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Chapter 16

Water pools into my cell as the unrelenting storm rages outside. I am pacing now, my hair and body now damp from the moisture dripping from the ceiling. The rats have formed a line against the opposite wall of their homes.

I gasp as another loud boom jars my teeth. It is followed by a low, guttural chuckle from the hallway.

I stomp towards the bars.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, SHUT-UP!" I scream.

"Why does everyone in this God-forsaken city play DRESS UP?" I shout as I pull my hair and kick the door.

"Ow…" I exasperate while looking up.

The water in my cell is slowly creeping closer, invading what small space I already have. I sit down and sigh as I stretch my legs out as the water gently laps the heels of my feet.

A pit forms in my stomach as I curl my lips in sardonic glee. I press my face against the bars of my window and shout.

"Your make-up isn't running is it?"

Several sloshing footsteps come into earshot as I hum to myself.

"Time for therapy." I whisper.

The footsteps stop at The Joker's cell. I hear Doctor Crane smoothly call orders to his four men.

"I want him out." Crane is curt.

I watch as the two orderlies escort The Joker down the hallway.

A sting of disappointment jabs me.

Crane glances in my direction.

Something in his eyes…

He approaches my cell door. Two orderlies flank him.

Crane steps closer to the bars of my cell. He peers in at the water, now pooling half-way up my feet. His eyes flick back to my shivering form.

"Feeling well?" He asks.

"Let down, actually."

"Oh?" His head cocks to the side, dark bangs bob ever so slightly as if they too, were curious.

I sit down in front of the door so he can't see me. The bottoms of my sweats now soaked as the loose cotton gulps the murky water.

My cell door hiccups then burps out Crane and his orderlies.

"Aw, it's the pantywaist."

"Is that what you call me?" He asks.

I give a loose smile.

Crane crouches down in front of me. I watch as the water dares to touch expensive shoes.

"Progress." He whispers.

I backhand water it into his face.

He closes his eyes and purses his thick lips as the water shimmers his face, dotting his glasses like pearls. His eyes open and I can't help but avert my eyes. I look down, my gaze following the swaying water around me.

He smiles at me.

"Leave." Crane orders his men.

They slosh and crush skeletons beneath their feet.

I reflect the notion of a watery grave.

Touch.

Reality.

Warm hands are placed on either side of my face. His fingertips dry ice.

I shiver and suppress the urge to vomit.

"Why do you fight me?" He demands.

"Subordination is overrated."

The dripping moisture from the ceiling is loud now when it drops onto the water. It's hollow echo makes the cell feel even more suffocative. I imagine white knuckles tapping against an empty plank. Slick and haughty they question me with their melodic accusations. I watch the reflections in the water, watch it skim over Crane's face. Watch it flicker.

"Careful." He shakes me gently with warning.

"Your threats have already reached capacity." I try to shrug him off.

"Not so." He is calm as he eagerly strokes the sides of my face.

"You fascinate me." He responds.

It is so sudden.

I scrunch my brows.

Is this perhaps, a glimmer of vulnerability?

My hope blooms.

"You disgust me." I am inundated with shivers.

"Cold?" Crane asks.

"Nah, It's fuckin' warm in here."

He squeezes the back of my neck. "Don't lie."

"You going to make a move or is this death-by-pressing?" I spit.

The reflections flicker then dim.

"I think you need this." A powder hits my face and immediately I am sent writhing. I roll away from Crane's grasp. I see his figure standing over me and in my peripheral, he is laughing. I am crying. Hysterically grabbing my face and ripping at my clothes. I'm so cold.

"Cold is gone! No cold…gone! Oh, God, it's gone!" I gasp with the full energy of my body. " My lungs, I CAN'T FEEL THEM!" I scream and choke on water. Splashing wildly until I corner myself into the wall. I can't feel, I can't feel, I can't feel…"

I look up at Crane.

"Why…?" I see Scarecrow. I leap at him. "MAKE-ME-FEEL…!" I scream.

A firm hand covers my face and pushes me hard as to sit me down. I hit with a splash, elbows bruised and throbbing deep into the marrow.

"QUIET!" The voice booms.

"…joker…" I whisper dangerously.

The figure stands directly over me.

"What did you say?" I'm hoisted upwards.

" WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU JUST SAY?" He booms. I shake at his volume.

"I AM SCARECROW!" A hand slaps me hard across the face, fracturing my jaw.

Strong hands wrap around my throat and squeeze as to kill me. My lungs begin to burn.

I writhe and croak.

"I CAN FEEL THEM!" I put my hands over his and help him squeeze. His hands retract immediately. I hear him scream in frustration as he moves away from me. I watch my cell rotate as he thrashes and screams before me.

I cock my head to the side as I carefully dissect the situation in a cloud of burning stupor.

"Feel? FEEL? I WILL MAKE YOU FEEL!" He booms as he pulls me up and slams me against the wall. My body tense I hear my arm crack as I hit the rough surface.

Allowing no room for recovery the Scarecrow growls ferociously and clutches the front of my shirt, shaking me.

"I-AM-SCARECROW! SAY IT! SAY IT!" He's lost complete control.

"NO!" I scream back!

"You will!" He grumbles as I'm hit with another spray of toxin.

I thrash wildly underneath him. My world is gone. My vision a whirl, I can't see anything. My hearing is muffled as I don't really understand what's going on. All I know is that Scarecrow is losing his grip on me. My mind is gone but it is not in his possession.

That is all that matters to me.

"SAY IT!" He roars.

I shake my head.

I feel him reach for my waist.

I pull his hands closer only to feel him withdrawal. I try to pull him back, my wrists popping and crackling. He pushes me down, my ears drone underneath the water.

"No." He murmurs then quickly flips me onto my stomach. I catch a mouthful of water. I start choking and gasping for air. He holds me under for a good thirty seconds. He brings my head back up and I gasp with everything that I have and choke.

"Progress." I squeak between coughs.

"SHUT UP!" He bellows and holds me under again…only longer. He brings me back up.

"SAY IT!"

Dunk.

"NOW!"

"Crane."

He stops.

My chest aches with each laboring heartbeat. He places a hand over my chest and stares at me.

"I will not save you this time." He is calm again.

I kiss his hand.

"NOW SAY IT!" His eyes black, unrecognizable. I have pulled the devil from him. I close my eyes. A blow to the side of my head, they rock open. I feel my face instantly bruise. My heart burns.

"I NEED YOU TO SAY IT!" He voice cracks as he rips off the mask. My heart breaks.

Need.

I am winning.

I continue to choke on water.

It tastes metallic…blood.

He pulls me up and smothers me. His tears warm on my face.

I can't speak, too much pressure rushing to my throat. I can't feel my arms.

"Why won't you say it?" He cries as he strokes my stringy wet hair, burying his face into the side of my neck.

My breaths are short and ragged. My heart swells with something else now…realization. I convulse.

I am dying.

Crane's cries break between hysteric sobs as he roughly combs the back of my head.

"Say it, please…I'm begging…" His voice escapes.

I feel it, that spark. I feel something die.

I look into his eyes. They are horrified as I sputter and choke on clots of my own blood. I smile and spurt.

"I owe you nothing."

Darkness.