Hello everyone, if anyone's still there. I'm sorry this has taken so long. I've been so freaking busy, it's ridiculous.
I'm trying to finish a novel, and I thought I'd do another chapter of this kind of as a warm-up, but this has taken me two days and I'm just so done with it right now. I wrote 11 pages of stuff, but it just wasn't going where I wanted it to go. The only part I had really thought out was the beginning portion, which I'm sharing with you now. I kept trying with the rest of the chapter, but it was just giving me hell and I didn't like it. I didn't want to give you crap, even if this update is kind of small instead… It's not my best but it's all I got.
Ugh. I'll keep messing with it and might either add it onto here or build it into its own chapter, because I know there needs to be more than this, but… I'm kind of making up the story as I go along, to the point where I'm really struggling with handling the infinite possibilities I could do with this. Living on a deserted island is going to have its intense days and its kind-of-lame days, meaning the story parts are probably going to have a wide range of intensity and calmness. There are going to be parts that aren't as good as other parts. It's going to get choppy – parts might be severely different lengths, or be kind of unresolved. I guess I'm starting to see how much sense it makes with a story like this, seeing as the plot and characters and whatnot are in such a random scenario full of potential, and I'm almost seriously writing it as it would happen, but… I just hope I don't disappoint my readers.
Please read and review, and tell me what you think.
So, very late and small and full of apology, here is (basically the introduction to) Chapter 11 of Tropical Torment.
Disclaimer: The Joker belongs to DC Comics and Christopher Nolan. I own my OC.
Tropical Torment
Chapter 11
I walked through the shadows below the trees, the shade a welcome relief from the midday sun. The forest was strangely quiet, but I could hear the sound of roaring water nearby. I soon reached the mouth of the fresh-water pool with the ever-pounding waterfall. It was beautiful still, even after I'd completely accepted the fact that it really did exist.
It was then that I noticed a shape moving beneath the water, rising swiftly upward.
Before I could think to hide or back up or anything, it broke the surface.
With great surprise, I realized that it was a young man.
My first few thoughts probably should've been wondering who he was, seeing as I'd never seen him before, and speculation concerning how he'd gotten on the island with me. But no. My brain stopped dead on matters it deemed more pressing, like the fact that he was very attractive and very much naked.
I couldn't really see anything below his waist due to the fact that it was underwater, and the ripples and light glimmers distorted everything, but I was still more than content with only getting to see his waist up. His skin was taught and bronzed with the tropical sunshine, stretched over an appealing physique. His muscles were prominent enough that I could kind of trace them with my eyes, yet they were far from obnoxious or intimidating. I was mesmerized by how the water was glistening as it ran down his body in entrancing little rivulets.
And his face… His jaw line was sculpted, with prominent cheekbones and chin. His hair was a brownish blonde, both lightened by the sunshine and darkened by the water dripping from the tousled strands.
As he came up out of the water, he exhaled heavily, rubbing his hand across his eyes to prevent any water from getting in them. He then shook his head to get the excess moisture out of his hair before sweeping it back out of his way. The action caused some of the droplets of water to spatter against my face. They seemed to send a shock of cool moisture across my skin, a sensation that made my breath catch audibly in my throat.
He heard it, turning with a start and looking at me with his eyes finally open for me to see. They were dark, but not frightening. He blinked with surprise, but didn't look upset or anything about me being there. That was a relief, even if I was still a little uncertain about him and the current situation.
Just having his eyes on me - I felt a blush immediately warm my cheeks.
He wiped his hand down his mouth, catching any last stray drops of water without looking away from me. And then he tilted his head and smiled. The sunlight glinted off of his teeth, his grin wide and welcoming. My heart gave a little hiccup in my chest.
Holy Lord…
I opened my mouth to try and say something, maybe apologize for staring at him while he was swimming or whatever, but no sound came out. I couldn't think in a remotely coherent fashion with him watching me like that with such a charming smile on his face.
Seriously, his smile was like… wow.
The man chuckled, as if amused at my speechlessness, and then he moved through the water toward me. Little waves formed around his waist with his movement, ripples spreading outward from him as he smoothly approached me.
Again, it should've been rather instinctual to back away from strangers, but I lacked any and all mobility at that moment. It seemed my heart was thrumming fast enough to compensate for any other stillness on my part.
The man and I were now face to face, me slightly above him with how the depth of the water made him a little shorter in comparison.
"See something ya' like?" he asked in a voice so deep and delightful that I almost lost myself in it. At such proximity, the sound almost seemed to reverberate pleasurably throughout my body. He had a slight accent, the origin of which I couldn't place, which only made him more interesting.
"…Uh…" I managed, having to swallow again just to stop salivating.
He reached up and brushed his thumb across my cheek, letting me feel the appealing roughness of his skin accompanied by the way the water on my face and his hand made contact between us feel cool and slick. I could only give a strangled gulp, my face reddening even further at his touch.
He paused for just a moment, his eyes moving around my face, as if taking in every detail of my appearance and my expression and my deepest desires… Then his dark gaze dropped to settle on my slightly-open mouth.
"…'Cause I do," he said, answering his own question from before, and with that he leaned and pressed his lips to mine.
I stiffened, my eyes widening as I took in a quick gasp of air through my nose. Everything trembled and shivered for a moment. But then I realized how good it felt, and any resistance or awkwardness melted away. My eyes closed softly, my blood pulsing through my veins, throbbing warmly in my lips. My heart was pounding in my head as I leaned further over the edge of the rocks, pressing into him, returning the kiss with passion and enthusiasm.
The man chuckled in between kisses, cupping the side of my face in his hand and keeping me close. He drew back slightly, beckoning me into the water with him. I leaned forward as far as I could, trying to get my legs over the edge of the pool without hurting myself. There was quite a splash when I finally fell into the water the rest of the way, one that soaked my clothes and hair and splattered all over the two of us.
Our lips hadn't separated once.
He pulled me against him with an arm around my waist.
The water swirled about us.
I could feel the cool moisture on his face as I brushed my hand along his jaw, tangling the fingers of my other hand up into his hair.
It was then that I noticed something strange… Running my hand along his face left something on my fingertips. Like, residue or something. I tried to ignore it, but then I began to feel it on his lips against mine and in his hair.
What?
He gave me a deeper, longer kiss that made me moan softly in my throat, almost distracting me from anything out of the ordinary, but when I drew back slightly with a need to regulate my breathing, I had enough coherency to wonder what I'd felt. As I gasped lightly for breath, I glanced down at my hand that was lying against his bare chest.
It was smudged with black, white, and red.
Brow furrowed with confusion, I then looked over at my other hand, which was stained a bright, watery green.
I stared down at my hands, smeared with some sort of strange paint or coating, trying to think of where I knew those colors from…
"Something wrong...Beautiful?" he asked. His voice was low and husky and normal at first, but then it changed half-way through to an eerie murmur that I knew all too well by the last word.
My whole world shivered at the sound of it.
My eyes widened, my breath caught, and my head whipped upward to a hideous sight.
The man's face was almost melting, as if the water was washing a layer of thick, oily makeup away. But it was wrong.
It was as if his normal skin was the makeup – the fluid streams rolling down his face were a sun-bronzed peach-ish color – and underneath was the ghoulish façade of the Joker.
The thoughtful dark eyes were soon drowning in swirled pools of shadowy black madness. The blonde of his hair was dribbling down his neck and shoulders, leaving the green behind. His appealing tan skin became a washed-out white, and his attractively wide smile stretched out wider than any smile should be, a curling demonic grin red as blood.
The normalcy was the mask, and the chaos was the true face.
No…
No God, no…
I was shaking my head with mute horror, unable to handle the concept that the blonde man and the Joker had been one in the same. It was too much.
The skin-colored make-up continued to pour down his face, dripping on me, swirling in the water. It was so wrong, unbearably grotesque. My stomach was churning, my head beginning to spin.
I was suddenly desperate with a desire to escape, but the Joker was still holding onto me securely. No matter how much I kicked and struggled, I couldn't get away. It was like my strength left me, and I was helpless in his arms.
He laughed loudly at my pitiful attempts at freeing myself.
No!
The water was so cold all of a sudden, freezing even, stained the color of flesh.
Please, no!
The Joker released a giggling growl, taking a rough handful of my hair at the back of my head and yanking me forward for another kiss. His bloody grin was wide enough to swallow me whole.
"NO!" I screamed aloud, finally mustering the power to belt out a solid sign of protest and resistance. With a panicked jerking motion, I lurched upward into consciousness once again, finally waking up from that ridiculous dream-turned-nightmare.
Gasping for breath with a cool sweat on my brow, I looked around with wide eyes, seeing the somewhat familiar sights of the uneven stone walls and the piles of gathered supplies and the crates and the pillows and such.
I was in the cave. Everything was okay. It was just a dream. It was just a dream…
I gave a heavy sigh and closed my eyes and collapsed back down among my blankets and pillows. They weren't as squishy as I'd remembered…
"You're quite a, uh…talented screamer, y'know that?"
My eyes ripped open once again at the sound of that voice, the owner of which I apparently couldn't even escape in my subconscious mind. It was a reminder that being in the cave wasn't all that much better than where I'd been in my dream. For one thing, I could die here, without the ability to ever wake up again.
My reality was worse than a nightmare.
Everything was not okay.
With a gasp of horrified surprise, I lifted myself up off of what I'd thought was just a pile of pillows, only to find that I was lying on top of the Joker. Granted, he was partially buried in pillows for some reason, one almost completely covering up his face, but that did little to comfort me – it was still pretty obvious that it was him, meaning there was really no reason for me to mistake him for anything other than what he was. No excuse...
What the –? Why was I–? He –?!
He grinned at me from underneath the one pillow, waving at me with one purple-gloved hand.
I blanched, rather speechless, a blush swirling hotly within my face. A tiny part of me wondered if I was still dreaming… hoped that I was still dreaming, that maybe I was really safe at home and this whole thing wasn't remotely real…
"Uh-Good morning," the Joker murmured with a sultry lick of his lips, making my skin crawl.
That was the screaming kick to my coherency that I needed to think straight.
With a choking gasp and a panicked shake of my head, I pushed off of him and lurched swiftly upward, tripping over the blankets tangling around my legs and falling backward rather messily. I landed on my butt, which hurt against the hard stone of the cave floor. I winced, panting for breath, clutching my pounding head and just trying to figure everything out.
The Joker giggled at my erratic movements, making me glare at him.
"What the hell were you doing?!" I shrieked, gesturing wildly to him where he still resided among the pile of pillows.
"…Meee?" he asked as he sat up, looking around as if there were other people to blame that I could've been yelling at aside from him, "Well, I was just sleeping here… You're the one that got all cuddly."
I scoffed with disbelief, glowering at the accusatory purple finger he was pointing at me. That he would insinuate such a thing, snuggling with the Joker – but…I did remember that he hadn't been holding onto me like he did the previous night. I'd wanted to move my pillows away from him and he'd refused again, but he hadn't held me against my will. We'd just both fallen asleep in the same pile of pillows, me as far away from him as I could be without physically moving the pillows.
I'd been given some semblance of freedom this time... but I was known for kicking and tossing around…as well having some instances of sleep-walking…
Had I really…?
"So, uh, that sounded like some night-mare… About what?"
The Joker's question called me out of my inner contemplations, making me stiffen at the concept of telling him the truth of what I'd actually dreamt of. I looked over at him, still sitting among the pillows, and I couldn't help but wonder if he had ever looked like that blonde man at any point in his life. I supposed it was a remote possibility – I knew nothing about him – but still…The whole thing seemed too ridiculous to even consider…
The dark eyes, tanned skin, blonde hair, and wide, wonderful smile of my dream floated back into my brain for just an instant, and I couldn't help but blush.
"N-Nothing," I said quickly, standing up and kicking the tangled blankets off of my legs. I felt like I needed to leave the cavern just to get out from under his probing, piercing black gaze. I walked out onto the flat ground in front of the cave's entrance, sitting down for a while on the edge and staring out into the tropical surroundings.
The sun was still coming up, coloring the sky and the clouds it contained. It was rather chilly, especially with the barest sheen of sweat that still clung to my skin. I shivered there, trying really hard to just clear my mind, of the man and the kiss and the make-up and the Joker and everything.
It was then that I heard the uneven rhythm of footsteps approaching from behind. I sighed, turning and opening my mouth to tell him to go away – but then I found the broad side of a knife pressed against my lips.
I inhaled sharply, my eyes wide and frightened, looking up at the Joker who had crouched down to my level, his face mere inches away from mine.
"Y'know…you're a good screa-mer…" he muttered, nodding his head vigorously in agreement with his own statement, but then he leaned closer and pressed the knife harder against my mouth, the edges of the blade just barely cutting into my skin, "…but yer, um, lying needs a little work-uh…"
I trembled, unable to say anything, afraid to even swallow for fear of somehow provoking him further. My heart was hammering in my chest. I couldn't even begin to think of an explanation for his behavior… though it wasn't like there often were explanations…
The Joker smiled then, as if nothing had happened, giving me a spastic little pat on the head as he tucked his knife away in his pocket and stood back up straight once again. Then he strolled off down the mountain path without another word.
I sat there, dumb-founded and gaping, until I tasted blood from my newly-acquired cuts and decided to shut my mouth. I wiped my lips on a scrap of cloth that I'd scavenged from the ship yesterday, stuffing the bloody thing back into my pocket. I made some faces to myself, feeling the sting as I angered my injuries.
What the hell…?
And I figured I would be saying that a lot during my time with the Joker, however long or short that time may be…
Well, there you go. I figured you deserved a little fan-service/romance with how long I've been gone, but I hope I didn't over-do it… I was kind of running blind with this idea…
Thanks again! Please let me know if you have any plot ideas or tips for writer's block.
All support and encouragement are…well, encouraged. :)
Love,
~SD and Mr. J