement.
Unfortunately for me though, the Joker was able to yank hard enough to loosen my grip and if I hadn't have let go, I'm sure he would have ripped me arm off. Sort of like a Happy Tree Friends sort of deal - if you haven't seen them and have no clue what I'm talking about, then good for. I don't recommend it, but if you enjoy watching gory and bloody cartoons that look like something a preschooler would watch at the beginning of it, well it's the type of show you'd like very, very much. That's how sick and twisted it is.-
As the Joker ran out the door with me on the shoulder, a big van that looked like an ice cream truck pulled in the drive way. It was remarkable how quickly they had gotten here, almost like they were only down the road.
I still wasn't going to give up though. I reached for anything that I could reach out to and get a hold of. It was no use though. After you exited the front door, the only thing I could grab onto would have been the door knob. Other wise, there was nothing I could do. My dad and Uncle Chris were running around the corner yelling my name. I reached one hand out to him then looked over the Joker's shoulder. A couple of men got out of the truck with guns pointed towards the house. My mind knew what was going on as soon as I saw them. I twisted my head back towards the house, yelling on top of my lungs.
"Stop! They'll shoot!"
Both of them hesitated slightly, but still reached the door. I began to thrash about, and didn't realize the string of profane words leave my mouth. I heard the Joker's hyena laugh over top of it. I cursed at him too then looked back at my Dad. His eyes were watering, but he had ceased running. Uncle Chris was shutting the door, but I could see my Dad's silhouette though it after the door clicked shut. I yelled, "I love you!" As loud as I could, hoping I could be heard. Suddenly I was thrown into the van and my eyes were covered with a cloth. I squirmed and threw my fists. The men were laughing around me. Finally one of the men in the front ordered for someone to make me be quiet. That was a big mistake for that guy that wanted to win the person's favor in the front of the Joker for following orders. As he placed a hand over my mouth, I sank my teeth into his skin.
He bellowed as he flew backwards. I fell backwards I shook my head and loosened the cloth over my eyes with a couple shakes. I saw him raising his hand to hit me when a knife flew into his throat. He gurgled and collapsed in a heap on the floor. His eyes were wide and confused, and really freaky looking.
"Don't touch her," came a menacing voice to my left. I looked over and saw the Joker buttoning his jacket and scooted next to me. I squirmed to the right, but bumped into another guy who flinched away, afraid for his life. With his hands, the Joker lifted my head slightly onto his lap. I flinched and tried to get away, but he held my head firm there. I was only able to look up, and the only thing I could seem was him looking back down at me. I squirmed slightly, hoping I would get away.
But Lady Hope was not with me. The Joker only laughed and stroked my hair in a weird way. It wasn't like he was looking for a vital point to stab me, and it wasn't like he was toying with me either. He seemed to be more interested in petting me as if I was a pet cat. He looked slightly calm compared to the psychotic expression he normally did.
"So, Miss Taylor Walden, do you want anything?" he said. My jaw went slack slightly. How in hell did he know my name? Back at my house he terrorized all he called me was 'girly'.
"Yes I know your name. I've been growing tired of calling you girly and hiding the fact that this was all planned," he said. My eyes narrowed. I finally found the gull to retort.
"You did this on purpose? What the hell! Why?" I exclaimed. He laughed and tugged at my ponytail until it came out. He ran his fingers through my hair in that weird way that seemed unnecessary, but yet so oddly good.
"Why? I've been having people watch you Taylor. You're more like me than you think," he mused. The odd tone of voice was confusing again.
"Watching me? What the-"
"You've got moxy, and you're stubborn. You like explosions, you're easily amused by anything and you're cunning-"
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WATCHING ME?" I bellowed. I felt my spit coming back down and landing on my face. He wiped my face with the blindfold, but didn't answer my question. I groaned and glared around the rest of the van. It was bigger than it looked out side of it and seemed dark than usual. The clowns were all bunched up, acting like they weren't paying attention to what the Joker was doing.
"Do want a mask Taylor?" The Joker asked. I grimaced.
No I do not want a fucking mask. I want to get out of this shitty thing that you call a van. I wanted to say, but I knew I'd get myself in trouble.
"I know what you want Taylor,"
"Oh really? Tell me smart ass," I replied really snarky like. He laughed. He leaned down next to my ear.
"You want," he breathed, "freedom."
Once again, my mouth slid in awe. There was no way in heaven and Earth he guessed that. What was going on?
"You want to be free of your parent's divorce and the issues brought by it. You want to be free of the stress that comes with your excelling sisters. You want freedom," I whispered again. I began to stutter slightly.
"H-How could yo-you possibly give that to me? How did you guess?"
"I told you, I've been watching. A certain fellow from this town also gave me the information I needed too. He was more than eager to give you away,"
His fingers began to make circles against my skull, soothing and sensational. I thought of who would have given me away.
New Richmond was where I had lived before my mom had moved me and my sisters twenty minutes away to Anderson, and I didn't make enemies while I was there. The only people that would still be pissed with me would be an ex-boyfriend. And the first one that came to mind was the one that I had most recently dumped in eight grade because of; well let's just say a moral disagreement. I didn't say the name, for there was no need to. The Joker wouldn't have asked for his name anyways.
"Such strange eyes," the Joker said, breaking the silence, "They're so expressive, yet I can't look to see if you will squeal or not."
"I don't. If you want to hear a squeal, look somewhere else," I retorted. He laughed, putting his hands over my mouth. I felt my eye brows automatically furrow in confusion as he leaned down and pressed his lips against his hands. If hands weren't there, his lips would have pressed against mine. Ew.
He straightened up and then pulled something out of one of the many pockets in his purple jacket. It was a small glass of a clear liquid.
"Time for a nap," he chimed as he swirled the liquid. I tightened my lips in protest. He chuckled and made the tisk tisk sound a teacher would do to a naughty first grader. With another hand he gestured for someone to come. Two men came over and forced my mouth open by prying their fingers into my mouth. I squirmed and gagged as the Joker poured to drops onto my tongue. The clowns quickly let go and I tried biting them. I cursed slightly, but my words suddenly began to slur slightly.
"Nighty night," the Joker said, cocking his head to the side as he continued to stroke my head.
'Bastard', was the last thing I remember thinking before I slept.