Chapter 5

Kidnap

"Just remain calm, we are more useful to them alive right now," Duncan's voice echoed in the shadowy haze.

"But what do they want? They can't need all of us?" cried Allie.

"They're just trying to scare us, you need to remain calm," Duncan sternly spoke. Ana felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness. As she began to be pulled closer to reality, she became more aware of her body.

"What are we going to do? How do we get out?" Allie exclaimed. Ana's head was heavy, she felt it hanging limply forward, her chin resting uncomfortably on her chest, tugging the back of her neck. Her eyes felt heavy, winning the battle to remain closed.

"We wait," Charles' voice came into focus beside her. Ana started to slowly move her head as she let out a pained groan, her head was throbbing, and her throat was coarse. Rallying her strength, Ana forced herself awake, slowly opening her eyes and raising her head.

She drearily looked at her surroundings, noticing first that her hands were handcuffed to a metal column pipe near the centre of the room, it ran from the ground and up to the ceiling. She felt other hands cuffed to the pipe. That's when we looked to either side of her and saw Charles on her right, and another henchman to her left. There were five henchmen tied to that pipe, two out of her line of sight behind her

"Ana you're awake!" smiled Allie from across the room. Ana groggily looked over to the other group of five henchmen handcuffed around another metal pipe. Allie and Duncan are among them.

Ana started to wake up more as she looked around the room. They appeared to be held captive in a well-lit area, with florescent lights beaming harshly on them. There were no windows in sight, just metal racking against the walls, containing random crockery. She could only hear the grumbles of what sounded like an air conditioner, making Ana suspect that refrigerators were nearby. She concluded they were in a basement for a food manufacturing unit.

"Who got out?" Ana asked looking over to Duncan.

"The Boss escaped, along with Rex and a few others," Duncan explained.

"Figures that toad would slip away," Ana grumbled and let out a sigh. "What are we going to do?" she asked the group.

"Maroni took the Joker's knives and guns," Charles stated as he tilted his head to a pile of familiar crates in the corner of the room.

"Oh really?" Ana perked up.

"What? What does that mean?" Allie frantically asked.

"There may be some hope for us," Duncan leaned over to Allie who returned his statement with a confused face.

Their conversation was cut short when the large metal door across the room made a screeching sound as it slid open. Both groups immediately stared at the heavy sliding door to see who was walking in. Four guys strolled in, the three at the back were carrying rifles whilst the one leading the group was empty-handed. They all appeared well-dressed with tucked-in shirts and smart trousers, the group leader wore a dark grey blazer with his sleeves rolled up. The guy wasn't Pino Maroni, Ana presumed that it was his head guard or second in charge.

"Well well, did you sleeping beauties enjoy your rest?" he laughed as he swaggered closer. Everyone answered with daggered glares. "Tough crowd," he scoffed to one of his guards.

"What do you want?" Duncan finally spoke. The guard's eyes flickered to Duncan, he turned to address his prisoner.

"Where is he?" The head guard sternly spoke. "One of you must know," he gestured to the room whilst pulling out his concealed pistol. He bent over to get closer to Duncan. "Do you know big fella," using the barrel of his gun, the guard stroked Duncan's face.

"I'm not saying anything," Duncan spat as he pulled his face away.

"Hmmm, pity," the guard mumbled and stepped to the next person. "What about you?" he purred as he looked down at Allie, who stared firmly at her shoes. "Do you know where he is, pretty girl?" he asked again as he crouched down in front of her and used the gun to slowly lift her chin to face him.

"No," Allie squeaked as she was visibly shaking.

"I think you do," he purred again. She shut her eyes tightly.

"I don't know anything, I swear!" she desperately yelled.

"Leave her alone," Ana called. The guard turned to look at Ana and eyed her up and down.

"And why would I do that?" he shrugged.

"She's brand new, she doesn't know anything," Ana bluntly said. The guard scoffed, stood up and sauntered over to Ana.

"And what about you? Hmmm?" he stood in front of Ana looming over her, "You don't seem brand new. In fact, you look awfully familiar," he crouched down in front of Ana, and used his pistol to move a strand of her blonde hair away from her face. "You all may wear your funny clown masks, but it doesn't hide everything. I've seen you before," he stared at Ana, lazily holding his gun to her face.

"Funny, I don't remember you. You probably just have one of those unremarkable faces," Ana snarled, causing the guard to scoff.

"Where is he?" he darkly whispered.

"No idea," Ana whispered back.

"You sure about that?" the guard smirked. Ana just glared at him. He chuckled and nodded, looking back at his fellow guards. Without warning, he swiftly turned back to Ana and used the butt of his gun to whack her across the face, hitting her cheekbone. She let out a yelp.

"Hey!" Charles objected as he leaned forward toward the guard. One of the other guards took this as an attack and forcefully butted Charles's forehead with their rifle, causing him to let out a grunt. The room filled with the henchmen's protests.

The head guard impatiently looked around the room to all the shouting henchmen.

"Enough!" he roared as he raised his pistol and fired towards the henchman to Ana's left. The headshot happened so abruptly that Ana let out a scream and flinched as the target's blood erupted uncontrollably around them.

"You motherfucker!" she screamed as she looked at the oozing corpse and then back to the head guard. The three guards raised their rifles at the two groups, signalling them to quiet down.

"I think we're all a little cranky after our naps," the head guard smirked. "To be honest, Mr Maroni doesn't need any of you alive. The Joker can't complete his plans without his little minions helping him, and it looks like Mr Maroni has caught a couple of the Joker's top guys…" The head guard looked to Ana, "and gal in his web," he chuckled.

Ana glared at him, keeping eye contact despite feeling a warm thick puddle of blood slowly gushing toward her leg.

"Nevertheless, I think we should have some fun," he eyed each henchman in the room as if choosing his next meal. Ana's eyes flickered to Charles who was looking to the ground, a gash on his head was trickling blood. She glanced around the room at the changing expressions of anger and fear from each of her teammates. She swallowed a lump in her throat and eyed the head guard.

"Gents, take the big fella to the meat locker," pointing to Duncan. Ana caught a sharp inhale as her eyes tried to silently scream to Duncan. He looked over to her with a stern look as he was ordered to stand to be unhandcuffed and restrained separately.

"Anddd… the pretty girl," he pointed to Allie, who immediately let out a sob.

"Please no, I don't know anything!" she cried. Ana watched frantically as one of the guards stalked over to her.

"Going after the weakest link, how pathetic," Ana spat as she leaned forwards. The head guard snapped his head to Ana and let out a growl.

"You know what, I'll take you first. That way, your little friend can see exactly what is in store for her when we bring you back," he bent down and grabbed Ana by the chin, irritating her older bruise from the day before.

"Well, most of you back," he smirked, Ana yanked her face away. "Take this little tart to the Box," he ordered. Ana felt a knot in her stomach, she questioned why she had to say anything. The guard with a rifle marched towards her and ordered her to stand, Ana glared at him as she slowly stood up. The other guard quickly unravelled the handcuffs of each henchman and released Ana's wrists.

Ana stared at the barrel of the rifle as the guard restrained her wrists behind her back. She knew it would be foolish to try and attack right now.

"Move," the guard ordered as he shoved Duncan and Ana towards the metal sliding door.

Once outside the room, Duncan and Ana were both separated. The guards pushed Duncan down the corridor while Ana was dragged up the metal stairs across the way. Duncan tried to resist as he dug his heels into the ground, whilst Ana attempted to push back against the guard.

Almost simultaneously, the guards ramped their rifles into both captives crashing against Duncan's skull and Ana's stomach, getting them to calm down and stop resisting.

Ana desperately stared after Duncan.

"It'll be okay Ana!" he called as the guards dragged him away.

After forcing Ana up the stairs and down another set of corridors, Maroni's guard hauled her into a small windowless room with the head guard following them in. The small room had one fluorescent light hanging from the ceiling and a metal table with two chairs on either side.

"This is a bit cosy, I understand why you call it the Box. Very imaginative," she casually spoke, trying to mask her heart racing and her heavier breaths. The guard forced her to sit down as the head guard stood behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Leave us," the head guard ordered. Ana heard the other guard leave. They were alone, the silence was deafening. Ana could only hear her breathing as she waited for the head guard to speak.

After a few more voiceless moments, the guard swiftly grabbed the back of her head, causing Ana to turn, and slammed it down onto the table. Ana let out a shriek as he held the side of her head against the table.

"You think you're clever?" He whispered near her ear.

"Get off of me," Ana barked as she tried to move her head, her hands were still uncomfortably restricted behind her back.

"I imagined you had a bit of a mouth on you," he sighed.

"You've been thinking of me?" she breathed heavily, "I'm flattered," she scoffed causing the guard to chuckle.

"I've watched on the news what the Joker's been doing, I've seen news reports showing his gang of clowns running amuck. There's always this one that has their long blonde hair tied up. Sometimes she even has it down, just like you right now. So… endearing," he whispered. He then dug his face into her hair and sniffed hard.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Ana thrashed underneath him causing him to let her go and stand back. She stood up, kicking the chair towards him. She glared at him, panting heavily, her hair a mess.

He suddenly stalked towards her, Ana rebalanced herself before giving him a swift kick, warning him off. He let out a grunt, but it wasn't enough. He stalked towards her again and grabbed her by the arm. She let out a scream and headbutted him, causing them both to fall back. She sat back on the table to try and soothe her headache and reduce the sudden dizziness.

She wasn't quick enough, he came at her again, grabbed her blazer collar and punched her in the face. She let out a pained moan and tried to look back at him, but he punched her again. It felt harder this time, her head was ringing, and she could feel a twitch in her eye. She spat out blood that was filling her mouth.

"I thought the Joker's henchmen had more fire?" he ridiculed, as he threw Ana across the table. With no hands to stabilise her, she bounced off the table and collided with the concrete floor on the other side.

"You know, it's not a fair match with these handcuffed," she wheezed. He let out a chuckle as he walked around the table. Ana looked up at him as she tried to sit up.

"Who said anything about fair?" he asked as he kicked her in the stomach, she let out a yelp as she curled up trying to shield herself. He chuckled and kicked her repeatedly. Ana coughed painfully and wretched. The guard finally grabbed her by her top, forcing her to look at him, and gave a severe punch to her face once more.

"What do we do now?" Allie's voice shook with fear. She and the others were still in the same position since Ana and Duncan were pulled out.

"We wait, and hope," Charles bluntly spoke, the blood from his head wound now trickled down the entire left side of his face. Allie went to ask more but was interrupted by the metal sliding door being hauled open again. Two of Maroni's guards came in, dragging Duncan between them. They handcuffed him back to the pipe next to Allie and walked out of the room.

"Duncan, are you okay?" Allie winced, looking at his beaten face.

"I'll be fine," he panted, "Where's Ana?" he looked over to Charles.

"She's not back. They went easy on you then?" Charles queried.

"I think they're trying to get more information out about the Joker and his plans," Duncan breathed as he leaned his head back on the pipe.

"What do we do? What are we hoping for?" panicked Allie.

"We hope the Joker wants his weapons back," Duncan breathed.

The guard threw Ana onto the metal table with a loud bang. She squirmed weakly; her face unrecognisable, disguised with smears of blood and swelling. She's been in fights before, it comes with the territory when working for the Joker, but Ana started to believe that this was going to be it. Her ending.

The guard climbed onto the table with a smile, taking out his pistol from his belt.

"Where's your fire?" using the barrel of the gun he traced along Ana's covered chest, "So disappointing, perhaps I can ignite that flame again," he bit his lip as he slowly moved the gun down and underneath her top. The cold metal barrel radiated on her skin. Ana flinched and lifted her head.

"Forget it, you think you can scare me by fucking me?" she wheezed. "If you think that'll scare me, then you have underestimated who I work for," she panted, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. The man growled and pulled her to sit up, forcing the gun underneath her chin.

"You underestimate Maroni, if you're not careful, my face will be the last thing you ever see," he was uncomfortably close to her, "Where is he?" he darkly whispered. Ana let out a weak laugh, followed by a shallow wheeze.

"He's probably already here," she smiled a blooded toothy grin. They glared each other down, the room filled with Ana's pants and coarse breaths.

At that moment, the muffled sounds of gunfire exploded outside the door. They both looked in that direction, Ana's eyes filled with hope. There were yells and commands from Maroni's men, which abruptly stopped after more rattles and clatters of gunfire. The guard let out a disgruntled groan and hauled Ana off the table, backing up against the wall and using her as a shield.

They stared at the door. It was silent.

Suddenly, the gunfire roared right behind the door causing the door handle to fly off, and both to flinch. The door swung open, and there stood the Joker. Ana's eyes grew wider. He stepped in and flickered his eyes around the room, looking for his crates.

"Wrong room," the Joker grumbled, his eyes landed on the beaten Ana and then moved down to the gun pressed against her neck.

"Well well, you've seen better days Ana, and who is your friend?" the Joker cocked his head to the side.

"I will shoot her," the guard spat, hiding his face. Ana just stared at the Joker, feeling defeated.

"So?" The Joker shrugged. "I'll get another," he said with a smirk. Ana couldn't help but feel slightly hurt by that comment, but she couldn't say that she was surprised.

The guard realising Ana's uselessness in the situation frantically decided to turn the gun onto the Joker. In that second his arm moved to position the Joker stepped to the left and fired his Uzi. It clattered around Ana, she tried to shield her face, forgetting that her hands were still restrained. She felt two of the bullets slice her arm, balancing with the wound from the previous heist on the other arm. She let out a scream as the pain flashed through her. She felt the presence behind her fall away and collapse onto the floor.

She looked down at the bloody mess, her mouth slightly opened in confusion and disbelief. She gawked at the Joker with wide eyes as he strolled over to her. She couldn't believe the Joker pulled that off, she questioned in her head how he managed to hit the guard and wondered if he could teach her some time.

"I can tell you enjoyed that magic trick," he grinned as he leaned towards her. He quickly scanned her battered face. "Boy, they've done a number on you, haven't they?" he sucked his scars. Before Ana could speak, the Joker slammed her against the wall. Her feet tripped over the corpse underneath. The Joker vehemently pressed his arm against her to hold her still.

"What have you said?" he growled.

"Nothing Boss, I swear," she frantically spoke. Her mind was racing too fast to control her terror.

"You wouldn't lie to me now would you, Ana?" The Joker hissed as he got closer to her face, he could smell the fresh blood emitting from her wounds. Ana's mind continued to speed along, she was thinking everything all at once, and she felt anger starting to bubble.

"Look at me," she whispered first, "Look at my face!" she barked, "Does it look like I said anything?" she yelled, feeling a tear fall down her cheek mixing with the red tones on her cheek. The Joker stared at her as she pushed down these rushing emotions and sucked his cheek again.

He released his arm and pulled her to stand up. Ana was panting as she tried to calm down. The Joker looked at her handcuffs.

"Hold still," he grumbled. He pulled her arms back uncomfortably and spread them to make the chain tight. Pressing his Uzi against them, he fired rapidly, causing Ana to wince. In seconds the chain broke from the bombardment of bullets, which all got embedded into the corpse below.

Ana felt a huge relief as her hands were free. She felt the rawness in her wrists and the relief in her shoulder socket. She glanced back up to the Joker who raised an eyebrow at her, and then gave a demented grin.

"Boss," one of the henchmen called from the door, drawing the Joker's attention.

"What?" he snapped his head to them and stalked over.

"We haven't found anything on this level," Ana heard her team member talking, but she paid no attention. She glanced down at the head guard again. She felt her stomach twist and her heart start to beat faster. She clenched her fists and turned to face him.

Placing her hands against the wall for stability, she started to kick the dead guard. The first kick felt so good, she did it again and again, letting out angry cries.

The Joker and the henchman observed her frenzy. The Boss let out a giggle and strolled over to her, he leaned in to try and get her attention but noticed she was in the midst of a rampage. The Joker looked back to his henchman, shrugged, and then joined in with kicking the blood-spattered corpse.

His piercing laugh bounced against the walls of the room, stopping Ana in her swings. As Ana stared at her work, the Joker also stopped, letting out a final chuckle before grabbing her waist and ushering her out of the room.

"That's enough for one day," he sang as he shoved her into the corridor. She was met by a few more henchmen that had previously got away.

"Bloody hell, you look like shit," Rex cringed in disgust. Ana scoffed, distracting her from her turmoil.

"I look better than you," she hissed.

"We checked on this floor, but no sign of your stock, Boss," Rex ignored. The Joker made a sucking sound as he thought.

"Oh the weapons you bought? They're downstairs with the rest of the guys," Ana waved to the stairway across from them. She started to feel her legs wobble, the initial adrenaline wearing off. The Joker smirked at her and looked at the rest of the group.

"Let's go," he grinned.

"She's been a really long time," Allie squeaked.

"She'll be alright," Duncan spoke blankly, his eyes flickered up to Charles across the room who peered at him with a concerned look. The heavy door suddenly screeched open, they all watched with fear, anger, and anticipation.

The room filled with relief when they saw a familiar purple figure standing in the doorway. Allie's face lit up with an enormous grin. As the Joker strolled in, Rex and the other henchmen ran in holding their weapons.

Duncan searched the group as they swarmed in to release everyone. The Joker looked over to the crates in the corner and gave a nod to Rex to start moving them. He then glanced over at Allie who was staring at him with delight. He sauntered over to her.

Finally, Duncan saw Ana feebly walk into the room as he was being released. He swallowed a lump in his throat as he assessed her injuries. Once free he ran over to her and embraced her. Ana let out a large exhale as she felt her tears well up and her legs almost give way.

"I'm okay," she breathed. She opened her eyes and looked over to Allie, catching the Joker holding out his gloved hand and helping her up.

"I'm okay," she repeated.