Sequel: Smile for Me
Status: Finished :)

Give Me a Smile

Wanna know?

A few minutes later he came back without the makeup. It was a striking difference, and I wondered how any people had seen him like this. He looked a lot younger cleaned up, green hair pushed off his face. Still scared the hell out of me though. I closed my eyes and pretended I couldn’t see him. “How old are you, eh, Quinnie?” The Joker was standing in front of me, tossing a knife from palm to palm.

He grinned, but it wasn’t as terrifying without the makeup. At least the scars around his mouth were familiar, almost comforting. They matched what I saw in the mirror every day. “Uh, I’m eighteen.” He tilted his head and chuckled. “Then, uh, why’re you hidin’ from me like a kid? The, eh, haha, the monster is still there even when your eyes are shut.”

I gulped and nodded. He got on his knees in front of me, pushing his face close to mine. The Joker still smelled like smoke. “Or is it the, hehe, SCARS?” Then he shook his head like he was trying to clear it. “Oh, sorry. I guess you wouldn’t be scared, eh?” He licked his lips and kept staring at me.

“So, I finally get to ask this question to somebody, eh, ah, Quinn, I wanna know how you got those scars.” “Car accident. I was, um, sleeping, and the, the seat belt was pushed into my mouth, cause the uh, car was going so fast and m-my head was to the side.” I blurted out, hoping to lose his full attention as fast as I could. Although The Joker seemed slightly less insane in his own home, that isn’t saying much.

“What about your nose?” He asked, tapping it with a finger. I flinched, which made him laugh. “Some glass from the window.” The Joker pushed himself up and sat where he’d left his cereal. “You got any other scars? Eh, I’ll haha, show you mine.”

He winked, looking like a normal guy for just a second. He couldn’t have been older than 25. It gave me bravery. “Why, why can’t I go home?” The Joker paused, spoon halfway to his mouth. I hurried out a quick, “Uh, sir.”

He grinned so wide I could see his molars and threw the spoon at me. It thunked against my forehead and fell on my lap. “Sir! Ha! No, no, no. Sir was my father. And I hated my father.” He growled out. Then his face changed again. “Just call me Joker. And you can’t leave because, um, you’re mine.” I stared at him. “Huh?”

The Joker got up and sat in front of me, rubbing my scars with his fingers again. This time he wasn’t wearing gloves, and the feeling of bare flesh on my scars was unsettling. “No, see, Quinn, you’re my princess. You can, uh, help me with the boredom. Ha! And, I’ll blow up a building for ya. Maybe kill a few people in your name. Quinn, I’ll bring Batsy’s head on a platter to ya.”

I just goggled at him like an idiot. “Uh....” “And, if you, you start to get boring, I guess I’ll, haha, kill you. But don’t worry, Quinnie. Just....smile. I bet that could entertain me forever.” He laughed as he said this, but he held a knife to my throat. “Wha...What?” I whispered, feeling scared and confused. He kissed my scars and stood up.

“Don’t be so, um, down. I’m not that, haha, SCARECROW. I don’t play with your mind. I just...do things.” I shuddered at his mention of Scarecrow, who scares me more than anything. I was down in the Narrows when he released his fear toxin, and I saw what it did to people before I caught it myself. I still dream of that night.

Joker might slit my throat and keep laughing, but at least he can’t trap me inside my own nightmares. “I’m glad you’re not Scarecrow.” I mumbled. He grinned and started cackling again, so hard he ended up rolling on the floor. “Oh, that’s a new one. Poor guy, he’ll be so disappointed to, ha, know that he lost a beauty like you to me!”

I finished my cereal and places it on the floor beside me. “Thank you.” I instantly felt stupid for saying ‘thank you’ to the guy who kidnapped me, but manners die hard. The Joker just laughed. Of course.

The Joker decided it was bedtime about thirty minutes later. It about three in the morning. “Now you’re, ah, gonna sleep on this, haha, floor here. And if you wake me up, I’ll make a, ha!, new scar for every hour I couldn’t sleep.” “O-Okay.” I nodded quickly and lay down, hoping I wouldn’t have to use the bathroom during the night.
♠ ♠ ♠
The Joker: Wanna know how I got these scars?