A/N: Greetings and salutations. Sorry for the wait. I had this written by sunday but then i wasnt allowed to log in. I was quite annoyed. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. There is a song in this one called Come Josephine and i based the dream in this chapter loosely on the encounter with Snow White in the show the 10th Kingdom. The dream sequence is pretty long and is seperated by those star things. So dont be confused. She isnt meeting Snow White for real or anythin. Sorry. No magic lol. Im such a party pooper. hahaha

Also BIG thanks to everyone who reviewed. I have taken your advice into consideration. :]

Disclaimer: Dont own any batman characters, including the Joker, i just own Annabelle.

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The fairytale is irresponsible; it is frankly imaginary, and its purpose is to gratify wishes, "as a dream doth flatter."

- Susan K. Langer

I watched as those words left his mouth, heard them enter my ears, and waited as they sank themselves into my brain.

The Joker seemed so sure of his words, so unbelievably certain. And his logic was crazed and ludicrous. For a moment I was pulled into his crazy world. His world of fairy tale illusion and nightmareic fright. Filled with chaos and death. A world that looked a lot like my past, colorful and tragic.

I started to think of the kind of life the Joker lived. How he was impossibly alone even surrounded by his goons. He had no one who understood him, no one who noticed or even cared.

His life was on a level these clown men could never reach. No matter how hard they tried. The Joker was just ahead of the curve.

I was pulled from my reverie by the sound of saliva smacking against lips, and my eyes focused onto the Joker's white face. He was staring intently at my face, searching for something unknown to me. My anger had slowly faded down to normal and I'm sure he could see it in my eyes.

The Joker must have found what he was looking for because he half walked, half dragged me through the bloody mess on the floor back to the entranceway. My eyes grew with the hope of finally leaving this room as we neared the door.

I half expected the Joker to be an ass, and taunt me by holding me back from the door but he surprised me. He just brought me through the door into the smaller room outside. This was not at all like the Joker I had seen all of two minutes ago. He was furious and now he, well, wasn't.

His pace seemed to quicken as we made our way through the doors of the room out into the hallway. I could barely keep up and he didn't stop when I stumbled. Instead, he tightened his grip on my already throbbing arm and towed me back to what I assumed was my bed room.

Once inside, he dropped me onto the floor and slammed the door shut, loudly.

I watched as he skipped over to the bed and jumped wildly into it, causing the bed to shake viciously. He seemed to make himself at home as he sprawled himself out on the bed, giggling as he did so. The Joker was such a strange person. Crazy one moment, to giggling like a school girl the next.

For a second I thought he might have forgotten about my presence entirely. He hadn't acknowledged me the whole time that he was getting comfortable on the bed and now he was humming quietly to himself. The same tune as before.

Puzzled, I straightened out into a standing position and watched the Joker looking quite pleased, with his eyes closed, and his everlasting smile plastered on to his painted face. I took this opportunity to calmly walk towards the door. If I remembered correctly, I hadn't heard him lock it. This meant I could escape, seeing as the Joker wouldn't be expecting it. He was still humming to himself, and if I was quiet enough, he wouldn't realize I was gone. Not until it was too late.

Sucking in a steady, confident breath, I took the final steps separating me from the door and took a hold of the brass door knob.

The Joker was still humming his tune and I sung the lyrics to the song in my head.

Come Josephine in my flying machine

Going up she goes

Up she goes

I turned the knob ever so slowly, making sure it didn't squeak. Luck was on my side.

Balance yourself like a bird on a beam

In the air she goes

There she goes

I opened the door just enough for me to slip through and closed it slowly, watching the Joker's lying form the entire time. He was still humming, and I was still singing.

Up, up, a little bit higher

Oh, my, the moon is on fire

The door made contact with its frame with a soft click. Almost inaudible to my ears. I just stood outside that door for a moment before my legs started moving in overtime. I ran so fast, so fluidly down the hall that I almost crashed when I came to a crossroads.

There was another hallway to my left and to my right. Both looked equally promising.

Going on instinct, I ran to my left and ran as far as the hallway stretched. Sadly, I had made the wrong decision. There were no stairs. But there were windows, showing me I was at least three stories high into the air. To far for me to jump.

Come Josephine in my flying machine

Going up

All on

Discouraged, I turned on my foot and ran back towards the other hallway. As I came back toward the intersection, I felt a sharp wave of both anger and fear wash over me, and I sped up my pace. But that wasn't enough.

Good-bye.

One minute I was running, and the next I was falling. Something had tripped me and my head smashed itself against the corner of the wall. Blood ran down my face and I felt the warm revolting liquid against my lips. I looked over to see what had tripped me and gasped.

What had tripped me was a black shoe that was protruding out into the hallway. I followed the leg coming out of the shoe, starting from the multi colored sock to the purple pants. All the way up to his green vest, and eventually, his painted face.

The Joker was smiling down at my evilly as I tried to pick myself up off the floor. Unfortunately, the wound on my head was making me unbelievably dizzy. And everything around me blurred in and out of focus. This didn't help in my effort of getting up.

I had made it onto my knees before I slumped backed down, and never stopped falling.

* * * * *

I had been running for hours in the underground maze of caves. It was dark, cold, wet, and terrifying. I was on the verge of giving up when I saw a bright white light up ahead.

Following the light, I was amazed at what I saw.

It was a bright white room embedded within the caves. Open and beautiful. Almost like a little Iceland fairytale. With its pure white rocks, and its glittering ice. And the thin layer of soft white snow.

I had never seen something so beautiful

Amazed, I walked further into the wondrous cave. It seemed to give off a glow that lit up the place without any actual source of light. As I got farther into the cave, a chill went through me and I rubbed my arms for warmth. This caused me to look down at my attire.

What I was wearing was the same dress I had been wearing earlier. The only thing different about it, was the fact that it was free of any crimson stains. My feet were still bare though, but they weren't cold like they should have been from walking in the ice and snow.

That was when I noticed a circular white stone elevated off from the ground in the middle of the room that was surrounded by large ice pillars. On the stone, running along the outside of the it, were words that seemed to tell a story.

I walked up closer to the stone and read the words aloud, following them all the way around.

"For seven men she gave her life. For one good man she was his wife. Beneath the ice by Snow White Falls. Here lies the fairest of them all."

As I read those words, something inside of me clicked. And by the time I had walked around the stone circle I was back to the beginning. There were a few steps leading up to the elevated portion of the ice stone and I eagerly climbed them.

I reached the top of the stone circle, which was only a few feet off the ground and found a giant ice block sitting in the middle of it. Inside the ice block, there seemed to be something so I kneeled down to get a better look.

I was right.

Embedded within the ice was a beautiful girl, with skin white as snow, lips red as ruby's and hair black as ebony. She was wearing a dress that consisted of a black bodice and white billowing sleeves. That girl was Snow White.

But as quickly as I had seen her, she seemed to disappear within the ice. Which was when I heard my name being called.

" Annabelle."

I turned quickly to find the source of the noise and was confronted by something that seemed like a miracle. Snow White walked gracefully towards me, from the back of the ice cave. Her dress gliding behind her.

" Hello, Annabelle. You look tired." She said. Her voice sounding like velvet.

" Are you dead?" was all I could manage to say.

"Well, yes. I think you'd have to say so. I'm more into the fairy-godmother, occasional-appearance sort of thing now." she said with a chuckle. "But I still have influence over things."

This made no sense. Was she my fairy god mother?

" What sort of things? I-I don't understand." I inquired, my voice filled with curiosity. She held out her hand for me to take, and I did just that, as she helped me on to the snowy ground.

" Don't worry Belle. I will explain," She walked us over to a bench made out of the shining ice and sat down. I soon followed.

" See, ever since you were a child, I have watched over you. Back from when you and your childhood friends, Bruce and Rachael, would play at Wayne manor, all the way up until now. But soon you will have to see and be seen. I've protected you all these years. Through all the hardships you have faced with your parents, and your running away, and the fighting. And lastly, the incident." her voice was filled with kindness, but talking about my past wasn't something I necessarily enjoyed. So I removed my hands from hers and looked away, trying to think of something else.

" Annabelle don't be upset. I see how you have tried to change things and that's good. But don't hide from your past. Embrace your mistakes just as much as your accomplishments. They will save you in the end. But don't, don't live this guarded safe life your trying to live. Its fake. Its not you."

My head snapped up and I could feel the stinging tears I was holding back.

" Sometimes its easier living the lie." As I said this I got up and walked a few feet before turning back to her, crossing my arms across my chest for warmth, and maybe for another reason. Maybe to hold myself together.

"You're cold. You're cold, Annabelle. How did you become so cold? You are still lost in the forest. But lonely, lost girls like us can rescue themselves. You are standing on the edge of greatness."

Thinking about that forest made my heart race. And not in a good way. Sweat collected on the back of my neck, and my breathing became strained. Closing my eyes, I steadied my breathing and spoke.

" And what kind of greatness is that?" I mumbled, my arms still folded tightly around my chest.

" That's the beauty of it Belle! Only you will know what it is exactly. And once you find it out, you will have finally rescued yourself."

Feeling a bit better, I walked back over to where Snow White was sitting, and sat down myself. We sat there for a few moments as I tried to think of something to say. This led me to think of the story of Snow White.

" Snow White, Can I ask you something?" she smiled and nodded.

" Well, I was just curious as to why you opened the door to your evil step mother? Wasn't it obvi-" she cut me off before I could finish my question.

"Why did I let her in? Didn't I know she was bad? I did. Of course I did. But I also knew that I couldn't keep the door closed all my life just because it was dangerous. Just because there was a chance that I might get hurt."

I thought about that for a minute before I grabbed her hands and spoke.

" But what does any of this have to do with me?"

" Annabelle, have a look into your past, and just think. Everything that you have done. Both good and bad. Then look at everyone you have ever loved. It's a pretty small list isn't it?" Her voice held a hint of desperation that unnerved me more than anything else had up until this point.

" Do not cling to what you know. Do not think. Become. Embrace the darkness." Those were her last words as she slowly faded away into nothingness.

It was then that I was left all alone, with a message I didn't fully understand as I too, slowly faded into nothingness.

* * * * *

Dim light.

Dim light and soft chattering.

That's what I awoke to after my fairytale nightmare.

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There is chapter 10! I Hope it tickles your fancy lol. Sorry not much Joker in this one, but i will make up for that next chapter. :]

WEll it is now 2am so i should head off to bedd. Night. Or Morning. Afternoon? Whichever it is. lol

OHH and REVIEW MY LITTLE CHERUBSS