Chatper 5 – Welcome to your new life
Waking up with a pounding headache. I slightly groaning to myself I try to lift my arms up to my head when I suddenly realize that I can´t move my hands. My eye shoot open but the only thing surrounding me is darkness.
The memories slowly start to crawl back up. Bruce and my sister went to this party, I was in the kitchen with Alfred, Intruders, … The Joker!
My brain starts to work again and I remember clearly him on top of me in the elevator, as I almost made an escape. The dark eyes and his smile.
"Hello? Help me!" I try to scream, but no sound escape my mouth and it is then that I realize that I had duct tape to my mouth. Panic starts to rise fast inside me as I try to scream for help, try to wiggle out but only manage to get the rope around my wrists and legs to cut deeper into my skin.
It´s so dark that I can´t see anything. As I try to calm myself down I can hear footsteps slowly approaching me as the door is being opened.
I have to squint my eyes shut as the room is being filled with the light.
There are two men in the room, both wearing a clown mask.
"Wakey wakey, princess", says the shorter man as he approaches me. He kneels beside me and I try to plead with him to let me go.
"Now, don't exhaust yourself, boss will be with you shortly." Boss? They´re probably talking about The Joker, but what does he want from me?
"Enough Patrick", the second man interferes. His voice sounds much younger then Patrick. "The boss said to check up on her and give her water nothing else."
Patrick snatched the bottle of water from the second clown. "If you scream I´m going to knock your teeth down, understood princess?"
I hated that this disgusting men called me princess, but I was desperately in need for water so I just quickly nodded my head.
The second clown removed the tape from my mouth as Patrick just snatched my head back forcing the bottle to my lips. I try to drink as much as I can but some of the water spills over my white tank top.
I start to cough as the second clown reapplies duct tape back to my mouth. He turns to leave, but Patrick is still standing in front of me and I don't like the look on his face. His hand reaches down to my top as his stare intensifies as he keeps staring at my breast as I try to squirm and yell even more and that's when the second clown notices what's going on?
"What the hell are you doing? Boss will kill you for this?" but Patrick only scoffs at that. "Yeah, well when he´s finished with her, better believe it´s my turn." And with that both man leave the room leaving me completely terrified and alone.
As I´m kept in this room I slowly start to loose feeling for the time. I don't know if minutes, hours or even days have passed. At one point I even fell asleep again. My head keeps pounding reminding me of how I even got here in the first place.
After a while I lose track of the time and eventually my body get so tried that I just fall asleep hoping that I´m at least spared from the nightmares.
I´m ripped awake with the slam of the door but as I open my eyes the room is still pitch black.
Did I just dream it? I can hear footsteps, but as I try and turn my head all I can see is the darkness surrounding me.
"Hello?" I mumble through the duct tape.
Am I starting to imagine thinks? Okay Ella, breath. It´s probably just you head messing with you, but the attempt to calm myself down however quickly fails as I can hear a small chuckle.
"You know talking to yourself is ah sign of someone going crazy?" Well that at least confirms that I wasn´t alone. I quickly try to turn my head left and right, but since my arms and legs are still bound to a chair it´s not really possible to turn around properly.
"You must be wondering where I am? We-ll I really could be anywhere? Maybe I´m not even real, just you mind-ah playing tricks on you. Or maybe…"
The voice suddenly stopped, making me even more anxious.
"Right-ah behind you." The voice now directly behind me. Warm breath tickling my ear and the back of my neck followed by a loud piercing laugh making my wince.
The light was suddenly turned back on making me squint my eyes shut because the light was literally burning through them.
"Sleeping beauty has uh-awaken" my eyes widen in shock and terror as I come face to face with non-other but the Joker himself.
He´s wearing purple pants, a blue shirt and a green vest. His green hair is pretty messy but what scares me the most is the paint all over his face. His eyes are pure black almost as if there really is no light behind them. My eyes quickly drift to his mouth where I can clearly see to big scars forming a big smile.
Joker doesn't seem to like it, that I´m looking at his scars as his gloved hand comes up behind my head gripping a fist full of my hair and ripping my head back painfully.
"Now-uh, didn't your mommy ever tell you it´s-uh not polite to stare at someone?" He´s so close to my face, but being tied up the only thing I can to is just squirm beneath him.
"Oh, yeah that, well-uh you see, after last night´s rumble can´t have you freely moving around." He whispers in my ear as I hear a KLICK sound and a blade appears in front of my eyes.
I can start to feel panic rise again inside me as my whole body starts to shake uncontrollably. I desperately plead and beg through the duck tape but this seems to only annoy the Joker as he rips my head back making me fall backwards hitting my head on the floor.
Tears start to escape my eyes as my head starts to pound anew. Whilst I try to regain my focus back I can hear Joker as laughs uncontrollably before lifting me back up with the chair. "You´re really going to be so boring-uh like everyone else. Please Mr. Joker, please don´t kill me." He mocks as he again starts to come closer down to my level.
"I´m going to remove the tape, but you better say something uh-original." With that he yanks the tape away making me cry out in pain.
Original? What am I supposed to say that's original? Think quickly, Ella!
"Did you kill Alfred?"
For a moment he doesn't say anything and just keeps looking at me. "Well that is in need something uh-original."
So he won´t answer me, I guess?
I muster up enough courage to ask. "Why did you kidnap me?"
But again no answer he just keeps his eyes locked at me as I let my head sink unable to look into this darkness. Before I even realize Joker sits down on my lap making me grunt as he isn't necessarily a lightweight.
"What´s your name?" he asks. Unable to answer I just keep staring at my lap but Joker isn't a patient man as his hand again grips my hair forcing my head up as he places his blade onto my cheek.
I start to cry silently my eyes refusing to look anywhere but the blade about to cut into my face. "If I have to ask uh-again you wont like it"
"Stacy" I lie and before I can even comprehend what happens next his hand connects with my cheek. My head whips to the side shocked that he had just slapped me.
"I can´t uh-stand liars." His voice calm but what I´m shocked about the most how in the world could he possibly know, that I lied.
"Ella" I whisper through tears.
"El-la" hearing my name roll of his tongue I force my eyes shut but again Joker yanks my head up making me understand that he expects me to look at him.
"And where are your uh-parents?" Immediately I´m lost for words as flashbacks start to take over my mind. Not wanting to keep engaging in him sick game but also knowing that I had to, if I somehow free myself in order to get away from this maniac.
As I start to struggle more again my restrains Joker presses the blade of his knife a little deeper into my neck and I can feel some blood running down my neck.
"There dead." I answer defeated but he still wasn't satisfied and I knew if I wanted to life a little longer I had to tell him the story. "It was a car accident a year ago. I was the only survivor"
"Well-uh how tragic to have mommy and daddy dead."
A few moments pass before Joker puts his blade in my mouth. "Since-uh you´ve been a good girl do you wanna know how I got these uh-scars?"
I shake my head no furiously. The only thing I want is to get away from this sick freak but he doesn't care and just makes himself more comfortable on my lap. "You see my Mommy always hated my guts. Every little thing I did. BAM. She would hit me so hard sending me flying into the next shelve. I tried everything to make her happy. One night she is angrier then ever before so I go into the bathroom with the kitchen knife and do this do myself as I went back into the living room. She starts to scream on top of her lungs. She can´t even stand to look at me. I just wanna see my mommy smile again so I decide that we´ll smile together from now on."
I just can´t help but to feel sorry for him, knowing how it is having a mother like that. But the sympathy I had for Joker was quickly gone once he burst out in laughter again whilst finally getting off of me.
He clicks his tongue against his cheek as he watches me. Slowly, he approaches me again and holds out his hand, which is covered by his purple glove. My gaze slowly moves to his hand which holds a pill. Does he really expect me to just swallow random pills but then again I´m quickly reminded just who is standing in front of me. The only choice I have is whether I swallow it on my own or not.
Filled with fear, I slowly open my mouth as he places the pill on my tongue. He looks at me, watching carefully to see if I really swallow it. Once I realize that I won´t be getting any water, I try my best to collect as much saliva as possible and painfully swallow the pill.
When the pill finds its way down, I break out in a fit of coughing. My eyes wander back up to Joker, who now pats my head not so gently. "You are a good girl El-la and good girls get rewarded." I cry out as his hand fists my hair in a painful grip as he whispers in my ear. "But remember, bad girls get punished-uh."
I don´t know what kind of pill he gave me, but all of a sudden I´m starting to get really tired to the point where it´s a struggle to keep my eyes open. Joker pulls out a deck of card and starts to shuffle them. He lays out three cards on my lap.
One Joker Card.
One Ace of Spade
And once Queen of Hearts but as I fight to keep consciousness the last thing I see is that the cards apart from the Joker one have my face on it from when I was younger.
This was the last thing I saw before I slipped into darkness again.