I'm in the attic and the door is locked. Hunger burns a hole in my stomach. There is a rustle behind me and I turn, finding Joker standing there, smiling. I smile back but it quickly fades. Something is wrong. He's smiling wide. So wide, his patches begin bleeding and his eyes are bulging out of his head, bloodshot and big. Blood starts to drip down from the patches, staining his cheeks red. A series of knocks rattle the door. They turn into pounds and the door seems to struggle to stay on its hinges. It slams open to reveal Mommy on the other side. She's smiling, too, really wide, her eyes protruding from their sockets. She hits me on the head with a skillet and I fall to the floor. A warm, sticky fluid flows down my face. Three other faces join them forming a circle around me. These faces, though, aren't smiling. They're frowning with big, ugly teeth that drip tendrils of blood on me. Their skin is jaundiced and their fingers are tipped with sharp claws. The five of them reach down to me with malevolent hands and I feel a strip of skin and meat being ripped from my body with a sick, wet peel. The burning pain runs up the wound and sends a shrill scream from my mouth.
I wake with a start, sitting straight up on the mattress. I look around, fear filling every inch of my body. I can see the frowning people from my dream in the dark corners. My imagination makes them clear and helps them to move. I run out of the room and into the hall, knocking repetitively on Joker's door. He opens it to find me, tears streaming down my face.
"What'sa matter, doll face?" he asks, moving to the side to let me in.
"I had a bad dream," I say, wiping at the tears that I hadn't noticed until just now. The room is dark and I don't know where he is until his hand grabs mine, pulling me to my left.
"C'mon," he says and I can make out his shape in the dark, lying down on a mattress. I lie down next to him and he pulls the blanket up to my chin.
"I thought you said you didn't sleep," I say, but he doesn't answer. Instead, he wraps his right arm around me, pulling me close. His breathing slows against my back and I feel comfort fall over me in his bed and in his hold.
I wake up early and in an empty bed. There is a little sunlight coming through the window, helping me to see my surroundings. It's much like my room. Mattress on the floor, crates (his are all pushed into a pile in the corner.) The one thing that sticks out most of all is carvings. There are carvings all over the walls but my vision is blurry and I can't make out what it says. I sit up and stretch, rubbing my eyes. I look up and my jaw drops at what I see.
Carved into all four walls is HA HA HA HA over and over, everywhere. It's written on the little lamp's shade in marker and carved into the floor right in front of me. I stand up and start for the door, breaking into a run. I want out, and fast. I turn the knob but it's locked.
I'm trapped!, I think. I'll be in here forever. It's no better than Mommy.
I run back to the bed and lay under the blanket, pulling it over my head. I run to the general direction of the door with the blanket still over my face, running into it instead. The knob slams into my pelvis, most likely bruising me. I pound on the door, calling for the Joker to come let me out. I feel a sharp pain in my knuckle and each knock becomes blood-stained, but I don't stop. I knock and knock, screaming at the top of my lungs and crying for a full hour before I crawl back into the bed, pretending Joker's arm is still around me.
The HA's scare me; I don't want to see them. I want out of this room. I lay awake for two hours under the blanket before I hear a click in the door knob. I stand up quickly, running to the door and pulling it open, Joker standing on the other side.
"Why did you leave me here, locked in this stupid room, you jerk?" I yell, hitting him with fists and crying. He gathers me in his arms, enclosing my flailing arms against my body.
"I was just out getting you some food. C'mon."
He leads me down the stairs and I follow, especially cautious of the third step which I had caved in before. He brings me into the kitchen where the table is completely covered by candy and cakes he must have stolen.
"It took me a long time to get all of this," he said, tossing me a cookie. "I was caught twice."
"Why did you lock the door?" I ask, eating the cookie and drinking from an apple juice box.
"I had to make sure you didn't follow me. I'm always out doing dangerous stuff. I don't want you getting hurt because I'm having a little fun." His breath lasts longer than the sentence.
"I promise I won't go with you if you don't want me to. But you have to promise never to lock me in a room again."
"Alright, I promise," he says licking his lips.
"What do you promise?" I ask, folding my arms in front of my chest.
"I promise not to lock you in my room anymore."
I eat until I'm full, the feeling of emptiness in my stomach relieved. Joker takes me out for "a little fun" as he calls it. We're taking back alleys and side streets to get where ever it is that he wants to go.
Suddenly, he stops. We're still on a side street but this one has a view of a bridge over water.
"What time is it?" he asks. I've never owned a watch and had to teach myself how to tell time using the sun. It's positioned between one and two.
"It's about one thirty. Why?"
"Get down," he says, baring all his teeth in a big grin. I duck behind a guard rail and hug my knees to my chest.
"Joker, what's goi-"
I am cut off by a sharp crack and a boom that makes the ground shake and my ears pop. I look over the rail to see the old bridge exploding, sending smoke and debris into the water below. Men in bright orange vests run away from the explosion and I can hear them shouting. Joker is laughing hysterically, holding his sides and doubling over. I can't believe it! Joker just blew up a bridge for no reason at all!
"You blew up a bridge?" I yell, standing up and stepping towards him.
"No! I didn't blow it up; it was already gonna be blown up. I just added a little something extra!" he says, smiling wide and bursting into laughter again. I roll my eyes and hope he's telling the truth.
It goes on like this for months, setting structure fires, robbing corner stores, popping police cruiser tires. Even sleeping in his room continues; the HAs don't bother me while he's around. His cheeks heal and he doesn't need the patches anymore. He's always trying to cover the scars, even joking about wearing a brown paper bag over his head from now on. We're each other's best friend, brother, sister, mother, father, lover, teacher. All we have is each other.
That is, until we're caught.
A/N: Oh, taun-taun, you fiend! How could you leave us with this "cliff hanger" malarkey? Do we, the readers, have an ear full for you, which we will promptly leave on the review page! -shifty eyes-
Okay, so I'm not fooling anyone, I know. Please review! It really helps me know who will continue reading and who's just passing through, looking for a good fic to pass their time with. Thanks for reading!