Chapter 11:
Contact
I was in a desperate scramble to save my brother from further pain. I called the news station while my Mom called the police. The News Channel transferred me over to a different phone number, it was the anonymous number that sent in the video.
"Hello?" Asked a voice on the other side. I could tell it wasn't Joker, his voice was too deep.
"Are you the one that sent the video to the News Station?" I asked frantically.
"Yeah, why?"
"Where did you get it? Do you still have contact with the person that gave it to you?" I asked.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Please, can you get me in touch with him? I have to talk to him."
"Yeah sure, one second." He said, there was static on the other end as if the speaker held the phone to his chest to speak to someone else. "He'll be with you in a second. Please hold." The line went to a tone. I paced the floor and waited for five minutes before someone else picked up the phone.
"Hello, Kitty." Said a dark voice on the other side. I started to pace the room.
"What have you done with my brother?" I demanded, stomping my foot on the ground.
"Only what you saw, and lack of food and water." He chuckled.
"What do I have to do, to get him back."
"Dead or alive Kitty?"
"Alive, of course alive! I want my brother back, alive."
"We'll have to make a deal, Kitty."
"What? I'll do anything! Please, I just want my brother!"
"Come and find me, and we'll negotiate a price."
"How am I supposed to find you?" I asked grabbing my hair and tugging at it.
"I'll be in the fairgrounds." He remarked calmly. He hung up.
"No!" I screamed, I was alone. My Mom was downstairs on the phone with my Dad who was down at the station tracking something. I was a stupid girl for not having anyone around me while I made this call. I called the number back.
"Hello?" Asked the same voice that answered the first time.
"Get me Joker."
"Sorry, he just left." The guy said, he hung up. I growled in frustration and grabbed my car keys. I know I wasn't thinking, but I needed to help find my brother. I called my Dad while I was in the car. He had just gotten off the phone with my Mom who didn't have time to stop me from leaving the house.
"Dad, I talked to Joker."
"You what!?"
"I'm coming to the station now." I hung up the phone and sped into the parking lot of G.P.D. station. My Dad walked outside and practically dragged me in by the collar to the station that was buzzing with activity. He sat me down in a chair and stood over me.
"Tell- me- everything." He demanded, unconcerned with any other situation.
"I called the News station and they gave me the contact information for the person who gave them the video of Dean. I called the guy and he gave the phone to The Joker, he was with him."
"Who is this guy?" He asked, Dad barked an order for someone to contact the News station and get more information.
"I don't know." I paused, and continued my story. "Joker said he would make a deal with me at the Fairgrounds. But he didn't say when. So I tried to call back and the guy said he left."
"Who is the guy?" My Dad asked.
"I don't know, all I know is that he was with Joker, so I wrote down all the info that the News gave me and I brought it here, hoping that maybe you could do something." I said, taking a piece of paper out of my pocket and handing it to him. He took it and read it three to four times over before smiling.
"I think we can do something with this, thank you Catrina." My Dad said leaning down and giving me a hug. He went back to his desk. He sat down and started typing on his computer. I felt empowered, but scared at the same time. When had Joker wanted me to come and negotiate a price for my brother? Tonight? Tomorrow? When? I had no way of knowing. What would the price be?
***
An anonymous letter was dropped in my mailbox the next morning. It had a date and time written in smudged rusty colored ink on it. I cringed, not thinking about the source of the ink that could be blood. I pulled it out of the mailbox and ripped open the envelope.
Tomorrow evening, 8:00pm
Underneath the Ferris Wheel
I gave the note to my Dad and he said that he would have some backup planted outside the amusement park. He knew how Red Hood was with police, and if The Joker worked for Red Hood, or was the same person, he knew that Joker didn't want any law enforcement within his realm of chaos.
***
"You'll have a mic on you, okay?" My Father said, hooking a mic in my bra strap and putting my shirt over it. He moved around to my back and dropped the box down my back. The cold plastic fell down my skin and he clipped it to my belt loop. "I'll be listening to everything that is said." My hands were clammy because I was so nervous. I watched policemen move around me in a hurried fashion. I nodded my head and put my hair in a messy bun. I could feel the sweat start beading at the back of my neck. "You'll be okay, we have snipers set up around all of the entrances and exits of the place." He said, coming around to face me once again. He grabbed me by the shoulders and looked down into my eyes before pulling me in for a hug. I loved my Dad, he was so caring. I knew that he didn't want to do this but what choice did he have? It had been a few weeks since Dean had gone missing, and this was one in many attempts to get him back. The ones prior to this were full hearted but lacked coordination because we didn't know what to do or what the Joker wanted. But now, we had communication. We had enough information to retrieve my brother from that evil clowns grip. I was just the one that had to be put at risk.
"I love you, Daddy." I whispered in his ear. People started turning their heads. He pulled away from me and smiled.
"I love you too, Cat." He said kissing my forehead. He ruffled my hair and placed a hand on the small of my back. "It's almost time." He said, I looked at the clock and nodded my head. It was 7:00.
We drove to the fairgrounds and my Dad dropped me off at the entrance. The moon was low in the sky, and the clouds blocked it from sight from time to time. I stepped out of the car and turned on my mic, I said a quiet, frightened goodbye. I shut the door and turned, slowly towards the archway of the park.
Gotham Fairgrounds was illuminated by a sole orange street lamp. The 'Fair' in Fairgrounds was crossed off in scarlet red spray paint and replaced with 'Hell' above it. Reading Gotham Hellgrounds, rather than Gotham Fairgrounds. I took a slow, tentative step forwards and entered the archway. My heart was beating so fast that I was afraid it would jump out of my chest, chase my Father down, hop in his car and demand that he get out of town as fast as he could.
I started to walk through the dark, and remembered the flashlight that I had packed in my bag. I swung the bag around my shoulders and set it on the ground. I bent over and unzipped the top zipper where I had stashed the maglite for my use. I pulled it out and clicked it on, waving it around the torn red and white circus looking tents. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust, dirt, or mold. So the red and white looked more magenta and brown rather than their original colors. The grounds had really come into disrepair since the crime rate shot up just seven years ago, after Martha and Thomas Wayne were killed. It was high before, but never higher than after they died. As if they were the reason or one of the reasons that Gotham was cleaner then, than now. I walked down the 'main street' towards the Ferris Wheel. It loomed before me like a sad skeleton. The rusted seats swung in the light breeze, squeaking as they went. I looked down at the base of the Ferris Wheel, into the operator's box. There was no one. I walked closer to the ride and stopped when I was close to the dirty yellow ropes that divided the waiting line. I walked through the waiting line and up the wooden steps to the boarding platform. The weather had ripped away the blue paint on the seats and left a rusty scar, that looked suspiciously like blood. There was a note taped to the chair that was at the waiting.
"Climb aboard, and wait." It instructed in sloppy rushed handwriting. I looked inside the chair before throwing my backpack in and climbing up. I looked behind me and saw a shadow move within the cover of the nasty circus tents. I shot my beam of light over to the area, but saw nothing. I got up and exited the ride, and walked closer to the movement.
*The Jokers Point of View*
"That's right." I whispered quietly. I held the rope that was connected to a crate, suspended from a hook twenty-five feet in the air. "Come a little closer." I begged, licking my lips smearing the red lipstick around my face. I licked my lips again, itching to let go of the rope. I wanted that beauty in my grasp, I wanted that beauty.
*Catrina's Point of View*
"Where are you?" I asked myself. I continued to walk forwards, waving the flashlight in all the dark corners of the path. I took another step, when I heard a laugh and then a crash. I was no longer staring down a dark dirt path, but at the innards of a wooden crate, illuminated by my flashlight. I screamed and whirled around, trying to find a way out. I heard the laughter again, the same laughter I heard on the television at home, but louder and more terrifying. He was closer, he was real. "Let me out!"
"Not yet, Kitty." He said on the other side of the dark wooden crate.
"I came here to get my brother, not to be tortured!" I yelled, my heart pounding faster and faster as the seconds passed.
"Oh, oh, oh. I'm not here to torture you, Kitty." He paused, I banged on the old, moldy wood. I heard him jump back, and I swear I could feel the cold smile creep across his lips. I felt the goosebumps climb up my arms, making the hairs on my arms stand on end. "Don't test me." He threatened.
"Let me out!" I demanded, trying to be confident. "Let me out!"
"Be quiet!" He yelled, I refused and pounded on the wood. Dust fell from the top of the dark crate. He pounded back and demanded my being quiet.
"Let me out!" I repeated, "Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!" I screamed pounding on the wood profusely.
I heard a muffled "Give me that." On the other side of the crate, there was the click of a gun barrel and the snap of it being loaded.
*The Jokers Point of View*
I loaded the gun and pointed it at the crate and pulled the trigger without a second thought. My anger was out of control, and she was the source of that anger. It was a bad idea to annoy the shit out of me. I heard her scream and I knew that she would shut up. "Listen to me Kitty." I seethed, "This crate is going to raise, and I need you to be still for a little while." I instructed. I nodded to my buddy to pull the rope. The crate lifted and Catrina immediately tried to bolt. I rolled my eyes and nodded towards her. The other guys who were waiting in the dark caught her right away and struggled to drag her towards me. I spun the gun around my finger like a cowboy from the old western movies, and pointed it at her head. "I told you to be still." I licked my lips again and pressed the gun closer to her temples. "Now, now Kitty. Settle down." I asked her kindly, she was still fussing. She was pissing me off. "Take her to her brother." I told them, without a thought they dragged her away. She was kicking and screaming, trying to get loose. I felt bad for her, really I did.
"Mr.J." Harley cooed happily, she came and grabbed my testicles. Making me drool as she prodded around me.
"Harley." I breathed, she was in front of me and she kissed my lips, smearing her red lipstick all over me. In response, I grabbed her ass and squeezed.
"Mr. J! Now is not the time for something so vile." She giggled her high pitched laugh ringing in my ears. She seductively dragged her finger down my jaw. "Let's go." She whispered, walking down the pathway. I followed her like a puppy to the ferris wheel...
*Catrina's Point of View*
"Shut up! Hold still."
"Let me go!" I screamed, my mouth was gagged and my hands were tied behind my back. I kicked and screamed and tried to get away, but my legs were held down and tied together. The Joker approached me and bent over me.
"Just, cooperate and you'll live." He whispered. I felt his stormy eyes pleading with me. Another person skipped up swinging a hammer in her hand. The bells on her hat jingled and she stopped. Her face was painted white like a clown, she had gooey red lips that were neatly sliced all the way across her cheeks to the tips of her ears and her eyes were surrounded by a black mask that made her look like a gangster raccoon.
"Hey there, puddin'." She cooed, smacking Joker's butt. She turned to me and a wicked smile played across those thin lips. "Finally," She breathed. "Finally." My heart started pounding in my ears and my eyes began watering. Where's my brother?! I wanted to scream, but my mouth was gagged too tightly. She sauntered towards me, her face full of madness. I could see the craziness in her eyes. She looked back at the Joker and I could see that madness turn to pure lust. She turned back to me and looked at the two men that stood near by. "In the ferris wheel." She pointed to the round skeleton. "Mr. J can get in there too." She commanded, Joker jumped nimbly in the chair and assisted the strong men in getting me inside. Joker pulled the handle down, locking us both inside. I thought of ways that I could escape, but those ways would result in my death.
"You're doing well, just hang on." He said tying a rope around my waist ad held the other end. The ferris wheel started to move. He reached over to me and I recoiled. "Stop it." He pulled the gag off my face.
"I was here to get my brother, now where is he?" I demanded.
"Woah, woah, woah, hold on. He's gonna be here."
"I came here to negotiate for my brother!"
"Yeah, you for your brother."
"That's not, that's not what I meant. I want my brother to be safe, I agreed to-" Joker shoved me and I slid to the edge of the ride. He grabbed my neck and pressed me over the side.
"Shut up." He seethed, "Just shut, up." He demanded. Tightening his grip around my neck.
"Let me go, let me have my brother and let me go!" I croaked.
"I'm sorry Kitty, I can't do that." He said, brushing the hair from my eyes. He looked into my eyes and madness returned. He smiled and adjusted his hand so his thumb and forefinger were pressed against my jugulars. He squeezed my neck and I started to see stars.
"I want her alive, Mr. J." Called the woman from the ground. He sighed and backed away from me. There was a black cloud that blocked the moon, the Joker pulled out a needle and stabbed me in the arm. I screamed and yanked it out which was just as painful. My head started to feel lighter, and my surroundings started spinning.
"Awe, Harley! Batsy's here!!" Joker cried. He laughed madly and pulled out his knife. He inched towards me but his hand was shot away by a projectile. He grunted and looked up, I tried to look behind me. I couldn't see anything but an outline of a large, dark bat. The bat scooped up the Joker and flung him off the chair. The rope that Joker had me attached to grew taught and I was pulled over to the side of chair. Joker had let go of the rope and now I was stranded halfway up the ferris wheel. The chair was swinging wildly and I felt the contents of my empty stomach begin to rise. Batman turned and bent over me and sawed the rope around my waist. My surroundings spun more rapidly around me. The bat creature turned and fought the Joker who had managed to hang onto the side of the ferris wheel chair. My eyes started to go blotchy, specks of pitch black and blinding white spotted my vision and I felt sick to my stomach. The Batman fought with everything he had and more. He knocked Joker off of the chair completely and took the fight to the landing platform. He punched and kicked and threw things that exploded and prevailed. My stomach was rolling inside itself and I started to heave, I wasn't throwing up, but my throat was closing fast. I tried to move, but my muscles failed me. The last thing I remember is the Batman climbing the ferris wheel after defeating the Joker. By the time he reached me, I had passed out.