When I awoke, I was still inside the bus with the madman still driving. I yawned and then stretched.
"Ah, you're finally awake. I was getting tired of talking to myself." the man laughed.
I didn't respond. I didn't want to talk to him. I wasn't understanding what he wanted with me. Why did he force me to go with him?
"Now, Bree. It's not nice to ignore people. Where are your manners?" he chuckled.
Whenever I didn't respond again, I noticed him glaring at me from the mirror.
"It would be wise for you to answer me when I speak to you. If you know what's good for you, you will." he said with a serious tone in his voice.
I knew that I had to give in.
"Fine. What is it that you want to know?" I asked.
"Just talk to me. Keep me entertained."
I couldn't think of anything to say.
"What do I call you?" I finally asked.
He laughed at my question. I noticed that he laughed a lot.
"People call me The Joker." he replied.
I was silent again. I felt his eyes on me, waiting for me to speak again.
"Why did you take me hostage?" I asked, looking up into the mirror, watching his facial expression.
He shrugged. "I couldn't leave a beauty like you behind, now could I?" He chuckled.
"I'm being serious." I replied.
"So am I." He said.
Before I could say anything else, he cut me off.
"The truth is, you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Or the right time for me." The Joker grinned.
"What was a pretty little thing like you doing at a mob bank anyway? Hmmm?"
"Mob bank?" I asked confused.
The Joker nodded.
"I- I never knew that it was a mob bank... It wasn't my bank."
The Joker didn't respond. He just continued to drive.
I stared out the window, watching as the Joker took me farther away from everything I was familiar with and everyone I loved.
The bus finally came to a stop. "Let's go, little bunny." he grinned, grabbing a handful of my hair in one of his hands and holding his knife to my throat with the other, leading me in the direction he wanted me to go.
As we exited the bus, I noticed that we were in a parking garage. There was only one other vehicle in the parking garage, a white van.
As we approached the vehicle, the back door flew open and several men were in the back and front of the van.
The men in the back of the van ran back to the bus and carried back the money that the Joker had stole from the bank. When they were done, the Joker made sure that all of the bags were there.
"Make room, we have a guest." The Joker ordered.
The men got all the way back in the van, leaving me and the Joker in the middle.
The Joker closed the door, then ordered the driver to drive.
We were back on the road, the van was quiet, but I could still feel all sets of eyes locked on me. Especially the Joker's.
I directed my attention to the front of the van, watching everything closely through the windshield. I continued doing this until my vision went black. I gasped as I felt the Joker tie a blindfold over my eyes.
I felt the van come to a stop, I waited for the blindfold to be removed from my eyes, I knew that I only had very limited amount of time to take note of my surroundings.
I heard the door of the van open up. A few seconds went by, but the blindfold wasn't removed. I was forced to my feet and helped out of the van and lead to wherever he was taking me. I restrained myself from screaming to the top of my lungs. The thought of what he would do to me terrified me.
I heard the sound of a door opening, I was pushed inside and turned around. The blindfold was removed from my eyes allowing me to view my whereabouts.
I looked around in awe. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. I expected to be held in an old warehouse, or perhaps locked in a cellar or a basement. His hideout was a breathtaking mansion. He was insanely smart, nobody would ever think to find him and his men in a place like this.
For a split second, I had completely forgotten that I was captured and was now was being held as a hostage. But once my eyes found the Joker, everything came flooding back to me.
I glared out one of the windows, but was only able to see trees. It was night now, we did a lot of driving.
Suddenly, I felt him grab a handful of my hair again and press his knife against my neck.
"Walk." he ordered.
Once again, he lead me where he wanted me to go. I was forced upstairs into a master bedroom. He shut the door behind him and locked it, then shoved me to the bed.
My heart began to race uncontrollably. I was scared to know what he was going to do.
He walked towards the bed and sat at the end of it.
"Here are the rules, little bunny." he spoke softly. "You don't try to escape while I'm asleep, you don't get up while I'm asleep. If you need to get up, you have to ask permission. Understand?" he asked, staring at me.
I nodded. I didn't want to upset him.
"Now, if you break any of these rules... Well, let's just say that things will not end too nicely for you." he laughed at the thought of his words.
I stared at him in horror. That's all I could do.
He stood up and walked over to the other side of the bed and climbed into it. He turned off the lamp and then covered us both up.
I felt him pull me closer to him and he wrapped his arms tightly around my body. He would be assured that I couldn't leave.
His embrace was so tight that I was uncomfortable and struggling for breath.
"Sh. Sh. to sleep, little bunny. We have a busy day tomorrow." he said, loosening his grip just a little.
I lay ther in the dark silently. I suddenly heard the loud crashing sound of thunder followed by the downpour of rain. The darkness of the room was lit up occasionally by the flashes of lightning coming from the wicked storm that was taking place outside.
Normally, I loved thunderstorms... But in this case, I was terrified, absolutely terrified.
I tried so hard to fall asleep, but it was hard to let myself relax and fall into my slumber. With the sounds of the violent storm mixed with the sound of the Joker's breathing and tight grip around me, I couldn't let myself go. I didn't want to let my guard down in a way.
My eyes began getting heavy, it was clear to me that there was no way that I was having any nightmares tonight, there was nothing that could compare to the nightmare that was already lying right beside me.