Freak is an Ugly Word

Here's chapter 15 for all of you. I hope that you enjoy! Thanks to all those that reviewed and rated.
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Chastising herself for being so stupid, Princess stood up. Disobeying the man was still not an option for her. With how much he had messed with her head, she doubted she would ever be able to say no to him. It was a fact that she did not find very pleasant. Even more so considering the type of man he was. He had just blown up a hospital! Sure, everyone had gotten out, but would he have cared if they did not? Would he have cared if there had still been children in it? Princess did not need to search deep for the answer, she already knew it. No, he would not have cared.
As Princess slipped by him, Doc moved out of the way so that she would not be hindered. It would be futile to try and stop her. One, she would not disobey Joker, and two, Joker would most likely kill him for doing so. Doc wanted to die an old man, not at twenty-nine. So, he let her pass, not even glancing up at her. He could not bring himself to look at her. He would not be able to bare the obedient puppy dog eyes of hers.
With her head held somewhat high, Princess made her way to Joker. She had not been frightened of Joker before, so she was not going to let herself be so then. Now that she had seen the real Joker, she knew there was a large chance that he would hurt her. The thought set her heart hammering against her chest. She tried to calm herself for fear that he would hear it. How could he not? It pounded so harshly it echoed in her ears.
Calm down, Princess, she told herself. Be strong for once.
Yes, the voice cut across her mind, for once, don’t be a frightened little bunny rabbit.
There was no time for Princess to shush the voice for she was standing next to Joker. She stood looking down at him, gripping the seat next to her. The driver was not very good and his skills were showing in his erratic driving. She had to grip the seat just to keep on her feet. The driver made a sharp right turn and it sent Princess head first into the seat with Joker. Pain and nausea overtook her when her head bumped into the metal siding of the bus just below the window. Luckily enough, it was not the side that had the stitches, but it still hurt her all the same.
After the pain subsided, Princess came to realize that her legs were on Joker’s lap. As fast as she could, she moved them and pushed herself against the window, knees to her chest. Her eyes watched him, making sure he did not move any closer. Normally, she would have laughed at the ridiculous nurse’s uniform he had donned himself in, but fear of the man stopped the laughter dead in her chest.
Joker licked his lips, excited about the fact he could mess with her mind just a little bit more. The fear in her eyes made him want to do it. Her fear was a new thing to him, and he wanted push it. Wanted to make it grow to terror. “What’s the matter?” he asked her touching the calf of her right leg. “Is Princess scared?”
Hands cold as death touched each side of Princess’ face. Her heart stopped dead in terror. “Calm down,” the voice called to her, “it’s just me.” The voice belonged to Evil Princess. That fact did nothing to clam the poor girl, just made it worse. “I’m just trying to help you,” Evil Princess reassured her. “Just let me in. You don’t have to let all of me in, just a little bit. I’ll help you. Just release a little bit of your anger.”
Closing her eyes, Princess sighed, calming herself and did as Evil Princess asked. She let just a little bit of anger that had been built up inside of her go. Her heart thudded in her chest and a turned cold. Opening her eyes, they narrowed when they landed on Joker. With her right foot, she kicked him as hard as she could in the side.
Caught off guard, Joker fell from the seat. A surprised guffaw passed through his lips. The kick was not painful in the least. In fact, he hardly felt it. It was just surprising that she had done it. Princess had never even hinted at the ability of violence toward others. Sure, she snapped at him once, but that was just words. A kick was something much different.
The reaction had brought a smile to his face. Princess had once again caught his interest. No longer was she the boring little puppy dog that did as she was told. Her eyes told him that. The miniscule spark that he had once seen had ignited. Strange how that fire was not hot, but cold. So very cold. He was going to have so much fun!
“Don’t touch me you wacked out clown!” Princess shouted at him.
That was a first. Princess actually telling someone what to do. It had, also, caught the attention of Joker’s men. They looked at the two with interest, including the bus driver that was until he almost ran them off of the road. After that, his attention stayed on the road.
A smile lit Princess’ face. It felt good to release some of her pent up anger. Though it was a small amount, it still felt really good. Her head hurt less, the ache in her chest subsided, and she felt more relaxed. With the anger, the tension that wound her body seemed to disappear as well. Maybe she should allow herself to get angry more often.
Standing up, Joker brushed off the imaginary dirt that had decided to cling to him. Oh yes, he was going to have so much more fun with her now. He had to see just how far her anger would go. Flopping in the seat next to her, Joker reached over and gripped her throat and pulled her over to where she was straddling his legs.
Princess had not seen that coming. He was too fast. Clawing at his wrist and hand did not seem to be helping. It only made his grip tightened further restricting her breathing. He was strong. So much stronger than her. Even with Evil Princess’ help, she would not be able to get him to release his hold on her. The anger she felt quickly transformed into fear.
Joker clicked his tongue in disappointment when he saw the fear in her eyes. It would appear that he could not push her anger any further. How boring. The grip he had on her throat loosened. In return, Princess grabbed his wrist and bit his hand, hard. Joker tilted his head to the side, curious to see just how hard she would bite him.
At seeing his lack of reaction, Princess pushed his hand from his mouth. She had wanted to see pain, but she got nothing. Nothing but a tilt of his head. Did he not feel pain or was he just immune to its effects? Either way, she did not like it. It made him seem less human. People felt pain, from mental to physical. He seemed to be plagued by neither.
Princess glared down at him, leaning her back against the seat behind her. “You bore me,” she told the man.
Joker raised his eyebrows at her bold statement. “Do I?” he asked eyebrows still raised. A wicked smile grew on his face. “I’ll just have to change that, won’t I?”
The bus came to a sudden halt, and Princess was relieved that she was already leaning on the seat behind her. If not, she would have surely been thrown forward like the other passengers. When Joker’s head slammed into her chest, the relief was gone along with her breath. “We’re here!” the driver exclaimed as everyone slowly picked themselves from where ever they had landed.
Princess went to get off of Joker, but he stopped her with his hands on her hips. “Oh no, no, no, no, no. You’re not going anywhere.”
“Get your hands off of me!” Princess hissed.
The men rushed the hostages out of the bus, deciding it best to leave the two alone. Most of them would have loved nothing more than to stay and watch, but decided it was not worth being killed for. There was a chance that Joker would not mind, but who would want to take it? It would be best for them to leave.
With worry filled eyes, Doc constantly looked back to Princess. All he could see was the back of her head, but the way her body was rigid, he could tell that she was not a happy camper. Joker did something, he did not know what, and she did not like it. A smirk crossed Doc’s face when Joker sprawled to the floor after Princess had hit him. Doc did not know the pretenses of Princess’ change, but he had to say, it was a lot better than the old Princess. She was finally sticking up for herself. Doc slinked off of the bus in a much better mood.
Standing up, Princess hovered over Joker who cackled on the dirty floor of the bus. “I told you to get your hands off of me!” she shouted down at the man.
Pointing at her, Joker continued to laugh. “I can see up your dress,” he commented through his cackling.
“And I can see up yours.”
“Oh, ho, ho, but I’m not wearing one,” he replied. Then he gazed down at his outfit. Of course, he remembered what he was wearing, but he was hoping to anger Princess more. “Well, look at that, I am wearing one. Do you think it makes me look fat?”
Rolling her eyes, Princess started to walk away. “You’re fucking crazy!” she screamed over her shoulder. A hand gripped her ankle and pulled. She went tumbling to the floor, her head bouncing off of it. Unfortunately, it was the side with the stitches. The pain and nausea returned ten fold.
Joker rolled her onto her back and straddled her waist. “I’m not crazy!” he proclaimed. “I’m not!” He put an emphasis on the ‘t’ making it pop. “I’m not crazy!”
Groggily, Princess replied, “Who are you trying to convince, me or you?”
Joker gazed down at Princess, a smile on his face. He had noticed the change in her speech. It sounded more educated and less street. There was a brief moment when he wondered if she had split personality disorder, but he shook that off. It was Princess, he could tell that by the fear in her eyes. She was just a little… changed. A little more anger and a lot less weak. He was finding this new Princess a lot more intriguing than the old.
But intriguing or not, she was just in the way. A road block. Something that was in his way. The only way for him to move forward was to remove the block. Removing the road block would be a simple task, especially with one such as Princess. She would not put up much of a fight. Even if she did, he could overpower her easily enough.
Joker reached into the pocket of the nurse’s uniform he was wearing and retrieved a knife. Princess had not even noticed. The pain in her head was growing into a harsh pounding causing her red dots to appear around her vision. Like a jack hammer, her heart pounded fiercely against her chest. Breathing had become a difficult task and was fast and laborious. She could not focus on one thing without the red haze taking over. Repeatedly she tried to blink it away, only for it to come back brighter and larger than before. It slowly clouded her vision.
The cold blade pressed against her throat. That action received no reaction from her. Princess did not feel it. Could not feel anything but the horrendous pounding in her head. Joker did not like the fact that she was not reacting, but shrugged it off. It mattered little to him. No matter what, he was going to drive that knife into her neck and…
“… kill her?” A female voice asked.
Doc turned his head and looked at the woman. He had not been paying attention to what she was saying. Had not even known she was speaking to him. It was the blond from earlier. The one that had snapped at Princess. Her midnight blue eyes gazed at him with scrutiny. “What?”
Missy rolled her eyes at the man. “Do you think he’s going to kill her?” she asked him again, this time much more slowly as if she were talking to her son and not a grown man.
Shrugging his shoulders, Doc answered her. “It’s a possibility.”
Missy’s eyes narrowed. “Then, why are you just standing here!” she yelled at him. “Go and get her out of there! You care about her,” she lowered her voice and stood closer to him, “so go help her.”
“It’s not that simple!” he hissed back. “Nothing with him ever is.”
One of the men walked up next to Doc. He stood there for a moment before speaking. “I’m going to go and let Boss know that everything is set up,” he told Doc.
“Why are you telling me this?” Doc asked harshly. He did not like to be interrupted when he was speaking. “Just go and do it!”
The man shrugged and walked off. Deliberately slow, he made his way to the bus. When he reached the bus, the sound of laughter filled his ears. It was the girl’s, that much he could tell. Never hearing it before, he could not help but smile. The laugh was girlishly cute and very infectious. He felt his own laughter build up in his throat, but forced it back. “Boss?” he called as he walked up the short flight of steps and onto the bus.
What he saw confused the man. Joker was gazing down at the girl, his head tilted to the side knife in hand. He climbed off of Princess who continued to laugh mirthlessly. Clawing her way away from him, she stood up. When her eyes landed on Joker’s man, a sweet smile crossed her face. She lightly skipped over to the man. Her dark hair bounced with each skip, and she hummed a nameless tune.
When she reached him, she stood on tip toes and kissed the man. He stood rigid, not knowing what to do. Her tiny hands were roaming his body, and then she just stopped. Stepping back her smile changed. The sweet innocence was lost and replaced with a twisted maliciousness.
The retort of a gun echoed in the walls of the bus. The man’s body jerked and his eyes widened with realization. She had just shot him. Never before had he thought that could happen. Why? Why did she shoot him? What had he done to her? Nothing. He had done absolutely nothing to her, but that mattered little to Princess. The pounding in her head was driving her insane and she needed to find a way to relieve it. She would try anything, and shooting the man had sounded like such a wonderful idea. Only problem was it did not work. The pain still continued. As she gazed down at the gun, she briefly wondered if shooting herself in the head would relieve the pain.
Don’t do that you daffy bitch! Evil Princess shouted at her. You’ll die! We are not ready to die just yet. Princess agreed. She was not read to die. She was way too young for that. Nineteen is not the right age to die. Thirty sounded like a good age, maybe older, but not nineteen.
The man fell into a seat no longer able to stand. He was still in shock. Slowly, he was bleeding to death and it was all caused by a girl half his size. Princess’ head tilted to the side as she gazed down at him. “Does it hurt?” she asked quietly. There was no reply to her answer so she answered it herself. “I guess not. You’re not screaming. I thought being shot would hurt. Maybe I was wrong.” Spotting the sliver clasp of his pocket knife, Princess walked closer to him and retrieved it. Using both hands, she opened it up.
It was a simple blade. Nothing special about it. A sliver handle and blade to match. Etched onto the blade were the words “sterling silver 420”, very common words on any blade. The silver object reminded her of the one Andy religiously carried around. The one he had threatened her with so many times before. Though the fabric of the hospital gown she wore, she lightly traced the scar.
“Look what you made me do!” Andy’s voice rang out in her head causing her to flinch. “You’re bleeding all over my sheets.”
The hand that held the knife clenched so tightly around the object her knuckles turned white and the edges of the handle bit into her flesh. It was him. Andy. Andy had given her that scar. He was the reason for all the pain in her life. Him. No one else but him. She hated him so much. Wanted to kill him. That’s what she was going to do. Kill him. She needed to kill him.
A torturous scream filled the ears of Joker’s men and the hostages. Before it even ended, Doc was rushing to the bus. He had to make sure that it was not Princess. The gunshot he had heard earlier had not effected him. Doc had been positive that it was Joker shooting the man for interrupting what ever it was he was doing. But the scream, the scream could only be her.
Reaching the entrance of the bus, he spotted her stumbling down the steps. Her hands covered in blood, but just her hands. The normal pale her skin wore was ghastly white, and her eyes wide as she stared at her blood stained finger. Like a leaf in the wind she was shaking. “Princess?” Doc gently called to her.
Her head shot up. “I killed him,” she told him. “I stabbed him. Stabbed him over and over again. He kept screaming. I stabbed him in the throat and he stopped. I killed him, Doc. He’s dead. Dead.” Princess’ voice never raised in volume or pitch. It stayed in monotone.
Doc knew the signs of shock. There was nothing he could do for her at the moment. “I’m going to go on the bus, I’ll be right back,” he reassured her. Her head bobbed up and down in response and her eyes traveled back to her hands.
Stepping onto the bus, he noticed that Joker was still alive and staring down in a seat. He figured as much. There would have been no way Princess could have killed the man. So, that only left one person for her to have killed. Doc moved next to the man to see what he was looking at. He quickly regretted it.
It was definitely the body of the man. Several stab wounds wept blood freely. A once silver knife protruded from his throat. “I think she’s crazy,” Joker stated to the man.
Doc rolled his eyes as Joker cackled beside him. Leaning over, he reached his hand out to check the man’s pulse. He knew it was futile, but it was second nature to him. As quickly as he placed his hand there, he jerked it away. “Shit,” he exclaimed. “He’s still alive.”
Joker shrugged and walked off. “Take care of him then.”
With that he left Doc on the bus alone with the dying man. With shaking hands, Doc removed the knife from the man’s neck. A gush of blood poured out of the wound. Heaving a shaky sigh, Doc did the only thing he could think of. He further opened the wound on the man’s neck. He dropped the knife and took a step back and stared down at the body. Never once did his hazel colored eyes stray from that body until it no longer bled.
That was the first life he had ever taken. Staring done at the now cooling body he felt nothing. It had been a necessary thing he had done. It had been a mercy killing. The man would have lived much longer in pain had Doc not opened that wound just a little further. Taking a life had been much easier than he had expected. Something that he could do again if he had to without remorse.
But there was something a little more important to worry about at that moment. She was standing outside by herself in a state of shock in nothing but a hospital gown. Tearing his eyes off of the corpse, Doc left the bus. Princess was leaning against it staring out into the city shivering. Removing his coat, he offered it to Princess. She did not seem to notice the gesture, just kept staring at the landscape. “Princess,” he lightly called. She tore her eyes away from the city and gazed at him. “Here, take my jacket.”
Princess refused with a shake of the head. “I’ll get blood on it.”
“I don’t mind. Besides,” he started with a smile, “you’re going to need it.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re leaving. I’m getting you out of here and take you somewhere safe and far away from him as possible.” Without her approval, he helped her into the coat. “I was thinking about leaving the city. Maybe starting fresh somewhere else.”
Violently, Princess shook her head. “I don’t want to leave the city. I’ve never left it before.”
“Okay, we don’t have to leave the city. We’ll just make do with what we got here. Wait here,” he commanded as he entered the bus once again. Once he found what he was looking for he went back to Princess.
She watched with interest as he tucked the gun into the back of his pants and hid it with his shirt. “Will we need it?”
“You can never tell in this city. Better safe than sorry.” Princess wholeheartedly agreed. “Alright, let’s go!” Gently he grabbed Princess’ arm and started to lead her away from the bus.
“Won’t he be mad at you for running away?”
“I highly doubt he’s worried about me. He’s got bigger things to worry about at the moment.” Princess just nodded.
After that, nothing was said for a long period of time. They just walked briskly across the city. That was until Princess spotted a public restroom. “Doc, I have to wash my hands. I can’t keep walking around the city with blood on me.”
“Fine, hurry up,” he rushed her.
As quickly as she could she ran into the little room and to the sink. Shrugging off the jacket so she did not get it wet, she turned on the facet not caring if it was hot or cold. All she wanted to do was get the blood off, a task that she deemed rather difficult. It seemed that no matter how hard she scrubbed, the blood would not come off. It just stuck there like flies on sticky paper. With her frantic scrubbing, tears started to spill from her eyes.
“Oh my god, here comes the water works!” Evil Princess exclaimed. “Is that all you can do, cry? You really are pathetic.”
“Shut up,” Princess sobbed. She refused to look up at the mirror. Her attention stayed on her now clean hands that she still fiercely scrubbed. “Just leave me alone. I killed someone. I killed a man and he did nothing to me.”
“Boo who. No one cares. You know you really don’t. That was not the first person you saw die. You’ve seen that plenty of times.”
“It was the first person I killed!”
“And it won’t be the last. So, stop your crying.”
Princess continued to wash her hands. A significant amount of time passed and she continued to rub her hand together viciously though the lather had long since dissipated. The blood just would not come off. A moment passed when she thought it could all be in her head, but she ignored it. How could it just be in her head? She could feel it on her hands. She could smell it. And she was sure if she licked her hand she would be able to taste it. All she wanted at that moment was for the stuff to come off of her hands. It just would not. It will always be there. Never could she rid herself of it.
“Princess?” Doc called lightly to the girl. She had been taking so long he had to come in and make sure that she was alright. From the way her body shook and how she sobbed, he would say that she was far from alright.
In fright, Princess spun around. She had not even heard him come in. She could not hear anything over her body racking sobs. They had even drowned out the voice that was in her own head. “It won’t come off,” she confessed to him.
Slowly and carefully, Doc made his way to Princess as if he were approaching a frightened animal. When he was close enough, he took her hands into his. They were perfectly clean, a little red from her fierce rubbing, but clean none the less. It was all in her head, but she would never come to realize it. “Okay. I’ll help you then.” Gently turning her around, her back against his chest, he placed her hands under the still running water. He rubbed his hands across hers and she flinched. “What’s wrong?” he asked in her ear.
“Your hands are rough. I thought all doctors’ hands were smooth.”
Doc chuckled lightly. “That’s because they don’t do manual labor. I do. My father raised me to be a jack of all trades. It didn’t work out too well, but I can still do a lot on my own.”
“Jack of all trades?” Princess questioned. She had heard that before but could not remember what it had meant.
“It’s a person that can do everything. Well, almost everything. I don’t believe anyone could do everything.” After one last swipe of his hands across hers, he removed them from the water. “Is that better?”
She studied her hands with much scrutiny. Inspecting every crease in them to make sure no minuscule droplet of blood was left in them. Her eyes caught nothing and she smiled up at Doc. “It’s all gone.”
He returned her smile. “Good. Now, let’s get going.” Picking up his jacket off the floor, he once again helped her into it. Once the coat was secured around her tiny form, Doc grabbed her hand and walked her out of the bathroom and down the street.
“Where are we going?” Princess finally got the courage to inquire.
“I’m going to get you to a hotel where you’ll take a shower and go to bed. I’m going to do a little running and return later,” he answered.
“You’re going to leave me alone!” Panic caused her to lose control of volume and pitch.
Doc stopped forcing her to do so as well. “Sshh,” he cooed trying to calm her. He removed his hand from her and placed it on her cheek. “I’m not going to be gone for long. I just have to do a few things and I’ll be back. I promise. Okay?” With a small sniffle, Princess nodded her head. “Good.”
Wrapping his arm around her tiny shoulders, he led her to the closest hotel he could find. Luckily enough, he found one not twenty minutes later. It was a decent one that was decently priced. The tiled floors of the lobby were clean along with the furniture that was randomly placed around the room. The receptionist that greeted them and issued them their room was all smiles and genuinely nice. Much to Princess surprise and delight, someone actually showed them to their room. That was something she had never experienced before. He would have taken their luggage as well if they had had any.
The room was nothing she had ever seen before. Used to the dirty rooms of Bib’s Place, she could never imagine anything else. But the rugs were ivory in color and there was not a questionable stain in sight. The walls were pure white and not the nicotine stained walls that she had seen. A four poster bed was placed in the middle of the room and had a thick white cover along with fluffy pillows with white pillow cases. A couple of chairs and a coffee table sat in front a very nice television. Princess had never seen such a nice room before and was in wonder. She made her way to the bed and lay on top of it.
After giving the man a hefty tip, he did a small bow of the head and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Doc turned around, searching the room for Princess. When his eyes landed on her asleep on the bed, he could not help but smile. She must have been exhausted from the experiences of earlier events. He knew that he was. But like he said, he had other some errands to run. Things to take care of before he left.
Quiet as a mouse, he left the room. He did not want to wake her up. While she had been with Joker she had not been allotted a significant amount of sleep, and she was going to need it. He had no idea what was in store for the pair of them. That was why he was leaving. So that he could gather supplies that they might need.
Shortly after seeing her in the hospital gown with stitches lining her right temple, he had decided that he was not going to leave her alone again. It was an easy decision on his part. Even leaving her alone safely tucked into a hotel room was making him nervous. He knew that he would be back, but it still did not ease his nerves.
He was prepared to make this trip as short as possible, but knew that was not going to happen. There was one thing that he had to do that he had not done in years. Something he dreaded more than leaving the sleeping Princess alone in the hotel room. He would save the horrid task for last, for it would be the one that would take the longest. It was a task that most grown men dreaded. Calling their mothers.

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There you have it. Chapter 15. Just to remind all of you I will only be updating on Fridays now. I don't know if it's a reminder or not, I can't recall if I told you guys before. XD I have a very bad memory about such things. Anywho... review and rate please.