Working For A Psycho Chapter 4

Out of all the crazy ideas…out of all the things he could think of…the damn clown makes me go bail out his girlfriend.

"I didn't know you could bail people out of an asylum." I think out loud, as I follow Brent from the fun house and into the parking lot. "Don't they only let people out when they're mentally fit to rejoin society?"

"Damn, you sound like one of those probation officers. Ha-ha!" Brent chuckles behind his mask. "You aren't bailing her out, you're breaking her out. I persuaded one of the higher up guards to let her go in exchange for this." He motions to the money in his hand; the money I had only just stolen.

A girl couldn't have asked for an easier job!

"This'll be cake…" I mutter.

"Even I have to admit it's pretty easy…" Brent comments. "Can you drive?" he adds, after a pause.

"Yeah."

"Well?"

"My sister says I drive too fast. But, fairly well I think."

"That's good enough for this guy. I'm going to trust you with my car. I don't rely on that metal death-trap." Brent motions over to the van that had got me here.

"And what kind of car do you have exactly?"

Brent points his car alarm into the unlit part of the parking lot and clicks the 'unlock' button. I stare into the pitch-black. A car chirps and lights flash in the distance, leaving spots in my eyes from the sudden source of light.

"Check it out." he says as he struts over to it. I narrow my eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of it. After a moment my eyes readjust and I notice the vehicle's silhouette.

"No way!" I say as I run over to it. "A convertible Camaro? This year's model too!" I run my hand over the shiny smooth surface. I look up at the sinister clown mask, "Where'd you get the money for this?"

"Eh…places." is all he says. I just stare at him as he examines the windshield.

"And you're going to let me drive it?"

"Yeah. No skin of anyone's bones right?"

"I…I guess not."

"All right then." he tosses me the keys. "Good luck." he turns and heads back into the clown's head. From where I'm standing it looked like it was eating him whole.

The icy wind stung at my face, my cheeks numb. My already messed up curls were getting tangled further as I drive top-down. The back highway is empty as I speed down, the street-lamps passing quickly in indistinct smudges. The landscape on either side of the ribbon of road barren, not even a dead skeleton of a bush stood.

I glance at the speedometer and smile, my sister's car could never go this fast; no matter how hard I'd try! My rapture didn't last long too long, for the gruesome towers and slimy walls of Arkham Asylum rose overhead. It was a giant sprawling building; that included some perks for the prisoners trapped inside. I had heard that Poison Ivy had her very own botanical garden somewhere inside.

The guard waved me in through the gate without a second glance, the gravel shifted and crunched under the tires as I pulled into a stall at the back of the asylum. I let the car run, listening to the engine purr softly, it gave me goose bumps to be behind the wheel of a fast car.

After a moment or two I get out, leaving the keys in the ignition, with the suitcase in my grip. The back door is filthy, the grey paint peeling, yellow and red stains splattered all over it. Only a single un-shaded light bulb hung over it, casting a miserable yellow light a foot and a half out in all directions. The handle squeaked when I tried to turn it and opened with a screech when I gave it a hard shove.

It opened up into a small foul room; a dark doorway at the back. A small desk was near the front, with a grouchy looking security sitting behind it, his legs propped up. He looked at me when I walked in and gave a sort of grunt. From the dark doorway emitted shrill yells.

"Where are you taking me? Get me out of this you freaking ape! Let me out right now you damn—ugh! Do you know who I am? You just wait till' my puddin' hears about this! Oh you're gonna get it!"

Two more gruff looking guards emerge from the darkness, pushing along a very angry Harley. She's tied up in a straight jacket; shackles connected her ankles. With another push she falls over, landing on her face at my feet.

She looks up at me with a frown, "Oh my freaking G! No way! You are not selling me off!" the two guards try to shut her up as the main security watch clears his throat.

"You got the money?" he asks, as he takes his feet off the desk.

I put the suitcase on the table without a word and open it up; I turn it around so he can see. "More then two million here." I say.

He sniffs and picks out a stack, he thumbs through it before nodding towards his colleagues.

"You can't be selling me to this lezbo! Who knows what she'll do!" Harley screeches as the guards undo her shackles and straightjacket. As I watch I realize, that is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. They were seriously letting a crazy person (a pissed off one at that!) loose, without telling her what's going on.

Once she was free, a sly smile crossed Harley's face. She grabbed hold of one of the guard's guns and shot him straight between the eyebrows.

The other guards jumped to action, trying to restrain her; but she was fast and shot the second guard in the chest three times. I saw the guard that had been sitting on the desk reach for his own weapon. In a flash I kicked him square in the face, his nose spurted blood as he fell back from the blow.

Harley, for good measure I guess, shot him through the skull without batting an eyelash. Then, she aimed the gun for my face. I held up my hands defensively.

"I'm with Joker."

Harley screamed for joy, "I knew my puddin' would get me! Now hold on, I got some business to take care of." She said as she picked a card from one of the guards.

I had just enough time to see Harley flying through the dark passage she had just come through before realizing she had gone. I dashed after her, following the sound of her bare feet against the cold filthy floor.

The ground was slippery from gunk built up for who knows how long; it was hard not to trip. The walls and ceilings of the twisting and turning passages were all the same: dirty. All manner of pipes stuck out in random places snaking there way around the place, in some areas I had to duck to keep my head from whacking the low-set ones.

Finally I saw Harley's hair whip around the corner. Every time that flash of the tip of her blonde ponytail urged me to move faster.

Soon we started passing cells, they were simple barred boxes, and we moved too fast to see the occupants. Then the cells became more sophisticated. They were clean and white with thick glass instead of bars; a few holes were drilled into the nearly invisible door of some of them. Inside I noticed each cell was different, the prisoners must have personalized them.

As I round another corner I find Harley stopped in front of one of the cells. When I run up I found that it belonged to a very sexy green woman with red hair; Poison Ivy, miniature vines crawling up her limbs.

"One of us gets out, we both get out!" Harley seemed to be replying as she slid the card through the lock, the door clicked. Poison Ivy was up against the glass, she shoved the door and it swung open, she stepped out into the hallway.

"Come on!" Harley said, "Let's go!" she started to tug on Ivy's arm.

"Thanks Harley," Ivy said coolly as she plucked the blonde's hand from her arm, "But I've got some plants to see to." And with that she disappeared into the darkness, probably towards her green house.

Harley watched her leave in confusion, so I tugged the sleeve of her shirt. "Come on," I say, "We need to get out of here." Unconsciously Harley follows me as I try to find my way back the way we came. I do my best to retrace my steps, but soon Harley comments, "Honey, I think we're lost."

"Shit." I frown and look around. We're in…some hallway… I get even more pissed off, because right then, the alarms go off.