~Chapter 2~

"Sweetheart, it's time for school." I groaned, forgetting about my damaged hand and cracking my scabs accidentally. "Get up and find the med kit." My eyes opened slowly, sleep falling from crusted lashes. "No." I pouted, still half asleep, dazed by pain. "Ha ha. Finally getting the basic concept, are we? But really, are you going to let that get infected and have your hand rot off?" I grumbled, wincing as I lifted myself up, placing all my weight on my uninjured leg. "What do you think you should do, Julie?" My head spun at the sound of my name. Julie Gianni. That was me. Well, who I used to be. I was Doll face now. That sat with my head even worse, eyes spasming painfully, nausea rolling in my stomach. "Don't call me that." I mumbled weakly. "Not Doll face either." I added quickly before he could react. "Then how am I supposed to get your attention?" The Joker asked, agitated. I rubbed my head, fingers massaging the scalp. "Just stick with the pet names for now." He giggled delightedly and the sound system clicked off.

I sighed and shuffled forward, a monstrous stiffness had settled in my chewed leg. I kept the muscles taut, too afraid to bend my knee. The pain would make me collapse. Where would he put the med kit? I paused. Where would I put the med kit? My brow furrowed, thinking deeply. I scratched at my neck, all of a sudden not liking the smoothness of skin there. I smiled softly and moved back to my place on the wall, sinking down slowly. I reached out my left hand, the cool metal box making my smile grow. He would've had me search this shit hole for hours. Why would I put myself through that torture? Opening the kit, I worked slowly, stitching myself up carefully. "Very good, toots. I'm glad you started thinking again." I rolled my eyes, keeping my mind busy with what I was going to do when I got out of this. Fantasies of buying a place of my own, going back to school and forgetting all of this distracted me from the pain that throbbed through my body with every pull of the needle. Static buzzed through the building, starting softly but quickly growing to an annoying level

"Hi, this is Barb Faynola"

"And this is Jim Mitchell. Welcome to Gotham City News at seven."

"If you're just tuning in please pay attention to the pictures on your monitor."

"These photos have just been released from the Gotham City Police Department. Three accomplices of the psychopathic murderer known as The Joker have been identified."

"Both men you see now have been captured and are currently being questioned."

"But this young girl…" Barb paused, I assumed they were magnifying on the picture. The picture of me.

"is still out there. The police do not know if she is being forced into service or is willingly carrying out heinous crimes such as: theft, kidnapping and murder."

Jim took over after an awkward pause.

"She has been recognized as Julie Gianni. Seventeen years old."

Something that resembled a sniffle sounded.

"It just breaks my heart to see someone so young mixed up with something so evil."

"Awwww, how sweet of Barb." The Joker teased. Puh-lease. "You could run away from me, y'know. Claim I forced you. Sure, you might have to spend a few years in therapy, just to convince them you're innocent but other than that, you'd be a free woman." I stayed silent, letting his words sink in. Could I really go back to a normal life? After so many drastic changes, everything happening fast and without much thought. Could I go back to a routine? An average life filled with school and caring about how I looked, who I hung out with and how much money I had? The more I thought about it, the more unappealing it became. The Joker said I'd be a free woman. That possible life didn't seem free at all. I'd be following the law again, forced to be normal and conform to society. Staying with the Joker would be the opposite but still the same. I'd be following his orders. Either way I was stuck, never truly free. Or was I?

It started out as a soft chuckle, more of a light Ha Ha really. It grew to giggling, then flat out laughter. Soon I was laughing loudly, uncontrollably. My chest heaved with for air as my laughs pushed it out forcefully. My stomach began to ache from tension, I was close to just giving up and rolling on the floor. Some people would say this is the moment I cracked, that I lost myself. I think it's more like my rebirth, I'd finally reached enlightenment. I'd found my freedom. I stood in a rush, walking purposefully and with out pain, searching for a speaker. I focused, they'd probably be in corners, easier to mount. I squealed with excitement when my reaching hands bumped right into one. I ripped it down with a crash, hands searching for wires. I don't know what compelled me to do it, but it just felt so right. Broken fuses hissed and sizzled as I pulled them from their organized layout. Long buried memories of my first kill surfaced.

I was ten, still dressed by my Mother. Small and pure looking. My Dad would tell me I was as sweet as a baby rabbit, nibbling with a little pink nose in the grass. They thought I needed more responsibility, needed to learn to be a nurturer. So they got me my supposed equivalent. A small rabbit. Just moving into my double digits I remember being confused, why would they give me something that belonged outside, an animal, when I was only ever allowed inside? I remember being angry, feeling like they were taunting me. This creature was more privileged than their precious daughter. The rabbit had to go. My delicate hands wrapped copper wire around it's neck, peeled from Mother's hair dryer. I flipped the switch and the rabbit jerked to death, no sound ever coming from it's form.

Now, years later I wrapped the wires around my own neck, immediately feeling them sear into my flesh. My jaw clenched but I kept winding, burning more and more of the innocent and young flesh. I held on as long as I could before yanking them away, flakes of my skin stuck to certain sections of the scalding hot wire. I stood in silence as my flesh cooled, not making a sound just like my rabbit.

"Joker, it's…Bunny. Come pick me up."