CHAPTER 13

A few days have gone by, and not a single scratch. I was lucky. Very lucky. Things seemed so different too. Every day I'd wake up, and instead of feeling sorrow, or home sick. I felt like this was where I was suppose to be. It was strange, but that's what I was. I was strange. Like last night. I woke up sometime during the early morning and everything was still dark. And the Joker was laying with me and he was awake. I hadn't said anything to him. He was watching me and like I was suddenly possessed, I leaned into him, letting him hold me while I fell asleep again.

And I know that isn't right.

I heard voices in my room. I opened my eyes and saw Alexa on a cell phone. "Only 360 more days!" She squealed into the receiver. I'm guessing its Charity. "I know, but I can't-" And her face suddenly went blank. "No Charity! Don't you even dare put him on the phone!…. Don't!" and then she shut the phone. I sat up in bed, "What was that about?" I asked. "Nothing!" she hissed, "Stop eavesdropping." I knew anyways. Charity wanted her to talk to Mikey. It only made sense. The door slowly opened, and the Joker walked in. With a blank expression of course. Only he was very different. He wasn't wearing any make up. At all. But he still wore the same purple suit. And the look on Alexa's face was priceless. She was jaw-dropped at the sight of him. Not that he was too bad to look at, but he looked so incredibly different without his make up on. He looked human. Even if that seems unbelievable.

"Jo….. Boss, what's…" Poor Alexa couldn't even finish a sentence. What was wrong with her? "What's going on?" I asked. Way too calmly, it freaked me out. The Joker eyed me and then the phone in Alexa's hand. "You're getting a little rusty, Emma," The Joker said, a smile spreading across his face. But without the make-up, I couldn't really tell what he had in mind. "Alexa darling, I need to user your phone," Alexa's not weak? What a joke! She melted when he looked over at her and she passed him her phone. "Now leave!" He shouted. And she pleasantly skipped out the door. How can the Joker have such control over her. I sighed, the Joker was still his self. He began to dial a number.

"Who are you calling?" I asked. There was a weakness in my voice. And I sniffed. Oh crap, I think I'm catching a cold. I cleared my throat. "Just an old friend," He answered, walking away from the door and over to the wall. His voice was sinister and it took me a moment to think of 'an old friend.' And I instantly panicked when I thought of Ally. "Hello," he said into the receiver. Oh crap. "Is Ally there?" He asked. "No!" I screamed. "No, leave her alone!" I was now upright in bed. The sudden movement gave me a rush, and I began to get dizzy. I was definitely sick. I took a deep breath. The Joker put a hand over the phone, "Shhh, Emma. I'm on the phone," He laughed. "Please, leave her alone." I begged. I felt the warmth of tears flood behind my eyes.

I got out of bed. "Hello Ally," he said into the phone. "I have something you might want." He laughed and I stood in front of him. "Hold on a sec," He covered the phone again and looked at me, "Did you want to say something?" My eyes narrowed at him. "You have everything you could want, leave the rest of my family out of this!" I screeched. My voice was hoarse. And the Joker turned smug at the sound me. "What disease did you catch now Emma?" I scowled at him, but while he was busy taunting me, I snatched the phone from his hand and put it up to my ear. "Ally, I-" But there was only a dial tone. I shut the phone in frustration, and then, slammed it to the floor.

"You are so annoying!" I screamed. But screaming is not a good thing. From a loss of breath, I stumbled to the side, catching the wall. What a great time to be sick. "What are you doing?" The Joker said, walking over to me. I turned around and leaned up against the wall. "Nothing," I snapped. He narrowed his eyes, looking at me. "You're sick," he said. "So are you!" I laughed.

His eyebrows lifted, but he turned away from me. He was walking over to the door. Probably going to leave, which was fine with me. But I'm one to speak before I think. "Why aren't you wearing make up?" I asked. He stood in place, not facing me. "Because of you Emma," He said. What did that mean? "What?" I asked. He turned around and looked at me. There was a softness in his face I'd only seen once before. That night when he was sleeping…. "You're making me human, Emma. You're making me weak." I laughed. He was joking right. This was a joke and I laughed. "Laugh all you want, but it still remains the truth." he said.
"What remains the truth?" I asked. He walked over to me now. And I stepped back. Taken off guard at how fast he moves. His hand wrapped softly around my neck. And he leaned in close, our foreheads touched. "That we're madly in love with each other!" He smiled. "I do not-" I began, but his grip on my neck became suddenly tight. "Don't lie Emma. I hate liars!" The he let go and walked away from me.

But for some messed up reason, I was not finished. I followed him out of the door. "It's impossible!" I shouted, I walked behind him, his hands were in his pockets. "You'd think it was," he said, "With you being so beautiful, and me being so ugly." What's inside us is what he meant. Because I wasn't completely beautiful, and he wasn't completely ugly. He reached the end of the hall and opened the door leading to the staircase. With me, right behind him. "That doesn't make sense, "I said. "It doesn't have to," he commented. "I can't love you!" I said back. He stopped, his hand on the rail. "And why not Emma?" He questioned. But I had no explanation. "Because…." I said. "Why Emma? Because I'm demented? I murder innocent people?" He said.

"Yeah…." I said. But I was too quiet. I couldn't convince myself that that was the reason. "You're lying," he said. "Because you hurt me!" I screamed back. He turned around now, his expression furious. His hands landed hard on my shoulders. "What do you mean?" I laughed, appalled at the fact that he didn't know. "I don't know, maybe it's because you tormented me. Abused me. Killed my best friend. Left me with scars… I could go on." I said. He stared blankly at me for a second, "You know what Emma? That's a good reason not to love me. But after all of that, you still do." His words felt like knives. He was so true. And I stood in the staircase, while he turned around and headed down them.

I coughed and grabbed my throat. Ouch. "Wait a minute!" I shouted, hoarsely. I ran down the stairs as carefully as I could. He was a fast stair stepper. I went down about two and a half stories, nearly running straight into the Joker who, to my surprise, was waiting. "What?" He hissed, his black eyes locking with my golden ones. "Where are you going?" I asked. I felt completely dumb, knowing I raced down here without an exact reason. The Joker's expression scrunched with confusion, "Why do you want to know?" And then something washed over him and he smiled, "Would you like to come?" He asked. I shook my head viciously, "No I would not."

And we both just stood there in silence. I turned around and slowly began to walk back up stairs. But a hand stopped me. He grabbed my shoulder and pulled, forcing me to fall backwards and nearly fall. I turned around. "What!" I yelled. He smiled viciously at me, but it didn't have the same effect as when his face was covered in make up. And I wonder why that was. "I have an idea!" He said, closing his had around my wrist and leading me downstairs the rest of the way. We ended up in front of the garage door like always. He opened it, and led me inside. To my surprise, it wasn't empty.

There was at least half a dozen people in here. Including a few of the Joker's henchmen that I recognized and Alexa. The others, I have never seen before. They were mostly guys, only one other person was a girl and even she didn't fit the 'feminine' category. Alexa looked to me in surprise, but her eyes lingered on the Joker. Everyone seemed a bit surprised by the Joker's appearance. Without his make up, I couldn't even think of him as 'the Joker.' The murmuring had stopped when we entered the garage. Something was going to happen tonight, and I wasn't quite sure my little body could take it right now. And my nose tickled. I sneezed. All eyes were on me and I felt myself blush. My eyes were really watery. Damn allergies. And then I heard the Joker laugh.

"Everyone, meet Emeralda," he said, motioning to me with a purple glove. He was doing this on purpose. I hate being the center of attention. A lot of ugly faces looked towards me. They were smug and uninviting. And they turned to disgust when I sneezed for the second time. I let out a groan, I could chug some cough medicine right about now. I pinched the bridge of my nose, which was aching from that last sneeze. The Joker walked backwards until we were in line with each other, and then he grabbed my hand, my right hand, and lifted it. Another wave of embarrassment came over me as I watched the disgusted faces eye our intertwined fingers. The Joker laughed, and lowered our hands. What was he doing? I eyed him suspiciously, and he eyed me back. And then, he looked back to the line of people in front of him. "This'll be fun," He whispered. Only so my ears could hear. "Alright, let's have some fun!" He shouted. Everyone's spirits were lifted at this. And they began piling into another van I didn't recognize. And me, the Joker, Alexa, and two other guys went in the Joker's van.

I sat in the very back, next to Alexa. The Joker drove. "Where are we going? What are we doing?" I whispered frantically over to Alexa. She smiled sweetly but stared straight ahead. She was in some kind of a trance. I looked behind me and saw the other van following close behind us. "What's going on!" I whispered a little more fiercely. Alexa gave me a smug look "Shut the hell up! You are so annoying!" She hissed. "Then answer my question!" I hissed back. "Just a little rendezvous," she said nonchalantly. "What…" My voice trailed off and I cleared my throat. My eyes were becoming very itchy. I sniffed, and was sure I couldn't smell. Then Alexa turned to me again, "Are you sick?" she asked. And she sounded a little concerned. "Yes," I replied. She scooted away from me. "You're diseased?" She asked, a little too loud. Some guy in front of us turned around and looked back at me. "No, Alexa. I'm sick. It's just a cold." I said. Her face grew a little less disgusted.

I turned and faced the window. Watching city buildings and small trees pass by. How in the world could we drive by unseen. I was sure the cops and general public knew the Joker's van when they saw it. Plus, there's another van right behind us. But I didn't hear any sirens. Or screams. And finally, I seen a tall building come into sight. It was so close to the river's edge. By now, my head had dropped with weakness. And I was in no condition to go climbing up 27 stories.

Which is exactly what we were going to do. The others all went ahead of us. It was still early morning and I was guessing the building wasn't open yet. "You want me to climb 27 stories?" I asked. The Joker looked down at me. "That's what I said." I shook my head. "I can barely walk as it is." But the Joker placed a hand on my back and shoved me ahead of him. "A little exercise won't hurt," He said, laughing as he pushed me inside the tall dead building. I heard the sound of footsteps rushing but saw no sign of people what so ever. "27 stories?" I questioned, "Why can't I take the elevator?" I whined. My body ached already and I haven't even started. The Joker laughed but grabbed my wrist. "Because you can't!" He dragged me to the fire escape door, which led to the 27 stories of stairs we were about to walk up.

I sighed and looked up. It was a never-ending spiral of stairs. The Joker still held my wrist and his view followed mine. "Yes, Emma. All the way up there," He chuckled and began to drag me up the first set of stairs. This was going to be bad for me.

A whole 27 stories climbed and I was out of breath. I sat on the top stair and held on to the railing. We weren't just on the top floor, we were on the roof. "Why…. are… we….. here…..?" I asked, between hard intakes of air. The Joker laughed, he was fine. Of course he was. "We're getting money or at least, they are. We have the fun part." He looked down at me. Right now I wouldn't blame him for thinking I'm pathetic. I was really out of shape. But he reached out his hand. I eyed him, but cautiously took his hand and he lifted me from the ground. It was even harder to catch my breath when I was coughing every five seconds. "What's….. what's the fun part?" I asked. The Joker sill held on to my hand but with his other, he pulled out a small black object. On it, was a small red button. "This is!" he said, eyeing the object. " Me and you are going to level this place." He laughed. I sighed. At least no one was going to get hurt.

He dragged me out the top door and I was hit with cold air. It was very breezy being up this high. But very refreshing. And why did I see such beautiful sights with such a psychotic man? I have no idea. But the overlook was amazing. I could see the river, shimmering in the new day's light. And I could see few lights in homes. The reflection in the water was just as amazing. It reflected the sky's yellow and pink tint. It was very breathtaking. I sucked in a huge breath of air, and found myself coughing. The Joker turned around and stared at me. "You should get that checked out," he said, jokingly.

"Why did we come all the way up here if we're just going to blow it up?" I asked. The Joker stood and looked out at the view. I couldn't help but stare at him. It was so different looking at him without his make up on. He seemed like a totally different person. But I was 100% sure he was the same person. "Because Emma, I have to set the bomb." I looked over and froze at the sight of a huge black box strapped down to the building. I never actually seen a real bomb right in front of me. It was quite shocking. The Joker turned around and walked over to the bomb. He kneeled beside it and pressed a few buttons. I looked out at the river again. If only I had my camera with me right now. I loved taking pictures. Especially in high school. It was my true passion. Not psychology. Psychology was just a way for me to learn how to control everything. Which is impossible. I can't even control the way I feel. The Joker stood up, and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Well, it's time for the fireworks!" He yelled, laughing. I shivered. It's not quite the firework show I was hoping for. "We should go," He said. Finally turning around to face me. This wind was going to make my sickness worse. I shivered some more. My teeth chattering. And then I sniffed. Ugh. I wasn't ready to walk down all 27 stories again. "Come on," The Joker whined. He was already back inside the building. But before I went, I took a picture. Not literally, but figuratively. With my mind. The river was absolutely beautiful. And then I headed inside. Where at least the wind stopped blowing. And looked around. The Joker was gone. I hurriedly ran down the first two flight of stairs. Until I made it two floor 25, where the building actually ended. And, once again, I just about ran into the Joker. "You're quick," He said, nodding his head. And then he turned around and opened the door to the 25th floor. I was a bit confused. But I followed in after him. He waited and to my pleasant surprise, an elevator door opened. "Thank God," I huffed, slowly walking into the elevator. "Oh your welcome, " the Joker chimed. He laughed and then shut the elevator doors.

I could've fallen asleep standing up I was so weak. And I was very happy about the elevator ride down. It took a mere minute before we were on ground level. And then we stepped out. "What is this place anyways?" I asked, walking behind the Joker. "It's a money maker," he said. "What?" He laughed. "I'm not sure myself. All I know is there are millions of dollars in these walls." That's when I noticed the bags of money being loaded into the Joker's van by his two henchmen. But where was everyone else? We walked out, greeted by the icy wind. "Joe, my friend. How much?" asked the Joker. The man dressed in all grey with short curly hair and a hefty figure answered, "A couple million. At least." He laughed and the Joker joined him. Then he turned around and looked at me. "Get in cupcake. You don't want to be around when this place comes down." Which was only very true. The place was 27 stories high. And so I got in the back seat, like before.

We drove only about a mile before stopping. And then everyone began coming out of the van. There were about four people total. And I recognized them all to be the Joker's henchmen. The Joker pulled out the detonator and held it up in his hand. "Emma, I want you up here for this," he said. I blushed as the others turned around to look at me. And then I moved up to the front of the van and stood next to him. He grabbed my right hand with his left hand, like always. Always since he scarred us both. He laughed. And I realized something wasn't quite right. And it wasn't until I heard the loud explosion and saw the mushroom cloud of smoke rise to the sky did I realize what was so wrong. The other van hadn't followed us back. The Joker laughed and his henchmen joined him.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked. Shivering because of the cold and for other reasons too. "I guess they didn't make it out in time!" he laughed. I froze. That means… I looked around me frantically. And then freed myself from the Joker's grip and ran to look inside the van. No one. I rechecked the faces standing around outside. No, no, no. The Joker looked at me like I was a freak, "What are you doing?" He yelled. I stood frozen and looked at him. "Tell me Alexa made it out," I said. But the Joker turned away from me. "Is she here?" He asked. His voice sinister. "No…" And I didn't need an answer.

Alexa didn't make it out.

And everything, just like that, turned upside down. And I was afraid again. And I was weak. I couldn't move. And I felt someone lift me back into the van. Alexa was in there. She didn't come out. She died. Alexa who never met her son. Alexa who was so messed up by the Joker. She's dead, And she saved me. She really did. She gave me s second chance at a normal life. And I just came running back. I wonder how she felt about that. And poor, poor Charity. She'll never know until she calls. Or visits. Which is a year from now. And will she be able to look at Mikey? Or will it be too hard? Just like it was for her mother.

Alexa. My Alexa. My newest friend. Dead, burned to an ash. I now felt a new burn of hatred for the Joker. He won't stop destroying the things I love most. Even if he doesn't know he's doing it. I am so broken.