© Ellie Goodson 2016

Chapter Four-The story

~Eliza Blue~

Sitting opposite the Joker was a strange feeling. It was different compared to the last time we were in each other's presence. Now, it was serious. The overall atmosphere was...darker, deadlier. "Well then, Einstein, talk to me." There was an unmistakable tone of playfulness in the Joker's voice, and that aggravated me slightly.

"Since the day I met you-which was only yesterday-Helga has worn me away from you. Last night, I had several nightmares, all of which you would murder me in a different way each time. Since yesterday, since I met you, everything has started to change. And I don't know why. I want you to tell me why."

Without meaning to, I had unloaded everything onto the Joker within a few seconds. "What I meant was-"

"No, no." He interrupted, the smile dropping from his face. "I know what you meant." He sat forward, his face coming closer to mine than I had thought was necessary. "Helga knows that I have a dark past. Like she knows that you have a dark past." I was momentarily shocked. How did he know? "She thinks I'll hurt you, and she thinks I'll kill you. I heard her little speech about snakes." A small smile played at my lips, I couldn't help it. "It's these thoughts and words that made you have your nightmare you know."

Letting my head drop, I sighed heavily. "You're only telling me stuff I know. I want to know what you've done that has made her so terrified of you and for me."

"I'm a murderer. Like you." My head shot up. He couldn't know, he couldn't know what I had done. "Just like you, I enjoy it way too much. We're both mad, you and me. We both have a little monster that likes to play with dead bodies." My mind was racing. He knew. He knew everything, everything I'd done and exactly why I was in Arkham. "My body count is higher than yours. Then again, you were always so careful that it took you longer. I was more...messy." My heart was beating like a rabbits once more. The Joker knew it all, everything. He knew everything and anything; someone could've quizzed him on it.

With wide eyes and shaking hands, I swallowed a few times before gathering the courage to speak. "Why did you speak to me that day?"

"I'd heard of you before. You were Eliza Blue, the mad scientist that never left her cell. You hadn't left you cell for five years. It was rumoured that you had killed randoms. It was rumoured that you had killed your family. It was rumoured that you were caught murdering many different people. Every rumour stated that you were a murderer though. Then I met you. You were even more than I had expected. Your intelligence wiped away some of the rumours, and your personality killed some of the other rumours. I knew immediately that you had taken an interest in me, and I had taken a deep interest in you."

Two fingers were tucked under my chin, forcing my head up so that I faced the clown. Our faces were centimetres away from each other. "Some criminals rumoured that you gave yourself a heterochromia iridum. Apparently you found a way to mutate the stem cells in your eyes to change the colour of one of them."

"I was born with it. This mutation came from my parents." I couldn't help the bitterness in my tone of voice as I spoke.

"I'm curious to know what happened today. There was a commotion going on in your cell, your voice was the most prominent one. Then Helga came out with a bruised and bloodied face, crying hard. There was screaming coming from the cell, and a few bangs before you eventually came out."

Pulling my face back, I rested against the chair before finally speaking. "My nightmares, they scared me. And then Helga, the fool, scared me even more. I got angry, and when I'm angry, I cry. She just wouldn't shut up about the fact that I was crying."

"You lost your temper?"

"I threw a biology book at her, that's what did the damage to her face. And then I used words, and I hurt her until she went away."

"But that wasn't enough, was it?"

"I was still so...angry. So I hit the walls, kicked them and punched them until the anger had drained from my body. I screamed and cried, tearing at my clothes until I was too exhausted to feel anything anymore."

With my head resting in my hands, I took a few deep breaths. "I know that the brute's reputation means a lot to her. And I'm well aware that I look worse than her. I am also aware of how single minded the criminals in here are. All I had to do was show my face, and they all assumed that Helga had beaten me. It was the only way to make it up to her in some way." Laughing to myself slightly, I sat up. "I must seem so transparent."

"You don't. Maybe you are to me, but the other criminals, they don't know a thing about you."

It was here that we both lapsed into silence. I took the opportunity to truly absorb the way the Joker looked. He had broad shoulders, and a beaked nose. He was rather tall, taller than me, but he didn't tower over me. His eyes appeared to be really dark, but when the light hit them in a certain way, they sparkled against the sun. His hair was dyed green, for you could see brown roots on top of his head. His lips curved nicely, and were rather full. The Joker's jawline was strong, and there was something hidden in his eyes. I couldn't quite decipher what it was, but it appeared to be rather...eccentric.

Heat rushed to my cheeks as a certain thought passed through my mind. My face only reddened as I caught the emotion in the Joker's very own eyes. I had only known this psychopathic clown for a day, and yet... "Why do you look at me like that?"

"Like what?" I asked, trying to appear as innocent as possible.

"Like you want to devour me." He replied, something hidden in his voice.

"Well, why do you look at me like that?"

"Like what?" It appeared that we were now playing a game, a competition between each other.

"Like you want to tear off my clothes." I couldn't help the smirk that plastered itself onto my face as I caught the Joker's peach skin redden slightly.

Pushing my chair back, I stood up slowly before resting a hand on top of the Joker's. "It was good speaking with you. But we have unfinished business that cannot be finished now." With my words spoken, I turned my back on the Joker and started my way back to my cell. Something about me felt lighter, better. My talk with the Joker had cleared my mind slightly and made the pain inside die just a little. However, my head felt heavier, worse and more pained. If the Joker knew everything about me, then that gave him the opportunity to tell everyone else. I also needed to know how the hell he knew about me and my past. Somewhere, deep down and locked away, were other emotions that I wasn't ready to face yet. I planned on ignoring them until they could be ignored no longer.

Back at the cell, I noticed that someone had been inside. It was cleaner, and the blood on the walls and my bed sheets had been cleared away. My science books were placed back onto my bed, exactly how I liked them while the Scottish brute herself rested on hers with her eyes closed. This was the clearest possible signal that I was forgiven. Helga knew about my issues, about my dark past and my problems. She also knew that every so often, something like this would occur and I would always do something like I did earlier to make up for it. This wasn't the first time.

Taking a seat on the bed, I picked up one of my books on psychology before gathering the ability to speak. "I spoke to the Joker. I know why you warned me away from him and-"

"You have feeling for him, don't you?" The words died in my throat, and I felt my heart speed up. My stomach dropped, and it seemed like there was a lump in my throat that was preventing me from breathing properly.

"Wha...I-what?"

"Don't even try to deny it. It's obvious! I watched you as you spoke with him, blushing and smiling like some stupid school girl."

"Helga-"

"It's fine, I mean you're both perfect for each other. You're both bloody monsters, aren't you?"

I was completely lost for worlds. My tongue refused to generate proper words, so only strangle, gargling noises left my mouth. I knew deep down that I felt something for the clown man, but I never planned on coming to terms with that. But, if Helga could spit it that easily, then maybe it really was obvious. Maybe I really did have feeling for the clown, and maybe everyone knew that. What if he knew it? If he did, if the Joker knew how I felt for him, then I'd be putty in his hands. In fact, maybe I already was. Maybe I was already moulded perfectly for the Joker, and today's conversation was me being used for his benefit.

Helga had turned her back on me, signalling that she wasn't in the mood for any more of my lies. Things were changing, and it didn't seem like they were going to stop anytime soon. I was hurting a lot of people, and I could feel myself changing just as much as everyone else. Not one human likes change, but at some point in everyone's life, everyone must witness change. However, in Arkham you weren't supposed to change. You were supposed to stay the mental criminal you were until you died. None of these changes were positive, however. With every change, everything got that little bit more…deadlier.