Mystery of The Night

Ch. 2:



Harvey smirked at her as he placed his hands in his pockets and slowly walked towards them. "Izzy it's been a long time." Isabella nodded, as she tilted her head to the side and smiled. "It definitely has Harvey, how long has it been since you've been to London?" Harvey chuckled as he walked up to her and gave her a warm hug. "Well when Ally and I left the country I'd say it would be about six years now?" Isabella then started to laugh as she gave him a warm squeeze. "Bloody hell it's been that long?" Harvey nodded as he released his hold on Isabella, and then walked over to Alessandra and hugged her as well and gave her a hello.



"Unfortunately yes, and I'm really glad that you could have made it Izzy, this town could really use you."



Alessandra then nodded. "This town has been really going down the dumps, what with the mafia and all the crime that is going on over here." Isabella then arched her brow. "But what about that Bat guy!? I'm sure he's doing his part in protecting the city." Harvey then shook his head. "He's too involved with the police, what I need you to do is get in with the slum, I need you to find out as much information you could about these men." Isabella then sighed. "Couldn't you have Ally do it?" she said, starting to grow irritated with the fact that now she has to do undercover work, Harvey frowned and shook his head.



"No… I need you Izzy, you know how to get into the hidden groups and have them trust you, I need you to find out what these men are doing."



Isabella sighed and then looked over at Ally who was looking at her encouragingly. "Fine… who are these men I need to research about?" Harvey sighed as he walked over to his chair and sat down, he then gestured for them to sit as well and Ally willingly obliged and sat down on the couch, while Isabella still stood there with her arms crossed. "There are three men I need you to find information about for me… The Joker, Batman, and Salvatore Maroni." Isabella then started to chuckle.



"So you want me to find out information about some Jester, a Huge Bat, and one of the biggest names in the Mafia?"



Harvey then nodded, hesitantly knowing that this must sound absurd to her. "Yes… I trust you Izzy, I know you are more than capable of taking care of yourself, and I'm going to be honest… Gotham needs this right now, there has been nothing but chaos and we could really use your help. If we know what the Joker is up to, what makes Batman who he is and what Maroni has up his sleeve then we can actually be ahead of the game." Isabella sighed and then walked over to the couch and finally sat down, she knew this would be a hard job. However, she knew that this was one she couldn’t walk away from, she then looked up over at Alessandra who was looking at her pleadingly and then back at Harvey who was mimicking the same look, Isabella then sighed as she leaned her back up against the couch, fidgeting with her hands.



"Fine… I'll do it. However, what sort of information do you have on these three men already?"



Harvey instantly grinned at her, then quickly rose up from his seat, walked over to his file cabinet, and pulled out three files, obviously they were for the three men she needed to investigate. He then walked back to his seat, leaned towards the coffee table, and placed down the three files for her to look over. Isabella arched her brow as she picked up the file that said 'The Joker' and opened it reading over the police files. "He is what you would call a psychotic…" Ally said softly, Isabella then slowly shook her head as she looked over the photos.



"There's no such thing. You can be amazed how Genius and Madness can coincide with each other."



She said softly as she was studying the photo further, as she pulled out another GPD Report about the corruption of Harvey's website and the threaded photo of Harvey and this man. "It looks as if Harvey that he may target you." she said softly, as she pulled out another GPD Report. "It also says that he faked his death to throw off the police force but yet gain his army." She then started to laugh and slowly shake her head. "Bloody hell…" she then looks up at him.



"This one is a smart one Harvey, he knows the game and he's going to play out with no rules and he will…"



She then looked over at the other file.



"It also looks like his target is going to be Batman as well. Harvey you're going to have to keep out of the scene for a bit, make yourself scarce but still heard, we can't have him coming any where near you at this time you understand?"



Harvey then nodded, while Alessandra looked over at her worriedly. "But how are we going to get you in?" Isabella shrugged as she opened Maroni's file and started to read it, suddenly an idea popped into her head. "I can go in and make a meeting with Maroni and convince him that I was priory Falcone's connection back in London and since Falcone had fallen I have decided to make myself a connection with him, since I have very deep ties to their mafia. That way Maroni will think it's a good idea to keep the connections and will include me in on their sessions." Alessandra looked over at her appraisingly. "Do you think it would really work?" Isabella then shrugged.



"There's always a two headed side luv, but I think my luck is on odds."



She said with a little smirk and looked over at Harvey, who was smirking back at her, holding his coin between his fingers. "Alright then, we'll set you up with a meeting with Maroni, and then that way you can try and figure out more information about the Joker and Batman." Isabella nodded as she rested her elbows on her thighs and then clasped her hands.



"Yeah that's all and good but I unfortunately need to have a financial basis since most of my work is back in London."



Alessandra then smiled over at her. "Don’t worry about that you can work at my club as a bartender and there's a furnished apartment for rent that is right next store to me, I already placed your name on it so all you have to do is sign the contract and it's yours, so don't worry you're all set!" Isabella smiled over at her. "Thanks luv." She then looked over at Harvey and sighed. "Well… we best be going, I have a very eventful day tomorrow what with talking with Mafia bosses and such so I'm going to need my beauty sleep." Harvey chuckled and then rose up from his seat and gave Isabella another warm hug.



"Thank you for doing this."



Isabella then shrugged as she broke the hug, and smirked at him.



"It's no problem luv; after all I don’t want your girlfriend tracking me down if I allowed anything to happen to ya."



Harvey chuckled, and then gave Ally a hug as well and wished her a goodnight. As the two women walked out of the apartment building and jumped into the black corvette, Alessandra then turned her key and started to drive off into the night. "You sure that you want to do this?" she asked hesitantly, noticing that Isabella looked as if she was very deep in thought. Isabella sighed and then looked over at Alessandra. "Yeah I'm sure… it's just going to be interesting, I need to figure out a way to get Batman and the Joker to trust me which will be difficult." Ally then shrugged. "You'll be able to do it I trust you, it's just I'm worried about you though… I mean it's been awhile since we last really seen each other and I just wanted to know how you're handling everything." Isabella then shrugged.



"Everything's fine… Maverick has been training me to handle my… situation and everything's good."



Alessandra then nodded; six years ago, Isabella learned more about her family, which involved information she never knew about. Her mother died when she was born and only had her father. She never knew much about him since he usually left the Nanny to taking care of her when she was younger and it seemed that the only time he would come and visit her is if he needed to 'introduce his family' or when he's furious with something and wants to take it out on her.



It made things very difficult for her since she was so young when he first started abusing her, leaving scars in various places on her body, even though she was capable of hiding them she knew they were still there, even though she was haunted by the memories they also made her stronger. She was able to fight back and realized that she was very different.



As soon as she turned sixteen things have really changed, she was capable of seeing in the dark, her eyes now would glow a iridescent blue and her canines would turn into two sharp fangs, it seemed that whenever she gained any wounds they would heal quicker, her energy, stamina, strength and senses were much stronger. And not the mention that her craving for blood was growing much deeper, this was the one that terrified her. She would envision what it would be like to sink her teeth into people's necks and savor their sweet crimson liquid but fortunately, a man name Maverick came to her just in time to prevent her from doing such things, which is when she met Alessandra and Harvey.



Alessandra was the same species as her but not as strong, and Harvey was a young man who happened to be Maverick's nephew who was visiting. He quickly became friends with the two women and ended up learning what they were. Maverick explained to Harvey that Isabella and Alessandra were both known as Dampir's which are children of a vampire father and a human mother, with vampire powers but none of the weaknesses.



Maverick had spent his time training the two girls while Harvey was studying in politics. It turned out that Isabella was the stronger one since her father's ancestry came from a line of the first vampires known to roam the world, their blood and power is what made them stronger. She was quicker, stronger, and had a huge amount of dexterity and constitution.



However, that didn't necessarily mean that Alessandra was any weakling, she was not. She was fast and strong and was definitely not one to mess with, it just turned out that Isabella was more interested in the art of fighting will Alessandra was more interested in the art of lore. However, when they are both side by side they were unstoppable.



After all of the chaos that has been going down in Gotham he knew there was at least two people he could truly rely on that wouldn’t become corrupted by the criminals that roam the streets, he knew that Isabella would be the perfect muscle, while Alessandra would be the perfect puzzle solver.



Therefore, he ended up having Alessandra pick up the phone and making a call to London and explained to Isabella that she was needed. So here she is, now sitting in her dear friend's black convertible thinking over a plan to get Maroni to trust her.



XXXXXX



It was mid morning when she walked into the restaurant. She was wearing a pair of black dress pants, black stiletto boots, and a black button down shirt as she entered when she saw him. Maroni was sitting in the back of the restaurant, his back facing the wall; she couldn’t help but smirk Typical Mobster she thought to herself as she started to walk towards him. He was reading a paper, and taking a sip out of his coffee, she noticed the huge headline on the front of the paper stating 'Another Bank Robbery in the Vicinity, Possibilities that the Mob may be involved.' "Gotta love false accusations huh?" she said and started to tsk.



"You'd think that the police in Gotham would get smarter and realize that there's more involved with the Robberies than just the mafia."



Maroni slowly placed his paper down and finally looked up at her, his eyes widened by the site of her. "And you may be?" Isabella smirked at him and slowly sat down in the seat across from him. "Isabella… you may have not heard of me but I was a very close connection with Falcone." Maroni arched his brow at her, as he slowly crossed his arms. "Really… and may I ask why you are here?" Isabelle then shrugged as she leaned forward in her chair. "To help you of course. You see since you are now the big boss man for Falcone's mafia, I figured that we could do some business for you." Maroni then started to chuckle.



"What can someone like you do for me other than spreading your legs?"



Isabella had to hold everything she could not to end his sorry life right now, she then pulled on an endearing smile and tilted her head to the side. "I don't believe you know what I can do mate. I'm sure you have heard the name Isabella Raven before." Just then, his eyes widened and she smirked. "That's right the one that was involved in the Dabushi incident, and I the one from the arliola incidents. You're man Falcone had called me countless of times to work along with his team and was a very valued piece of utensil to his silverware. However… if you're not interested I could always take my work too…" she was then instantly cut off.



"No! No… it's completely fine I didn’t know you were that Isabella. I apologize for my rudeness and would deeply appreciate your alliance with my mafia."



Hooked, Lined and Sinker she thought to herself, now just to lock the reel and she'll be set. "I don't know luv, that comment really irked me. Ya see I'm a lass that demands respect and if I don't earn that sort of respect I tend to take my business elsewhere." Maroni then quickly shook his head.



"No… no I severely apologize for that comment. Please… I am initiating a meeting with a couple of associates of mine and would be very grateful if you'd join me."



Bingo.



Her smirk then grew even wider. "Alright… when do we need to meet your associates?" Maroni smugly smiled at her as he looked over at his watch. "We should be leaving right now." He said as he rose up from his chair, Isabella then arched her brow.



"Strange… you're having your meetings during the day, it wouldn’t be because of the Batman would it?"



She asked as she rose up from her chair, Maroni then smirked at her as he led the way to his vehicle. "I see you've been doing your homework." Isabella then shrugged.



"What can I say I always like to stay ahead of the game."



Maroni softly chuckled as he held the door open for her and watched her get in the car, with him following suit.



XXXXX



Once they arrived to the building, Maroni met with his men and explained to them who Isabella was, they all agreed for her to come with them to the meeting and escorted her to the room. Once she walked in, she saw a group of men sitting in chairs with a television, of a Chinese man at the end of the table they were sitting in. Obviously, this man was doing an online broadcast meeting, it figures. The men looked at her curiously, but eventually stopped after Maroni explained who she was, and they all became somewhat at awe since they all heard of her work, she ended up standing next to the free chair, facing the television as they started the meeting.



They started the meeting with Lau notifying the mob bosses that he has taken their money to Hong Kong to prevent the police and the district attorney from seizing it in an imminent bank raid; they all seemed somewhat secured with that idea. That is until they heard a door suddenly slammed open and heard someone come in with fake laughter done in a deadpan voice.



"Ha ha ha ha, hahaha, ha, ha, ha, oh, a-hee-hee, ha ha, oh, hee hee, hee ha, ahaha."



Isabella had slight chills run down her spine as she felt this man slowly making his way towards them; he then finally came back to his normal voice. "I thought my jokes were bad." Isabella then finally turned around to see a man at about six feet tall with white paint smeared all over his face with red lips that smiled up to his cheeks, and two circular black paint hovering over his eyes. His hair was a light green, slightly down to his shoulders and greasily curly, he wore a purple suit, as he walked closer he looked over at her and smirked, it looked as if he was actually amused that she was there.



He then stopped walking and stood right next to her as he looked over at everyone, Gambol looked furious to see the Joker here and started to point at the man right next to him as he glared over at the Joker. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't have my boy here pull your head off." The Joker then looked over at him non-affectedly. "How 'bout a magic trick?" Everyone looked at him curiously, as he slams a pencil into the table, point first. "I'm gonna make this pencil disappear." Gambol scoffed and signaled his henchman to take him out, the henchman tries to attack him; and in one swift motion the Joker then slams the man's head into the pencil, forcing the entire pencil through his eye socket; the man falls over dead. "Ta-daa!" he then looks at where the pencil was with mock surprise "It's…it's gone!" Isabella softly gasps from the scene, causing the Joker to whirl around to look over at her and smirk.



"Well hello beautiful…"



He then licked his lips, and mockingly smoothed his hair.



"And you are beautiful; explain to me why someone like yourself is doing at a place like this… ya know they are very bad men."



He said condescendingly, Isabella glared at him and was about to say something until Maroni cuts her off. "She works for me Clown." The Joker then looked over at Maroni and nodded as he took a seat in the empty chair. "Ah." He then looks over at gambol as he started to adjust his suit. "Oh, and by the way, the suit? It wasn't cheap. You ought to know, you bought it." Gambol's temper then started to rise and quickly jumps up from his chair.



"That's it!"



However, Chechen announced that he wanted to hear the Joker's proposition. The Joker then looked over at Chechen, pointed at him, and then looked back at Gambol as he slowly sat back down into his seat. "Let's wined the clock back a year. These cops and lawyers wouldn't dare cross any of you. I mean, what happened? Did-did your balls drop off, hm? You see a guy like me…" he was then cut off by Gambol who was still sneering at him.



"A freak."



The whole room erupted with laughter. While Isabella's fists started to clench, she hated that word. It was a word that was used upon her very often from her childhood, and never wished for anyone to have to be called such a word. The Joker noticed her slight tenseness from the word, looked up at the group of men unaffected, and decided to continue his proposition.



"…A guy like me…look, listen, I know why you choose to have your little…"



He then clears throat.



"Group therapy sessions in broad daylight."



Isabella then couldn’t help but allow a small chuckle, The Joker heard this and couldn’t help but smirk.



"I know why you're afraid to go out at night: The Batman. See, Batman has shown Gotham your true colors. Unfortunately, Dent…he's just the beginning, and as–as for th-the television's so-called "plan", Batman has no jurisdiction. He'll find him and make him squeal. I know squealers when I see them, and…"



He then points at the televised Lau. Isabella smirked softly to herself, the man was right Lau was a bonefied squealer she could see it just by looking at him and knew that doing business with him would be ridiculous, she also found that his knowledge of Batman was very endearing and decided that maybe she could find out more about Batman from him. Lau looked at everyone worriedly, and then slowly turns his feed off causing the television set to static.



Chechen then looked over at the Joker agitatedly. "What do you propose?" The Joker then shrugged, as he slowly smooth's his hair as he looked over at him. "It's simple. We, uh… kill the Batman." The whole room started to erupt with laughter, other than Isabella, she knew that this man had a few tricks up his sleeves and knew that by far that he was no idiot. Maroni then smirked over at him as he leaned forward in his chair. "If it's so simple, why haven't you done it already?" The Joker then leaned forward and started to pointedly wave his finger towards him.



"If you're good at something, never do it for free."



Chechen then sighed as he looked over at the Joker. "How much you want?" The Joker took a brief pause to think it over and answered. "Half." The roomed started with laughter once again, and Isabella was starting to grow irritated by it, did they really think this man was a fool? Gambol then glared at him. "You're Crazy." The Joker seemed slightly irked by that accusation, quickly glancing up defensively at him; Isabella assumed that, that word was a very touchy prospect for him.



"I'm not. No, I'm not. If we don't deal with this now, soon, uh, little–Gambol?–here won't be able to get a nickel for his grandma."



Gambol then slams the table, and angrily rises from his seat. "Enough from the clown!" The Joker then quickly rises up from his seat, quickly wrapping his arm around Isabella's neck and opened his jacket revealing grenades and explosives under his suit jacket with a string attached to his thumb. "Ah ta ta ta." Isabella was about to elbow him, until his tightened his arm around her neck and whispered in her ear.



"I wouldn’t try anything stupid doll, I know what you can do I've seen what you do so I suggest you keep quiet and don’t start anything."



He then returned back to his normal voice. "Let's not blow this out of proportion." Gambol was still risen from his seat as everyone else rose up as well. "You think you can steal from us and just walk away?!" The Joker looked over at Gambol matter of factly. "Yeah." Gambol then heard enough. "I'm putting the word out: five hundred grand for this clown dead, and a million alive–so I can teach him some manners first." The Joker then pointed at him and then pulled out a card from his pocket and looked over at everyone else, still holding a firm grim around Isabella's neck.



"All right. So listen, why don't you give me a call when you want to start taking things a little more seriously? Here is…my…card."



He then lays out a Joker playing card and shows it to everyone.



"Mm-hm."



He then waves his thumb, pulling Isabella back along with him and retreated out of the building. Once they were out, he then pushed Isabella into the black van and jumped in along side of her and sat down, noticing that her back was on the other side of the van, defiantly staring at him.



"You look a little tense doll… why don't you come sit by me?"



Isabella glared at him, refusing to move. The Joker sighed and then swiftly grabbed her arm and yanked her right onto his lap, placing his knife right against her neck.



"Now… that's much better."



He said grimly as he wrapped his free arm around her waist. "So tell me, what is a little powerful fighter doing with scum like Maroni?" Isabella's wheels in her mind then started to turn and decided to use this as her advantage. "Because I knew that he'd lead me to you." The Joker looked mildly surprised as he tightened his hold around her waist, the knife never leaving her neck. "Really? And what is it exactly that you would want with me?" Isabella smirked at him, not even intimidated by the cold metal against her neck.



"I agreed with everything you said in there, and am more than willing to help you kill the Batman."



The Joker's eyebrows rose and then slowly nodded. "Interesting. And how do I know you have other reasons up those sleeves of yours?" he asked, pressing the knife even closer against her neck.



"There was a reason why I did that little display near the bank you were robbing from last night Joker… I wanted you to see what I could do. I knew that in due time that you would find a way to contact the Mob and Maroni was my finer choice, and long and behold here you are… sitting in a black van with me on your lap and a knife pressed against my jugular."



She said the last parts in a seductive tone; the Joker allowed out a maniacal laugh as he slammed her head against the wall of the van and pointed the tip of his knife against her neck. "And what makes you think that I have no intentions of killing you right now hmm?" Isabella then looked up at him a little dizzily and started to laugh, as his blade slowly penetrated her skin, beads of blood slowly coming out. "Do you honestly think what you're doing to me is affecting me? Go ahead slice my neck side to side, watch as my blood oozes out… come on pet I dare you to do it." She said daringly, usually the Joker would go along with it and do as she wished but there was a very strange air of confidence that came out of her voice when she said it.



"You're suicidal."



He concluded as he licked his lips, Isabella then started to laugh again. "No… not in the least, I'm actually full of life. But I'm just telling you that blade won't kill me, I'm a different breed pet I don’t roam the world like all the other little nancies do." The Joker then chuckled; he found her personality surprisingly amusing. However, after last nights show and her little motorcycle scene he knew that he needed to make her his tool. And now since she was claiming her urge to work along side with him how could he ever refuse? "What exactly type of breed are you?" Isabella then instantly grinned, her canines now morphing into fangs. "I'm glad that you asked." The Joker's eyes widened and quickly pushed her off of him, Isabella then smirked over at him as she readjusted herself.



"I'm a Dampir, it's kinda like a vampire but without their weaknesses. I'm capable of walking out into the nice warm sun, have super strength, dexterity, speed, agility, constitution, improved senses. Just think of what an asset I can be for your army."



The Joker smirked as he leaned back against his seat; oh, she would be fun indeed. "And what do you propose to do with the Batman?" Isabella then shrugged. "Give him a falsified alliance." The Joker arched his brow at her, but allowed her to continue.



"You see luv, if Batman believes that I'm this magnificent do gooder he'll have full trust in me. Maybe even reveal what's under that little mask of his, you see creatures like us are lonely and longing for the acceptance. However, you and I are different, we don't yearn for it we make it happen, but yet Batman he is lawfully good. He goes along with these inconsistent rules and goes on his merry way. But what if! What if one person who could understand him, who he truly believes is a true ally to him gets inside his head and show him what it's like with no rules… no laws, show him how much more interesting the world is without them. His laws of entrapment will then slowly fade away and he would allow his aggression, his rage, and anger explode out within him, and we will all then see what the real Dark Knight is capable of doing."



The Joker then started to laugh, wishing he thought of this plan himself, it was pure perfection. She was a pretty little thing who could get inside his head and heart and twist it and corrupt it to make him her little lap dog, it's genius, it was almost as if she was his other half. He then quickly grabbed her once again and yanked her onto his lap as he grinned.



"You… Oh. You. Are. good."



He then leaned up towards her ear and whispered. "I believe we have ourselves an alliance, you manipulate the Batman." He then wrapped both of his arms around her waist tightly pulling her against him, he then breathed in her sent and sighed, causing shivers to roll down her spine. "And we will work as a team, you notify me with your information and I'll notify you with mine." he whispered once again as he slowly takes her earlobe between his teeth and softly grazes it.



Isabella shivered once he did that, a warm heat penetrating through her body. "It's a deal Joker." She said softly, The Joker then smirked as he pulled out his knife and waved it in her face. Isabella looked up him curiously, as he placed the blade under the top button of her shirt. "You know we still have some time before we get to my place." He said in a chillingly grim tone as he cuts off the first button, his arm wrapping around her tighter, as he nipped her neck.



"And I'm sure we can find something to do together with that excess time."



He said once again in that chilling grim tone as he cuts off the other button. Just then the van came to a quick halt, causing Isabella to fall off of the Joker's lap and onto the ground, the Joker gritted his teeth in frustration as he saw the van door open. "Boss we're here." The Joker then pulls out a little handgun and shoots the henchmen in the forehead. Isabella gasped as she watched the man fall to the ground, the Joker then rose up and jumped out of the van, noticing that she was still staring at the dead body.



"You're going to have to get use to it if you're working for me."



He said in a non-effected tone as he pulled her out. He then smirked as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Now… where were we?" he said darkly as he leaned towards her, but was then instantly interrupted by another henchman. "Hey Boss!?" the Joker gritted his teeth and quickly lets go of her and turns around towards the henchman. "What!?" The henchman then frowned. "Uh just wanted to know what you wanted to do with these bags." The Joker sighed and pointed at towards their hideout. "Place them in the basement." He said irritably, the henchman nodded as he started to walk in. The Joker kept his glare on him until the man walked inside; he then licked his lips and turned his head side to side to cause his neck to crack.



"Now… shall we continue?"



He said as he turned around to face Isabella, but to his surprise she was instantly gone and this made him furious. He was now more than ever determined to find her, and if he had to lock her up down in the basement and only allow her out to do her manipulating he would! Now he realized that he had a complete conversation with some dhampir woman and never learned her name or her residence or if she even worked anywhere, which frustrated him even more.



He was determined to find her, and he was damn well determined to find out who exactly she really was.



****



So what do you guys think of the first chapter? Should I continue? Reviews are greatly appreciated and help motivate me to continue writing. I cannot wait to hear from all of you soon, and if any of you have any questions or suggestions don't hesitate to ask. :)