Chapter Twenty Five

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CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

I was sitting in the van next to The Joker, worried about what I would see when we entered the warehouse. I could only hope that my parents were still alive. When we pulled up to our destination, I felt hot breath on my ear, and then the words that chilled me to the bone were spoken, “Time for your punishment.” The Joker said softly. Next thing I know, I’m being dragged on the pavement towards the building. Joker kicked the door open, and dragged me inside. I was kicked and thrown onto the floor. Looking up, I saw my parents in front of me, both bleeding, both hurt....both staring at me wide-eyed.

“No.” I said, scrambling to my feet, only to have a foot slammed on my back and push me back to the ground. I could hear my parents crying through their gags. I felt a hand grab hold of my neck and lift me up. I gritted my teeth, willing myself not to make a sound. once I was one my feet, The Joker slammed me against a wall, and got right in close to me, and said, “Did you really think I wouldn’t find you Little Birdie?” With that, he threw me back to the ground and gave me a kick in the stomach. I knew he was only doing this to get at my parents. He knew I would never admit to liking the pain, therefore, making my parents think I was hating this. Even though, in reality, I was LOVING it. On my hands and knees, he grabbed my hair, and once again threw me against the wall. I turned and looked at him, expectantly. He giggled, then walked towards me. I turned away, not wanting to face this monster. He came up behind me, and, burying his face in my hair, said to me, “Why don’t we take this conversation into the bedroom Little Birdie?” I thought I was going to be sick. I turned and bit as hard as I could into his neck, hoping the distract him enough so that he would start beating me again. But, I had forgotten....he likes pain. He moaned, and then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

“NO!” I screamed as loudly as possible, flailing my arms and legs every which way. My knee connected with his face, and he dropped me, hard, to the floor. I tried to scuttle away, but stopped when I felt a knife in my leg....in my bullet wound. It hurt so much.....I couldn’t even scream. There was nothing that could have ever explained this pain. He grabbed hold of my head and cut it with his knife.

Ten minutes later, he was still going. I can’t even begin to describe how much it hurt. I could feel every gash on my body burning, as if I was being prodded with hundreds of fire pokers. But the worst part is.....I enjoyed it. And he knew it. Shooting a glance at my parents, he grinned, and said, “Well Mr. and Mrs. Stone, you certainly gave birth to a very fun daughter. I love playing with her. And, sorry to say, as much as I love having an audience, I think I’m gonna continue this with River in my bedroom.” With that, I was hoisted into the air and carried away. I was too tired to object. I was practically falling asleep in his arms. The last thing I remember before losing consciousness was being laid on a soft surface.

I woke up stiff. My whole body ached and stung. I raised one of my hands to my head and saw......bandages.....covering it. My other arm was the same. Looking down, I saw that I was sporting only underwear and a bra, but that every gash and cut on me had been dressed. My leg was tightly wrapped in a white bandage, and when I looked next to me I saw the bullet in a metal container. I felt my head, and my hand met cloth. So he had wrapped my head also had he? I wonder why....

“Because you’re no use to me dead.” I turned in shock. What the hell was he, a mind reader? He snickered and walked towards me. He sat beside me on the bed, and was about to say something, but I interrupted him with, “Thank you.” His eyes already popped out of his head enough because of the black make-up, but now.....I swear they were going to fall right out of his head, they were bulging out so far. After about twenty seconds, he composed himself and gave me a dirty grin. “And what do I get in return Little Birdie?” I sighed. I could never be normal with The Joker. “You get my gratitude.” I replied, looking down.

“That’s not what I wanted River.” His voice was unusually soft. His gloved hand gently grabbed my chin, and made me face him. He scooted closer, then placed his lips on mine. I was hopeless to resist, although I tried to convince myself that it was only because I had told him I would kiss him whenever he desired, I knew it wasn’t. I liked his kisses.....they.....excited me. When he pulled away, he had a smug look on his face.

“I want to show you something Doll Face.” He lifted me up bridal style, and took me out of his room, down the hallway, and into a back room. Inside, there were two people, beaten and hanging upside down. I gasped, hardly believing that I had just made-out with the guy who did this. He set me down with a laugh, and then walked over to the far side of the room. He picked up some cans of gasoline, and opening the lid, started emptying them on the couple. This caused them to stir, and they started to squirm and scream, the gasoline burning all their cuts. I turned away in horror. Please, don’t let him do what I thought he was going to.....

His arms encased my body, and turned me towards the couple. With one hand, he held my face securely, making me watch, and with the other hand, he took out a lighter, flicked it, and threw it onto the puddle of gasoline. The gasoline caught, and the fire flew up five feet, engulfing the couple. The Joker whispered in my ear, “Defy me again, and that is how your parents will meet their end.” The sound of screams invaded my ears, as did the repulsive smell of burning flesh. And all the while, The Joker laughed. He laughed and laughed, that horrid cackle that would haunt my dreams forever. And me? I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could, trying to drown out everything, wanting this nightmare to be over.

I squeezed my eyes shut and tore out of his grip. I ran out of the room, ignoring the god awful pain in my wounded leg. I made it only a few feet before I felt his hand grip my arm. I spun around, ripping my arm out of his grasp, and screamed at him.

“Screw you, you goddamn fuck! My life was perfect before you showed up in it! I was happy. I had friends. I had family. Nothing could have been better. Then you showed up and took it all away. I will kill you. I swear, if it’s the last thing I do.....I will kill you.”

I turned and limped away, back to the bedroom. He didn’t follow me. I collapsed onto the bed, exhausted. Five minutes later, I heard footsteps enter the room. I buried my face into the pillow and groaned. He snickered behind me, and then grabbed my shoulders, turning me over.

“You said you would kill me Little Birdie? Well, prove it.” He shoved a silver pistol into my hand and pointed it to his head. I stared at him, dumbstruck. Was he really serious? He let go of my hands, and placed his on either side of my hips, pressing his forehead into the gun.

“Come on River, give me your worst. Pull the trigger. You know you want to. You said so yourself. Come on, throw away your compassion for one second and PULL THE TRIGGER!”

My hands were holding the gun so tight, I couldn’t feel them. All I had to do was pull the trigger, and my misery would be over. My tormenter would be out of my life forever. Taking a deep breath, I stilled my body and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

I had never shot a gun before, and the jolt of it hurt my arm. I heard a thump, and saw The Joker fall to the floor, dead. The only sound in the room was my irregular breathing. Shaking, I loosened my grip on the gun, allowing it to fall to the floor. I couldn’t believe it....I had just killed The Joker.

I stood up, trying to keep my legs from wobbling. Limping over to the door was agony. When I got to the doorway, I turned back, to make sure he was still there. He was. Biting my lip, I hobbled down the hallway, and down the stairs. I emerged into the front room and saw my parents, still tied and gagged. They turned at my entrance, and I could see the relief in their eyes. However, it soon turned to terror.

I was confused. “Mom, Dad...what?” They started screaming at me. I shook my head at them, not understanding. See what having a concussion does to me? However, I soon understood as an arm slipped around my waist, and I saw that is was......purple. Oh my god, it can’t be.....

“Heehee, well River, I must say I am impressed. I didn’t think you had it in ya. Guess I was quite wrong.”

I swallowed, hard. “Um...h-how– ” He cut me off.

“It’s awfully hard to kill someone with a gun that is filled with blanks, Little Birdie.”

I hung my head in shame. He giggled, then turned completely serious. Ugh, bi-polar....

“But, uh, as proud as I am of you River, you still did try to kill me. And I don’t like it when people try to kill me. So I think it’s only fair that I return the favour.” I felt relief, to tell you the truth. He was finally going to kill me.

But he didn’t. Instead, he led me over to my parents and stood me in front of them.

He then leaned towards me and pointed a gun at them. I stared at him in terror.

“So who’s it gonna be Doll Face? Mommy Dearest, or Dear Old Daddy?”

I gave a choked gasp. I couldn’t choose between my parents. I loved them both equally.

“P-please......I c-can’t do this. Please leave them alone. They didn’t do anything. PLEASE!” I screamed at him, begging him. To no avail. He only smiled, and replied, “Ok, Mama it is then.” He aimed it towards my mother and I screamed. I grabbed his arm. “NO NO PLEASE DON’T! NOOO!!!”

“No?” He asked. Mocking concern. “Ok then...” He hit the butt of the gun hard in my face, and aimed int at my father instead.

“Buh bye papa!” He cried, before shooting my father point blank in the chest.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” I screamed, stumbling towards my father. I covered the bullet hole with my hand, trying to stop the blood. I looked at him, hardly being able to see through the tears. He was gargling incessantly. Even if the gag was off, he wouldn’t be able to talk. “D-daddy.” I whimpered, not wanting to believe this was happening. His eyes were starting to droop, but in them, I was able to read what it is he couldn’t say.

“I-I l-lo-love you tu-too Daddy...” I stuttered. I saw contentment in his eyes, as they finally closed. I clutched his body close to me, bawling my eyes out. I looked to the side, and saw my mother, tears streaming down her face. I crawled over and grabbed her. We grieved together, until finally, my mother passed out. I turned and looked at The Joker with such venom in my gaze, that if looks could kill, he would have died instantly. I stood up wobbly, and walked over to him. He smiled, and got out his flick knife, dangling it at me. I had to use every inch of will power I had not to smile. This was going better than I had hoped. Stopping less than a foot in front of him, I grabbed his hand tightly in mine, not breaking eye contact with him. He stared at me, trying to show no emotion, but I could see the confusion behind them. I slowly leaned forward, and I saw his whole face twist in shock. When I got about five inches away, he started to close the gap also. As our lips touched, I quickly turned his hand to me and thrusted it towards me, pushing my body forward as I did. It embedded right in my chest, going quite deep. He pulled away in surprise, and looked down at his now empty hand. His eyes traveled to the knife sticking out of my chest, then up to my face. I grinned at him, then fell to my knees.

Finally, it was over. He had no need to keep my mother now, so he would let her live. I had no regrets in my life, everything was done. I told Bruce that I loved him, I’ve had my first kiss. Everything was perfect. I would be able to get out of this hell that I was in, and Joker wouldn’t be able to bring me back this time. He had no control over this. I laid myself on the ground, feeling the life drain out of me. So this is what it was like to die. Huh, what a feeling. The last thing I heard before I shut my eyes for good was my name being called by the last person that I expected, the last person who I would ever expect to have a desperate tone of voice.

“River, please.....don’t die on me.” The Joker’s voice was the last I heard.