Chapter 12: Party Clowns
After a short call to Gordon as Batman, Bruce quickly left the kitchen to go find Hannah. She needed to be safe above all else. Alfred was busy preparing the batsuit just in case the Joker did show up. And that was a high possibility.
As Bruce weaved through the small clusters of people, he scanned around for the unlucky girl. Can't he just leave her alone? he thought. It just didn't make sense that he was so focused on one random blind girl. Then again, the Joker never seemed to make much sense in all of his other endeavors.
He finally found her standing by the food table with Dimitri. They each had a small plate load of expense hors d'oeuvres, just snacking and chatting without a care in the world. Bruce hated to be the bearer of bad news, but this was not a matter that could be brushed aside for later. It was a life-or-death situation.
After taking a deep breath, Bruce nonchalantly strolled over to the couple. With an air of cheerfulness, he said, "Well, hello Hannah. Didn't expect to see you here. How are you?"
Hannah turned towards Bruce as Dimitri almost choked on a small piece of carrot cake. "B-Bruce Wayne!" he managed to stutter after a sip of water. Hannah's eyes widened as she realized she was standing next to the richest man in Gotham.
"Bruce is fine," he chuckled. "I want to congratulate you on a safe return to your family, Hannah. Not many people would have been able to survive that long with that mad man."
Hannah shrugged. "I just tried to stay on his good side. And I took advantage of the situation when his guard was down."
"Ha ha! Of course. If possible could I talk to you about this more privately?" Dimitri protectively draped an arm around Hannah's shoulders. Bruce had a self-made reputation of being a player and Dimitri wasn't going to let Hannah be added to his list of 'conquests.' Bruce noticed his reaction and said, "You can come too. I'm not trying to get in between you two."
Hannah and Dimitri both blushed but followed Bruce through the crowd to the kitchen. As soon as they were in, Bruce's demeanor changed from the social butterfly he put on as a show to the more serious protector of Gotham. "Hannah, the Joker is coming here tonight to take you back."
"What?!" Hannah and Dimitri exclaimed at the same time.
"That invitation you got was not one of the ones we sent out," he explained with a serious tone. "We did not invite you to this party. The Joker did."
"H-how do you know it was…him?" Hannah asked hesitantly. The thought that the Joker was coming to get her was terrifying. I don't want to be near him ever again.
"There was a message etched on the envelope that told me to check my email. When I did, it said that he was coming to pick you up here tonight. That you were his date."
Hannah was horrified at this news. "N-no. I-I don't want to go back to him. No! Never!" She was quickly becoming hysterical and hyperventilating. Bruce waited patiently as Dimitri tried to calm her down. When she was finally getting a hold of herself again, Dimitri looked at Bruce and said, "What can we do?"
"We need to get you out of here as soon as possible. That is the top priority. I'll have Alfred drive you to the police station. You'll be safer there." Hannah and Dimitri nodded in agreement. With that, Bruce left to go find Alfred, leaving the two friends in the kitchen.
"Are you ok?" Dimitri asked with concern as he watched Hannah stand there and fidget nervously.
Taking a deep breath, she replied, "I'll be fine. I just don't want to go back to that man. I managed to keep him from hurting me before. But if I go back, the fact that I escaped is going to piss him off. I don't know what he'll do if he gets a hold of me." She looked towards her childhood friend with a look of pure fear at the thought of returning to the clown.
Dimitri gave a half smile and placed his hand on her arm. "It's going to be ok, Hannah. Alfred will take us to the police and then they can deal with it. It'll be ok."
Hannah gave a quick nod with the smallest amount of smile possible. Although it seemed they were ahead of the Joker's game, she had a bad feeling about this. Like something was going to go horribly wrong. And she still didn't completely trust the police. I wish Batman would come. He would know what to do.
After about ten more minutes, Alfred finally strolled into the kitchen. "If you would follow me, please?" he said as he led them out of the kitchen and back into the crowded room beyond. They pasted the groups of people as calmly as possible and managed to get to the door. But as they went to open it, the doors burst open to a mass of clowns.
"What a wonderful group of people we have here!" the Joker exclaimed as he strolled into the room, clad in his purple suit and war paint. The large group of his henchmen spread throughout the room, pointing their guns at the people to get them under control. "All of the biggest idiots and conartists of Gotham in one room. I bet you're all loving this big reunion." He chuckled as everyone in the room became silent and squished themselves against the walls. They were too terrified to speak.
Hannah automatically hid behind Dimitri. Just the sound of the mad man's voice made her cringe. Dimitri adjusted his position so that she was completely out of sight of the Joker. He was going to protect her as best he could.
"I see that our host is missing," the Joker stated as he scanned the room. "How disappointing. He isn't a very good one to have left you at such a time. Heh heh. Maybe he went to powder his nose. After all, the pretty boy must always look his best for his adoring public! Haha!"
The clown walked into the center of the room and started to search the crowd for Hannah. On the first pass, he saw no sign of her. But at the second, he recognized Dimitri from all of the press conferences he had been on for Hannah's safe return. Dimitri didn't look but he could feel the Joker's gaze on him. He shifted to try and shield Hannah better but as he moved, the clown caught a glimpse of her. How…cute. Hiding behind him like that. She's acting like a frightened animal again. Makes me want to mess with her more.
The Joker stalked over to Dimitri and stared into his eyes. Dimitri stood there fidgeting with sweat pouring down his face as he peered into the mad man's dark brown eyes. They were full of malicious madness. But he couldn't look away. He was transfixed with fear of the man before him.
"You must be Dimitri," the Joker said. Dimitri could only nod his head in response. "It's no use trying to hide her. I know she's behind you." But Dimitri didn't budge. He stayed right where he was, wanting to protect her.
Sighing with annoyance, the clown cocked his gun and said, "I don't have time for this, boy. Give me the girl and you'll live to see another day. But if you don't…then she's gonna have your blood and brains all over her." As he said this, he placed the gun right in between his eyes. Dimitri stiffened with fear. He had no doubt that the clown would do it.
Hannah couldn't stand it any longer. "Stop it," she said as she came out from behind her friend. "I'd rather die than have him killed by the likes of you." Everyone in the room gasped. They had no idea she had been in the room.
"Ah, Hannah. You finally make your appearance." He grabbed her arm and led her into the center of the room where everyone could see.
The clown stopped suddenly and said, "Hmm…there seems to be something…missing at this party. Well, other than the general lack of a host. Heh heh. No, I think there should be some music. After all, what's a party without dancing? Hit it, boys!"
One of his henchmen pulled out some portable speakers and a stolen ipod. He connected them, turned them on, and pressed play. Hannah expected Rob Zombie or Metallica to come on but was surprised as a classical piano piece started to play.
The Joker noticed her surprise and chuckled. "I like to be unpredictable, remember? Besides, I'm actually quite a cultured man, contrary to popular belief." After putting his gun away, the clown took hold of one of her hands, placed his other hand on her waist, and began to slow dance. Hannah had never danced before and so wasn't sure what to do.
"It seems you're new to this," the clown grunted as Hannah accidentally stepped on his foot for the third time. "You would think your boyfriend would have taught you."
"He's not my boyfriend," Hannah replied quickly.
"Oh really? Just friends, huh? Even better." Hannah could hear his smile widen as he spoke.
"What do you mean by that?" Hannah asked with concern. Is he going to do something to Dimitri?
"It means that you're available," the clown explained. "That there is nothing to come between us."
Hannah looked up towards him in horror. D-does he l-like me? Just the thought of it made her feel sick. Who could ever love a man like him? She shook her head in disbelief. There was no way this mad man could like her. Psychopaths are not known for their feelings for others.
The Joker paid no attention to her reaction and just kept dancing with her. Hannah could feel everyone's eyes boring into her as he gave her a twirl. Like she was a freak show. It made her feel highly uncomfortable.
As the piano piece came to an end, the Joker gave her one last twirl and ended with a very low dip. "Not too shabby for a first dance, I'd say," he commented as he brought her up from the dip.
Although he had done nothing so far, Hannah was still convinced that the Joker was going to punish her in some way. She stayed on her guard, ready to fight for her life. The clown noticed from how crouched her posture was and chuckled. He leaned towards Hannah's ear and whispered, "Why so tense, Hannah?"
"Why do you think?" she hissed back. Is he truly ignorant to how scary he is or does he just do that to annoy?
"Well, I think…"
That was as far as he got when a ruckus started in the crowd. The Joker looked towards the brawl and laughed aloud as he saw that Batman was in the middle of it. "Ah, so you've finally decided to show up, Batsy," the Joker chided. "I'd thought you'd never come. I was starting to get bored."
Batman paid no mind to the Joker as he continued to pummel the mad man's henchmen with his fists. Once most of the clowns that attacked him were down on the ground, the dark knight started to walk towards the Joker, who in turn pulled out his gun and took Hannah hostage.
"I'm having the strangest sense of déja vu right now," he chuckled as he waved his gun around. Hannah shivered with fear as the Joker held her to him with his arm. "But I think it was with Rachel before. Heh heh. Hopefully you learned to be careful with your words this time. I tend to be quite literal."
"You don't want to hurt her, Joker," Batman growled.
"Oh?" the clown replied. "Says who?" Hannah froze as he brought the barrel of the gun to her temple. "I could pop her off right now and I wouldn't give a damn."
The caped crusader knew that he was serious so he kept his distance. He kept his attention on Hannah as her eyes silently pleaded for him to help her. But there was nothing he could without the Joker firing his gun.
A silence fell upon the scene as the hero and villain held their ground with Hannah in the middle. Out of nowhere, the Joker broke the tension as he announced, "Well! I think I've had my fill of high society. Time for us to be leaving." He then started to head backwards towards the door from which he entered.
Batman made a move forward but the Joker pressed his gun to Hannah's head more firmly. "Ah ah ah! You're not going to steal my toy again, Bats. You would think he had better manners than that. I guess they don't teach those to the well endowed nowadays. Heh heh." With that, he exited the room with Hannah and his clown posse following close behind.
Murmuring started to spread through the crowd with the Joker's exit.
"…That was so scary…"
"…Was that really Hannah?…"
"…Why didn't Batman save her?…"
Then a gasp broke out as Batman suddenly ran to the balcony and jumped off the ledge. People ran over and watched the dark knight sore through the air and disappear into the darkness.
"Get in," the Joker growled as he shoved Hannah into his bedroom. She stumbled over some garbage but managed to stay on her feet as her captor slammed the door behind him. Hannah turned around and listened to him approach, dropping his trench coat on the bed.
"I'm very disappointed in you, Hannah," he muttered angrily as he slowly walked in circles around her. "I show you hospitality that others never see. I feed you, dress you, even celebrate your birthday. And what's the thanks I get? You…just…LEAVE." He nearly yelled the last word, making Hannah shutter.
He continued to circle her, like he was a vulture bearing down on a condemned animal. Hannah could hear his agitation rising as his breathing became labored and his footfalls became heavier. She dreaded that he would snap at any moment and kill her.
Hannah wasn't far off as the Joker suddenly let out a snarl and punched her in the back. She fell forward from the blow, a sharp pain emitting from where he had hit her. But he wasn't done yet. The clown began to feverishly kick her as she laid defenselessly on the floor.
"Do you know how that made me feel?! Like an idiot! Like a FREAK!" he screamed as he continued to kick her. Hannah couldn't answer. Each blow left her with a new pain to occupy her mind. The Joker paid no mind to her cries of agony and continued to attack her.
When he had his fill of that form of attack, the clown stopped kicking her and yanked her up by the arm. Hannah could barely stand. She had cuts and bruises forming everywhere. Her dress was ripped in several places and she had spots of her own blood on her. Tears were streaming down her face as her whole body throbbed with pain.
But the Joker was still not done. He shoved Hannah against the wall and began to choke her with one of his large hands. She gasped for breath but no air could enter her lungs. The clown had a firm grip. Hannah feebly scraped and pulled on his arm but his grip would not loosen.
Her captor then took out a knife from his pocket and flicked it open. Although Hannah's lungs were screaming and her mind was concentrating on getting air, she could not help but notice the click as the blade locked in place.
Hannah was about to pass out from lack of air when the Joker suddenly let go of her throat. As he turned away from her, she slumped over coughing and gasping as air filled her lungs once more. She rubbed her throat in an attempt to make the pain go away.
The Joker was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself. It was as if he had an internal dilemma and was trying to decide what to do. He fiddled with his knife as he paced, closing it and flicking it open again.
Once Hannah had managed to regulate her breathing again, she slowly stood up and leaned against the wall as she listened to the clown argue with himself. Her body ached all over and she felt like she would pass out at anytime. But now was not the time for that. She needed to stay alert or else she would surely die.
Her captor continued to talk to himself. "No no no. Killing would be too quick, too easy. And not to mention no fun at all. That's not the way to go. No. She needs to learn. Needs to be taught a lesson. Yes. A lesson!" He suddenly turned towards Hannah and pinned her back up against the wall.
"You've been a bad girl, Hannah," he remarked. "And bad girls need to be punished so that they know what they did is wrong."
Hannah could only stare towards him as her voice escaped her in her fear.
"Oh, don't worry, Hannah. I won't kill you. Not yet. No, that would be too easy. And you wouldn't learn anything. I'm going to teach you a lesson that you will never forget."
The Joker then threw Hannah onto the bed and mounted on top of her. She tried to crawl away but the clown held his knife to her throat. "No, Hannah. You're gonna have this lesson. Whether you like it or not." The entire hideout filled with a mixture of Hannah's terrified screams and the Joker's maniacal laughter.