Behind His Mask

Chance Encounter

The dark halls of the high school were littered with trash. There wasn't much sunlight that reached the halls. I stumbled over my feet. The man dragging me alongside him just pulled harder on my hair. I winced and quickened my pace once more to match his.

The other man walked ahead of us. From what I could remember from my time in high school it seemed like we were headed towards the gym. I combed my memory for exit doors there but came up blank. This place wasn't filled with the most memorable of times.

I was pulled from my internal escape plan when we reached the doors to the gym. The man ahead pushed the doors open for us as the man dragged me inside.

I glared at the man holding the door but he only stared at me with what almost seemed like pity. My eyes lingered on him for a moment more before I looked ahead.

The gym was filled with tables stacked with cash, guns, and other assorted weapons. As many as twenty men stood working in different areas. Some counting cash. Others looked to be cleaning weapons or counting ammo. I briefly thought that this would be a great time for a picture.

I was pulled towards the center of the action and thrown to the floor. I rubbed my head where the man had held my hair and had the fleeting thought that I might be bald.

"Got a present for ya boss!" The hair holding goon shouted from behind me. I brought myself to my knees and looked over my shoulder to scowl at him. He snickered then spat in my direction. I pulled myself across the floor in some sad attempt to further myself from him.

"Fuck you asshole." I all but whispered as I locked eyes with him. He balled his fists and took a step towards me.

"I'll kill you right here, you bitch!" He snarled at me. I flinched away from him. An ominous voice called out from the other side of the gym.

"Let's take it down. A. Notch. People." The voice seemed to skip from one word to the next in an almost playful manner. I looked over my shoulder and froze.

He stood up from within the bleachers and smoothed his green hair back. His movements were exaggerated as he smoothed down his purple suit and tightened his tie.

"Joker." My voice shuddered as I began to shake with excitement and fear. It was him. It was really him. I had found him before anyone else. Before the police. Before those useless star reporters. Me.

"Helloooo beautiful." He said in a sing song voice as he hopped down from the bleachers and swaggered towards me. He licked his lips and smiled. I took notice of the scars beneath his face paint. I hadn't noticed them on the low quality security footage.

I feared for my life but adrenaline was rushing through my veins. The pride I felt from getting here on my own was insurmountable.

He stood over me now, looking down at me with curiosity. I was so overcome with emotions that I actually cracked a smile back at him. A small chuckle escaped my lips.

The Joker smiled back wildly at me and threw his head back cackling. The sound of it made my blood run cold and brought me back to reality. The smile disappeared from my face and I looked up at him in shock.

He stopped laughing as suddenly as he had started. He dropped down to a squat to meet me at eye level. I stared back at him for a moment before lowering my gaze. His eyes were so piercing. I couldn't bring myself to look at them any longer.

I heard the switchblade click before I felt it against my cheek. The Joker's gloves hands grabbed me roughly by the face. He forced my head up to look back at him. His expression more serious now.

"What uh, are you doing here my dear. How'd you find me? Us?" He moved my face side to side as if looking me over. I didn't dare fight against his grip. He had killed that man at the bank in the blink of an eye. I didn't want to risk doing anything to make him snap.