Sharlena lay silently on the mattress, staring up at the discoloured tiles on the ceiling above. They would be announcing her to Gotham today. Telling the city that she was their hostage. They now called themselves The Maniax.
It had been hours since they had brought her here. Aaron was still playing absently with her hair beside her, he was a dominating presence, she was afraid to move even an inch to anger him. She could tell who was in charge though. Jerome.
There seemed to be a constant power battle between Jerome, Arnold, and Robert. The latter stared at her constantly, grinning manically and salivating as if he could serve her to them on a plate. He must be the cannibal.
Arnold absently spoke for most of the time, filling the silence but frustrating the other men. Jerome himself was pacing up and down the flat, giving her fleeting glances, a curious look on his features.
'Why don't we just get on with it, we don't need their permission to do something reckless!' Robert spoke out against Jerome; their tension seemed the most hostile.
'Alas we have our orders; we can't do anything without the theatrics we need!' Jerome was very animated in the way he spoke, using his arm gestures and manic smile to dominate any conversation.
There was a growing anger between the men, a growing impatience. A knock at the door broke the tension. A growing hope in Sharlena as she thought to be saved.
The door opened and in came two beautiful women. She recognised Barbara Kean as one of the escapees of Arkham Asylum, but the dark-haired woman was a mystery to her.
'Time to go guys, we don't have all day.' The unknown woman stood at the door, a bored expression, disgust lacing her features as she looked between them all.
Barbara had crossed the room towards her, a quizzical look on her face. Aaron had sat her up, standing now behind Barbara, gaining an affectionate touch from the blonde woman.
Sharlena looked at Barbara in the eye, flicking between her and Jerome, who was stood behind her, a possessive looks on his face as he gazed back at her.
'You got yourselves a cute one!' Barbara crouched down to her, gripping her chin roughly as she came close to her. 'Were going to have some fun with you.' She laughed as she spoke. Sharlena felt the panic creep into her chest, looking back to Jerome with a frightened look in her eyes.
Jerome looked between her and Barbara quizzically, an almost concerned look on his face before grasping one of Sharlena's arms and pulling her to her feet. Barbara looked to him with an almost angry expression at the disturbance. Jerome flashed her one of his manic smiles before coming close to Sharlena's face.
'Time for the show blondie.' He gave her another manic smile, a softer one before pulling her towards the door and back to the van.