It was raining as the car drove through the tall, dark gates of the asylum. I wasn't a patient, not technically speaking anyway, however I suspected I may as well be. If we were getting technical this was my home, my family legacy, my asylum. My name is Genevieve Arkham and my family founded Arkham Asylum. When my parents died in a plane crash shortly after my 8th birthday the responsibility of my care was given to a rather put out Quincy Sharp, who promptly had me shipped off to boarding school in England so that he could forget about me until he needed to name drop me as one of his great acts of charity at society dinners. What a nice simple plan of his it was until I had to ruin it by inconveniently having a psychotic breakdown resulting in me needing to return, once again, to my home; Arkham Asylum.
The car slowed to a halt in front of the mansion and I stepped out, grabbing my suitcase as I went. Quincy Sharp the great saint that he was, had actually turned up to greet me.
"Welcome home Genevieve!" Welcome indeed. He seemed about as happy to see me as a snob does a tramp.
"So sorry to hear about the incident" the words clearly left a bad taste in his mouth "but where better to get the help you need than here?" I nodded in acknowledgement, not willing to converse quite yet. He gestured me through the door and into the mansion, as the doors closed behind me couldn't help but feel trapped, like the majority of the island's inhabitants.
As we entered the mansion Quincy informed me that my old room was still mine and to make myself at home before leaving to do more important things. I didn't mind, alone was far better than his slime like company. Despite having not been home in years I still had perfect recollection of every nook and cranny of the island, like the back of my hand. My room, like the rest of the mansion, was lavishly furnished however it's lack of an occupant for years meant that it didn't have much of a personal touch, that would soon change. I quickly set about setting up my laptop and screen system, hacking the asylum's security network was alarmingly easy and I made a mental note to sort that out when I took charge of my inheritance. A date that should only be about a year away on my 18th birthday however Quincy no doubt was scheming a way to keep the place in his clutches at this very moment. Something I was not planning on allowing. The screens quickly burst to life as scenes from across the island flashed across the wall. I walked away from the wall and flopped onto the bed, my jet-lag catching up with me.
It was 4 AM when I woke up, and I was feeling energetic,cooped up, and I wanted out. With a cursory glance at my screens to check that Quincy was indeed asleep I cautiously made my way out of the room. Now as stupid an idea as it was, I wanted excitement and how better to find excitement in an asylum at 4 in the morning than taking a leisurely stroll through the penitentiary. The thing about asylums at night is that they are creepy however if that creepiness forms a large part of your childhood it becomes relaxing, because of that the somewhat alarmingly zombie like inmates (and by zombie I mean 28 days later style) didn't frighten me as much as they should have as a passed through that crowded room into a much quieter one. A green glow shrouded the room and gave it an eerie feel, there was only one cell in here and its occupant seemed to be asleep. She had green skin and bright red hair falling down to her waist, her back was to me and I could see the rise and fall of her chest from my position by the door. I got out my phone, which I had linked up to the network earlier and checked up on who this was. Pamela Isley or "Poison Ivy" as she was more commonly known, had herself quite a reputation.
"It's rude to watch people sleep you know" I almost dropped the phone in shock as a silky voice shocked me from my reverie.
"How long have you been awake?" I asked as she turned around to face me.
"Since you entered the room. May I enquire as to why a young meatsack such as yourself is wandering around an asylum in the early hours of the morning?"
"I couldn't sleep"
"And who exactly are you?"
"Genevieve Arkham"
"Ohh so you're the absent Miss Arkham, I heard on the grapevine that your mental health took a turn for the worse." It seemed my condition was common knowledge. "well bearing that in mind, is it really prudent for someone such as yourself to be wandering a place like this?"
"Do I really strike you as the kind of person who has a high regard for personal safety?"
"I suppose not. You are a curious little thing aren't you? I can't help but be curious as to what your motives are."
"Is a little light entertainment really such a questionable thing?"
"A good question, however I believe many of the inhabitants of this building would ask the same thing. Perhaps you're on the wrong side of this glass afterall." I had to give it to her, I had been wondering the same thing. Ivy walked over to stand directly in front of me.
"Tell me Miss Arkham, what exactly are you willing to do to achieve what you want?" a smirk was gracing her lips and I got the distinct feeling that I should be feeling intimidated, but for some reason I just wanted to hear what she had to say.
"I don't understand what you mean..."
"I mean, I am willing to crush humanity in order to allow my darling plants to flourish and grow to their full potential. You claim you want some light entertainment however I think that maybe your true goal is somewhat higher, so i'll ask again. What are you willing to do?" I thought about it.
"I don't know, I guess I need to test myself in order to discover what i'm willing to do." she nodded in contemplation.
"well little meatsack, feel free to visit me again sometime as to inform me of any conclusions you reach, I have found your company to be... interesting." she then turned her back on me and walked away from me to resume her position I had earlier taken for sleep. The conversation was clearly over. I should have been traumatised by my encounter with a mass murdering psychopath and yet instead I just felt calm. Ivy may be eccentric to say the least but at least her voice wasn't grating like the teachers at my old school, at least she wasn't a fake like Quincy. Yes she was dangerous but to be completely frank with you I simply didn't care what became of me, so maybe it made sense that my new confidante was the infamous Poison Ivy, maybe it was no more than I deserved.
I continued to visit Ivy every night that week, our conversations ranged from me bitching about Quincy, to how our sessions with our psychologists had gone to her stories about some of Arkham's livelier residents. That Saturday I brought a small plant in a pot with me.
"since I don't have access to the key to let you out I figured I'd take care of her for you until you get free and can claim her yourself." to her credit Ivy actually seemed kinda touched.
"You really are an odd one aren't you Miss Arkham. Well thank you, it is a sweet gesture." she seemed to be working up to saying something and since I can't stand silences I decided against waiting for her.
"What is it?"
"I was wondering if you would do me a favour"
"depends on the favour"
"I need you to deliver a message to a dear friend of mine."
"Okay that doesn't sound too bad. What's the message and who am I delivering it to?" truth be told but I was glad of the opportunity to explore some more.
"I need you to go to Harley over the other side of the penitentiary and tell her next Sunday." now this sparked my interest.
"My, my Ivy. You aren't plotting something are you?"
"I am not plotting anything. Others on the other hand I cannot vouch for."
So that's how I came to face to face with the door leading to Harley Quinn's cell. It's probably telling that I was excited not scared to meet her, I regularly wondered why I thought the way I did, if I would change the way my mind worked if I could. I tapped in the code and entered the room, as soon as the door closed the bouncy blonde jumped up off of her bed and and skipped to the edge of her cell.
"Well, well. What do we have here then?" she giggled "you know when Red said she would send me the message tonight I was expecting one of those mean ugly guards, but you, you seem fun! What's your name sugar?"
"Genevieve..."
"Ohhhh what a pretty name!" her energy was literally palpable, she reminded me a little of an over excited puppy. "So what's Red's message Curly?" it would seem that like like Ivy her nickname for me was inspired by my hair, which was a mess of black ringlets.
"She says it's on Sunday, whatever that means. So does this mean you're getting out?"
"I dunno if I should spoil the surprise... oh what the hell, since you're here you must be one of us, and 'sides we could do with some more girls on the team!" her happiness was infectious, I liked it. "Okay well a word to the wise, expect some big things to go down next sunday!" she then proceeded to give me a wink, blow me a kiss and skip back over to her bed "Now shoo, Harley' gotta get her beauty sleep!" I turned to leave and just as the the door was closing behind me she called out "Nice meetin' ya Curly!".
I couldn't sleep that night. I was too busy trying to work out what was happening next Sunday, I guess at least something was happening, something is better than nothing right?