Protect Me From What I Want

My exercise period was due the next day, meaning I was allowed into the open air for an hour. Still, I was imprisoned by a surrounding chicken wire fence which was electrified and also had barbed wire along the top. It’s overkill if you ask me. Nevertheless, I was lead outside of the building by guards along with other girls including Ivy. The weather didn’t look too nice today. It was a dull, misty day and even though it wasn’t raining there was still a moist feel in the air. The mist made everything look extremely white compared to normal and seemed to create an eerie atmosphere. All we needed now was a creepy, creaky playground swing and you’d have the perfect horror movie set.

Considering that every patient was only wearing their usual white scrubs, it’s safe to say that everyone felt the exact same rush of ice cold air immediately sting their body as they stepped onto the courtyard. I shivered violently as the breeze brushed by making the air even icier. I glanced at Ivy as she showed no sign of being cold but instead held a disappointed expression, her eyebrows knitted together as she breathed in heavily.

“Today’s not going to be a good day for plants,” she stated as if she knew that I was going to ask her what was troubling her. I followed her as she walked deeper into the courtyard warily. “May as well enjoy being outside while we can though, huh?”

“It’s pretty hard to enjoy it when the weather’s this cold,” I replied, rubbing my arms for warmth. But being the pessimistic person I am, I’d probably find something else to complain about even if we had nice weather. What was I expecting anyway? Winter was approaching fast, but the cold weather always seemed to come earlier here in Gotham.

“I’m going for a run,” she informed before beginning to jog laps around the courtyard. I would have joined her, but the icy air seemed to create a tightening around my diaphragm making it difficult to breathe properly. I already had problems keeping up with Ivy as it is, so I didn’t need another.

I watched her run for awhile, but grew bored of it. As she was running and I was breathing heavy deliberately to see the puff of air forming out of my mouth, something caught my eye as she ran past the fence. It was only faint from the mist but there was something familiar in a parking space in the distance. The obstacle caught my attention and I was strangely drawn towards it even though I knew I wasn’t able to reach it as for the electric fence, but I needed a closer look nonetheless.

As I approached the fence as far as I could without getting electrocuted, I squinted as if it would somehow make the vehicle clearer. It was just a white van. But I could have sworn it’s The Joker’s van. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I couldn’t help but become suspicious. I felt myself leaning in closer and for a second I was completely oblivious to the electric fence.

“Hey,” I heard someone exclaim from behind me, making me jump. I quickly spun around to come face to face with Ivy. “You lean in any closer and you’ll fry to death,” she warned as she pointed to the fence. If it hadn’t been for her, I probably would have. She sounded slightly out of breath from running the laps. “What are you looking at anyway?”

I returned to staring past the mist to the white van. “Do you see that van over there?” I asked nodding my head in the direction. She narrowed her eyes also to see past the mist.

“What van? I can’t see anything? How can you see past this mist?” She questioned, still searching for the van.

“Can’t you see it? It’s a big white van.”

“Only vaguely. It’s pretty hard to tell what it is from here though.”

“Well, I don’t want to sound like a nut, but I swear it’s The Joker’s van,” I whisper shouted. I saw Ivy roll her eyes and that was enough to say that she was sick to death of me talking about him.

“Oh, Harley. You’re just being paranoid. That van could belong to anyone! The Joker isn’t the only one who owns a white van, you know.” It was true. I think my mind was just hoping it was him, because I hadn’t seen him for so long. Being locked in Arkham was starting to get to me. The monotonous white walls, the tedious repetitive schedule, the constant drone of the patients and orderlies; it was all beginning to make me crack.

After coming in from the freezing cold air and into the slightly warmer building the rest of the day seemed to go by fairly quickly By the time lunch hour passed, I had seemed to forgotten all about the white van. The day went by like any other normal day in Arkham and as everyone was lead out of the dinner hall, I managed to lose Ivy in the crowd of other patients. She wasn’t upstairs in the recreation room when I first entered, so I imagined she was still trying to get out of the dinner hall.

When I first entered the room, the first thing I noticed was that it was snowing outside. Being an Arkham patient, it was easy to get excited about the littlest thing in this place, so the first thing I did was dart over to the window to have a closer look at the snow falling softly to the ground. Already the snow had begun to create a light blanket over every surface. It was almost relaxing to sit and watch the snow fall so gently, but a sudden flash of purple caught me off guard. The whiteness of the snow made it stick out that much more, but was as if as soon as it had appeared it was instantly gone. I mustn’t have been seeing things. I knew I saw what I had seen. That flick of the coat was recognisable to anyone; it was just unfortunate that no-one was around to see it other than me.

I began to panic and I knew I had to tell someone. But thinking about their reaction made feel otherwise. I knew they were going to think I’m even more of a loon and they’d either knock me up with more drugs or lock me in my cell again. I knew Ivy was starting to get sick of me, but she was the only one I could trust in here without being the one to judge me.

I darted towards the exit of the now crowding recreation room to find Ivy, knowing she’d listen to me no matter how annoyed she was with me talking about The Joker. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard the sound of distant, familiar laughing. Fearfully, I glanced around the room looking for the source or anyone else who looked as if they may have heard it too. Everyone seemed to be nonchalant to the laughter while I became anxious and even more determined to find Ivy. As I neared the door at a fast pace Ivy entered and before I had the chance to stop, I came bounding into her leaving us both piled up on the floor.

“Ugh...Jesus Christ, Harls! Why so quick to leave!?” Ivy exclaimed as she recovered from the current run in and regained her composure.

“Ivy, did you hear it?” I asked frantically as I pushed myself up off the ground.

“Hear what?”

“That laughing. It’s The Joker. He’s here, Ivy!” I shouted as I grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the window where I had seen his coat. “I swear I saw his coat go around that corner! And now I’m hearing his laugh and no-one else can seem to hear it!” The more I continued, the crazier I sounded. “I know it sounds a little stupid and a bit hard to believe, but please believe me on this one, Ivy.”

“Harley...you’re really starting to scare me,” she admitted honestly in all seriousness.

“You don’t believe me do you?”

“I don’t know what to believe, Harley. On one hand, you are in the nuthouse. On the other, I’ve never ever seen you act this badly. It all seems a little farfetched to me and I’m not sure what to say to it. I really don’t. I’d help you, I would, but I really don’t know what to do or say to help you. Do whatever you want to do and I promise you, I will help with whatever it is you want me to do.”

“I know he’s here. I’ve got to warn everyone. Dr Reed! She said whenever I had a problem I could go to her! All I want you to do is make sure you’re safe. I don’t want you getting hurt.” And with that said I burst out of the recreation room at full speed and sprinted down the corridors to Dr Reed’s office. Guards were shouting at me to stop, but I ignored their calls not caring at all.

When I burst into Brooke’s office, I noticed there was already a patient in there sitting on the couch, but I interrupted them anyway. “Brooke! I need to talk to you, it’s-”

“Harley! I’m in the middle of a session with another patient. It’ll have to wait.”

“There’s no time! It’s urgent! Please! You said that whenever I needed help, I could come to you. Now, I need your help,” I reasoned frenetically.

“Be quick,” she ordered impatiently as she gave in straight away.

“The Joker’s come for me!”

“I’m sorry, Bianca, but we’re going to have to reschedule this session for another time,” Brooke informed the patient sitting on the couch. Indifferently, she left the room just as some guards barged into it. They aggressively grappled me, until Brooke rose up her hands to make them stop. “Stop, stop. Hold on a second.” The guards instantly released me, yet they stayed in the room closely behind. “Harley, what makes you think The Joker has come to get you?”

“He’s here. First off, I saw his white van this morning. Secondly, I saw his coat tail turn the corner. And now I’m hearing his laughter. Can you hear it?” I asked panicked.

“Are you sure this wasn’t just a dream? I know that dreams can be quite effective and vivid, but-”

“No! It’s not a dream, it’s real! It happened just this second! He is somewhere in this building and we are wasting time! You’ve got to find him, before he hurts someone!” I screamed trying to get the point through. I know no-one believed me, but I had to do something to keep everyone safe. Brooke could see that I was becoming hysterical and she didn’t believe a word I was saying and with a flick of her hand, the guards were on me like a pack of wolves. “Get off me! I don’t need no medication, I’m telling the truth! People are going to die if we don’t do something now!” I shouted. I emitted a growl as I brought my elbow to collide with one of the guards behind me. This loosened the grip on me, so I was able to break free from the guards, but as soon as I did a nightstick was placed painfully to my back, making me scream and collapse in pain. As I fell, I managed to knock my head on the edge of the desk sending me into complete blackness.