On the other side of Gotham, the police car finally began to slow, turning into an alley on the edge of the narrows. Looking around, Arella could tell that they were near her old home. The one that she'd tried so hard to escape from over that past few years. Two buildings loomed on either side of the vehicle, doors from the various business framing a number of dumpsters. She looked around as the car rolled to a stop, trying to gain her bearings. But it was no use. She'd never been out of the house often enough to know much about the area and nothing looked familiar except the thin layer of grime that told her she wasn't quite in the narrows, but neither was she anywhere that any respectable Gothamite would venture.
As the car ignition turned off, she gave up trying to figure it out, her stomach churning as she tried to breath out her anxiousness that told her everything was not okay.
"What are we doing here?" She asked finally, her voice coming out harsh and croaky. It'd been the first time that she'd bothered to talk since being shoved into the police car hours ago, and the extensive screaming was finally beginning to take its toll.
The chubby cop sitting in the driver seat spun around quickly with narrowed eyes, as if shocked that she'd bothered to speak at all. A shock that quickly turned into anger. "You don't get to fucking talk to me after you boyfriend just blew up a bunch of good cops back there. Shut your whore mouth and sit there until I tell you otherwise." He screamed at her, quickly turning back around away from her before he could register her wide, surprised eyes.
She didn't say anything for a long moment, unsure of what kind of response she could possibly give to that outburst that would matter. He'd clearly been holding it in since they'd sped away from the sound of the explosion nearly twenty minutes ago.
The thin cop sitting in the driver's seat glanced back at her with confused eyes, his thin jaw slacked slightly as he tried to figure out what was going on. Giving her a quick second glance, he finally turned to the driver,
"What are we doing here, Sammy?" He asked in a low voice, trying to hide the fact that he was just as confused as she was. It didn't work, and it didn't make her feel any better about the situation.
The chubby driver glanced at his partner, looking for a moment as if he was about to lose it again, but he took a deep breath, his tone returning to normal.
"Gordon doesn't want us taking her to the precinct. Not after what happened with the Asian guy, and not after what just happened now. This is a safe house. It's safer for everybody is he doesn't know where we're keeping her." He answered, not bothering to wait for a reply before climbing out of the car, slamming the door behind him.
"Oh." The second cop replied, a look of dumb understanding on his face even after his partner had already climbed out of the car.
"He's lying to you." She said, just barely above a whisper, catching the man's bewildered eye in the rearview mirror, but the creaky back door opened before he could respond.
"Let's go, Smith." The chubby cop shouted to his partner, grabbing her arm and yanking her out of the backseat, heading towards one of the tattered metal doors nearby.
His partner hesitated, taking another glance around the area before finally climbing out of the car.
"I just don't get it." Smith started again, jogging to catch up as they entered the door into a dark hallway. "Why would we put a safe house near the narrows?"
"Because it's the last place he would look, right? Last place anyone would look."
Arella could scream at the stupidity of both of them as she tried to adjust the cuffs to lessen the pain as they dug into her skin. She would love to let him know that whatever he was up to wasn't fooling anyone. But clearly...
As the three moved up a tight staircase, her in between both of them, she let out an audible sigh, annoyed by the situation as she kept her eyes on the ground, her mind running in a thousand directions at once.
"Okay but…I don't remember the call." The second cop continued.
"Smith, you know that you don't get the calls. I get them because I've been here longer. Don't think too much about it."
Her eyes flicked up to the gun in the chubby cop's holster, not far from arms reach.
"Must suck being the new guy." She muttered.
"Shut the fuck up." The cop in front shouted as they approached the top of the landing.
"Or what? You going to shoot me?" She goaded as they slowed to a stop. "Right in this 'safe house'?"
"You keep talking and I just might." He moved one of his hands to pat his gun.
"Well get in line." She said with a shrug. Threats of death did little to her anymore. "Except I think that whoever you're taking me to might be upset."
"Yea well he didn't specify dead or alive."
"Wait. What?" The second cop finally piped up, stopping on the landing as well. "Who are you talking about, Eric? This isn't a safe house is it?"
Eric's eyes darted over to his partner, realizing his error, before sighing. "Look, I'll explain everything to you when we get back to the car. Let's just drop this chic off, get our bonus and we can both go home."
"I didn't sign up for any bonus. And isn't Gordon expecting her down at MCU?"
"Gordon doesn't even know we have her. And no one knows that we're here. We take the money, go home, and show up to work tomorrow. No harm no fowl."
Arella rolled her eyes, annoyed with the back and forth. The longer they stay in the hallway, the slimmer her chances for escape seemed to be and she needed to get out of here now. Inching closer to the wall, she glanced at the two of them as they talked, almost forgetting that she was there which at the moment might work in her favor. Letting her eyes flicker to their waists, she quickly figured that she would be better of grabbing for the thin cops gun, he was far too bewildered to stop her if she moved quick enough. And he was blocking her way down the stairs.
Staring at them both for a long moment she waited. Waited until they were both stuck in an argument so heated that nothing she did would be noticed quick enough. Until she had a chance. It only took a couple of seconds.
Inching another step closer to her prize, she gauged the two one last time before quickly closing the foot gap to the gun, wrapping one hand around the cold metal and using the other to flick the clasp.
"Hey!" The chubby cop jerked around, his face immediately turning red and his hand moving to his own weapon as she whipped the gun free.
"Don't." She ordered, raising the gun and removing the safety before he had a chance to grab his own weapon. "Don't make me shoot you." It was a request more than a threat. She would if she had to, but she really did hop that it wouldn't come to that.
"Shit." Eric froze, his hands twitching to reach for the weapon but not feeling near brave enough. Shifting his eyes briefly to his partner he gave a resigned sigh. "Look, you're not going to get far if you kill us."
"I just want to be left alone." She said softly, her voice cracking as she could feel the tears welling in her eyes again, realizing just how alone she felt. Eying the second cop and gesturing with her head for him to move closer to his partner she backed up close to the stairs as he did.
"Please. I'm just going to go, okay?" Her feet found the top of the stairs, backing her way down the first few slowly as she eyed the two closely. But they didn't move, just stare at her with uncertain gazes. She just had to make it around the corner and she could make a run for it. A few more steps and she would be free from them all.
As she approached the corner, she started to turn, excited to be done with it all, but the sudden sound of metal accompanied by a terrifying bright light caught her off guard. The last thing she could remember before crumpling to the floor was a pained cry escape her lips before everything gave way to blackness.
When Arella came to again, she did so with a pained groan. Lifting her chin from its resting place on her chest she tried to stop the room around her from spinning as best she could but it was no use, she couldn't seem to focus on anything around her; the bright lights in the room doing little to help her orient. Her whole body hurt but the pain in the back of her head registered most. She could feel every blood vessel pounding in protest as she moved. Starting to lift her hand to place on the painful bruise that was surely forming, she froze. There was no movement. Now that she tried, nothing moved.
Letting out a whimper, she looked around, letting her eyes adjust to the room before looking down at the cushy chair that she was in. Duct tape wrapped tightly around her legs and wrists effectively attached her to the chair, leaving little room for movement. She let out an angry growl, tugging at the restraints in frustration before screaming and falling back into the chair helplessly as the ache increased to full on migraine.
Looking around, she could see that she was in a bedroom. A master bedroom that clearly belonged to someone who was heavily swayed by the ostentatious judging by the plush four post bed in the middle of the room, a mirror placed on the ceiling looming awkwardly over the entire getup. Tacky golden light fixtures cast a yellow glow over the room and the high back, red velvet chair that she sat, attached to was one of two, the other sitting so innocuously across the room next to a black lacquered desk that was there for little more than show. Not a single wayward paper littered the top in sharp contrast to the 'joker's messy quarters. It was ridiculous, unnecessary, and she hated it.
"The screaming isn't necessary." Came a lazy voice from the open doorway.
Arella gasped, looking up to see a stout man standing in the doorway, ignoring her as he lit a cigar, making his was slowly to the floor to ceiling windows on the other side of the room.
"No one can hear you anyway."
She didn't reply, watching the man as he stare out of the window as she tried to figure out who she was and why she was here. Whatever the reason was, she knew that it wasn't good. But she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of asking.
"Looks like he's at it again, huh?" He said, turning to her with the cigar between his fingers, gesturing to the smoke still rising in the sky. "You know anything about that?"
She really wished he'd just get to the point.
"Yea, I guess I don't tell my whores anything either." He continued, shrugging at her lack of response. He paused, looking at her for some sort of reaction, but when he got none, he continued. "Can't ever say the kid lacked showmanship. Brutal little fucker, you know?" He let out a raspy belly laugh as if he was simply reminiscing with an old friend. "I mean, the things that kid could do with a knife." He shook his head before correcting himself. "Can, I guess."
To his credit though, the mention of a kid joker did peak her interest, but she wasn't about to let him know that. Her goal right now was finding out how much danger she was actually in. So she only gave an exasperated sigh. "Why did you bring me here?" She finally asked slowly, angry eyes glaring at him.
"I didn't." He said, finally moving away from the window to sit in the second chair. "I'm just the middle man. A business man, actually. And you've got one hell of a price on your head. But it always helps having friends in low places." He waved the cigar at her, blowing out a cloud of smoke. "Your buyer will be here soon."
Inside she wanted to scream at him. Let him know how crazy that sounded. But she was sure that he was aware, and was just trying to get her riled up. So still she said nothing, but she couldn't stop her fingers from balling into angry fists. The tension in the room was stifling, and most of it was emanating from her side. It took nearly everything out of her to get a simple sentence out while she inside, she was trying to piece together what emotional stability she had left. At this rate, though, the feat would be nearly impossible.
"And who would that be?" She questioned finally, her voice coming out as a tenuous calm, not bothering to look over at him.
"You'll find out." He said simply.
"Who are you, then?" She finally looked up at him, her narrowed eyes betraying how angry she really was even as she didn't move a muscle against the restraints.
"I told you. I'm a business man. You don't need to know any more than that."
"It doesn't matter. He'll find you without your name." She said slowly to try and hide the fact that she was bluffing. She knew that he had no intention of coming for her and every intent of killing her the first chance that he got. But the vulgar man in front of her didn't know that. At least she hoped he didn't.
"Well, I'll take my chances without it then." He said with a sly smile showcasing a set of far too white teeth.
"You're a coward." She said, glaring at him.
"No…"He said slowly, stopping to grind his teeth. "I'm just not a reckless psychopath like your boyfriend." He shouted at her angrily.
She didn't appreciate the inference, but it was clear that she'd hit a chord. And watching his anger rise made her smile.
"You know, if you let me go now, I promise to not kill you." She said, still glaring at him threatingly, trying her best to look as unaffected as possible. It had been a long time since she'd actually killed anyone, and never had she done it without being in the heat of the moment. But with the day she'd had, she be more than willing to make an exception.
The man laughed at that. "I know you're used to having the Joker backing your play, but right now you're all alone. And you don't scare me." He looked to his phone as it vibrated, standing with a grin. "Besides, you're buyer is here already." He muttered, disappearing out of the doorway without another word.
She watched him leave, the glare staying on her face until he disappeared before falling back into the chair with an exhausted sigh. She would kill to be able to sleep right now. As great a night as she'd had, and as perfect as they day had started out, this had shaped up to be the worse day of her life. And she wasn't looking forward to see who would be walking into the door.
She heard him before she could see him, chatting in low tones to the 'business man' as they made their way back towards the doorway. She hesitated, sitting up in the chair partially as she tried to crane her neck to see if her ears were deceiving her. She knew that voice. And though the tone sounded off, it excited her.
When his figure showed up in the doorway, she let out a heavy sigh of both relief and surprise. She wasn't alone. Even though this day had offered up its worst, she had been saved. A hopeful feeling that she hadn't felt in months suddenly sprouted up as she gave a tentative smile.
"Shawn." She breathed happily, letting out a relieved sigh, completely forgetting about the second man standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.
"Long time no see, Ari." He said with a smile.
She cringed at the nickname that she hadn't heard in so long. It sounded off. Maybe it was his tone still, or the half smile that he gave as he looked at her. But something was definitely off. Taking in his face, her eyes squinted slightly at the thin pink lines crisscrossing his cheeks. Scars. Immediately, she knew that the Joker had spent much more time at the mansion than he'd let on.
"Oh, no." She said sadly, her lips parting slightly in disbelief and her eyes turning glassy with tears. "Your face. Did he…did he do that?"
"Well, what did you think would happen when you sent a psychopath on an errand to pick up your cat?" He said with a frown.
She stare at him for a long moment as she tried to process the accusation. Surely he didn't think she was that reckless. Or that anyone wielded that level of control of the Joker. Shaking her head slowly, she attempted to defend herself, but was lost as how to start.
"I didn't…"
"Don't bother lying now, Ari."
"I'm not." She shouted at him in complete disbelief, the hopeful feeling that was so welcome only seconds before coming crashing down around her to lie in shards with all the other good feelings that had shattered over the past few hours. Destroyed by the despair and coldness that were starting to feel like they may be more of a permanent fixture than not. Tears begin filling her eyes as she finally found the words to defend herself, tugging at the restraints angrily and trying to ignore the pain in her head.
"No one sends the Joker anywhere. Especially not me. He went there to torment me by threatening you. I didn't have any part in that and I never told him anything about you."
"Yea well, either way, sounds like it was your fault, doesn't it?"
"No! I didn't ask for any of this."
"Neither did Nora, or Lisa, or Melanie. Niether did I, and yet, here you are, the only one unscathed."
"Unscathed?" She said in complete disbelief, letting out an angry growl. "If you think I've spent the last six months on one hell of a vacation, then you're a bigger dumbass than you pretend not to be."
He let out a short annoyed breath, insulted by the words. He was always vain if nothing else. "It doesn't matter." He said after a short pause. "Because you're here now."
"What have you done?" She said quietly, staring at him expectantly.
"Nothing…yet." He said with a sly smile, pulling a phone from his pocket and stepping closer to her, grabbing the hand of her restrained wrist and yanking mercilessly, forcing her fingers around the phone and a pained cry from her lips.
"Call him." He said simply.
Arella only glare up at him with every ounce of hate and anger that she could muster. He must be crazy if he thought she was going to cooperate with any part of his plan. Both of the men were small time next to the person she'd been dealing with. There was nothing either of them had to make her cooperate.
"No." She said simply, letting the phone drop to the floor defiantly.
Shawn gave an annoyed frown, one similar to a surprised child. He must have actually believed that telling her was all it would take to make her do it. Bending down to pick up the phone, he shoved it back into her hand.
"You don't have a choice." He said angrily. "Call him."
"I'm not doing it. And I really do hope this wasn't your only plan. Even if I did call him, he'd come here and kill us all you fucking idiot."
He frowned at her angrily. He'd always been vain, and was never happy with someone insulting his intelligence or attractiveness. She'd found it both funny and quirky when they were together, but now, it was just hilarious.
"Come on. Don't you want to get back at him as much as I do? We could do this together."
"Yea. Why don't you untie me and we can do this together?" She said flatly.
He rolled his eyes. "Fine." He said with a frown, snatching the phone from the ground again and moving to the man in the doorway.
"What do you say we make another deal?" He offered. "You keep the money I've already given you, and you can keep her too. I don't care what you do with her, but if you get her to make that phone call or give up the number. I'll double what I paid you before."
She jerked her head up at him with wide, surprised eyes.
The business man glanced over at her with a nervous shift before crossing his arms. "Done." He said, holding his hand out to shake Shawn's. But Shawn only turned his nose up slightly, starting to leave the room.
"Hey." She called after him before he could take a couple of steps.
He turned on his heels with an impatient roll of the eyes. "What?"
"If you leave me here," She steadied her eyes on his. "I will kill you."
He only laughed at that. "Yea. Okay, Ari." He said before disappearing out of the room.
There was a long uncomfortable silence in the room as the man stood near the doorway, closing it slowly as if stalling before his arms returning to their crossed position. Arella eyed him closely as he did, waiting.
Finally he let out a sigh, turning to her. "Look, I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here. I mean we both know that we're just sitting ducks. The longer you're here, the better his chances are that he'll find you. And you know he will. He's like a dog with a bone."
"Why do you think Shawn left me here?" She said matter of factly. "He wouldn't risk anything himself. I mean…do you even know where he lives?"
"Then just give up the number." He gave a smug smirk, ignoring her reasoning with a shrug. "We both get out of here in one piece. You with your life. Me with a nice big bonus for all my hard work." He gave a chuckle.
"I don't…know it." She said through gritted teeth. "Do you seriously think he'd give me any way of tracking him down?"
"Well you had to contact him somehow, didn't you?"
"No. What on earth would I want to contact him for? I was locked in a room for months. Six long months without seeing the light of day and finally I escape just to relieve this all over again because of the stupidest plan I've ever heard of in my life." She glared at him, feeling tears well in her eyes as the lie started to feel real. Letting out a shaky sigh, she lowered her head, sniffling.
She finally started again in a low voice after a long moment. "So do whatever you want. I don't have anything to give you and it can't be any worse then what I've already been through."
The man stare at her as if deep in thought before walking over to one of the desks to grab a lighter and taking a moment to light a cigar, taking a long drag before letting out a slow blow of smoke.
"Alright." He said with a shrug, glancing at the smoke still filling the sky outside the window. "But like I said, I'm a business man taking a big risk here and I'm going to expect payment. If I can't get it from your friend because you won't give up the number, then we're going to have to discuss…" He paused, giving her a slow once over. "Alternate forms of payment."
She turned up her nose in disgust but was silent as the man gave a low chuckle, leaving the room.
"You've got 2 days." He called over his shoulder before slamming the door behind him.
And with that, it was quiet again. Letting her head fall to her chest again with a tired sigh, she couldn't help the small, unseen smirk that crossed her lips. Because though he felt like he was threatening her, what he hadn't realized was that instead of scaring her, he'd just given her a plan. She would get out of here. All she had to do was wait two days.
"Is it done?" Dougie grumbled into the phone as he paced back and forth in a warehouse near the docks.
He scratched his dirty beard, waiting for a reply. Once it finally came, he gave a curt nod as if the person on the other end of the line would actually see it before hanging up the phone, spinning on his heels and walking out of the room. They hadn't been back to the hospital since yesterday when the Joker had blown up the police station-he said it was because he wanted to watch it burn. But Dougie could tell that it was at least partially because he was highly on edge and having to return to the room would have-at best-doubled the body count he'd racked up since.
Moving through the dark hallways lit only by small slivers of moonlight that peeked through open doorways casting garish shadows throughout the areas, he moved effortlessly past the men who guarded them to the dark door that led to the one closed off room on the floor. Opening the door, his eyes scanned the room that, though lit much better than the rest of the building thanks to large windows along one side of the room, still offered large shadowed areas to hide.
It only took a second to locate the Joker standing next to a makeshift table, his back turned to the door casually as the sound of a knife being sharpened and muffled cries filling the cold air.
Dougie glanced over at the two figures tied tightly to the chair. A reporter from the one of Gotham's minor news stations and a lower level mob boss. Neither had done anything exceptional, but both had the displeasure of crossing the Joker's path that night. It seemed as if the mob boss had already paid the price judging by the growing pool of blood.
Rolling his eyes, Dougie started over to the table.
The Joker didn't bother to turn around as Dougie approached. No one else was bold enough to interrupt him. Not when he had all of his knives out.
"I just talked to Sam. The package has been dropped off." He said lowly.
He didn't respond. Didn't bother to look up, just gave a curt nod.
Dougie started to turn and walk off before stopping, glancing at the two tied figures before leaning back towards the Joker.
"Look, we can't stay here forever. The men are antsy and if our location is compromised it's not defendable."
He gave a low laugh, holding up the freshly sharpened knife and eying the blade as it reflected in the moonlight. "Who said anything about forever?" He held his arms out with a tight grin that quickly faded as he made his way over to the second person tied up to the chair-ignoring her squirms of protest.
"Besides. Gotham's busy trying to figure out what we're gonna blow up next. And, after they get ahold of my latest…ah…directorial masterpiece, helping find my toy. Anything to save themselves." He paused, giving a long look out window as the smoke rose from his latest conquest. "People are so predictable." He pursed his lips together with a frown.
"You'll just kill her if you find her anyway. And that's on the off chance that she hasn't already gotten herself killed. Why don't you just find a new one?"
The Joker let out a shrieking laugh, bending over from the force of it. "Well why didn't I think of that? Let's give it a shot. Hmm?" He raised a brow as he moved over to one of the figures in the chair-the one that was still attempting to scream through the cloth gag even as the other remained completely still. The blood still dripping to the floor as a reminder to what he'd spent the last 15 minutes doing.
"Heya Beautiful." He grinned, sitting on the edge of the seat and throwing an arm around the woman as he let the knife come to rest on her collarbone. Relishing in the muffled shriek she emitted as her eyes flicked back and forth between the body next to her and the knife near her throat.
"Tell me…how do you feel about going out and killing a few drug dealers? Hmm?" He paused before giving an excited grin. "Ooh. Ooh. And maybe afterwards, we head back to my place and…ah...get to know each other a little better. Sound good?" He looked at her innocently, waiting for an answer.
Dougie rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as the girl tugged at the ropes, shrieking hysterically as though it came out as little more than a whine through the gag.
"What?" He playfully leaned his ear closer, pretending to try and understand. But the moment didn't last long, he wasn't in the mood for games and even less in the mood for her screaming. Gripping the knife in his hand, he made one quick flick of the wrist. One clean slice and it was quiet again.
"Ya see?" the Joker stood with a frown, turning back to Dougie. "Who has time to start from scratch?"
"Is that why?" He questioned incredulously, unfazed by the blood.
"Why else?" He said with a growl, his shoulders pulling close to his ears threateningly.
There was brief shrug before changing the subject. "And if you never find her?"
"It." He corrected, moving back to the windows.
"Fine. If you never find it?"
He was quiet for a long moment, looking at the lit building through the window as he mentally picked which one he'd like to blow up next.
"Then Gotham never sleeps."
Back at the "business man's" hideout, Arella sat in the same position that she'd been in for nearly three days now, her eyes glazed over as she stare at nothing in particular. Her arms and legs had gone numb after day one and though it had taken longer for her mind to start numbing as well, she was now in a comfortable state of unfeeling. He had only bothered to untie her a few times in order to allow for bathroom breaks, but even those weren't necessary anymore. After having nothing to eat or drink for days, the urges to go were few and far between. But every time she forced herself to go if for nothing else than to stretch her legs and try to find something that she could use to get herself out of her predicament.
Even worse, she hadn't slept. Nothing more than a couple of minutes at a time. Her energy was waning, she was starving, and dying of thirst. She could tell that her time was running short. Each time he entered he would try and implore her to give up either the number or the location. Each time she refused, tears welling in her eyes as she begged him to let her go. And after each refusal she could tell that his eye wandered a little more…examining his options once he finally decided to settle for not getting the information he wanted. Another day or so and there would be no fighting back because every ounce of her strength was being used to simply survive at this point much like those first few days at the hospital. But at least then she was allowed to move around. The constant tight bindings were making it so…so much worse.
The only thing that was working in her favor was that he was starting to get careless; letting her take as long as she felt like in the bathroom simply because she told him that she wasn't feeling well.
To him she was just a helpless, trapped girl thanks in part to her constant crying. And his oversight was going to cost him.
"Hey." Came his gruff voice through the door as he stood on the other side as he leaned heavily against the wall. "What are you doing in there?"
"Nothing." She croaked back in a raspy voice, forcing the words past her cotton mouth as she stood at the sink, staring at her sunken features, surprising herself with the fierceness that looked back at her. If this was six months ago, maybe she would have seen sadness in her reflection. But that Arella was long gone. She was taking care of herself now. Like she'd promised she would do in the precinct the minute she realized that not only was he not coming to help her, but he really did want her dead. This was simply her first test and if nothing else, he'd taught her well.
Rolling her shoulder's back as she stood up straight, she let out a quiet sigh and stretched the muscles in her back before reaching into the sink and working to quietly remove the long metal stopper as the water ran. She'd spent nearly every trip to the bathroom trying to pull it out of the drain and she could tell that it was nearly loose.
There was a short pause and she could tell that he was trying to listen to what she was doing.
"You'd better not be messing around with anything in there. I know exactly how everything should look." He called through the door.
"I know." She said calmly, not looking up from the drain, continuing to twist the contraption apart, her mouth in a thin determined line in contrast to her casual tone. It was so close. Just a little more. And she could possibly get out of here tonight.
The sound of the door pushing open cause her to spin around in shock, her wet hands whipping away from the sink as he stood in the doorway, staring at her suspiciously before his eyes darted around the room to try and figure out what it was that she was getting into.
"I know you're doing something in here." He pointed a gun lazily at her as his eyes looked around.
"I wasn't doing anything." She said through clenched teeth, backing up against the counter away from him as she tried to calm her fast beating heart. She needed more time. Just a little.
"No? Then what's taking you so long?" He said matter of factly, taking a moment to run his eyes over the whole bathroom, trying to find anything that was out of place.
She turned up her nose at the cheap cologne and smoke that wafted past as he glanced into the sink before inspecting the other fixtures. A look of disgust that disappeared as quickly as it had come by the time he looked up at her.
Returning her face to the sad look that she knew so well, she sighed, turning away from him. "I just…" She started in a soft tone. "I just don't want to be tied up again. And I'm so thirsty." She said, crossing her arms in front of her.
He stare at her for a long moment. She could tell that he knew she was up to something but couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"How long are you keeping me here?" She questioned softly, forcing herself to keep her eyes on her feet even though she hated not being able to look him in the eye.
"As long as it takes." He said, catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror and using the gun hand to smooth his hair back with a slight smirk. The brief change of focus enough to distract him from his accusations.
Her gaze followed his reflection before looking up at him with wide eyes, letting out a heavy sigh as she finally decided on her only course of distraction. But it meant that she would have to make sure tonight was the night. "You said...that there was another option."
He raised a brow, stopping his grooming before turning to look at her with a slow pucker of the lips, letting his eye roam over her body. "I did."
"So if I say okay…you won't tie me up? It hurts." She sounded like she was whining now, but it seemed to work on him. Back at the hospital, the Joker just would have locked her into a tiny room and left her there until she got over it.
He let out a heavy chuckle, leaning closer to her. "Girl…it doesn't matter whether you say okay or not. Never did. But it does make it a little easier if you work with me. Not quite as fun though."
It was everything she could do to not vomit in his face.
Swallowing, she nodded, cringing away from him. "Okay."
"Good." He said huskily, his cigar scented breath hitting her nose as his finger trailed down the collar of her shirt, stopping just before her breast swelled.
She forced herself to remain still as he did, to swallow the bile that she could feel rising up. When she was done…she just might break those fingers. But she maintained her nervous expression.
"Why don't you go ahead and take a shower and get yourself fixed up. You've got five minutes." He grinned, stepping away from her and back to the bedroom.
She let out a shuddering sigh as he stepped away from her. She felt dirty, physically ill even. It had to be now or never. Because there was no way in hell she was going through that.
Pushing the door closed again, she quickly turned the shower on and hunched over the sink with a new determination. The piece had to come out now.
She spent nearly a full minute working frantically to get the long cylindrical piece to detach from the sink, before it finally came free. She nearly laughed in relief as her hand gripped the part for dear life. The end was dull and somewhat blunt, but it came to enough of a point that with enough force it would do the job. But there could be no missing. She only had one shot.
Quickly peeling her clothes off, she jumped into the warm shower and spent the last few minutes cleaning up, the metal piece laying tucked innocuously behind bottles of body wash. It had been days and the hot water felt like heaven to her sore limbs, but there wasn't going to be enough time to enjoy it right now. She would have to wait until she was somewhere safe. This was simply a means to an end.
Running a quick glob of shampoo though her hair, she stare blankly at the faucet as her mind raced with possibilities. How far would she let him get before she went for it? Preferably he wouldn't even be able to touch her, but she wasn't sure if that was going to be possible because they would have to be close. She thought back to her practice sessions in the freezer, trying to debate the best way to dispatch of the man. The Joker always went for the neck…maybe he was onto something.
Wringing out her hair quickly she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself tightly in a nearby towel before grabbing her weapon and wrapping it in the towel as well so that it would be easy to get to when necessary.
"Hey girl." His raspy voice brought her from her musings. "You done in there? Don't start stalling or you're gonna regret it."
She pursed her lips before letting out a heavy sigh, trying to force herself to calm down as she started picturing all the ways that the next few minutes could go wrong. But there was no backing out at this point because the alternative was too awful.
Pushing open the door, she was taken aback to see him standing there in little more than his underwear, grinning at her with a fresh cigar in his mouth. His chest covered in a fair amount of hair and his port belly unabashedly hanging over his waistband. She could tell that he had never done a day of hard work in his life.
"Almost had to come in there and get you myself." He smiled, blowing out a ring of smoke into her face carelessly. His broad heavy shoulders leaned against the wall as he took in her nearly naked body.
Arellla coughed, turning away from him and the smoke but he just laughed at that.
"Don't worry. You'll get used to it. Maybe you'll even learn to like it." He set the cigar in an ashtray, reaching out to grab the towel away from her.
Gasping, she instinctually stepped back away from him back into the safety of the bathroom as she gripped the towel close to her. Her left hand holding tightly to the knot it formed around the metal stopper.
"Change your mind all of a sudden?" He smirked, questioning as if it really mattered. Grabbing her right arm he yanked her towards him, turning and heading towards the bed.
She had assumed during her time here that maybe he was a self-controlled as the Joker in this area. But she was quickly realizing that he was simply more interested in getting the information he wanted. Information that, once determined to be non-existent, no longer protected her.
"Wait." She said as she stumbled after him, her mind starting to panic at the realization that he had no intention of taking his time either.
"No time for waiting." He said, pushing her onto the bed and climbing after her.
She squealed in protest, rolling over onto her stomach to crawl away from him but he caught her by the waist, rolling her back around and pinning her by her shoulders. Grabbing the towel, he yanked it away from her, not noticing that she still gripped it tightly with her left hand even as it did nothing to cover her.
"Please wait." She said breathlessly, unable to fight back as well as she felt like she should. Not with the lack of food and minimal water she'd had for the past few days and not when she was so vulnerable beneath him. He was clearly enjoying her weak protests that were doing little except delay him.
As he gripped her ankle, hovering low over her, she realized that he was right. There was no time for waiting. Not if she wanted to maintain some semblance of sanity. If she wanted to get out of here with the one piece of dignity she had left. She was going to have to simply take her shot.
Shaking the long piece of metal loose from the towel, she whimpered as she still tried to kick at his chest. It was useless for defense with the unfortunate angle she was lying, but it was distracting him. And right now, it was what she needed.
As he focused on moving her flailing legs the way he wanted, she focused on him. Focused on the way his head moved, the way his neck exposed itself as he looked down. And when finally she was able to pinpoint the area that she'd been shown so many times, her muscles tensed in anticipation. Her adrenaline pumping to give her the strength she needed to get out of this predicament. Her legs stopped attempting to kick him off of her. But before he could get comfortable, she swung.
She could tell by short guttural groan that emitted from his mouth and the feel of the metal penetrating his flesh that she'd hit her mark. But she wasn't taking any chances. Yanking the piece out, she jammed it into his neck again, almost not recognizing the angry growls that came from her own throat as she continued the motion ignoring the spurting blood. As each blow landed, she couldn't help but smile thinking of how fitting his punishment was: being repeatedly stabbed by a foreign object.
Yanking it out once more, she quickly scurried from under him with much difficulty as he fell onto the bed next to her.
A relieved sigh left her lips as she quickly wrapped the nearby towel around herself and sat calmly on the edge of the bed staring at the dying man as he grasped futilely at his throat as if it would ever stem the steady flow of blood. His eyes looked towards her, begging her to do something to help. But she just sat, still clenching the metal in her hand as she stare blankly…watching his strength fade and his grasps weaken.
She felt nothing. Nothing aside from a deep satisfaction that grew as the man finally stopped moving. She had done it, and no one was the wiser. Yet.
For nearly a full minute she didn't move, looking around the room as she tried to think of the best way out of it. But despite herself, she had never bothered to plan past killing the man. And the last time she'd tried the stairs she'd ended up with another concussion. His gun was lying on the desk far away from the bed-something he'd probably done on purpose-but that hadn't helped either. The only thing she could think of at the moment was calling him. A thought that both repulsed and drew her. She had promised herself that she would take care of herself, but now that she'd finally killed her captor, all she wanted was to go back to the hospital. Surely he would kill her before he allowed that…but she had to take the chance.
Tossing the piece of metal to the side, she quickly climbed off of the bed and moved over to the desk, grabbing the gun before picking up his pants that had been folded neatly on a nearby chair. She had seen him with his cell phone nearly every time he came in and she was sure he'd had it with him now.. Two of the pockets turned up empty until finally her search was rewarded.
She flashed a nervous glance at the still locked door reminding herself of the time crunch that she was on. All it would take is one bad stroke of luck for someone to attempt to enter and she would end up just as dead as the man on the bed.
Sighing, she flicked the phone on, her hands shaking as she dialed the sole number that she remembered. The one she had stared at often when she was holed up in the hotel room as she thought about calling occasionally. It was doubtful that the number still worked. It had been days since she's been taken and even if she did call him, she knew that she would regret it. But her options were severely limited at the moment. And he was the one person that might be crazy enough to help her…even if it meant that he'd be mostly helping himself.
Lifting the phone to her ear, she listened to the phone ring as her heart jumped in her throat. It rang once…twice.
The third ring cut short, as if the phone had been answered, but she heard nothing.
For a long second, she sat there unsure if anything had happened.
"Hello?" She finally whispered shakily.
Silence.
She nearly considered simply hanging up. But finally, she heard the telltale suck of the cheeks.
"Heya Sweetcheeks." He said in a slow…humorless voice. "Where ya been?"
"I don't know." She whispered with a relieved sigh, glancing back at the body on the bed as she tried to blurt out as much information as possible. "I'm in an old apartment building, near…I don't know…close to the narrows. There's five levels and I can see the F train from here on an overpass."
There was another long pause. "And?" He said finally in that annoying, nasally voice.
She pulled the phone away from her head slightly, staring at the phone in disbelief. "And what?" She snapped angrily at his lack of response.
"You got yourself in there. Now get yourself out."
She frowned, letting the phone drop to her side as she paced back and forth, debating on whether or not it would be worth arguing with him. She quickly decided that it wouldn't.
"Fine." She said curtly, standing up straight and tightening her grip around the gun as she resisted the urge to scream.
"But I'm coming back if I make it out of here in one piece. If for nothing more than to kill you." She pressed the end button angrily before he had a chance to reply, wishing it felt more satisfying. Tossing the phone onto the bed next to the dead body, she moved to the window and peered out, trying to figure out the best way to get out of this predicament. She didn't want to die here…alone.
Judging the distance, she pursed her lips, looking back around the ostentatious room before figuring the only way out was down. It was probably suicide, but what wasn't these days.
Rushing to the bathroom, she grabbed her discarded clothes, pulling them back on before moving around the room to grab whatever fabric she could find: curtains, extra sheets, and pieces of clothing were all knotted together in a makeshift rope.
For twenty minutes, she worked from end to end, trying to come up with enough length so that she could at least make it to the ground without breaking anything. But her supply was running low and she was at least a few stories short. The way things were looking, she may have to grab the blood soaked sheets from the bed as well…something that she was trying desperately to avoid.
As she stare at the bed, contemplating, the sound of distant machine gun fire roused her from her musings. Jerking her head towards the door, her eyes widened as she waited for one of the men to break down the door. Surely she'd been found out and her time was running low.
Gasping, she glanced at the floor to ceiling windows before turning to the sheets in her hands. Listening to the next round of machine gun fire, she finally realized how little time she really had. Standing, she grabbed one of the ugly chairs that she'd been tied to for days, lifting it with difficulty and throwing it heavily at the window. She'd been trying to stay quiet up until now, but hopefully, whoever was coming would be distracted by the guns.
Squinting at the window, she could see that there was little more than a crack. She sighed, picking up the chair again and throwing it twice more until she heard the rewarding sound of shattering, the chair sliding out of the room as well and crashing to the ground below.
"Shit." She muttered to herself, as she heard another round of gunfire, closer now. There wasn't going to be enough time. Not to tie it securely and make her way out. There was nowhere to hide in the sparse room. Nowhere that she wouldn't be found as soon as they found the dead body on the bed. She was going to have to fight.
The sound of the heavy door protesting the efforts of someone trying to force it open caused her to shake in nervous anticipation, her heart skipping a beat.
Grabbing the gun from the floor where she'd placed it, she turned around to face the trembling door, holding it shakily to point at what she assumed would be roughly head level whenever the door was opened. The element of surprise was on her side. So she would either kill whoever walked through the door, or-if her aim failed her-die trying.
One more bang, and finally, the door gave way.
Standing in the doorway, the Joker ignored the thin girl, standing across the room with the gun still pointed at him, not yet registering the relief that came from recognizing that green mop of hair in the doorway. He seemed to know that she wouldn't shoot. Not at him anyway.
Casually tossing the large gun over his shoulder as he stood up straight, his shoulder thrown back playfully, he took in the room a low whistle, surprised by the absolute destruction she'd caused in the room. His eyes came to rest on the nearly naked body still sprawled across the bed. He couldn't help but wonder how far things had gotten, but now wasn't the time. His lips finally turned upwards into a grin, turning back to her and squinting his eyes judgementally, his free hand placed on his hips.
"Ya know, babe. One day…we're gonna really have to work on your ah…anger issues." He joked, gesturing to the mess with the gun.
She rolled her eyes, letting out a tired sigh as her arms finally dropped to her side, letting the gun fall to the ground, feeling an intense sense of relief as she looked up at him. She couldn't even be angry at his tone on the phone earlier. It didn't matter.
"Get me out of here." She demanded slowly, not in the mood for his jokes or his games. All she wanted was to leave.
He pursed his lips, rolling his eyes to the ceiling as if thinking intently…as if he actually needed to think about it at all. Pretending like he hadn't rushed over the moment she'd called. Finally he let out a faux exasperated sigh. "Oh, only because you insist." He grinned, taking a step closer, waging his finger at her. "But you're gonna have some explaining to do when we get home." He chuckled, sliding the gun in a holster before stepping towards her, giving the room another once over.
He truly was impressed. When he had received her phone call, he'd expected to come finding either a trap, or to find her huddled terrified in a corner. But she had surprised him. Had nearly gotten herself out of here in one piece. And that was exciting enough to alleviate the intense anger he'd been dealing with for the last few days. He couldn't wait to get her back to the hospital.
As he came closer, she knew that he was going to want to carry her out. The way that she always hated. He would want to because she was his prize. His spoils for invading the business man's home. And as he came closer, studying her face for any sign of protest as he leaned over to pick her up, she found that she didn't mind. In fact, as he wrapped his arms around her legs and hoisted her up so that she lay comfortably against his back, she felt the calm that she'd been missing for the past few days. They were still in the complex, but as far as she cared, it was over. The nightmare was over. She was already home.
More importantly, now she could think clearly. The terrified haze that had clouded her mind since the moment she'd been tackled to the ground by overzealous police men was gone. But laying thinly over that calm that she was enjoying was a steely anger that would remain until she did what she'd wanted to do for days now. She wasn't scared, wasn't even upset, all she wanted was revenge. And as tired as she was, her face buried in the gasoline scented coat, she would have to start tonight.
The walk back to the alley way where she was dropped off was strangely quiet. And taking a quick peek around, she could see why. The mob bosses security had already been dispatched. There was only about 6 or 7 of them, so it had taken no time for the Joker's men to push their way through. She was shocked that the man hadn't considered hiring more. But then again, no one was supposed to know where she was.
"Let's go boys." He waved with the gun in his spare hand, heading to the front of two vehicles, practically skipping to the car as the other men moved to the rear van. He was beyond elated after the few days that he'd had. And though he knew that she hated being carried, he didn't bother to set her down until they finally got to the passenger door.
Arella let out a relieved sigh once they were finally both in the car, pulling away from the nightmare that had been her life for the past week. Glancing back at the building, she pursed her lips before sinking back into the seat, trying hard to forget how tired and hungry she was. She had bigger things to take care of tonight. Things that she might need his help with.
Glancing over at him as they peeled out of the alleyway, she could see that he had a half grin on his face, weaving in and out of traffic. Sighing, she finally spoke.
"Thank you." She said finally, barely above a whisper, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried to shiver off the cold night air. She was almost positive that the vehicle had heat, but she wasn't about to ask, not when there were more important things on her mind. "For not leaving me there." She finished, well aware that he would probably ask her 'for what'.
He stopped humming, his partial grin turning into a confused frown before raising a brow and turning to give her a slow sideways glance before turning back to the road. "I told you, I don't. like. to share." He said slowly, smacking his lips together before glancing at her again. "Let's not make this weird, kid. Hmm?"
She didn't respond, just stared at him. Thinking about the explosion back at the police precinct. The one that she'd spent hours in and had only left five minutes before. She wanted to ask about it. To see how angry she should really be, but this was no time to confront him. Not after she'd spent the last week tied up to a chair.
"I need to ask you for a favor." She said finally, her voice stubborn as she turned back towards the front of the vehicle, trying hard to remain steadfast despite her intense hunger and pain. There was no room for a no. Not tonight.
"If you're not careful, sweet cheeks, I might start regretting this a whole lot sooner." He sang as a warning, not bothering to look over at her as he drove. He was glad to have his toy back, but he almost forgot how little he missed her incessant talking and questioning. And tonight she wasted no time. Normally he'd simply force her to shut up, but he still felt mostly responsible for her ordeal and was in a good enough mood to cut her a little slack. Plus, he wanted to know what occurred over the last few days. Maybe if he humored her, she'd tell him all about it sooner than later.
She pursed her lips but continued. "I need to go see Shawn." She said simply.
Oh emm gee, this chapter took forever to post, amiright? Sorry about that guys, I had the hardest time writing this one for some reason. I had skipped the whole "business man" scene for the longest time and wrote around it back around the time I posted chapter 10, but finally had to go back to it. It's painful when they're apart. :(
The good news is the next few (and final) chapters are DONE and will be going up sooo much quicker. I'm guessing around every two weeks or so but sometimes I get over anxious so who knows. Especially with the next one! I think the last few were my favorite ones to write so I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Also, Arella's kind of turning into a bad ass which I love. Like I said at the end of the last chapter: She was never meant to always be a victim and I have a hard time believing that this version of the Joker wouldn't get bored and kill her if she was still submissive and nervous all the time. At least that's the way it's started to flow together. What do you guys think?
Thanks for reading and extra thanks for reviewing! Your kind words, helpful tips, and thoughtful analyses keep me super excited to keep writing even when I'm endlessly stumped by certain chapters. Hope you stay aboard for the rest of the ride!