Paparazzi

Victoria Andrews continued to go back to that small coffee shop daily, patiently waiting to yet again catch a glimpse of The Joker. As excited she was to have taken an actual photo of The Joker, she kept it a secret. She was afraid of that information getting into the wrong hands. She had captured very valuable evidence of a crime scene that day. Victoria didn't know whether or not if the police found out that they would possibly take all the photos from her, or if gossip spread around her high school about the picture, if she could some how be an accomplice. She definitely didn't want her parents to find out about the photos because then she would never be let out of the house again, and most likely would have her door taken off of her room so her parents could constantly check in on her to make sure she wasn't gone.

It was hard for Victoria to keep what she had a secret, but with time she no longer felt the urge to talk about what happened. She started to daydream about it instead, remembering that day down to every last detail. She would ask herself “What if?”. What if she hadn't arrived in time? What if she had gotten there earlier? What if The Joker never would have stopped for her to take a picture? She world run scenarios through her head over and over again, fantasizing about meeting The Joker the next time he showed up.

Almost a month and a half after her first encounter with The Joker, Victoria finally received her second chance to photograph The Joker. The 5-0 radio on her iTouch held all of The Joker's characteristics, suspicious person, gun involved, bomb threat, etcetera. And once again The Joker was only a few minutes sprint away from the small café. Within minutes, sweating and out of breath, Victoria arrived to where The Joker was yet again causing chaos and quickly began taking pictures. This time she made sure to remember that her old camera used film and after a few poorly aimed shots at some cop cars and the surrounding buildings Victoria stopped to observe the scene.

As before, Victoria thought she was too late until she noticed that same tall man dressed in purple hurrying towards a van with a few of his goons. Victoria's heart nearly exploded when she saw this very man, and she quickly put her camera back up to her eyes to take pictures. Four or five in, Victoria paused to observe the scene further. Just as The Joker had reached the back of his get away van Victoria took another photo of him. The flash caught his attention, as Victoria subconsciously hoped would happen. The Joker stared at the spot where the flash had come and this time Victoria smiled at him, a smile which he did not return. Instead he looked perplexed.
She did not have time to take another photo of The Joker before he got into the van and it drove off.

The Joker's reaction bothered Victoria. He had posed for her the first time, why not the second? Maybe it was because it was much darker than the time before, Victoria thought. She was hoping that he didn't recognize her in the dark and that next time she'd be able to let him know who she was.

Victoria didn't have to wait long for another chance. Every night afterwards The Joker would pop up around town, sometimes twice a night, but all in places where Victoria couldn't run to in time. Almost a week later Victoria had what she was waiting for. The 5-0 radio had reported a Joker sighting, the now usual instead of his normal chaos of guns and bomb threats, and within walking, not running, distance of the little café Victoria was in. If she wanted to, Victoria was capable of walking to where he had been sighted in under two minutes.

Still Victoria ran to him, thinking a sighting would give her much less time than if The Joker were actually causing trouble. Under a minute later Victoria had arrived at the crossroads given closest to The Joker's location and as she turned the corner she saw him. She saw him just standing there, leaned casually up against a light post, twirling one of his knives in his hands.

Victoria immediately reached for the camera around her neck and pointed her lens at the man. Right before taking the shot she stopped, pausing to think that it might seem rude to randomly take a picture of the man while he was just standing there. She lowered her lens and slowly started walking towards him, taking baby steps. Not because she was frightened but because she was suddenly extremely shy.

The Joker noticed her presence seconds later and Victoria stopped walking towards him, now that she was in the light of the street lamp The Joker was leaning on. He also stopped twirling his knife and the pair stared at each other silently. Seconds passed slow as minutes for Victoria as she took in all she could of the man in front of her. She took in every detail of his dripping face paint, his greasy hair, his oddly colored suit, everything. Everything she had come to love about this man. Her heart ached for him and she loved every second he allowed her to absorb him.

"Aren't you going to take your pictures?" He suddenly asked Victoria. The shock of his voice in the nearly silent neighborhood sent goose bumps crawling over her skin and shivers running up her spine.

Victoria's mouth opened automatically, expecting her brain to reply to him but nothing, not a word she uttered to him.

"Well?" he asked, sounding a bit less patient than before.

Victoria lifted her camera back up and once again pointed the lens at the man she had fallen madly in love with over the past few months. She snapped her picture before taking a few steps back and taking a landscape framed photograph before taking another portrait framed photograph a second later. She lowered her camera as she continued to back away from the man until she reached the street corner.

The Joker stood up from leaning on the light post and a van across the street from him opened its back doors simultaneously, Victoria had only now realized that it was there. The Joker pocketed his knife and, with a last glance at Victoria, started walking towards the van.

"Thanks!" Victoria shakily called out as he reached the back of the van. The Joker only glanced at her once more before getting in. Once The Joker was out of sight Victoria turned and ran back to her home, not believing what she had just experienced.

The next night, during her routine visit to the café, Victoria yet again heard about a Joker sighting, oddly enough at almost the same time as the night previous. When the radio dispatched his location it was the same as last night also. Even the police were skeptical, stating that he was not there last night and that it was a prank call but they'd still send out a squad car.

Victoria knew for a fact he was there last night, so there was no reason for him not to be there tonight. But there was also no reason at all for him to be there in the first place. Again, Victoria left the coffee shop, but this time at a casual pace. When she arrived at the crossroads again she turned to see The Joker doing the exact same thing he was the night previous. The Joker was leaning up against the same light post, twirling the same knife in his hands. Victoria felt something was very odd about the situation but never the less walked over to the man. Once again when The Joker noticed her she stopped walking and the two stared at each other for a few seconds.

Victoria was perplexed, why was he doing this? She then heard The Joker give a low chuckle before he said, "Look behind you."

The teenage girl didn't have time to look behind her, as The Joker had instructed, because suddenly Victoria was taken by surprise from behind. Judging off the arms wrapped around her torso and the hand over her mouth, by a very strong man. Much stronger than herself.

Victoria's first response was to scream but the sad cry for help was utterly stifled by the man's huge hand, so she did the next best thing she could bite the mans hand. Suddenly, the horrid sweet taste of chloroform quickly filled her mouth. Victoria realized what was happening now and tried her hardest to fight back and spit out the chloroform from her mouth but the man's grip was too tight and Victoria was out cold in the next minute.