To the Point of Obsession

I woke up a few days later in the middle of the night. I shot up, thinking I was hearing things. I heard some more quiet shuffles and grabbed the gun I kept on my nightstand. "Who's there?" I asked, getting out of bed slowly. All I heard was the wind blowing through the open window. I took a deep breath, then jumped when my door opened, then slammed shut.
I cautiously lit the lamp in my room, clenching my eyes shut, expecting to find a dead clown on my floor, or something.

There wasn't anything weird, that I thought, anyway. Until I looked at my nightstand. A deck of cards I knew wasn't there when I fell asleep was sitting by my phone. It wasn't a normal deck, though; the box had a Joker on it. I slowly grabbed the deck, and then opened it. I took out a few cards, and furrowed my brow. They were all jokers.

I flipped them over, and saw, in scribbled writing: 'Hey doll. I think you should listen to a proposal of mine. Don't worry, you don't have to find me, I'll find you. And don't bother running away, toots.'

In the corner was a little patch of pen, and I only figured it was the Joker's signature.

Lovely.

X.x.X

It was twilight, and I was waiting in an alley for someone. John Brady, a lawyer for the main court system in Gotham City. He disgusted me. He would defend killers, mobsters, mafia people, yet he would take the case of a family torn apart by 'Batman.'

He was the best, and Misty Merril was the richest. Her brother was a mobster, and he was targeted by Batman. Misty was left unharmed, along with her children. But when she went to Brady to get a case against the people who told Batman, he said that he'd never go against Batman. So, long story short, she asked me to go after him. I got paid a lot. And I also had dibs on any money that was on him at the time, and anything in his house was free game. It was a good deal.

I sank back into the shadows when I heard someone coming, but smiled when I saw the light gray suit of John Brady.

"Johnny, Johnny, Johnny." I cooed from my spot. I smiled at him after catching his eye. "Long time, no see."

"Do I know you?" he asked, looking at my black mini skirt, skintight black tube top, black fishnet thigh-highs and a pair of bright pink pumps.

"Do you want to?" I asked, playing with my long, black hair. "How about we rendezvous back to your place… and maybe get to know each other better?"

His eyes darted to the cleavage from my top. "Okay…" he breathed, walking to me, taking me in his arms and leading me to his car.

X.x.X

I sighed, rolling my eyes. John was lying dead on the bed, his shirt off. I smiled at my genius. I had slipped poison into the wine, and he fell over dead. Now for the messy part, I thought, taking out the knife I had in my bag. I put it in his mouth and tugged to the side. Blood spurted out onto his body. I did the other side and cleaned off the blood on the sheets. I went through his pockets, taking his wallet. I grabbed a black flower from my bag and a safety pin. I stuck the safety pin through the stem, then into his chest, like it would normally go on a shirt.

Upon leaving the room, I grabbed things from his dresser, like Rolexes, and then took a few pieces of jewelry from his wife's dresser. I made sure the mask I wore was in place, and then left the room. I smiled to the camera that was placed in the hall, and walked to my car.

I walked up the stairs to my apartment slowly. I was tired, and wearing of something bad happening. The Joker had left the cards exactly one week ago, and hadn't done anything weird yet. Yet, he could be planning something I wouldn't expect. I didn't enjoy the suspense.

I walked down the hall, feeling as if I was walking down the Valley of Death. The lights seemed to add to the affect nicely, they were twitching on and off. So much for a five star building.

I unlocked my door only to find it was open. "Fuck," I muttered. The word was becoming more and more acquainted with my vocabulary. I walked in, seeing the lights off. I stood for a second, waiting to get shot, or grabbed or something.

I turned on the light and jumped about twelve feet in the air. Sitting at kitchen table, eating my leftover pizza and drinking my beer, was the Joker.