In the Mind of Madness

“Let go of me!” Kenna jerked her arm back.

The Joker didn‘t seem to notice. “Come on, doll. We’re gonna miss the party.”

Kenna struggled to no avail against The Joker’s iron grip on her wrist. “What kind of party?”

The Joker glanced back at her as he tugged her down the alley, a smile twitching at his red-painted lips. “Not really your type of party, darlin’.”

“Then maybe I shouldn’t go.” suggested Kenna, trying to pull her arm free again.

The Joker just snorted at her, continuing to harshly yank her along behind him. Kenna sighed, putting a little skip in her step so her wrist wouldn’t bruise again from his grip. It was early; much earlier than her usual mornings. It had been almost seven-thirty when they left, so she figured it was just about eight. She scowled, remembering The Joker dragging her out of bed and slapping her softly on the face until she fully woke up.

“If somebody sees us they’re gonna call the cops.” Kenna told him brightly, hoping that this was her chance to get rescued. The Joker was too cocky to actually heed her warning.

“Dare to dream.” he said, guessing at her thoughts. Kenna sighed again, almost running to keep up with his quick strides. She looked down and watched his long legs, mesmerized for a split second by how oddly he walked, his dark purple dress shoes slapping on the slightly wet pavement.

They came to the end of the alley, and The Joker forced Kenna to come to a stop behind him. He stayed in the shadow of the building they leaned against, looking out onto the street. Kenna twisted her wrist again, hissing in pain. She was fairly sure that it was going to bruise. She looked down at it, subsequently seeing the clothes she was wearing, brought to her by Darla. Gray jeans and a peach-colored t-shirt with a black vest. It wasn’t something she probably would have picked for herself, but it was better than nothing. And she had no choice in the matter since The Joker didn’t let her leave the house to shop with Darla.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to know why we’re waiting here.” whispered Kenna in a sarcastically polite tone.

The Joker swiveled his head to look at her, curly green hair brushing her cheek. “I mind.”

“That is unbelievably annoying.” complained Kenna. She realized she’d been doing a lot of complaining since being kidnapped by The Joker, but immediately thought she had the right to and continued. “You’re keeping me prisoner, so I think that I deserve a few answers. Starting with why we are hiding out in an alley.”

“Nag, nag, nag.” grumbled The Joker, then something about ‘like having a wife‘. “We are hiding out in an alley because I hear that there’s going to be some very pretty fireworks.”

Kenna passed over the nagging wife comment. She didn’t like the look of his grin. “Fireworks?”

He nodded, and before Kenna could say anything else he had an arm wrapped securely around her waist. She was kind of used to him holding her that way, figuring that it was because she could never manage to wiggle out of his tight hold on her body. The Joker pulled her forward until she was pressed against his side, peeking out around the building with him.

“Am I supposed to be looking at something?” she asked after a moment of nothing happening.

The Joker rolled his eyes at her and licked his lips. “Patience is a virtue. Just keep watching.”

Kenna winced as The Joker dug his fingers into her ribs, turning her gaze to two people standing across the street. She recognized the man as the guy who announced local happenings on the news, a cameraman filming him as he talked animatedly into his microphone. He was gesturing at the store behind him, and Kenna guessed it was a piece about some new shop opening. They were the only other people on the street, it being so early. She turned to The Joker with a questioning expression, finding him leering as he looked down the street.

She followed his gaze, not understanding what could be getting the psychopathic clown so excited. Kenna squinted, searching for something little; like a hidden goon with a gun or something that would cause any amount of chaos. After a moment her eyes landed on the new library that had been built with donations, with a special area for children with learning disabilities. A large gas tanker was sitting in front of it, blocking the view of the doors. She felt her lips part slightly in bemusement as she noticed a small white rectangle taped to the side of the tank, right next to the words ‘Caution: Highly Flammable’. It looked like…but, no, it couldn’t be…

A joker card.

“No…” Kenna said under her breath.

The Joker reached his hand inside his purple jacket, pulling out a small object that Kenna recognized as one of the things he had been working on. It was a mess of wires, electrical tape, and one slightly bent antennae. Her stomach tightened as he poised a gloved thumb over the bright green button, a sadistic smile on his face.

“Match in the gas tank!” he sang, and Kenna screamed as he pushed the button.

She covered her face, but she was being pulled back into the cover of the alley by The Joker. Over the loud explosion it was impossible to hear his voice, but Kenna could see her captor mouthing ‘BOOM! BOOM!’ and laughing manically. When he moved to look at his masterpiece Kenna got to see the damage, and it made her stomach sink. The library was blown to smithereens, along with the tanker. As it settled slightly she could see paper fluttering through the wreckage. There was so much fire. All those books meant to help kids…destroyed. She looked across the street to see the newscaster staring in horror at the source of the explosion, the cameraman gaping as well as he recorded it in awe.

“You…you…” stuttered Kenna, staring in disbelief at The Joker.

He didn’t respond, too busy watching the fireball in the sky like a small child seeing their first fireworks. Kenna gasped as he started to walk out onto the sidewalk, his vise-like grip on her waist causing her to go with him. She felt dazed, her feet unwilling to move and stumbling awkwardly. A children’s library?…Why? She wanted to demand an answer, but her lips were frozen in a horrified ‘o’.

As they stood and watched Kenna heard a shout, and she tore her eyes away from the fire to see the men across they street now looking at them. The cameraman turned toward her as well, his eyes shooting wide. Who wouldn’t be surprised to see The Joker and his supposed partner in crime? Kenna swallowed hard to get her voice back, ready to shout at them for help. She didn’t want there to be any doubts about her involvement with The Joker being anything but forced.

But before she could yell at the two shocked men, The Joker was smashing his body against hers. Kenna automatically moved her hands to his chest, trying to push him off. But he was much stronger than her, and his arms were tight on her back and waist. Kenna intended to try and fight him off, but she didn’t have a chance before his mocking smile was crushed against her grimace.

Kenna froze for two seconds, then her eyes clenching shut as she fought against him with all her might. The Joker chuckled into what Kenna figured looked like a kiss, but was really a harsh assault on her mouth. She groaned in pain and tried to pull her head away from him, but he moved with her, not allowing her to break their contact. Kenna finally regained control of her body and brought her knee up. The Joker’s hand beat her to it, grabbing her leg as she tried to use the only self-defense mechanism that would come to mind.

Flinching when two harsh noises rang through the air, Kenna took a deep breath as The Joker finally freed her lips. She panted, tasting blood in her mouth. He had shoved his mouth against hers so hard her teeth had cut into her lip. Kenna looked over at the news crew, finding them both on the ground, bullet holes visable on their bodies. The sounds of sirens were getting closer, and Kenna was suddenly running down the alley, The Joker ahead of her with his grip back on her wrist.

Kenna was trying to understand what the hell had just happened, but her mind was continuously drawing a blank. Then again, when did The Joker ever make sense to her?