The couple was pulled together into the center of the room while Alec moved over to a laptop that connected to the projector. Kuklinski wasn't watching him though, his eyes of course were on his half-dead wifey and the way her skin was growing paler by the minute. She didn't have long, so Mr. J needed to get this show on the road.
"You know Dick, you really brought this on yourself." The Joker shrugged, watching a thug approach the moll with a hammer. At first Kuklinski looked as if he were about to protest, but the guy was using it to pry out the nail that jutted from the back of her hand. She whimpered with each pull, until finally the thug ripped it from her hand with a wet sound and a short spurt of blood followed. She open and closed the hand weakly, clutching it to her chest. Her ropes were cut, because, honestly, she wasn't going anywhere in her condition.
Kuklinski scowled at the guy who met his eyes only a moment before hurrying off as if ashamed. Boy did he have the wrong job.
"You killed my nephew, it was expected that I retaliate."
"Ex-pec-ted…" The Joker repeated almost to himself, raising his brows.
"You killed blood." Kuklinski grit out, "I may have disliked the little bastard, but I couldn't ignore it without looking weak."
"In hindsight, maybe you should have." I murmured, gaining an angry glance.
"What have I done that prompted this?" he asked incredulous, nodded toward his wife. The Joker simply looked at him a long moment, then cleared his throat and stood strait.
"Fir-rst, you took my girl." I smiled when Mr. J wrapped an arm around my shoulders and shook me gently. "In fact, you tried to kill her, and that was just rude." He frowned, releasing me, "Only I get to do that."
I giggled, despite his comment and Kuklinski's eyes briefly went to me. He was afraid, actually afraid, and it was fantastic.
"Then you tried to turn on me." The Joker moved slowly behind Kuklinski, "Killed a few of my men and even ran to the bat like a little girl." He leaned in close, smile fading, "No one likes a tattle-tale, Dick."
"I shouldn't have fucked with you," Kuklinski sighed, "You've made that clear."
"No," the Joker grinned and stepped back around to face the mob boss, "But I'm about to."
When his fist snapped out to tangle in Mrs. K's hair, I couldn't tell who started yelling first. The Joker let out a peel of laughter as he dragged the Moll across the table.
"No! Don't hurt her, please!" Kuklinski was shouting so forcefully, it was making his voice ragged. Alec held his shoulder so he didn't tip his chair struggling, but boy did he try.
"Richard!" his wife was sobbing again, but the sound was cut short when Mr. J backhanded her. This made Kuklinski all but breath fire.
"You son of a bitch!"
The moll rolled with the blow, clamping her usable hand to her cheek with a whimper and remained on her side. I covered my mouth to muffle the laughter and Kuklinski shot me a loathing glare then turned back to his wife. The Joker grabbed her shoulder and rolled her over noticing, belatedly, the hair he'd ripped out dragging her that still clung to his glove.
"Please!" Kuklinski tried again, "Please god, don't. I'm begging you!"
At that, the Joker pulled out a switchblade and hit the catch. At the sight of the knife, the Italian went crazy and Alec had to lean all his weight into keeping him down.
"Wait." I said suddenly, as Mr. J moved to cut the moll and all attention in the room snapped to me. The Joker's eyes narrowed as I moved to his side, still smiling. "I don't think she can lose any more blood, Puddin'. She'd just pass out anyway."
Kuklinski lost the tiny bit of relief he'd grown when he realized I wasn't trying to help. Not him anyway.
"Besides," I said with a wicked smile and took hold of the hand that so tightly gripped his blade, "I'm certain you've got a thousand more interesting way to do her. Something that will keep her awake no matter what." I sure as hell did, but this was his show.
I lifted the blade to my mouth, enjoying the way he followed it intently. With a throaty chuckle, I parted my lips and drew my tongue along the edge of the blade. The joker looked momentarily surprised, but I saw the heat stir in his obsidian eyes and I pressed into him.
"Beautiful, brilliant mind like yours." I continued, ignoring the slight twinge of pain from my tongue. I'd really cut it and as blood gathered on the muscle, the Joker's hand twisted into my hair and forced me into a harsh kiss. When he pulled back, I was giggling again, and Kuklinski was watching us in horror. (Behind him however, Alec looked a bit turned on and had to close his hanging jaw when I winked.)
"You." The Joker snapped at one of our thugs, still holding tightly to my hair. The guy jumped to attention, eyes wide and hurried over when the Joker gave an impatient gesture. He murmured the guy's task, careful that no one else heard, though they couldn't over my giggling. I was just so excited that we had the same idea. After the guy scurried off, I got another and motioned for Mr. J to lean in excitedly. With a grin, he obliged, arching both brows and I held up my hand as if telling a secret. When I'd finished he released my hair and let out a peel of laughter.
"Tha-at is a great idea." He smiled, patting the top of my head. I beamed happily, then skipped to the black duffel bag by a group of our boys. Filled with a few emergency supplies; guns, C-4, blast caps, a home-made detonator, and a very special piece of jewelry.
I pulled the stiff wrist cuff from a side pocket and turned back to Kuklinski with a manic grin. The mob boss seemed unsettled and glanced around as I approached, clutching the thing to my chest.
"Mr. J made this for me years ago." I smiled and stroked a thumb across the decorative black bands inked into the cuff. It was made of a leather…of sorts, and when Kuklinski saw it, he went a little green.
"I've never gotten the chance to wear it," I sighed, "Never had the right occasion I suppose, but," and here I let the malice slide into my smile, "now I want you to have it."
"What is it?" he asked in a strained calm. He knew, I could tell by the slight tremble in him and the building pain in his eyes.
Alec frowned, gazing down at the cuff. "Bloody hell, Red, is that…" but I was hurrying over to the Italian's framed photos, scattered and broken on the floor. After finding the one I wanted, I skipped back and sat across his lap. (The Brit fisted his hair so he couldn't head butt me again.)
The picture was from Kuklinski's wedding. It had him and the moll smiling euphorically in front of a church entrance. Mrs. K was showing off her ring with a grinning bridesmaid, while a best man threw an arm around her new husband's shoulders.
For a moment, I gazed down at the picture of Tyler. It was strange; recently my memory of him had gotten fuzzy. Sometimes I couldn't entirely recall his face at all. The mutilated thing he'd been in his final moments always, but the before had been slipping.
"You have the same eyes. "I smiled faintly, brushing glass from the frame, though it cut into my fingers. "Pretty green, like emeralds." Then I giggled and held up the cuff.
In the picture, Tyler's arm was slung around Kuklinski's shoulders. The position had pushed up his tux sleeve, exposing his bare wrist. And there, inked in black around the flesh, were tribal bands.
The exact same marks on the cuff.
I wriggled the cuff with a grin, "Now you can have the same tattoo."
Kuklinski closed his eyes in grief and pain as Alec kept him still as I laced the cuff around his wrist. Behind me, his wife whispered a prayer, whimpering when the Joker touched her cheek in mock comfort.
"You'd be surprised how hard that was to make." He said, just as the thug came scrambling back into the room with a big red gallon can. I jumped off Kuklinski's lap to clap excitedly, just as the Italian began to panic again.
"Wait, NO! No, you can't! You-"
"Shut him up, Albert." The Joker said distractedly. As the Brit gagged him, I moved to hold the moll down while Mr. J lifted the gas can.
Just to be clear, being covered in gasoline is not pleasant. I'd ruined a job in our first year together and the Joker had been less than pleased. He'd tied me up and doused me, but I'd managed to talk him down as he struck the match.
The fumes alone burned the eyes and throat and that was before it was aflame. The overpowering stench made you nauseous and dizzy, but she wouldn't be for long. Soon agony would overpower everything.
Kuklinski fought and screamed for all he was worth as the Joker emptied the can and lifted his matchbook, 'I Believe in Harvey Dent' stamped on the cover. I giggled at this and watched wide-eyed as the clown struck the first match. It snapped and Kuklinski gave a relieved groan. His wife was struggling weakly, sobbing again, and we all watched in building anticipation as the next three matches went the same way. The Joker growled in irritation and struck the 5th, our boys cheered when it ignited and I grinned over at him, dark and eager.
"Step back, Harley-girl." He warned and I managed to jump away as the tiny flame landed on her chest and she was suddenly engulfed in angry red heat. I hadn't expected her to go up that quickly. With a startled, manic laugh, I hurried to the Joker and leaned into him as he pulled out his favorite revolver and shot off a few rounds into the smoke-detectors overhead, motioning for the boys to do the same for the others in the house, just in case.
At first the sound that filled the room was like a siren, and I thought maybe it was too late. It took a moment for me to realize it was Mrs. K screaming. It didn't last though, not after sucking in a breath drew the flames down her throat and effectively melted the flesh of her throat and lungs. She was still screaming, but it was silenced now.
The room was much brighter than it had been, though it flickered. In the dancing light I watched Alec nearly lose control of Kuklinski. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. He looked wild, almost unnerving in his ferocity, as he fought desperately to get to his writhing wife. Screaming and thrashing for all the good it did either of them.
Then I looked up at the Joker. He wasn't interested in the Italian at all, but gazed intently down at his wife. I couldn't read his expression but he seemed almost fascinated. By her face, the expression there; before the flesh sizzled and cracked, charring beyond recognition. Eventually her thrashing slowed and then she was just a disgusting, barbequed thing. Kindling for the bonfire atop the table.
I frowned, covering my nose and mouth with my sleeve as I was hit with the first wave of putrid smoke. I've never smelled anything quite as horrifying as burning flesh, and it turned my stomach.
"It smells awful, Puddin'." He blinked once, snapping back to reality and squeezed my arm.
"Put it out." He said flatly and a couple thugs hurried off to comply.
Kuklinski wasn't thrashing anymore. In fact, now he only stared at the flames, eyes huge and blank. His breathing was heavy, every exhale a ragged almost-sob, and tears had made gleaming paths down both his cheeks in the firelight. He looked…lost. I wasn't even sure he was with us anymore.
"Mr. J?" I tugged at his sleeve while the guys doused the fire. "I think we broke him." Smiling faintly, the Joker gave me a light smack on the backside as he moved toward the trembling Italian.
"He's not gone yet, are ya Dick?" With that he popped him on the cheek and the Italian's blank gaze snapped up to the Joker.
I don't think I ever seen hatred like that before. His eyes were boiling with fury so potent it was actually a little frightening. If looks could kill, Mr. J would have had his flesh peeled away, body turned inside out, and exploded by now.
"Besides, we've still got oonnne more present for him, re-mem-ber, Pooh?"
I smiled and nodded, speaking excitedly, "I almost forgot!"
He ruffled my hair and snapped at the boys. "Showtime people. Get to it."
The table was dragged away, though the remnants of the body rolled off and fell at Kuklinski's feet. For a long moment, he didn't breathe, but then the Joker grabbed the thing and tossed it out of the way and the guy could hardly contain himself.
"Hey." The Joker smacked him and grabbed his jaw, "Shh, shh. Calm down. I made a movie for you. Well…" he rolled his eyes, "I made it for the family, but the misses wouldn't have seen more than half of it anyway." He fluttered his fingers to his eye, giggling wickedly as Kuklinski's every muscle tensed, wanting to spring. "But I guess you'll be enjoying this one yourself."
The projector clicked on and he chuckled darkly. A chill went down my spine at the deep timbre of his voice. "You're a bachelor now."
The lights clicked off, so I could only hear Kuklinski's reaction, but it sounded as if the chair had popped off the floor and clattered back into place. Alec had gotten ahold of him as he'd lunged at the Joker. While Mr. J laughed wildly in the background I twisted at a lock of my damp hair. I hadn't seen this film, and was slightly nervous about what it contained.
The wall was turned into a giant screen, the projector between Mr. J and Kuklinski, so nothing was blocked.
A dim, grainy image of a concrete room covered the wall. At its center and little, black-haired girl looked up into the camera with tears in her huge green eyes. The Joker knelt down beside her and wiggled his fingers into the lense.
"Say hi, bunny-bear, Mommy and Daddy can see you."
She clutched a dingy, torn rabbit toy and simply looked up at him. Her face was dirty and streaked in tears, her expression terrified.
I looked down, feeling a little sick, then smiled. It was hard to hold, until Mr. J coochie-cooed over the audio and a real burst of laughter bubbled out. He glanced over at me, grinning in that almost-proud way that let me know I was doing good then looked back at the Italian.
Alec was gazing firmly at Kuklinski's head. Women, I guess he could stomach, but kiddies didn't sit well with him. I could relate.
Thankfully, Mr. J pulled me toward the short hall to the door. I could hear the boys following suit. Kuklinski was sitting forward in his chair, eyes flicking all over the screen. His little girl cried loudly over the pricey stereo system I'm sure he was currently regretting.
"But," I pointed back toward the sobbing Italian. "Aren't you gunna…?" I slid a finger across my throat with a slicing sound.
The Joker actually laughed at me and shook his head. "I'm not going to kill him, Harley. I was sending a mess-age."
Besides, I realized as the child started screaming over the distorted laughter inside, the Joker probably thought the idea of Kuklinski after him a fun game. Not a threat.
Outside on the porch, Mr. J pulled a roll of hard candy Lifesavers from one of his many pockets and popped one into his mouth. I smiled as his crunched down on it and handed me a piece.
"Ooh, red one." I held it on my tongue, savoring it merrily as we walked down the path toward our van.
Good god, I'm happy to have finally finished this damn chapter. There were so many versions (hence it taking so long), including beating in the wife's skull, more torture, and even one with a pretty violent rape scene, but in the end I think this one worked the best.
Now I'm just curious what you all think about it. Awesome? Terrible? Depraved? (that last one's just a hopeful, lol)
Till next time...
PS.. THERE'S A NEW JOKER BLOGS EPISODE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! -cough- you know...if you're into that...ahem, nerdy kinda stuff -shifty eyes-