Tonight, You're Gonna Break Your One Rule

My hand still stings as the Joker lets me go, again with an eerie chuckle. My eyes stare straight ahead, unseeing and still tear-filled. His purple and green figure moves away, and he pulls of his tie, laying it too over the back of the chair. All I can hear is both our breathing, and my gentle sobbing. The snap of the desk cover makes me jump, and my breathing slows a little as I hang my head and wish myself into a different world.

The Joker hums softly to himself and I hear the scratch of his pen on paper. Half of me wonders what he's doing. I watch him, his head bobbing from side to side in time with his humming and start wishing harder. I contemplate getting up and punching him, or something like that, seeing if I could get out, but I knew I'd never compare to him, and end up dead. I decide to stick this whole place out and see if he'd let me go sooner or later.

Besides, I sigh heavily, there was something in the Joker that made me want to stay. I wanted to find out about him, to see what was behind Gothams number one, the clown prince of crime.

I hear him place his pen down softly, and the crinkle of his trousers as he turns in his seat. He watches me carefully for a second, as I rake a hand through my hair and finally catch my breath, clenching my eyes shut.

"Your friends here," He says in a monotone, watching me, "Adam? He's the new member, the survivor."

I scramble up from the floor and suddenly breath escapes me again. Adam was here? Adam was safe? Thank God I had a friend in this place! I go to make through the door, then realise I don’t know anything apart from this room.

"Where?" I say, hurrying him to answer, eager to see Adam.

"Out the door, through the next room, far left door." He says again, this time turning back round and picking up his pen. I catch a glimpse of a page full of scribbled, messy notes.

I pull open the door, and recoil a little at all the guns and knives. I close that door behind me and do a full circle on the spot, contemplating again to seize a gun and shoot my way out. I shake my head to dispel the thoughts, deciding I couldn't make it, and reminding myself I wanted to stay just a little.

I open the other door, and I'm out in a corridor, long but also quite wide. Ahead of me are three doors, to my right another, and to my left another. I almost run to the left door, ignoring the paintings on the walls, and the odd bit of graffiti.

I pull open the door and it’s a kitchen, a little old and dirty, with a table in one corner and counters in the opposite. I see a figure stood at the sink and yelp, "Adam!"

The figure jumps and a cup drops into the sink. Adam whirls and runs over to me. I run into him and he wraps his arms round me. I squeal as he picks me up and smile.

"Oh my God I'm so glad you're here!" I say as he puts me down. I kiss his cheek, "So glad you're alive!"

"Me?" He says, still hugging me, "I thought he'd killed you!"

"No," I say, delirious and grinning, "I'm alive, you're alive. We're okay, we'll be okay!" He hugs me tight again, and I close my eyes.

Neither of us notice the painted face watching, almost sadly, through the door, ajar just a little.

I jump, as there's a loud bang, then yelling, coarse and loud. I cant understand what they're saying, but Adam holds me tight as I whimper, still scared.

"I don’t care!" I hear the Joker yell, "We're going out now, we're finding a place and we're fucking it up! Right?"

Silence.

Then suddenly, a gunshot, and a dull thud.

"Let's go." I hear his monotone and shivers pulse down my back again. I hated it every time, yet I couldn't wait for the next shiver.

I breathe heavy as we hear people, and the Joker stops, "Lock them in, I'm not having them escape." He hisses, before we hear a door slam and an array of locks click into place.

"Yes Boss."

I exhale again and tears prick at my eyes.

"I'm scared Adam." I whisper, and he hugs me. He half carries me out that room, as I suddenly feel exhausted, and I'm shaking just a little. We're in one of the three rooms, and it's filled with three beds, a dresser and a table or two. Adam lays me on the bed next to the door and lies next to me.

"My bed." He whispers as he cuddles me close, my limbs shaking and twitching, "There's seven other guys here, all been here for a while. They're not exactly friendly."

"Mhhm." I murmur back, my eyelids heavy and now closed. I don’t have the energy to hold a proper conversation, only ask the question that’s been bugging me, as there's no windows in this place.

"What time is it?"

"Half seven in the evening." Adam says, as I look up at him and take in his tired features. His eye is bruised and there's a cut above his eyebrow, his lips are split and there are several more bruises covering his face and neck. I guess it's from the sick 'tryouts' the Joker had held before. I lift a heavy hand and trace a bruise on his cheek.

"Everyone's dead Pixie," He murmurs, "I killed two of them," He breathes heavily, "It was crazy, every man for himself. I thought they were my friends..." We sigh and his lips touch my hair.

"I'm scared Adam, really scared..."

"I know Pix, I know."

Sleep takes me then, but my dreams are haunted both by a painted face, and my old reoccurring nightmare, of the blood ruining my new shoes and screaming teens and death itself on the floor in front of me. Blood spilled over me, metal in my hand now dull and a little warm. Screams burst my eardrums as teens pushed past me and I just stood there, staring. I thought I'd passed that, got way over it.

It was so long ago.

"Precious..." I hear a soft voice invade my sleep a while later, "Precious..." I open my eyes and it's dark. It takes my eyes a while to adjust, until I realise I'm still curled up with Adam. I look again through the ajar door and see a figure leaning, darkness cloaking him, but as shivers run up my spine again, and his smile stretches a little more, I know exactly who it is.

"Pixie." His voice is a little harsher now. He walks away, and for some reason I feel my body pulling to follow him, curiosity was killing me, never mind the cat, and I got the feeling he was angry, his eyes darker than ever.

I follow him and he's leaning against the opposite wall, his arms folded across his chest.

"You think you can waltz in here and be happy Precious?" He asks, his voice soft and taunting.

"No?" I say, unsure as I walk towards him slowly.

"I brought you here," He says, moving away from the wall and to his door, " You stay in here. This isn’t meant to be nice Precious. You'll find out I'm not nice."

Anger boils through me quick and hard, and I'm backing him against the walls of knives, "You can't keep me here Joker," I say, my hand reaching for a knife on the wall. I barely have my fingers wrapped around the hilt before his rusty old switchblade is against my cheek again.

"Oh yes I can Precious." He pushes me away and I throw the knife door, its hilt searing my skin as I haven’t held a weapon since that day.

When I look again he's lying on his bed, feet crossed and arms folded. I take in every inch of him and revulsion rises in my throat.

What gave him the right to keep me here and boss me around? I shut the door behind me and sit on the sofa.

"Don’t you wanna sleep here Precious?" He smiles, his grin grotesque as he pats the bed next to him. I feel sick again, at the way he's acting and how he's making me feel, and I shake my head furiously.

"I'd rather die." I spit.

"That can be arranged!" He spits back, his voice harsh and loud as in an instant a gun is pointed right at me, a silencer clipped on, it's dull metal moulded perfectly to his hand. Breath chokes my throat and my knuckles go white on the edge of the sofa.

I breathe slowly as he lowers the gun and points with it to the bottom drawer of the dresser on the right, "There's a quilt and pillow in there. You can sleep on the couch."

He waits until I've got them out, walking on shaky legs, and laid them on the sofa, glad it was a little larger than the usual, until he turns the lights out. I roll over to face the wall and hear him moving about, probably getting undressed. My stomach clenches and I wish I was as far away from here as I could.

After a moments silence his voice punctures the calm air and invades my mind. His voice lingers far into my dreams and I hear him over and over.

"You're mine Precious. Don’t forget that."