2 Years Later
It was late, I already knew that when I grabbed my bag that I kept by the door for nights just like this. It was really late or really early depending on how you looked at the clock 3.25a.m. blinked back at me when I had woken but moments ago from a dream of that night. It wasn't a nightmare not then and still not now. Yes, I saw a man die in front of me, did that make it nightmare, no. It had the Joker in it, did that make it a nightmare, no. I came home in the morning covered in brain and blood, maybe that made it nightmarish. I'm not sure. All I know is that in the 2 years since I had met the Joker I hadn't once ran into him again. That wasn't a problem, per se, just… I feel like I, for the briefest moment, had been given a glimpse into his life and now was an outsider once again.
I slid down the stairs with the quiet ease of repetition, and quietly walked over to my bike. My treasure, a splurge that I still didn't regret, I slid onto the gorgeous custom painted Black Harley Davidson red diamonds decorated the simple glossy black. I revved the engine lightly causing her to growl hungrily back at me before taking off and heading to the gym.
I parked at the front and headed in, the night watch man nodding at me silently. I acknowledged him and headed to the gym slipping into my simple leotard and grabbed my phone. I plugged it into the speaker system they used during the day and put on a loud bass filled playlist. An all night gym was exceedingly empty at 4 a.m. I stretched and pulled limbering up my muscles for the routine I had been playing over in my mind. It wasn't long before my body was obeying without hesitation I simply allowed myself to be lost. These late nights might have to cease after I start my new job. Arkham Asylum hired me almost as soon as I put in my application, 2 years of Blackgate and I was bored. Beyond bored, I was tired. I enjoyed my job, I really did, but there was no challenge left to it. The prisoners had one of four different issues. I would miss some of them, yes, but not enough to stay. I wanted challenge. Working at a prison for 2 years gave me knowledge and experience that I hadn't had before graduation. I was to be at Arkham in 3 hours or rather 2 now. I understood security risk and protocol. I had started on the career path to be a psychiatrist because it challenged the mind, it was the most difficult fields of study you can get into. That also why I started the gymnastics up again. After a few session long arguments with my therapist I had agreed. My father had been the one to push me into it. He had drove me harder than any coach and finally at 16 he demanded that I drop out so I could go full time. I had stood up and said no. I was already taking AP courses in everything I could plus senior level in what I couldn't I was going to graduate at the end of the year anyways why not wait. He yelled and screamed arguing his point and I had quit. My body had protested the denial of exercise even to the point before I started, and my mind missed the challenge of new routines but I had stood firm on this.
After everything he did, despite the physical need to do more, I hadn't wanted to start up again. But my therapist had told me" Make it your own, don't compete or do. It's now your choice, your father, may have pushed you into it but you can make it into your own. In this way at least take back your own freedom, your own power, your own life." I had looked for a twenty four seven gym, bought a membership and not looked back. I felt my body rejoice in the stretching muscles, my worries disappeared and my mind went blank. I allowed my body to feel.
All to soon I was headed to the shower and home to change. I headed up the stairs and changed into the most professional outfit I could pull from goodwill's racks. I packed my heels into my bag and slipped on the thick leather boots. I hurried through traffic and was quickly upon the gate surrounding Arkham island. I snagged my I.D. badge from my jacket and headed into the island slowly the whole of it more overwhelming than Blackgate ever could be.
The building had been designed in the 1920's when the asylum had been a place for legalized torture of the mentally disturbed. The practices seemed to have leaked into the very grounds. The electroshock therapy, water torture, lobotomy, any excuse to harm people, to test on the defenseless. The structures were gothic designed to warn and to keep in.
This was what I had spent so much time training for. I had worked to get to Arkham. This place, these people, the truest challenge of the mind. To help those who couldn't grasp the world, those who couldn't find themselves in the darkness of their own mind. Where voices spoke to them, where many people resided in one single body, where they were so scared of the entire world they couldn't function. These were the people that I had trained to help.
I got off the bike and quickly exchanged shoes, patting my black slacks nervously, before heading in. I walked quickly to the receptionist in the center of the hall, my heels clacking loudly in the tiled area, bouncing off high ceiling.
The women stared hard at me before looking down at a folder in front of her. "You Dr. Quinzel?" She asked pointedly staring at my kitten heels. I smiled quickly and offered my hand to her. "Yes. And you are?" "You're late. The director is through the double doors to the left. Here is your pass to get through main security. And my name is Tanya Deville. A little side note doctor it would be best if you didn't wear heels here. I'm sure you'll understand." She said quickly before dismissing me without another word. Well that was amazing. Not.
I quickly walked through the double doors. The feel of something final when they flopped into place. Maybe something was decided. Some piece clicked itself into place.
