Mothers be aware
That your daughter's to prepare
They get ready to leave their lair
Rachael does her hair
Trish is wondering what to wear
It's Friday
Sam cracked her eyes open, groaning at the sudden bright light hitting her eyes. She winced as the song repeated the chorus over and over again. Why was it so fucking loud?
Sluggishly and blindly she swiped her hand around, a small groan escaping her lips once she finally reached the source of the noise, her phone. She brought the phone close to her face, not bothering to figure out the blurry strand of random numbers before answering it.
"Hello?" Sam asked, her voice slurring slightly. She could feel her eyes growing heavy causing her to shake her head to attempt to stay awake. The harsh movement caused her to wince, a slight feeling of nausea starting to peak again.
"Is this Miss Williams?" The voice belonged to a man she didn't recognize. At least, not that she could remember right now and with a voice that deep it should've been memorable.
"Uh yes. I'm sorry, I don't have your contact register on my phone. Who is this?" She rubbed her eyes before resting her head back on the pillows. A soft moan catching her attention. Quickly she glanced to the side to see her friend Marley was still out cold. God, what happened last night?
The man on the phone let out a polite laugh, "It's fine Miss Williams. This is Jeremiah Arkham, and I just wanted to let you know that we had come to the decision to accept your job offer."
Did she interview with a Jeremiah yesterday? Fuck, was that his name? Some HP Lovecraft guy?
"Oh really? So quickly?" It was too early to ask for clarification, she just wants to sleep the headache away.
"Ah yes," his voice perking up, "you were the best applicant Miss Williams by far. Would you be open on coming on Monday morning at 10 for a briefing session and then officially starting the next day?"
"Uh yeah, that would be fine."
"I look forward to working with you Miss Williams. I'm sure you will fit right in."
"As do I," Sam said, her voice becoming more slurred from drowsiness as she hung up.
She didn't even remember falling back to sleep.
The throbbing in her head forced her awake. Sam stared at the ceiling, the hangover regret washing over her. She glanced at Marley, whose arms were locked around her waist and face resting against her shoulder.
"Mar," she whispered as she lightly shoved her sleeping friend, "get off."
Her friend let out a small moan before flipping over, freeing Sam from her grasp.
Sam rubbed her face as she thought back to the vivid dream she just had. Jeremiah Arkham, she gotta stop reading HP Lovecraft before drinking.
She stumbled out of her room to quickly wash her face and teeth, the disgusting groggy feeling that seemed to be glued on her slowly going away. Despite that, every movement she made caused a slight searing pain in her frontal lobes.
As she glanced at the haggard version of herself in the mirror, she made a promise to never drink. God, she looked like death. Whose idea was it go have a shot-off?
She headed back to her room, her drunken stumbling slowly disappearing with each step she took. Sam put on her glasses and grabbed her phone off her bedside table. The sudden shift of her vision caused her to close her eyes, the headache only increased. After several deliberate blinks, she took in her surroundings. Surprisingly, her room wasn't as much as a mess as it usually was and definitely wasn't as bad as it could've been considering she barely has any memories from last night. Clothes littered the floor, yet it seemed only Marley was unable to put on any pajamas, just staying in her underwear. Miraculously, blackout Sam managed to put on a shirt and shorts. She glanced down to see the tag of her shirt. Well, blackout Sam managed to put on her shorts properly at least.
She left the room, allowing Marley to continue to sleep in her bed, and took off her shirt to properly wear it. The smell of eggs greeted her nose as she made her way into the living room.
"Someone's up early Marky Mark," she yawned out, leaning against the breakfast bar before settling on the barstool. Marcus glanced at her, his dark bangs under his eyes making him look gaunt. "You look like shit," he said bluntly.
Sam rolled her eyes, "G'morning to you too." Sam stretched her back, before glancing at her phone. 11 am, her phone screen read. Far too early for this.
"How long have you been up Marcus" Sam asked as she leaned forward, resting her head on her arm. Marcus gave her a tired look. His dark short curly hair was laying limp on his face. Someone took a shower it seemed.
"Well...give or take a couple of hours," his voice was hoarse. He pointed his spatula at the couch, "Dumbass over there woke me up with his snoring. I'm surprised you all managed to sleep through it."
Sam glanced towards the couch, letting out a snort when she saw Adrian passed out drooling on the sofa.
"I'm sensing someone is going to have a worse morning than us," she mused. Marcus merely hummed in agreement before turning his attention back to the stove.
"If you want food, you are going to deal with scrambled eggs."
"Sounds delish Marc." Sam glanced over the living room, taking a deep breath to be greeted with the smell of febreeze. Leaning backward, her eyes spot two filled garbage back next to the door. The living room and kitchen looked pretty much spotless. Any trace that an out of control kickback happened was gone. The only evidence were the dark stains that littered the navy blue couch and the circular polka-dotted carpet that laid beneath the coffee table. Sam narrowed her eyes at the couch. Was that couch always blue and wasn't the carpet just a solid red? She rubbed her forehead as if it could erase those ludicrous thoughts from her head. She really was unobservant.
"Marc...did you clean everything up?"
Marcus shrugged, "It was filthy. When the oaf wakes up, he can take it out."
Sam hummed in agreement, tapping her fingers against the marbled counter. "Did you make it to bed?"
He nodded his head, "Apparently so. Better than Wes who I found sleeping on the toilet seat."
"Poor fucker." Sam rubbed her neck. He was definitely feeling that when he wakes up.
"Idiots," he scoffed, handing her a plate of scrambled eggs.
"You joined too," she pointed out as she walked into the kitchen to grab a fork and salt.
"Stupidly is contagious."
Marcus sat down next to her, a bottle of ketchup in his hand as he poured the sauce onto his eggs. Sam slid the salt towards him after she used it and shoveled into her food.
"Oh, I'm sure you had fun."
"Tell that to my hangover."
"The price of having fun in a decaying body."
Marcus smirked slightly, "Touche."
They fell into a comfortable silence, turning their focus onto the food. Sam had to admit, Marcus was a damn good chef and these eggs were the greatest thing she had in years. Or perhaps that was just the hangover talking. Her eyes glanced towards the fridge, her parched throat seemed to burn at the mere glance.
"Want something to drink?" Sam asked as she walked towards the cabinet near the fridge.
"OJ." Marcus's voice was soft causing her to glance back at her friend to see him wincing as he rubbed the temple of his head.
She grabbed two mugs. "Tylenol?"
"I'll get it."
Sam nodded her head as she placed the two mugs on the kitchen island and opened the fridge. She let out a whistle. They really drank through everything. What a helluva night.
And no one got alcohol poisoning. A success night if she could say so herself.
She grabbed the jug of orange juice and slammed the fridge shut with her hip. Before she went to go turn around back to the island, a calendar caught her eyes.
The calendar overall was rather unremarkable, just a simple puppy theme. The fact that there was a calendar in the first place was odd. The fact that her handwriting was scribbled on the different days was even weirder.
"Is everything good?" Marcus's voice caught her attention.
"Uh, yeah," she said slowly as she started to pour the juice into the mugs, "When did we get a calendar?"
Marcus paused, his hands right about to twist open the pill lid. "Calendar?"
Sam nodded her head towards the fridge. Marcus's eyes following her direction..she watched as his face crinkled in confusion.
"Probably something we did while blackout."
Sam merely shrugged, a small frown resting on her face. Why did she get blackout drunk? What an idiotic decision.
She slid the mug towards Marcus while he rested two Tylenol pills out for her.
It truly was one of those days.
She raised her mug to him and grabbed the pills. "Cheers." Her voice was dry, a small smile replacing her frown.
Marcus raised his mug to her as they both popped the pills in followed by their drink.
Sam let out a loud cough. God she hated swallowing pills in the morning.
"Can you two fucks be any louder?" A loud slurred voice spoke up. They glanced towards the couch to see Adrian's head raised up, his eyes glaring at them.
"Rich coming from you," Marcus replied, rolling his eyes.
Adrian flipped him off as he let out a loud yawn.
"You look horrendous," Sam noted as she took in his disastrous bedhead and almost sickly appearance.
He snorted, "Funny. That's the exact thing I say when I look into a mirror." He pulled himself up from the couch. "Fuck, everything is in pain." He glanced towards the kitchen. "You fucking made food and didn't save anything for me?"
"Should've woke up earlier." Marcus shrugged as he grabbed the empty plates and placed them in the sink.
"You guys fucking suck." Adrian grabbed the TV remote, clicking the power button as he started to make his way out of the living room. He paused, pressing the power button again and again and again. Sam glanced at him when a loud curse escaped his lips.
"Who broke the TV?"
Sam and Marcus exchanged glances. "Probably the idiot holding the remote," Sam replied back.
"Oh fuck off," he grumbled as he tossed the remote on the couch before leaving.
It was only a couple moments later they heard the shower turned on. Sam sniffed her hair, her nose wrinkling at the scent of booze and pot.
Her mind flashed back to last night. Adrian and Weston nearly hotboxing the entire apartment before Marley and herself drunkenly yelled at them to go near a window.
God, she needs a shower.
"Think he's still crossfaded?" Marcus asked, fiddling with the remote. The TV still didn't turn on.
"Considering the two dumbfucks nearly hotbox the apartment. I would say yeah." Sam made her way to the couch, leaning on the side watching Marcus as he continued to mess with the remote.
"Still not working?"
Marcus shook his head, shaking the remote harshly.
"Try batteries then unplugging the TV." Sam silently yawned. Marcus threw an unimpressive look before deciding to listen to her.
Batteries out, batteries shook, batteries back in and yet nothing. Sam got up and headed towards the TV. If she truly spent all that money of this fucking tv only for it to shit out after a year she was going to be pissed. Quickly she yanked out the cable before plugging it back in.
"Fixed it," Marcus said triumphantly only for a disappointed groan to escape his lips a few moments later.
Sam glanced at the TV, her eye twitching slightly. "Fixed it huh?" she muttered under her breath. The TV was indeed on, a minor success, the light black screen was proof enough. If only the one function this thing had was working, everything would be great.
"Is the guide button working?"
Marcus shook his head, tossing the remote onto the chair closest to him.
"Well fuck, google it or something," Sam pushed up her glasses, "Imma go make sure the children aren't dead."
Marcus merely gave her a thumbs-up as he went on his phone. The last thing Sam noticed was a growing frown appearing on his face. She shook her head, he will deal with it.
Sam walked down the hallway, making her way to the far left room. Softly she tapped on the door. "Weston, you dead?"
Silence.
She tapped again, leaning her ear against the door allowing her to barely catch a low moan.
Slowly she opened the door causing the door to make a loud creak. Sam popped her head inside Weston's room only to be greeted to the sight of Weston's head inside a garbage bag.
"Still getting it out of your system?"
Weston lifted his head, barely giving her a nod before gagging.
"Ya need any water?"
The only response she got was the sound of vomiting. Sam couldn't help but wince at the sight before her as she quickly backed out of the room.
"Oi Marcus, Wes needs some liquids asap!" she shouted as she made her way to her bedroom.
When she opened the door, she was greeted to a far better sight. While Marley was obviously hungover, she seemed to be fairing far better than Weston.
"Morning Sunshine, you look far more alive than I was expecting." Sam grinned at her.
"Why am I in your bed?" she muttered softly, her hands covering her eyes.
Sam shrugged, "Because I make a great body pillow?"
Marley scoffed, weakly throwing one of the pillows in Sam's general direction. "Bullshit, it felt like hugging a skeleton you boney ass."
"Be careful Mar, I might jab you with my elbow."
"I don't doubt it," Marley propped herself up, "Whose up?"
"Everyone, though Weston is well-" Sam paused, giving Marley a sheepish look, "Weston looks more dead than alive at the moment, but at last."
Marley slowly moved out of the bed, "Poor guy." She glanced at the bedroom door. "Is one of the bathrooms open?"
"Mmhm. Adrian is using one and I was planning on taking a shower, but I guess I can allow you to go first."
Marley rolled her eyes, "Oh how generous you are. I'll be quick."
Sam lazily watched her friend humble out the room, a large bruise covering a good portion of the back leg. It must be nice to look so put together while hungover.
A sigh escaped her lips, the fact she lost her shower time finally dawning on her.
Two loud police sirens followed by several ambulances' sirens caused her to wince, the pounding in her head coming back. Why couldn't someone get stabbed later in the day, preferably when she wasn't hungover.
Sam walked to the window, moving the curtains' back with her fingers only to have her mouth drop open.
"What the absolute fuck?"
The city outside her apartment was not New York City. Sam could be unobservant at times, but she wasn't that dumb. Tall buildings greeted her, which wasn't out of the usual for New York City, but she knew for a fact that tall easily gothic-esque buildings were not in her neighborhood yesterday morning. The street below her was even different. Instead of the usual clean cement sidewalks, these were a grimy grey with graffiti residue over them. Trash Cans were toppled over and... was that a pool of dried blood on the street? Before she could lean forward to get a better look, two more police cars zoomed on by. Their blaring sirens echoing against the walls of the surrounding buildings. Her eyes followed the direction the police were heading towards.
Why were they in such a-
A loud boom went off, nearly causing Sam to tumble backward. All of the sudden her eyes were greeted to a fiery explosion from the distance.
Slowly she closed the curtain and rushed out of the room. A mantra of swears were racing through her mind as she headed towards the living room.
She was greeted to the sight of Marcus and Weston on the couch. Her eyes flickered between her friends, who sat there like statues, to the TV.
For a second, Sam believed that she just imagined it. Why else wouldn't they be reacting to something akin to a bomb (holy shit what if it was a bomb) going off near their apartment?
Expect that belief did not stay long as the remainder of her friends rushed into the living room. Everyone's eyes were wide in confusion.
"What in the absolute fuck was that?" Adrian spoke up first, his hair drenched, a towel being the only thing protecting everyone's eyes from a sight that they would never be able to unseen.
"There was uh," Sam rapidly pointed to one of the windows, "an explosion?"
Marley's eyes went from Sam's to the window then back to Sam's. "An explosion," she echoed back.
Sam slowly nodded before glancing back at Marcus and Weston. "What is with you guys. Didn't you fucks hear that."
The TV was turned up.
"Gotham was shaken up this morning with another bombing-" a female news anchor voice ranged out. However, her voice seemed to fade away as the word Gotham repeated itself in Sam's mind.
"You're watching the Dark Knight?" Adrian scoffed.
Wordlessly Marcus switched the channels, each one with a different news anchor reporting on the same explosion they all just heard. Some spoke of a breakout at Arkham Asylum, one mentioning a batman.
Sam walked closer to the TV. Her eyes glancing at the channel name, GNWS, she looked a bit lower as she glimpsed at the news highlights at the bottom.
"What the fuck happened last night?" The words left her mouth faster than she could think.
God, she needed a drink.
Was this story idea a combination of watching the new Harley Quinn film, watching the new Harley Quinn animated show, seeing the new 'preview' of RPat Batman, and being up at 12 am under 3 hours of sleep? Yes. I got inspired and had to write this, which means I am going to end up changing the title (probably). Thankfully I do have a couple of ideas for several chapters, so I will get to writing them in time. Let me know what yall think! Until then!