Devil's Playground • Gotham Fanfiction •

XXV - Russian Roulette

He walked.
Well, more like skipped towards the end of the hallway where the service door was propped open.

Bird took a couple of steps out into the hallway and looked around.

The guards weren't at their usual posts.

Aside from the usual screams and inmates speaking in tongues that echoed through the hallway; it was almost eerily silent.

Against her better judgment, Bird started to walk towards where Jerome was waiting for her by the door.

She started to ask again what he was planning but knew it would be useless.

He wasn't going to tell her.

"After you ma' lady." He smiled mischievously and motioned with an arm for her to go in first.

Beyond the point of arguing with him -and also extremely curious about what was going on, Bird walked through the door.

There was a thick pad of sticky paper notes between the door and the frame, making sure to keep it open just enough the latch wouldn't catch.

She took one last look at the empty nurse's desk before walking through the door.

In silence, the pair walked past a few janitorial closets in the short hallway just before the top of the stairs.

Bird descended the stairs first.

The grime on the floor sticking to the bare soles of her feet.

Collecting more with each step.

She stopped just at the bottom of the stairs and looked around the room with a confused expression; until she heard a noise to the left.

She whipped her head around to look in that direction. Alert.

Ears tuning in as her eyes adjusted more to the dim, orange lighting in the room.

Her eyes cut towards Jerome for an explanation, but his only response was moving his fingers across his lips -zipping his mouth shut.
A secret.

More apprehensive than she had been minutes before, Bird walked towards the direction of the sound.

A low whimper.

Bird's advance came to an abrupt halt when she spotted the source of the noises.

The guard she'd been having trouble with since her first day there.

They'd been in school together and apparently, he'd been holding a grudge.

Accusing Bird of being stuck up, always acting too good for him.

Loony Bird, he'd taken to taunting her in the asylum.

Along with making several pointed threats about how she should watch herself, that no one in Arkham cares if they hear a woman screaming in the night.

He'd never tried to follow through on the threats, but she got sick to her stomach every single time he got near her.

"Ta-da!"

Jerome vibrated with excitement.

"What the hell is this?"

Bird didn't take her sight off of the guard.

His eyes were red-rimmed.

Snot dripping from his nose over the silver duct tape silencing his pleas for help.

Arms tied behind the back of the chair he was in; ankles bound to the legs of the chair.

Displaying a knife Jerome answered, "A present-"