Protect Me From What I Want

Ugh...my head. It hurt like a bitch. As soon as I awoke my hand simultaneously reached for my head, which I then found out had a huge plaster going across my forehead. I tore the plaster off irritably and lazily threw it to my left. It was then that I noticed I wasn’t in my usual cell. It looked as if I had been forced into the medical facility in Arkham, judging by the blinding white walls, floor and ceiling and the fact that I had an IV by my side. How much blood had I lost for me to require an IV?

Feeling strong enough to stand, I tore the IV away from me and hastily stood up from the bed. I noticed that I was still in my Arkham scrubs but they had removed my shoes. Nevertheless, I wondered towards the exit of the room barefoot in search for some help.

As soon as I stepped foot outside of the room, I knew something was terribly wrong. It was pitch black throughout every corridor, with only a flicker of light brightening them every now and again. I barely saw any source of light other than the flickering. I heard my breath become heavy, panicking at the thought of being left alone in complete darkness; Or with an unwanted presence for that matter. I forced reassuring thoughts to run through my mind as I slowly tiptoed down the corridors searching for a sign of life or somewhere that looked safer than where I was now. Everywhere seemed to be completely desolate and eerily quiet and there was no doubt that this was The Joker’s doing. You can’t say I didn’t warn them, but now I was more concerned for my own wellbeing. He was somewhere in this building and there was no telling when I might bump into him.

Just when I was beginning to build up some more confidence and began speeding up my step, my foot got caught on something and ended with me face planting the floor with a thud. I groaned as I rubbed the spot on my forehead that I had previously injured. I turned around on my knees to find what obstacle I had tripped over. I could vaguely make out a man’s body propped up against the wall; an orderly by the looks of it. He was dead no doubt as he made no sign of disruption. I took this as a chance to recruit myself with some weapons for future reference. However, the selection was limited. I was only able to steal a nightstick and a small tazer gun from the poor bloke. I shoved the little gun between my hip and the waistband of the Arkham pants being careful not to zap myself in the process and kept the nightstick in hand.

When I was equipped and ready, I began warily making my way back down the corridor searching for somewhere that was familiar which proved to be difficult considering that I couldn’t see a thing because of the darkness. Eventually I found a staircase along with the floor level I was currently on. Apparently I was only one floor above the norm. Although when I reached my ward it didn’t seem any different to the previous one. The recreation room was completely deserted and dark except there was a slight glimmer of light shining through the windows from the moon. I could now see clearly that an extremely thick blanket of snow had now coated Gotham and yet it continued to snow; like a blizzard now rather than a gentle sprinkling like before.

“Ivy?!” I called out wondering if somehow she’d still be on the same floor. There was no answer, so I prayed to God that she had escaped; although I was kind of upset that I never got to say goodbye or thank her for being such a good friend. I merely shrugged it off being too distracted by the current predicament to care too much. “Dr Reed?! Anybody?!” Still no answer, but instead music started playing through the tannoy speakers making me jump out of my skin almost.

We’re no strangers to love. You know the rules and so do I.

My shocked expression turned to a confused one when I realised the song playing was Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley. He was trying to mess with me by playing his sick little games that I didn’t want to be part of. I couldn’t stay here alone. I had to get out and call for help before someone attempts to kill me.

A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of. You wouldn’t get this from any other guy.

My eyesight had adjusted fairly well and I was now able to make out more dead bodies strewn across the hallway. I noticed a guard sprawled out across the floor directly in front of my cell door that had been burst open by the looks of it. When I entered I immediately realised that The Joker must have been in here previously searching for me. Tough luck for him that I wasn’t in there at the time. The bed had been nearly thrown across the whole room, where he must have been thinking that I was hiding underneath it. Better luck next time.

I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling. Gotta make you understand.

When I left the cell again I noticed that there was light coming from one of the offices down the hallway. It looked as if it was Brooke’s office. Instantly I began to feel glint of hope within, so I followed my instincts and followed the light jogging slightly. Not being able to contain my eagerness I burst through the door with a little more force than I had anticipated.

“Brooke?” I questioned cautiously once I had stepped foot into the office.

“Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you,” I heard an oh-so familiar voice sing with his usual low, nasal tone. Brooke’s office chair slowly began to swivel around so that it was facing me. There sat a smug looking clown with Brooke’s glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. “Hello there.”