Are You Insane? No I'm in Love!

Third Person POV

Throughout the rest of the night, Jennifer Lee felt the situation she was in had become even more dangerous than she could have imagined. The whole world was a big blur around her and the constant scenarios that played through her head were going to drive her to a complete breakdown.

Feeling quite distressed, Jennifer decided to turn in early for the night. Stifling a fake yawn she announced, “Okay guys, I think I’m gonna hit the sack. Goodnight boys.” Clyde, Krist, and Bruiser quickly acknowledged her then immediately resumed to there oh-so intense game of Go Fish.

When Jennifer Lee got to her room, she threw herself onto the unmade bed and sighed. She wished she could just go back in time and stop herself from being a total twit, and running out of the house.

“Oh mom… I really need you now. What do I do?” she whined.

If there was anything Jennifer missed most about her normal life, it was her mom. She missed her scent. The way she greeted her when she got home from school, and her comforting, warm hugs; but above all, she missed the dear mother’s advice. She would always give little bits and pieces whenever she could. Jennifer then remembered what her mom said to her when she was learning to ride a bike:

“There will be times in your life like this Jennifer, when you’ll want to give up and wave a white flag. It’s at those times, hunny, where you need to be the strongest; even if it means having to endure a little bit of mental or physical bloodshed.”

You’re right mom, you’re right.

At that moment, Jennifer heard the sound of a doorknob being turned.

Jennifer Lee’s POV

All of a sudden the Joker strode in. Casually, he shot me a quick glance before licking his lips and heading into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. After a few minutes, I heard the shower running. I decided maybe this would be a good time to get some information.

I scooted near the bathroom door, “Um, Joker, can I ask you a couple things?”

The shower turned off, and there was nothing but silence, “Depends… actually, nope. You can’t,” he changed his answer, “It‘s gonna turn into one of those police interrogations, and frankly the police annoy me.”

Just as Joker began to open the door, I slammed it in his face and quickly blocked it with my body weight, “Wrong answer!”

“YOU LET ME OUT OF HERE, RIGHT FUCKING NOW!” he screamed while banging on the door.

“No freaking way, I’m asking you a question and I’m not letting you out until I get an answer! Now, does the name Arthur Blackwell ring a bell?”
All of a sudden, a gunshot was fired, blowing out a small fraction of the door. This action made me cover my ears as I let out a shriek. Soon another shot was fired. Fearing for my life, I managed to cry out, “Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!”

“Not until you open the goddamn door!” Joker declared, “OPEN IT OR I’LL BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT!”

I hung my head and sighed; I had no choice. Reluctantly, I unblocked the door and quickly jumped for cover on the other side of the bed. As the door swung open, I poked my head up to see Joker. He was standing there lazily, holding a magnum 44 in his hand and wearing nothing but a towel that was wrapped around his waist. Miraculously he still somehow managed to have his make up on.

There was so much tension in the air but I had to ask once again, “Do you or did you ever know a man named Arthur Blackwell?”

Upon hearing me, Joker trudged towards me until there was an inch between my body and his. He looked down at me, his breathing heavy. His face twisted into a frown. I gulped and shut my eyes, knowing I was really gonna get it.

“Nope, never heard of him” he simply shrugged his shoulders and placed the gun on the nightstand.

I felt my blood pressure sky rocket, “YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU ACTED LIKE A COMPLETE JERK OFF, TURNED THE DOOR INTO FUCKING SWISS CHEESE, AND MADE ME ALMOST SHIT MYSELF, JUST SO YOU CAN SIMPLY SAY, ‘NO’?!”

“Yes, yes I did” Joker smiled, the scars of his cheeks growing even bigger.

Containing all my rage, I sucked in my breath and gritted my teeth. I wasn’t gonna let him have any sense of pleasure at my expense.

“Fine, that’s all I wanted to know.”

As I began to leave, Joker called out to me, “Actually, I might know a little somethin’ somethin’ about this Blackwell guy… but it’s all in good time, tootsie. You’ll find out soon enough.”

I turned and shot him a dirty glance, but my face soon twisted with a sense of curiosity. I looked up and down at him. As far as I could tell from the waist up, his body was just… just… let’s just say the suit he always wears does not do his figure any justice whatsoever.

Wait a minute… did I just ogle a psychotic, trigger-happy, maniac? Yep I just did.

“Hey! Hey!” a voice rang out, snapping me out of it, “Toots! Hey! Can you hear me?” Joker grabbed me by the shoulders and shaking me, making me snap out of my trance.

“Hmm? You say something?”

“I said, are you okay? You’re freaking me out. Anyways, we’ve got another job tomorrow. They’re honoring Loeb tomorrow and it’s about time I send another message to Gotham’s little ‘White Knight’.”

I began to stifle a giggle, but I couldn’t hold it in. Soon I was holding my side I was laughing so hard.

Joker cocked his head in what looked like confusion, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I freaked you out. That right there is a signal the freaking apocalypse is approaching. Maybe you’re not as crazy as they say; since it appears you have some actual emotions in there. Perhaps I‘m making you soft there Joker,” I smirked, snickering at my own comment.

Joker just rolled his eyes and mumbled something inaudible as he put on a fresh pair of pants. I stopped him before he left the room, “Where are you going?”

He turned to answer, “There are some… preparations that need to be taken care of.”

“Joker, wait!”

“Argh, WHAT NOW?!” he stomped his foot, obviously annoyed that I was keeping him from whatever he needed to do.

“I wanted to thank you… for, y’know… the cat,” I pointed over at Nedji, who was curled up against the heater. Joker looked over at the cat and back at me. He ran a hand through his greasy hair, sighed, and looked down at the ground as if he was embarrassed. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled at me and quickly left.

I shook my head, “Weird, weird, weird!” and rested my head against the pillow. After a few minutes, I thought about how he looked when he was standing in front of the bathroom door. His posture, his facial expression, even the way he was holding the gun… the picture in my head made me feel… I couldn’t even find the right word to describe it. It was a mixture of feelings.

“I don’t love him… do I? No, that can be love, I’d have to be crazy to love something like that… someone like him!”

“Meow,” Nedji voiced her opinion, jumping up onto the bed. I furrowed my brow, thinking back to what I had learned in my AP Psyche class…

Stockholm syndrome: this describes the behavior of kidnap victims who, over time, become sympathetic to their captors… Stockholm syndrome has three central characteristics:
The hostage has negative feelings about the police or other authorities, the hostage has positive feelings toward their captor or captors, and the captor or captors develop positive feelings toward the hostage…

Oh man.