A chapter! Yay! :D I'm sory it's kinda crappy and short but it was the best I could :/
I shivered under the thin blanket and rubbed my feet together, trying to warm them. It, of course, didn't help. How could it possible, even if it was winter, be so cold in an attic? I rolled over on the bed and curled into a ball. My toes and fingers had gone numb. I felt like crying right now. It would be appropriate to cry in a situation like this. And I did cry. But I quickly brushed the tears away, not wanting them to turn to ice on my skin. Why was it even so cold up here? I know it's an attic, but...was it even possible?
I crawled out of the bed and wrapped the blanket around me. It hurt a bit when I stood on my feet and began to walk around. Snow flew in through a hole in the roof. So that's why it was so cold. It was actually quite amazing I hadn't caught a cold yet. I decided to go back to bed and try to get some sleep, but before I could lie down I caught sight of an old, brown coat lying with all the other old, dusty stuff. I quickly stood up and practically ran over to it, grabbing it. It smelled of dust and something extremely sweet that I couldn't place. But I didn't really care what it smelled of as long as it could keep me warm.
I went back to bed with it and placed it on top of the blanket which I laid over me. It consumed me in warmth and I stopped shivering. Hopefully I would be able to get some sleep now. Suddenly the creepiest noise I've ever heard echoed around in the attic. I froze and felt a cold chill run down my back. It had sounded like some sort of werewolf was loose in the attic, howling. What the fuck had made that sound? Hopefully not a werewolf. I almost slapped myself for that thought. There was absolutely no way a werewolf would be able to climb up a building and in through the roof.
Slowly sitting up, my eyes darted around the room. It was absolutely silent, except for the pounding of my heart as it tried to get out of my chest.
I decided to go investigate. My legs shook so much I wouldn't be surprised if I collapsed as I stood up again and walked to the middle of the room. I looked around but couldn't see anything that could've been the source of the sound. It was only when my foot took a little step forward, making the floorboards creak underneath it, that I could hear the sound of a large bird's wings to fill my ears and feel the pain as something attacked me to reached the skin of my arms. I let out a loud shriek while something big blocked my vision. My arms flew around my head, trying to get the huge thing away from me. I could feel something soft brush my fingers as I clawed at whatever the Hell it was. It let out another sound of the same kind as the one before, but this time a little more angrily. I let out an aggressive scream as I continued to push, punch and claw at it.
"What the Hell is going on here?!" the angry voice of Dad shouted. At that point I was lying on my back, trying to protect myself with my arms. I could hear footsteps and then the thing that had been attacking me was gone. I sat up and watched Dad carry something that was thrashing wildly around and throw it out of the hole in the roof where it had probably come from.
"What was that?" I asked quietly, panting a bit. Dad looked at me, looking tired and angry. I felt a bit like the same. Angry at whatever had attacked me and tired because I hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep the past three days...or was it four? I couldn't remember and didn't really care at the moment.
Dad silently went over to me and grabbed my arm. I stood up as I was dragged out of the attic and down the stairs, down the hall and into Dad's bedroom. Dad closed the door.
"What am I doing in here?" I asked and yawned. I was really tired.
"Well, apparently I can't leave you alone for a few hours without you getting attacked by an owl." Oh, so it was an owl...
"It wasn't my fault..." I trailed off as I almost fell asleep as I stood in the middle of the room, my head lowering a bit only to snap back up as I tried my hardest not to drift off right then and there.
"Either way you're going to stay in here for a while." Dad grabbed my shoulders and led me to his bed. My foot hit something and I almost fell.
"Watch where you're going."
"It's a bit difficult when it's so dark," I muttered.
Dad said something but I didn't really listen to him as he made me crawl under the heavy duvet lying on top of the bed. I closed my eyes for a few seconds only to open them again when a loud thump sounded in the room. I looked at Dad sitting at his desk with his fist lying on it. I guessed he had thrown it down on the desk out of anger or frustration. Dad let out a small growl and I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand before I let my head drop back down on the pillow and closed my eyes again.
The bed disappeared from beneath me and something hard hit my side, making me shoot straight up with my arms in front of me. I quickly looked around the room and realized that it must've been in the middle of the day. Dad looked at me for a long time before he sat down at his desk. I stayed on the floor. I couldn't help the yawn that came forth. Apparently getting attacked by an owl in the middle of the night took its toll on you. My legs were a bit wobbly when I stood up and I almost had to support myself on the wall. Dad just stared at me.
He turned to his desk and began writing something. "You sleep a lot, don't you?"
"I don't know, do I?" I mumbled lazily and rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands. Looking out of the window, my eyes widened. There was someone outside! I looked at Dad then back out of the window.
"Hm."
I jumped and looked to my right. I hadn't heard Dad come up behind me. He too was looking out the window staring at whoever was out there, a bored expression on his face. His eyes shifted to me before going towards the window again. I looked back out into the snow filled landscape. The person was wearing a black coat. I suddenly wondered if I could jump out of the window. I could but it would be a really stupid idea. We were really high above the ground. I couldn't possibly jump out of the window without breaking something.
For some reason I thought about Caroline. Was she worried about me? Did she know Dad had taken me or did she think I had merely run away? She knew my Dad was The Joker so it wouldn't be unlikely that she knew it was his fault I hadn't come home after visiting Ben in his break. I could feel my eyes prickle with tears. I tried to remember what the last thing we had talked about was. I couldn't remember and a tear slid down my cheek. A gloved finger sneaked in front of my face and brushed it away before stroking the side of my face. I frowned at Dad's hand.
o-o-o
I slowly raised the fork with a tiny potato lying on it up to my mouth, shivering a little, but not as much as I would've if I was up in the attic. I looked at Dad while I chewed silently. He was bend over his desk, mumbling to himself and staring down at something I couldn't see from where I was sat on his bed. I looked back down at the plate sitting on my lap and stabbed a potato with my fork, eating that one too.
I jumped when Dad suddenly shot to his feet and quickly marched out of his room. I didn't dare move a muscle as I sat on the bed, staring at the door, expecting Dad to come back in any second. But I really had to pee. After waiting a minute or two I carefully sat the plate down on the floor and stood up.
The cracked mirror in the bathroom had small drops of blood splattered across it. I almost gasped in shock when I saw myself. My hair was kind of glued together with dried blood and my face had bruises and scratches tattooed all across it. I gingerly touched a huge bruise on my cheek with the tips off my fingers. It hurt a little. I looked at my eyes. They were a bit duller and sadder and lifeless than normal, not shining at all like they usually were. It could have been because of the poor lighting. I miserably turned away from the mirror and went back into Dad's room.
Sighing, I picked up the plate. It wasn't exactly the most delicious dinner I've ever had so it was really hard to get it down. But I had to if I didn't want to starve. Which I didn't.
I wondered if Batman knew that The Joker was my Dad. I hoped he knew and hat he knew Dad had me at the moment so he would come and rescue me since it didn't seem as if I could do that all by myself. Maybe Caroline would tell him or at least tell the police. It seemed rather desperate to think that. But I don't really think I had a choice at the moment.