AU: I am really sorry guys for how long I've been on hiatus for. It wasn't my intention to be away from this story for so long but, you know, it's difficult to stay focused in busy times. With being on vacation, all of my friends graduating, and then the big part of doing online classes and summer assignments recently. My life's been kinda hectic but I guess there's no excuse for me, I've already used them up. So since I've kept you all patiently waiting… Let the awesomeness begin!

Chapter 13

I woke up in a dark room, alone. I sat up cautiously as I surveyed the room, noting all of the gruesome details. The cobblestone walls were damp with condensation, hinting that it was either somewhere around early morning or I was really deep underground. There was no window to give away the time but there was a faint draft chilling me to the bone.

When my feet hit the ground I felt something creep its way in between my toes, I felt no need to investigate the theory that had already formed. I stood up slowly assuming that the pain from my wound would knock me off of my feet if I stood up to quickly. I was wrong. I felt no lingering effects from my wound, actually I felt nothing at all. Pushing that thought aside I took a step closer to what appeared to be the only way out of this dank and suspicious room, the door. Weirdly enough though it sat open as if tempting me to walk through it, maybe as a foreshadowing of what was to come.

I took up the temptation and walked through expecting maybe even a little resistance, but there was none. I looked to my left, then to my right only to see a long dark hallway stretch through both sides. I went with my gut and chose to go right.

As I started to walk though my feet felt as if they were beginning to be dragged through a swamp as I trudged on further down the hallway. I looked down only to see my feet, just my feet, nothing else. I still had this lingering feeling though that I was being dragged through a deep, deep mud puddle, or something of the like. It kept rising and rising, at some points I felt the need to turn around and go back to that small room and curl up in a ball; I didn't follow my gut.

Eventually I reached another door, this one more ominous than the last. I touched it expecting to feel a rough and prickly wood only to be met by a smooth and pristine masterpiece; what can I say I'm inherently suspicious.

I gave it a soft push, and the door gave way revealing something I could have never expected. There was a man around my age sitting in this lavish chair, one leg crossed over the other. His face was covered by darkness, well that's convenient. What stood next to him though was a clear and bright as sunshine, me. I was kneeling down in front of him, and when I, or my double, stood I took a fearful step back. I had glowing red eyes that burned with anger and unimaginable fury.

She looked back to the young man and uttered the words I somehow expected, "Master Joker, how may I service you…" His face became momentarily visible, only for me to be able to see the devious smile that crossed his face.

With that a tidal wave of a black murky water surrounded and devoured me. I was drowning, choking on the strange water that appeared out of thin air. I couldn't breathe. I was suffocating. I was dying.

That is until I woke up with a scream.

Now finally understanding fully what I had agreed and signed over to the devil himself…