The Joker watched her. He saw her thinking, and he wasn't having that. He absentmindedly stepped over the fresh corpse and grabbed Emilie by the back of her neck. He pulled her with him into the hallway.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," he whispered through gritted teeth, stopping to stare at her. They locked eyes momentarily, a hushed silence fell between them.

He examined her flushed face then forced her out of the hallway and into the living room. He pushed her in front of him, causing her to almost trip over her own footing. He backed her into a corner in the living room. He pushed his hair away from his face and inhaled deeply, his eyes locked on to the ceiling.

Emilie quickly stood back up, after tripping and looked behind herself once. She saw nothing to use as weapon so she kept her eyes forward. Her gaze, locked on the Joker as he sauntered over to her. She stood with her shoulders back, trying to appear confident.

"If I ever see you act like that again," he threatened, as he stood tall before her small frame. He leaned his head to the right and left. She heard his bones cracking in his neck.

Before Emilie had a chance act, he punched her in the jaw, knocking her swift on the floor. The pain was so intense, Emilie closed her eyes for a second. Instead of feeling her face for damage, she quickly scooted across the wood floor to escape any future blows. She kept her eyes glued to him, as she slowly placed a hand on her face and over her mouth. She felt her lips, no blood and her teeth were all still in place. Thankfully, he only had direct contact with her jaw line.

She inhaled deeply and held her breath to prevent from crying. Her body was shaking and her jaw was in extreme pain but she had to appear strong. "Please don't cry," her mind begged.

With her back up against the wall, she propped herself up. With her head leaning back, she released the breath she'd been holding. She had no idea what time it was, but it felt like she'd been in this captivity for days. She attempted to stand, but felt incredibly dizzy. She tried once more to stand but couldn't. Her equilibrium felt off, not to mention the fact that her body was in pain.

"I don't need some cheap slut trying to seduce my men. I can't afford to kill everyone that comes into contact with you." He once again kneeled to her level. She quickly pulled her knees up to her chest and held on to her body for dear life.

"Decent help is hard to find these days. Once you weed out the… rats, you are left with little options," his voice was calm and that worried her more.

She avoided his deep gaze and focused on her knees. She was still shaking, her body gave away her justified emotions. She recalled something her mom had always said to her, "I can read you like a book. Stop being so predictable." Even in her current situation, she thought about her mom and that only made her feel worse. All she could hope for is that her dad was out there looking for her.

She held on to her legs and began rocking back and forth. The Joker was speaking to her but she wasn't listening anymore. She eyed a scar she had on her right knee. She was surfing with her dad and she broke some skin on a shell as she was wiping out. She closed her eyes and held on tightly to herself, as she recalled her dad carrying her 11 year old self, from the shore after she cut herself. He made sure she was okay as her mom called from her chair, to tell her to get over it. Her dad, he was the one always going the extra mile for her. He was her best friend growing up. Emilie opened her eyes and saw the Joker examining her face again, an elbow resting on his knee.

"I suggest you play by my rules," he snapped his fingers in her face and a henchmen brought over some zip ties. The Joker stepped aside, as the man attempted to tie Emilie's hands back together. She pressed her lips together and fought against the man.

"Don't touch me," she muttered, her voice barely audible. Her eyes avoiding any contact from the men.

The Joker stood up and looked down, as Emilie and his henchmen struggled together.

"Don't fuckin touch me," she kept repeating, her voice slowly rising.

She started to kick but the man finally got her hands tied together in front of her body as well as her feet. Emilie looked up at the Joker, as a piece of duct tape was slapped against her mouth. Emilie shivered as the man picked her up and carried her back to the small room.

"I have more important things to handle," the Joker brushed his shoulders off and watched the man carry her away. "Lock 'er up, Charlie," he said dismissively.

Suddenly, Emilie realized that there was still a decomposing body in the room. She began bucking in the mans arms and screamed muffled sounds as he walked through the threshold. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, but the tape restricted her voice.

"Chill out," the man was calm as he carried her into the room. He set her down on the chair and turned around to leave, but stopped short when he heard a loud slam. Behind him, Emilie fell out of the chair in her panic and was trying her best to crawl away from the rotting corpse.

"I'll tie you up to the body if you keep it up," Charlie laughed, as the Joker appeared in the doorway.

The Joker was slowly putting on his purple gloves and watched, expressionless, Emilie laying on her side. Tears were streaming down her face again and she kept crawling towards the opposite wall.

"I don't think she likes the body too much, Boss." Charlie glanced back at the Joker, who didn't reply. He just cocked his head towards the hallway and Charlie followed the Joker out of the room.

Emilie watched the door close and felt her heart sink. She scooted towards the door and heard another door slam, then silence. She propped herself up against the door and brought her knees to chest. Her wrists, a mistake on the criminals part, were tied in front of her. She looked over at the close call on the floor, her would be rapist. She needed to escape and became desperate.

Reluctantly, she inched her body slowly over to the body and began searching his pockets for anything. She held her breath, and reached in every pocket she could see. She inched to the other side, and luckily, she patted a pocket on his jean pockets and felt a hard object. She bit her lip to stifle her disgust, as she pushed the object out and saw it was a small folding knife. She almost smiled at her discovery but knew she was short on time. She quickly opened the knife and began working at her bounds. With a few tries, she successfully cut her zip ties on her wrists. She then released her ankles from their ties and removed the tape from her mouth.

Emilie stood straight up, closed the knife and slid it in her back pocket. She looked down at the body, disgusted. She inhaled deeply and began searching his body for a cell phone. She tried not to inhale the stench. She came up short but at least she had a weapon and was free.

She ran up to the door and was in absolute shock, when she realized the door was not locked. Her jaw, head and neck were aching but she tried her best to ignore the pain. She peered out of the doorway and was cautious of any other henchmen. She felt her back pocket to make sure the knife was still there.

She slowly emerged from the room and examined the area. It appeared to be an apartment, by the small layout. She walked out as quietly as she could. She turned right and saw her exit. The front door to the apartment. She ran to the door and unlocked the dead bolt and ran from the apartment. Without turning back, she ran down the apartment's indoor stairway. She gripped the handrail and almost tripped as she turned the corners on each level.

"Too good to be true," She exhaled as she recalled her escape.

She thought about knocking on one of the many apartment doors she passed on her way down. By the looks of this sketchy apartment building, with its dimly lit stairway, lack of elevator, and the random holes in the walls, made her rethink her options. She just needed to get out of there as soon as possible. These occupants, have most likely seen the Joker on his way in and out of this complex and decided to turn a blind eye. They could also be in on his antics. Emile's mind was wandering and she neared the last level.

"Going somewhere?"

Emilie took her eyes off the linoleum floor and met the Joker's.

She held on tightly to the stairway's railing and started to back away from him. Behind the Joker, were three men she hadn't seen earlier.

"Um…" Emilie said awkwardly, her voice small. Her eyes darted to and from the Joker to his men. Aside from the Joker, they all had a handgun in their grips. She kept backing away, back up the stairs. The Joker was advancing towards her, a grin taking up his face.

"Did you miss me that much?" he raised an eyebrow.

Emilie reached into her back pocket and felt the knife, not breaking eye contact with the Joker or his men. "They have guns…a knife won't save you here," her mind panicked.

He backed her into a wall of the next level. She kept her hand in her pocket as he was a foot away from her. His men weren't too far behind. His eyes lingered on her hidden hand and without warning, he grabbed her wrist and snatched the knife from her.

"If you wanted to play with knives, you should have said something!" His face now inches away from hers. He opened the blade and pressed it into her neck, near the spot he cut earlier.

"Charlie, get rid of Zack's body, while I get some alone time with our guest," the Joker said, stepping closer to Emilie's body. Obediently, Charlie ran up the stairs back to the apartment. The Joker stepped aside and titled his head towards Emilie. No words were spoken but the remaining men knew what was asked of them. They climbed the stairs by steps, and grabbed Emilie. They forced a rag in her mouth and led her upstairs while the Joker examined the knife Emilie had on her person.