NOTICE:

Before I begin, I am going to continue writing 'To Create is to Destroy', but I suddenly got the idea for this story as well, so I wrote it up quickly and I do hope you all appreciate this story as much as you did the other.

I told you I was crazy. Maybe all I do is write nowadays!

--------------------------------------------------

Chapter One.

There were several honks and shouts from behind the car that the brunette-headed girl was in. She'd been daydreaming, thinking of things that were far out of her control. Havoc was being wreaked upon in the place she was headed to. The girl was born in Blüdhaven and lived there her entire life. But now, in her car, she was on her way to Gotham City. That new location was just north of Blüdhaven. The female had heard many rumors of the larger city, and how the Joker had been terrorizing it for quite a while now. She gulped and could only hope that she wouldn't run into the madman.

The honks behind her were probably doing so because the light she'd been at had turned a lovely shade of brilliant green. The color made her think of the green hair on the Joker, she'd been staring at pictures of him on the computer back at Blüdhaven. Her grandmother, who she lived with at the time, had a nice little house in the residence area of the city. Now that her grandmamma passed away due to old age, she was going off on her own and moving far away from Blüdhaven.

But even now as she drove down the paved roads, she couldn't recall his face very clearly. She remembered seeing two black blobs on his face and the green hair, but everything else seemed to have escaped her. Perhaps finding her grandmother, the only person in her life at that time, dead on the living room floor was too much of a shock for her. It suppressed memories and that moment in her life would be unforgettable.

The silence in the car was really starting to unnerve the girl. She reached her honey-tanned arm to the radio and flicked it on. Old, classic music flooded into her ears and she felt her eyes begin to water. This had been her grandma's car, so naturally her grandmother would have her own choice of music set for whenever the radio was flicked on. It was her favorite radio station, the girl knew from so many rides in the car. But now, the brunette couldn't stand hearing it. She felt unclean as each small blow of a trumpet flooded into her ears. Quickly, she pressed a recall button and the station was switched to something else. It was a sickly sweet, acoustic station. She leaned back into her seat with a sigh and continued to drive on. Eventually, she drove so far that she passed the big sign that read 'Welcome to Gotham City' on it. The brunette quickly drove to the apartment building she looked up from her grandma's house, which had already been rented out by her via credit card. She had a bunch of her things in the backseat of the car as well as the trunk.

It didn't take long to find the apartment. She pulled into the parking lot and parked the car relatively close to the tall building. Staring up at the height of the place made her feel absolutely tiny. She was pretty relieved that the very little amount of baggage she had was in either small bags or packed in luggage with wheels. That certainly made it easier to carry it up if her room was on a high floor.

Entering the apartment building, she was greeted by a rush of warm air and several smiling, curious faces. Her arms were covered by bags and a young man walked over to her with a small, sly smile on his face. His hair was a dark black and he had dark eyes as well. The girl forced a grin and stared down at her arm as a bag was threatening to fall. The male caught the bag before it hit the ground. "Hello ma'am. My name is Jeff; may I have the pleasure of knowing your name?" His politeness caught the brunette off guard and another bag tumbled toward the ground, but was cut short when Jeff caught that one too. The girl narrowed her eyes suspiciously but stuck out her hand from beneath the bags. "Emily Willows." She said simply, and she turned and snatched her bags from his arms and walked to the counter. Emily smiled at the receptionist and told spoke her name, hoping to be given a room number and key. She did so and got the key and room number, then turned around and groaned out loud to see Jeff right behind her with his arms behind his back and his eyes watching her patiently. Emily gave him a slight nod before waddling to the elevator.

"Do you need help with your bags? I'd be more than happy to assist you." He said, and Emily stared him down. Jeff almost seemed desperate, as if him helping would save him from being killed or something. Emily scoffed and continued on her short journey to the elevator. She pressed the up arrow and smiled when it lit up, ignoring the eager boy beside her. He cleared his throat as she waited for the elevator.

"I really wouldn't mind helping you." He insisted. Emily only sighed and rolled her eyes at him, tossing him the two bags he caught earlier. Jeff smiled smugly and the brunette girl just glared at him. He had already proven to be majorly annoying and Emily hadn't even been in the building for five minutes yet.

The elevator suddenly opened and several people filed out. When they were all gone, Emily stepped in and Jeff followed as well. The girl scanned the floor buttons and looked down at the piece of paper. It said 'E-22', so Emily pressed the E button, assuming that was what it meant. The elevator quickly flew upwards, causing Emily to lose her balance for a moment. She regained it and noticed Jeff looking at her with that same smile on his face. Emily wanted so badly to wipe it off but she knew that it'd seem suspicious if she left the elevator with a beaten up man, who hadn't been bruised and beaten before the elevator ride. Emily grinned darkly to herself, just thinking about him being bruised made her want to do it even more. But just as Emily was about to turn around and sock that annoying guy right in the face, the elevator door slid open and she rushed out in a hurry, scampering around and looking for room E-22. Right in front of her was E-1, and she turned down a long hallway. It appeared that this hallway was where the thirties were, and she followed them down to the end as the thirties got closer to twenties. She counted down until she got to twenty-nine, then twenty-eight, twenty-seven, and down. By E-23, she was excited and at E-22 she nearly squealed with joy.

Emily stuck the key into the hole and turned. The door clicked and she assumed it was unlocked, so she turned the doorknob and shoved. The door opened without much of a push, leaving Emily glad. It meant that late at night, she would probably be coming home from a long day at work and wouldn't have to strain her tired muscles just to open a door. The door on her grandmother's house back at Blüdhaven had been the complete opposite, which was why that had been a huge issue for her. This door seemed relatively new though, which just made Emily that much happier. Jeff walked into her room after her, placing the bags down on the floor and shoving his hands into his pockets. Emily threw her own bags near his and looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to leave. But, he didn't. She sighed, wishing she had declined his offer to carry her bags. It would have made everything so much easier. Now the guy thought that he was her friend. Emily growled quietly to herself. That would not be happening.

"You can leave now." She said in a cruel tone. It caught Jeff off guard and he widened his eyes at her. "Are you sure? You don't want help unpacking?" he asked hopefully. Emily shut her eyes and rubbed her temples. This guy was frustrating, couldn't he take a hint? Her green eyes opened again and she pasted a sickly sweet smile on her face. "Jeff," she began, taking a small step toward him. "You have ten seconds to get out of my apartment before I make you get out of my apartment." Emily clenched her fists and Jeff backed out of the apartment in surprise. He tripped over his own shoes clumsily and fell onto the rug outside of her door. The brunette slammed the door and locked it, grumbling as she made her way over to her bags.

Emily dragged her bags toward the big bed in the other room. She threw them all on top of it and started unpacking, placing clothes in the dresser on the opposite site of the room and setting up her makeup and hair knick-knacks on the vanity and in its drawers. She walked to the bathroom and placed down her toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash. In the cupboard she put some jars of pills for headaches and other purposes. When everything seemed to be set up in her little house, she stuffed the empty bags and suitcases under her bed and rummaged through what little money she had. There were no books in the house and Emily decided that needed to change. She stuffed a few bucks in her pocket and brought her credit card as well, then took off out the door. She avoided any signs of black hair because it would no doubt be Jeff gallivanting around, and he would probably follow her all over town if he could.

Outside, her car was parked in the same spot as where she left it. Emily climbed into the driver's seat and started on her way to the library. Before leaving Blüdhaven, she stared and stared at the map of Gotham for hours and hours to try to memorize it. That's the only reason how she knew where the library was. Moments later, she arrived and walked inside the enormous, Victorian-looking building.

"Hello and welcome to the Gotham Library. Is there anything I can help you with?" an old woman with brown hair, showing signs of an early graying asked Emily. Emily looked around and shook her head. "Not for now, maybe later." The old woman nodded and moved on to the next person who was walking into the building.

Emily walked to a big row of fictional books. She scanned them until finding a book called Wuthering Heights, written by Emily Bronte. The brunette smiled and turned around to check out another section of books, when she saw the most magnificent woman she'd ever laid eyes on. The woman was sitting on the other end of the library, her beautiful eyes scanning a book as she sat in one of the many red-brown chairs. Her hair was in gorgeous ringlet curls of the combination of strawberry blond and yellow hair. It almost looked like pure golden honey, curled in sweet wisps and leaving a delicious result. Her skin was porcelain and smooth. There were no blemishes anywhere on her body, which was perfectly proportioned. She had the body of a pixie but the face of a supermodel, although her facial features were that of a dazzling little fairy. Now, Emily was one hundred percent straight, but any normal person, female or male, would feel compelled to learn about this impressive goddess.

The brunette felt ugly in comparison to the glorious being over yonder, and she walked to the check-out lady once again. "Hello," she said, feeling strangely uplifted. "Do you know anything about the people in this library?" The old woman smiled knowingly and nodded. "In fact, I do. I've been around for awhile and most people who come here, come here all of the time." Emily's face brightened up and she grinned at the woman. "So you would know about that woman?" she asked, pointing to the blonde beauty. The old woman's face drained of color and she cleared her throat.

"That woman," she started. "Is a menace." Emily's eyes widened. How could that be true? Someone so beautiful and sweet-looking… it seemed highly abnormal for her to be able to cause trouble on someone. The woman continued on. "Yes, she is beautiful. She is probably the most beautiful thing anyone in this city has ever seen, including playboy Bruce Wayne. He's been lusting after her for awhile." The old woman, whose name-tag read Ruby, inhaled and took Emily's book from her, scanning it and then giving it back. A piece of paper was on it that read 'Due on February 12'. That was exactly a month later.

"But naturally, since almost every man was in love with her, of course she would be trouble." The woman talked in a hushed voice. "One day, she was minding her own business in the park, reading one of the books from this library actually." The woman gestured around her when she said library. "The Joker just so happened to be in the same park, and he saw her. But his world didn't crumple at the sight of her like everyone else's did." The woman stopped talking and Emily waited for her to continue, but she didn't. "And so what happened?!" she asked, intrigued. The old woman looked up as if she didn't know what she was asking, and then she held out a huge, thick book. Emily stared at it in puzzlement. "What's this?" she questioned. Ruby smiled.

"This," she began. "is a book I wrote about that woman's life. It hasn't been published, but I was a counselor before and so the woman told me everything, and I mean everything. If you really want to know about her, read this." Emily stared at it skeptically. "Isn't this an invasion of privacy?! You were her counselor! That is confidential stuff." Emily whispered furiously. The old woman shook her head. "When you read it, you'll understand why it isn't wrong for me to write about. It made a very intriguing story, and you will no doubt be absorbed in it until it's completely over."

Emily hesitantly looked behind her shoulder and then checked the book out, hurried out the door and into her car. She drove home, glancing at the book as it sat in the passenger's seat. "Wait until you get home," she mumbled to herself. It didn't take long to arrive at the apartment complex. She avoided Jeff as she walked to her room with the two books under her arm, one sort of small (Wuthering Heights) and the other one, thick as could be. Unlocking her door, she stepped in and locked it quickly before running to her bed and draping her jacket over the chair at the vanity.

The brunette set the books down on the bed and decided to get into her pajamas so she would be reading it in comfort. She stripped down to her undergarments and walked into the bathroom. Her towels were stocked up in the closet and she grabbed one out and placed it on the sink counter, then stripped to nakedness and stepped into the shower. Her hand reached for the knob and the warm water splashed onto her face. Emily enjoyed the shower and shampooed and conditioned her hair, then scrubbed her body down with soap and stepped out, drying her hair first with the towel and then rubbing down her body. She tossed the damp towel into the hamper next to the toilet and got dressed into the fresh pair of panties and bra that she brought with her, and then picked up the ones she took off before and tossed them into the hamper as well.

When Emily was done in the bathroom, she jogged to her bedroom and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a baggy tee. She combed out her hair and the book on her bed made her turn around and stare. Did she really want to know about that girl? Emily nodded to herself. Yes, yes she did. She put her comb down and flopped onto her bed, getting comfortable and sinking into the numerous pillows. Emily pulled the covers over herself and picked up the thick book. She braced herself and opened the book to the first page, and began reading.