Alice sat on the ally ground hugging her knees tightly. Tears gently streamed down her cheeks as the cool autumn air blew around her. She stared blankly at the brick wall in front of her trying to gather her thoughts. She closed her eyes softly letting out an audible sigh, the clown's face flashed in her mind like a streak of lightning, burning in her memory.
Alice slowly started to stand using the wall behind her as support. As she regained her footing she shook her head in attempt to shake his unforgettable face.
She reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone knowing that if she didn't text William telling him she was going to be late he would have all of the Gotham police force looking for her. She silently debated to herself whether to tell Will what truly happened or lie. She decided to lie knowing that she would only get herself into trouble if she told him the truth. He had already warned her that Gotham had gotten worse and that he didn't want her walking alone. With that in mind she sent him a simple message saying,
"Hey hun, the interview ran late. On my way home now, love you!"
She placed her phone back in her pocket only to find that her phone wasn't the only thing in there. She reached in and pulled out what seemed to be a playing card, the back of the card faced her revealing its ornate red and white design. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she flipped the card over. A joker stared back at her.
Alice's breath hitched when she realized how it got there. The clown must have put it in there when he was whispering in her ear. She shuddered at the thought of his face so close to hers. She could almost feel his scar pressed against her cheek again. Her hand shot up to her face in response to the memory.
The frightened girl slowly drew her hand away, Alice's eyes widened in horror when she looked down at her palm.
Traces of white and red makeup looked back at her. She immediately used her coat to sleeve to rub the makeup off her cheek. She rubbed hard thinking that she could scrub away the unmistakable feeling of the clown's scar off her face as well.
Alice looked around the dark ally and spotted her bags on the ground. She walked over and picked them up heading towards the entrance. She stepped on to the lit sidewalk and glanced left and right making sure the attackers weren't hiding waiting for her to come out. Once she saw no one there she decided that it would be best to get a cab home.
As Alice hailed a cab and stepped in she couldn't help but fear what was to come when she got home. She knew that William would not be happy with her tardiness but she could never imagine what was about to unravel.
She stared out the window as the sky scrapers of Gotham passed by in a neon blur. She let her head lean on the cold glass as she attempted to gather her thoughts. Alice was still clearly shaken up; however she couldn't help but scold herself for being so weak.
She was use to certain people pushing her around and allowed it, but when it came to people she didn't know she would never let them walk all over her. A wave of anger crashed into Alice, she would make it her duty never to let that clown touch her again without him receiving a new pair of scars.
Despite her wishful avenging Alice reached into her pocket and pulled out the joker card. She flipped it back and forth in her hand trying to figure out what it meant. Yes he wore makeup like a clown or a "joker" and her attacker seemed to laugh a lot, but Alice was still puzzled as to why he had given her the card. Maybe it was his way of telling her it was a joke or maybe it was some sort of clue, but whatever the reason Alice disregarded it and shoved the card back into her pocket.
The cab slowed and pulled up to a simple yet elegant brownstone. Alice paid the driver and stepped out taking a deep breath as the car rolled away. She walked up to the front door with hesitation and shakily pulled out her keys. As she pushed open the door she was greeted by a strange silence.
She walked down the hallway that was lined with unpacked boxes and into the kitchen; she flipped the light switch on and jumped when she saw Will sitting at the bar with his head hunched over. An empty bottle of Macallan 1939 laid on its side next to him. He slowly lifted his head and placed his hand on the counter for support as he stood up and turned around.
"Where the hell have you been Alice." He growled as he walked towards her with a deadly look in his eye.
"William, babe, I sent you text. The interview ran over." Alice replied nervously as she slowly inched backwards trying to put distance between herself and the drunken man before her.
"You never learn do you?" Will asked mockingly as she backed straight into the granite countertop. William was inches away from Alice and his alcohol soaked breath surrounded her.
"YOU NEVER LEARN DO YOU?" He yelled at her with rage spilling from his eyes, Alice looked down wishing she was back in Italy with the man she fell in love with, not the abusive monster he had turned into.
"I'm sorry." She uttered looking up into his eyes searching for a sliver of compassion, but all she found was pure disgust and anger.
"Sorry isn't enough Alice." He hissed and slapped her hard on the face. Alice let her head snap to the side in response to the hard smack. She could already feel hot tears slide down her stinging cheek as Will reached up and grabbed her chin harshly.
"You know, Alice, I was planning on having a nice dinner with my beautiful girlfriend, I even got us your favorite scotch. But you just had to go and ruin it." He snarled gripping her chin harder, she winced in pain.
"You had to ruin it didn't you." He continued. William grabbed Alice by her coat collar roughly and drew his other hand back in a fist. His hand collided with her fragile face hard causing Alice's head to whip to the side.
The hurt girl let her head hang down in shame as she reached up to cradle her bleeding nose. She could feel the bruises throbbing as her eyes welled up with tears once again.
"William I'm sorry!" she pleaded, tears mixed with the blood from her nose and gathered at her chin creating a hot glob. He responded with a scoff of disgust.
Will released Alice from his harsh grip and walked slowly backwards realizing what he had just done. A wave of reality washed over his clouded mind as he stared at the bleeding woman before him,
"Alice… I, I, I'm so sorry." He reached forward and gently cupped her red cheek, she flinched at his touch.
William had always had a short temper which made his work as Chief at Gotham Police Department hard, but it had also started to take effect on his relationship with Alice. He found himself always yelling at her and sometimes pushing her, but hitting her, hitting her was a whole different creature.
Alice turned her head away from him in response to his gentle touch; he got the hint and withdrew his hand. Without another word he turned around and walked away, he was out of sight when the slam of the bedroom door reverberated throughout the house.
With William it was always hot and cold, one minute he would be a cookie cutter boyfriend and within the blink of an eye he turned into a controlling obsessive monster, especially when he drank. And Alice knew all this but she never thought it would turn into something this bad.
He had always protected her and cared for her greatly, he had honor and trust and his badge was proof of that, Will had this fatherly instinct that Alice was drawn to. Considering that William was the absolute opposite of her actual father. But within one night all of those great attributes diminished before Alice's eyes.
She sank down to the tile floor holding her face as she sobbed silently. Hugging her knees tightly she rocked back and forth just like she had done an hour before only this time she was in her own home rather than a dark ally. Tears and blood slowly started to soak her knees, she felt sick to her stomach.
Alice steadily returned to her feet using the counter as support and walked to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror with pity. Will was the only human still alive that Alice cared about, but now she had no one. She no longer cared about that man, he had hurt her and in her eyes you don't hurt the people you love.
She turned on the faucet and let the blood drip from her nose into the sink. The crimson liquid collided with the pure water creating a beautiful swirl that slowly slid into the drain; Alice stared at the sink transfixed by the bloody water.
She returned to her image in the mirror and tilted her head slightly; she stared into her own eyes deeply wondering what she did to deserve this.
Alice got in the shower and let the day's events melt away under the scolding water, her mind was finally at ease despite unsavory events of the evening.
She stepped out of the steamy bathroom with a fluffy towel wrapped around her body and made her way to the kitchen to retrieve a large glass of wine. Alice strolled over to the living room and sat with a sigh on the large leather couch, she flipped on the oversized flat screen and mindlessly watched the evening news while drinking her wine.
All of a sudden a commercial cut out and switched back over to the news, the words "breaking news" flashed across the screen in big red letters. The camera switched to a doe eyed reporter standing outside of what looked like an old hospital, she nodded her head and began to speak.
"Breaking news: We have just been notified moments ago that Gotham's most wanted criminal has broken out of Arkham asylum once again." The reporter motioned to the decrypted building behind her. "Police are urging all citizens to stay inside for the remainder of the night, if you see or know any information about the dangerous criminal please contact authorities immediately." Alice by now had put her glass of wine down and turned up the TV staring at it with wide eyes. "I'm Kathryn Null reporting for GCN, thank you and stay safe." The image of the reporter cut out and went back to a man behind a news desk.
"Wow, this is some alarming news, thank you Kathryn. Well folks please heed this warning; the man on the loose is very dangerous and most likely armed, this is also what seems to be his fifth time escaping Arkham. Once again if you see or know anything about this man please contact the police."
A picture flashed on the screen that made Alice gasp loudly, it was a mug shot of a man wearing a green vest and a light purple hexagon patterned shirt. He had curly light brown-green hair and his face was painted haphazardly with white, black and red. A pair of Glasgow scars covered in red makeup marked his cheeks giving him the appearance of a chilling grin. He was smirking and raising his left eyebrow with his chin slightly down almost in a seductive way. The sign he was holding had a series of numbers at the top and underneath was his name, The Joker.
Alice's heart thumped in her chest and a knot formed in her stomach upon recognizing the painted man. She franticly got up and raced over to her coat that was lying on the bar, she reached in the pocket and retrieved the playing card. She looked over at the TV and down back at the card slowly connecting the dots in her head.
She had a run in with Gotham's most dangerous criminal and he gave her his calling card? So many questions raced through her mind. Why did he attack her? Why didn't he hurt her? And most of all, why the hell did he want to know her name?
Alice walked back over to the couch and slumped down gripping the card. She took a big gulp of wine and let her head fall backwards leaving her to stare at the ceiling blankly. The news droned on about the Joker's crime spree and replayed the breaking news clip. She lifted her head up with a sigh, grabbed the remote, and turned the TV off.