And here I am everyone! I'm back, late, as usual. Hopefully not too late though. College has started once more, and I'm chugging through the second semester - everybody cheer for ancient history classes! Who loves history?
Ack! I'm so nervous! I always get so nervous when I post chapters, no matter what. Ack!
Dedicated to my made-of-awesome beta reader, the Kiyomi half of Banana Rum! You should all go check out their stories on this site!
CHAPTER EIGHT [justification]
My heart stopped. How did he...Could he know? Did he know my real name? I clutched the arms of the chair with white knuckled hands, and pressed myself back into it as much as possible. My chest tightened, not imperceptibly, my lips thinned into a hard line, and I looked up at him from hooded eyes. "What...what do you mean?"
Joker took a few minutes to pompously stroke his goatee-less chin, knowing that I was waiting with baited breath for his answer. "Because it is." He smiled with shark-like teeth.
I blinked again. "H-how is that any sort of justification?"
He didn't mind my question - he pulled up the other chair so close that our knees touched when he slouched into it. Crowding me, complete intimidation. "Because it is. Because everything about you is a lie. You're a liar, a fucking liar! And you want to know how I know that?"
The room filled with a trembling silence. My heart rose to choke my throat.
"BECAUSE I CAN SEE IT!" His eyes were black, with too much knowledge glinting in them, his close proximity making my ears ring. "Because it is in your eyes. You. Are. A. squealer. A liar. I can see it." He sneered. "And you're weak."
I shivered as he went to stand behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. His thumb lightly stroked the skin of my collarbone, and his nails scraped gently against my skin. "Now look what you've done – you've made me very, very angry." I jolted at the forcefulness of his tone. "And now, I cannot control myself."
Joker moved away, pacing himself like a soldier in for the long haul, with that ever-so elusive perfect control. Carefully he picked up the dropped scalpel, holding it so that both he and I could contemplate its edge in the light. He tossed it a few times, letting the handle spin and twist in the air.
He spoke, not smiling but for his scars. "Are you...Are you frightened?" He asked me, running the handle of the scalpel along the back of my shoulders.
"Yes." The tension alone that encased my body was making my shoulder throb angrily.
His sighed and the air spread over me; it was a warm, ominous blanket. "Now you're telling the truth Gretchen."
My tension made me numb to most sensations, but I gradually became aware of the fact that it was no long the knife handle running along my shoulders, but the blade of the scalpel itself. With sudden and stunning clarity I felt the burning heat of my blood dripping and sliding down my back, tracing the line of my spine in red.
I tried to scramble away from the scalding liquid on my skin, but Joker grabbed my shoulder in a vicious hold. It was as if he had turned my blood to magma in my veins, and the tiniest of cries to slipped from my lips.
"Ah, ah. Even though I like you, and you're a good employee, I'm still in charge here. And I haven't said that you can go yet." He reprimanded me like I was a schoolgirl, dripping his poisonous voice into my ear.
By now my head was throbbing, I was getting shaky, and my eyesight was flickering in and out like I was looking through a flame. Kyle the Little Killer came back into the room, and he looked no less ferocious and unhappy as he came to stand by the Joker and I. Struggling weakly, my ankles strained against the rope holding them in place, but the effort had no hope of succeeding, and Joker paid me no mind.
Kyle handed Joker a tall syringe of clear plastic, filled three quarters of the way with equally clear liquid. Languidly, Joker uncapped the needle, sharp and surgical like the scalpel was. "How are things coming?"
I blinked slowly. Why did he sound so different? Suddenly his voice was deeper, slurred and fuzzy. Kyle sounded the same when he spoke.
"We're just waiting for you to load her up boss."
Her? I felt singularly stupid, not being able to figure out what he meant, who he was talking about. Although I struggled to push the cogs of my mind faster, they were bogged down by thick grease.
Joker winked at Kyle and then licked the crevices of his scars while studying me. "Open up the back and wait for us. She'll be done powdering her nose soon."
"Yes boss." Kyle shot a look at me that even I, slow minded as I was at that point, could tell that he wanted to take a bite out of me to see how I tasted.
"Play nice." Joker chided, slapping the other man on the back of the head to send him away.
Once we were alone, Joker advanced on me with the needle. He turned my hand to rest palm up, wrist facing him. He fingered my vein and I managed a dull hiss when he slid the needle in, even though I could hardly feel anything. The liquid was pushed into my arm and everything started to go beautifully numb.
Desperately trying to stay awake, I snaked one hand out to grab Joker's shirt cuff. "Is the game over?" I slurred.
"That it is." My captor replied, pushing one of my pajama straps back up over my shoulders.
I couldn't help it – I wanted to know. "Who won?"
But his answer sent me spiraling into a mental confusion, even as whatever he'd just given me sent the black depths of unconsciousness to reach out and snatch me up. My heartbeat drummed in my ears the longer I looked up at him. The last thing I saw was the bright imprint of his lips, and still his words echoed in me.
"I'm not sure."
--- --- --- --- ---
My next moments of consciousness came sparingly, and when they did come, I still felt like a victim trying desperately to swim to the surface of my own head. Every time I awoke I became more confused. Once I thought that I was outside my house in Montana. After that I believed myself to be in a vehicle, one that was moving rapidly. After that it was the flickering of sunlight flitting past trees into the metal interior that was the best – for once I could feel the warmth on my face.
At one point I felt hands on me, sitting me upright, pushing back my tangled hair, smoothing over my cheeks. My mouth was pried open and someone poured water onto the cotton field that was my tongue. The more I drank, I remember, the clearer my head became, and my eyes focused on moving, blurred shapes instead of showing me only darkness once more.
A purple shape was hunched in the corner, at the edge of my vision. Someone in a white shirt crouched before me, with a black splotch on the shoulder, like a waiter or gas station attendant. Coinciding with this, the smell of gasoline overpowered my nostrils, and the stranger's heavy, panicked breath shrouded my ears.
I drank all the water, but my tongue eagerly laved the Styrofoam rim of the cup before it was hesitantly pulled away. I began to see fine details, but they still came to me slowly. I could see though, when the purple figure, Joker, pushed the stranger away roughly.
His hands were much rougher than the other touches had been, and he pulled my arm straight out. The wide black swathes of his eyes seemed to focus on me, and without hesitation, he jabbed another needled syringe right into my arm, at the elbow. The effect, was the same.
When I finally woke up, and was mildly lucid, I was in a white van and it was still moving at reckless speed. I was lying on my side, arms curled in against my body, the sunlight still managing to trap itself in the van in order to touch on my face. The jolts and jumps of the van awakened new pains, but I bit my lip and endured it in order to stay silent. The toe of someone's shoe was sticking into my side and I inadvertently jostled against it whenever the car lurched.
"She's been out for an awfully long time boss." A familiar man's voice noted almost plaintively, riddled with concern in its hidden depths. I knew it to be Justin.
There was a falsely disgruntled rumble in response. "You'd think that I'm not able to see that for myself with all you dumb fucks stating the obvious."
Justin made a quick retreat, backpedaling like crazy into a safer reason and tone of voice. "I just don't know how long she'll last for you if this goes on for too much longer."
Despite his attempts to appear professional and unconcerned with my welfare, I could still discern the true reason for his inquiries. It made me wonder about what he thought of me. It seemed that if I was conscious and around him, Justin was cold, uncomfortable, and awkward. But when I didn't appear to be around or lucid, his concern was unable to be disguised.
Joker was much less of a fool than I, and could easily see what was going on. "Aww. Are you getting all mushy? You should know," in my mind's eye I could see him leaning forward as if to share a secret. "Kyle's developing lesssss...gentlemanly instincts for her."
The sound of shifting came from Justin's general area. "That doesn't concern me boss. She doesn't concern me. I'm just worried about the longevity of this… game for you."
I was turned onto my back by a rough hand and Joker shoved his face into mine. "Who says it's a game?" He laughed. "Hear that precious? He doesn't like you."
I grimaced in shock from the light shinning so suddenly into my eyes and from the close proximity of his clown make-up to my face. I kept my mouth closed, not really knowing what to say. It was somewhat of a rhetorical question, and I was somewhat of a retarded idiot at that moment. In the end, after a long period of sickening silence on Joker's part, I finally settled for, "What?"
He laughed, pulling my head up my hair so that I could see Justin. "She doesn't even listen to what you say!"
Justin grimaced and looked was at a loss until Kyle called him to the front of the van. That left me alone with the Joker, still alarmingly close. I cast an unhappy glance at the dirty metal floor of the van, but Joker didn't take that very well. He forcibly tipped my head back up to face him.
His leather gloves were cold against my chin, like his eyes. and I found myself wondering why he had this obvious resentment toward me, what made him target me so. I'd never done anything to this man before our...unusual meeting. Never even met him before, I was sure of it. But with my luck, if I asked him that burning, beautiful, caustic question of, "Why?" he'd say, "Because."
"I'm so glad that you woke up right on time. I've got a surprise for you. I think that you'll really enjoy this Gretch."
He let me sit up groggily with a modicum of personal space. I rubbed my forehead, stalling for more time. Impatient with my slow movements, Joker grabbed the back of my neck violently and twisted my face toward the window. He jammed my face so close to the glass that my nose was smashed and my breath fogged the glass.
"Surprise." Joker grinned, drumming his fingers across my shoulders.
I forgot to wince. I forgot to be uncomfortable. I almost forgot that I had a psychopathic killer on my back. All that paled beneath the realization of what we were about to do. We were a bout to enter Gotham City limits. I was about to come home.
"Well Miss Gretchen Naples, Welcome back."
END OF CHAPTER
I swear to you all, I definitely have my reasons for taking so long. (shoots dirty glare at pants burst into flame, and hanging from a telephone wire) Not only have I been dealing with college and getting my class schedule straightened out, but I've been wading through some family drama and getting ready for my cousin's wedding (Congratulations Amy!)
I also have reasons that actually pertain to writing! Le gasp! I've been working extremely hard on a short fantasy novella, which you can find on my fictionpress account (under the pen name Late March). It is entitled "The Serpent Connection." My beta reader tells me that this is her favorite piece of mine, and even commissioned an extra chapter as her birthday present. I also made a fanvid for the story, which you can find on youtube, also under "LateMarch." Message me if you have trouble finding it.
Finally - FINALLY - you guys are really going to be excited about this - i have been working to painstakingly re-write "Honey I'm Home" as an original story! Le gasp secondaire! It is also titled "Honey I'm Home" and features my very own psychotic killer (he isn't a clown). Message me or email me if you would like to read the ORIGINAL VERSION of "Honey I'm Home."
Now, I would really like it if all of you would read and review and tell me that you desperately want to read my new novella, watch the fanvid, and want to read the original version of HIH. Please?