The Joker and the Thief

At some point, I clawed back into the lumpy bed. I refused to let my mind wonder, for I knew it would came back to focus on how pathetic my life was, or more importantly my pathetic attitude. Here I was in a house full of murderous, less than sane, criminals when I should be in a classroom, learning about things like World War 2 and Murphy's Law. I shouldn't be here. Sure, I was asked to be here but I shouldn't have put myself in the situation in which I needed to be here.

Why was I here? Because of my mother. To spite her. There were things that happened between us while my father was alive that put much tension on our relationship. And when dad died I just sorta said 'screw it'. It started with breaking curfew, but my mother didn't make a big deal of my stumbling home at four in the morning. I cut school and did things a fourteen year girl, or a girl of any age, should never do. When I dropped out of school at fifteen I realized that a girl can only drink so much and screw around so much in one day. I needed something else to do and I needed to make some money to survive. So I went from a overly promiscuous party-girl to professional thief. And my mother didn't even notice.

I've matured a lot in the past two years. I stopped drinking and stopped having relations with strange men. I tried to save my money the best I could. I looked towards a future where I didn't have to break into houses on a nightly bases. But, now, I was here. I'd wasted the past three years of life and possibly ruined my remaining ones. And I hurt no one but myself. My mom obviously didn't care enough to help me. She just went about her life with no thought of me. And the one person who probably cared was now dead.

I wasn't sure how long I laid in the bed before I made a promise to myself. I would do what Gordon and Dent told me to do. I would follow the Joker and observe his demonic acts. But I would not partake in the them. No matter what the Joker did to me. Sure, I would try to avoid getting killed but not at the cost of another person's life. Yes, I was going to walk away from this experience with my sanity and my life. When this whole thing was over, and the Joker was either dead or behind bars, I would move on and become a honest, productive citizen of society. Hopefully.

I must have fallen into a coma because when I woke up I was no longer in the bed or in the house for that matter. It was probably the motion that woke me up; the acceleration and then the sudden braking. The floor of the semi-truck trailer was cold and a bit unclean. My face was particularly placed in a rather large pill of dust and I was certain I had inhaled a few dust bunnies. I heard a constant murmur of voices as I picked myself up off the floor of the trailer. I noticed, with immediate discomfort and dread, that the Joker's goons, and there appeared to be many more of them now, were wearing, once again, masks

I brushed the dust off my clothes and scanned the group of men before me. It was dark and I couldn't see anyone's face. It was a very surreal sight. A group of masked men, standing in the dark with what appeared to be a rather large stack of weapons. I didn't see the Joker in the trailer but I could only see a good three feet in front of me before the details of the person dissolved into bleak outlines. I could see but I felt the truck make a wide, bumpy left turn. I lost my balance and I was sure a cry escaped my lips as my face once again found the floor. Some where in the distance I heard a small snicker of laughter.

I was content with laying on the floor as I felt the truck make another turn. I wasn't certain, but I was sure the driver didn't have a license. And, from what I could tell, he was going way over the speed limit. As the minutes passed I felt an odd sensation creep into stomach. I never had motion sickness before. I was actually a big fan of roller coasters. But this experience was completely different. The mixture of the darkness, the disorientation and motion all met in my stomach. Thankfully, my stomach was empty or else the contains would be on the already unsanitary floor.