CHAPTER 24
"That-that…" Was Ally?
But what was she doing here?
She left…. Right?
We look nothing alike!
If someone was trying to get me… well they f'd up big time.
Ally…
I didn't notice when the Joker actually left the room. I was just laying there, still as stone, and taking in what just happened. Somebody, who wants what the Joker owes, kidnapped my sister, thinking I was her. Now, because of me, because I've slept with the man who made me hate the world, my sister's life is in jeopardy.
And he doesn't give a damn. At all.
And like that something snapped in me.
I looked around the room, for something, for anything. And as if God answered my prayers, or maybe the devil himself did, I saw a gun laying on the old desk in the room. It was silver and shiny; a prized possession. Feeling that somewhere inside me I was still Emma, I got enough self-respect together to throw on an over-sized t-shirt. Well, it'll do. Then I grabbed the pistol and left.
I slammed the door behind me and headed to the stairs.
I ran down them.
Really fast.
I opened the metal door to the garage and entered.
There were voices, I didn't care whose. I just knew that one of them was the Joker's.
He was across the room, talking to three of his men.
"Uh, boss…." said one of the guys. I realized now that I didn't recognize him. Or the other two. Why was he always getting rid of people?
The Joker turned around and eyed me. A smile spread across his face.
"You are going to fix this," I said.
He looked at me, his smile faded, and then he eyed the pistol in my hand, and it reappeared.
"Control your bitch, J," said a guy, shorter than myself, with way less hair.
I pointed the gun at him, "My name is EMMA!" I shouted, and pulled the trigger.
I froze; everyone did. Except for whatshisname, who was wailing and screaming on the floor. Thank goodness, I didn't kill him.
Never thought I'd be thinking that.
The Joker turned back to the mess I just made.
"Are you going to fix THAT, Emma?"
I didn't say a word.
"Get him out of here, both of you."
The two men nodded their heads and dragged the injured one away.
Once they left, silence filled the distance between the Joker and me.
He turned around to me, "Fix what, cupcake?"
My voice cracked, "Ally. You know what she means to me."
"Nothing?"
That hit me hard.
"Why would you say that?" I said, lowering my arm.
"Have I not broken you enough, my pet?"
I looked away, my sudden ferocity was replaced with tears. And lots of them. I shook my head. This wasn't happening. I cannot believe I had gone so wrong.
I raised the gun again, "Damn it! You are going to fix this. You have to save my sister."
"Or what, Emma? You'll shoot?"
The Joker lifted his arms, walking closer to me.
"Then do it, Emma. Shoot me."
He placed the tip of the gun on his forehead.
"Pull the damn trigger."
I shook my head and lowered the gun. This was too much.
I love my sister. She can't go…
I lifted the gun to my own head, and that changed everything.
"Emma…." he said seriously. "That won't save Ally."
"No," I began, "But then I won't give a damn, will I?"
The Joker hesitated and then shortly realized this wasn't a game anymore.
This is what I've come to.
"Emma, through all we've been through? You'd really do this to me?"
"DO THIS TO YOU? LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!"
The Joker sighed, "What am I without my angel?"
"You can't be anything less," I said.
"I'd be dead."
My hand was shaky and I could feel my heartbeat racing. The Joker slowly lifted his hand to the gun that was still glued to the side of my head. Then, he lowered it. My hand followed and soon the gun was at my side. I sighed…
I felt horrible for having this gun. But Ally meant the world to me. He was right though, this wouldn't save her.
I lightly placed it on the ground. Tears streamed my face. The Joker walked over to me and wiped them away. His arms wrapped around me. And although I was fighting right and wrong, light and dark, I remained neutral for now. How many people have somebody to embrace them?
"Whatever you want, Emma, I will give you," he said.
"I want my sister safe," I said back.
It was a moment before he said anything.
Then he laughed and pulled away.
Then he kissed me. Hard.
Then he stopped smiling…
He just stared at me."
"Looks like someone's gonna die tonight!"
He burst into a fit of laughter and the sound of it was completely demonic. All I could think was, 'What have I gotten myself into?'
We arrived at some huge towering skyscraper. Probably a place of business, definitely a place of power. The plan was, meet on the 30th floor, like we were told to do. Except we were arriving a bit early. We all had suitcases. Why in the world the Joker had this many suitcases, I had no idea. This didn't look believable, but sure enough, all $100,000 were there.
We exited the van and entered through a back entrance. The Joker went ahead of me and I followed behind. We stopped short in a long hallway. It was eerily quiet for a….. What day is it anyway? One of the Joker's henchmen went through the two, large swing doors and all was quiet momentarily. The Joker looked at me and I looked at him. This had to work. We were sneaking onto private premises, and this 'Frost' guy was more rich and more powerful than anyone in Gotham. I looked at my newly assigned wristwatch. It was approximately 5:35am. We were supposed to meet at 5 this evening, however, we had better ideas.
Finally, the henchmen came back. I couldn't tell who was who, for they all were dressed in black and wearing their trademark clown masks.
He nodded at the Joker, "All clear. The scumbag must haf no brains. No watchouts, nuttin down here."
The Joker smiled, this was exactly what he hoped for. To sneak up on the bastard and at this time of day, no one was around.
When we walked through the swing doors, we entered the main lobby. No one was behind the front desk. The lights were all off.
A sign on the front desk clarified some of my confusion. This place doesn't open on Sundays until 9am.
It's Sunday.
I used to go to church with my family on Sundays.
Oh, I'd like to confess to a few things right about now.
We hurried past the front, paying most attention to the placement of cameras. Was this guy so foolish as to not have cameras everywhere? Did he really think everyone thought of him as a threat?
We reached the elevator and pressed the up button.
Waiting, we were all on pins and needles, not exactly paying attention to the fact that the elevator wasn't coming.
I sighed, quite loudly, everyone looked at me.
"The elevator isn't coming," I said.
Then came a chorus of grumpy sighs from the clown masks. I thought this was kinda funny.
"Well, boys, girl, looks like we'll have to walk," he said, turning his back on all of us.
30 floors of Hell! I don't know how many steps that is, but it sure is a lot. Too many, if you ask me. By the time we reached the top, I was ready to fall to my knees. But seeing as everyone else was fine but winded, I sucked it up.
"What room?" asked one of the henchmen
The Joker went through the doors to the main hallway of floor 30. We followed.
"What room, boss?" he asked again.
The Joker didn't answer, he just surveyed the hallway. Lined with doors, like you'd see in a hotel. He stroked his chin as he thought, and this natural action made me feel odd.
Everyone stood silently in the hallway. I was afraid that any minute someone might walk in on us. That we'd be shot. Killed. We had the money here, which was a you-know-what to haul up 30 floors. I wanted my sister back. I didn't want this to be all for nothing.
"Please," I began, in a voice barely over a whisper, "Can we just get this over with?"
The Joker turned around at my voice.
"Don't you get it?" he asked, keeping his voice down as well, "Don't you understand what he wants?"
I gave him a confused look. He wants his money you took from him, was what I wanted to say.
The henchmen seemed to all just disappear. They were not here.
"He wants me dead, he wants you dead, then he wants his damn money," he finished for me. His voice had changed, and it was a tone I had never heard before.
Then he snapped out of it.
"You," He pointed to the guy on my left, "Go to the end of this hall."
The man nodded his head and slowly made his way down the hallway.
"You," he pointed to the guy closest to me, "Arm the staircase."
Then he nodded at me and I followed him down the hallway.
"Wh-what about me, boss?" said the last guy.
The Joker continued walking, "Go get me some candy."
The henchmen laughed and the Joker turned around.
"No, I'm serious."
He stopped laughing.
I rolled my eyes. Whatever.
We walked about midway down the hall before the Joker stopped. He placed his hand on the doorknob of room 3012.
But he didn't open it just yet.
"This is his room," he said.
I didn't have to ask.
"We use to work together. Boy is he one greedy bastard."
"You two worked together?"
"In a way, yes. I did low-key business for him. He didn't know who I was."
I nodded my head.
"Which is why you keep your enemies close, Emma."
With that, he opened the door.
The first room was all dark. I realized that this building must be big. Because this wasn't just a room, it was a condominium. And the living room was empty. It looked like a place that was probably never used. We entered the room and the Joker sat on one of the couches. It was leather, fully expensive. Unless this guy went bankrupt, I couldn't see why he would want more money.
I stood there looking at the Joker.
He looked at me, then patted the seat next to him.
I furrowed my brows.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"I should ask you the same," he whispered back.
He reclined, putting his hands behind his head and shutting his eyes.
Okay, this was pissing me off. I thought we were here to save my sister. What was he doing?
He opened one eye and looked at me. I sighed.
He smiled and sat up.
"Damn, Emma," he began. "We can't shoot him in his sleep."
"Why not?" I asked.
He laughed, "Do you know which room your sister is in?"
True.
"Then wake him up."
He laughed again and shook his head.
"He always locks his door."
This was totally frustrating.
"What the hell! Blow the damn door off and go confront him!"
The Joker looked away from me.
"You know what was odd about my dear pal, Frost?" He began. "He didn't like being so weak."
Who does?
I sighed, quite loudly, as to show off my frustration.
He smiled at this. Of course he would.
"My point is, the moment we burst through his door, we're dead."
I eyed the floor.
"So what, we just wait for him to wake up?"
The Joker nodded his head.
"So why the hell did we get here so early?"
"The early bird always gets the worm, Emma."
~~~Meanwhile~~~~
Kara shook her head. She was so tired. She hadn't gotten any sleep. No, because Frost trusted her the most, she had to babysit his victim.
"Kara, hun, it's this one night. Stay up for me babe, do what you can to make sure she stays quiet." Frost said. Kara was crying her eyes out. Frost lifted her chin.
"Once we have our money, we're gone," he said.
Kara nodded her head. She could hear the truth in his words and see the truth in his eyes. That's what he wanted. To get his money and to leave the country with Kara.
"But this is wrong," she began. "She's not a thing."
"Oh but she is," Kara said. "She loves a monster."
Kara shook her head. She knew the truth. This woman wasn't Emma. And why the Joker decided to come get her, she had no idea. Maybe Emma had left him… maybe he believed Emma was here. She began crying even worse.
"So do I," she said quietly.
She looked up at Frost's expression. It had gone very cold. But it wasn't aimed at her. It was aimed at himself.
"I do what I must to-" he stopped and closed his yes. Then reopened them and looked into Kara's blue ones.
"I do what I must, Kara."
She nodded her head.
"I ask anyone else to watch her, and they're sure to touch her."
Kara looked up at him. She never thought of that. So in some messed up, sick way, Frost was doing a good thing leaving Kara to watch this woman.
"Fine," she said coldly.
Frost bent and gave her a kiss. Which lasted a few moments. The two of them were ready to go all night, but finally Kara pulled away.
"Maybe you should go rest, then."
He nodded and then kissed her forehead,
"Until morning," he said, and then left.
It was good that this woman was asleep most of the time. She was beaten up, but not too bad, just bruised. Nothing was broken. Kara sighed deeply. It was at least an easy night to watch her.
Curse the devil. She opened her eyes.
The woman blinked rapidly then finally absorbed her situation. What was odd was she didn't kick or scream. She just sat there.
"Where's my sister?" she asked, her voice was rough.
"What?" said Kara.
She looked at Kara.
Kara felt horrible. The woman's eyes were filled with fear, but the fear wasn't for herself. It was for her sister.
"I don't know who your sister is," Kara said. "She's not here."
The woman nodded her head and began crying.
"Why am I here?" she asked.
Kara shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know for sure," she lied, and almost began crying herself.
The woman shook her head.
Kara looked away from her.
Soon, this would all be done and over with. She would have everything she could ever want and most of all, she'd be with Cole. And then they could live a happy life together.
She sighed.
The woman began crying again.
"You have the wrong person, trust me," she said.
"What's your name?" asked Kara.
The woman stiffened but kept an eye on Kara.
"Ally," she said.
Kara nodded, and although she hated to do it, she replied back, "Then we've got the right girl."
I had almost fallen asleep when the living room lights clicked on. 'This must be the man,' I thought while looking at him. But he looked so young.
"What the….?" he said.
He was half asleep, wearing a black silk robe. He crossed his arms across his chest.
"So, you came?" he asked.
The Joker stood up, a smile spreading across his face.
Frost's smile faded when he seen me sitting safely on the couch. But it still didn't dawn on him that he had the wrong girl locked up somewhere.
"Change of heart?" he asked.
The Joker's face went still, "I want my pet back."
Frost gave him the same expression, "I want my money back."