Freak is an Ugly Word

All contents in the overly white room were strewn about the room in disarray. The beds were upturned, mattresses off of the springs, and the sheets ripped off of them. With frantic eyes and hands Jessica searched the room once again, but to no avail. It was not there. The one thing she valued above all things was no where to be seen. Her necklace was missing. Missing, gone, disappeared right from her neck! The last made her pause. Never had she taken the necklace off of her neck since she had gotten it back. That only left one option. Well, two really. Either Crane or Joker took it.
For the past six months of her arrival those two had been pulling all kinds of stunts with her at the butt end of them. She had found herself locked in dark closets screaming for them to let her out while pounding of the reinforced wood until her fist bled. Clothes had come up missing while she was in the shower and once even her towel. Ivy had gotten upset about the latter and had forever stopped them from doing that by watching the door while Jessica was in there. Somehow she had convinced Mad Hatter to do the same though it was evident that he did not like the younger woman.
Though Ivy kept a wary eye on the men it had not stopped Joker from sneaking into their room while they slept and chopping most of Jessica’s hair off. Her once waist length hair had been cropped up to her shoulders with strands at different lengths. It was not until Joker openly admit to it during a group therapy session that she knew exactly who had done it. The session had been cut short when she had brutally attacked the man with the plastic fold up chair that she had been sitting on. The assault had went on for several seconds before the orderlies were called and the chair was pried from her hands. She had ended up in solitary confinement for a total of an hour before they had released her per Michaels’ orders. Doctor Reece had been more than willing to let her rot in there for touching the man.
The entirety of her body twitched with the annoyance that she felt. All other transgressions that the pair had committed against her could be forgiven, even laughed at, but not that one. Not the taking of something precious to her. That she could not forgive and would not forgive. Whichever one had done it would be in a world of hurt. It was her necklace and no one, no one was allowed to touch it beside her and Greg.
Still fuming Jessica stormed out of the room in search of the pair. They were always seen together, whispering, plotting their next prank on Jessica or just blatantly laughing at her. Why they had chosen her of all people to play their jokes one she did not know. What she did know was that it was starting to slowly become more and more irritating with each passing day. Everyday that came it was something different and they never seemed to run out of ideas. She had given up the hope of it ending months ago for it seemed that it would not end. Each prank was worse than the one that proceeded it. All would have been well if they were just childish, but they were not. They tested her mental capacity as well. If it did not end soon, she knew she would completely lose it and just kill them and everyone that stood in her way.
Unfortunately she knew that she would not get very far. The little bout of strength that she had shown in her first “session” with Doctor Michaels was nothing more than the adrenaline from when her body had kicked into high gear with the overwhelming amount of pain she was subject to. It saddened Jessica to know that. Now, she felt like she was forced to be the whimpering coward that she had been when faced with an obstacle. It frustrated her to no end. A frustration she took out in the gym.
When Jessica had found out that Arkham had a gym she was ecstatic. It had been provided for the patients to cure their endless boredom, the ones that were not so drugged up they were walking vegetables. The room was virtually unused. Upon hearing that, she instantly started to go in it. It was the only place that Crane and Joker would not dare tread into and bother her. The orderly that watched over the place was a little less lenient when it came to who entered that room.
The man, Kristopher was his name, was overly large with a hair buzzed so close to his head the color could not be distinguished and had bright blue eyes that came with his Western Russian heritage. His shoulders and chest were broad and it always seemed that his shirt was on the verge of ripping every time that he moved. When Jessica had walked through the door he was pleasantly surprised that she was interested in working out. He had told her the last person to walk through the doors and was actually interested in using the equipment was Croc. At hearing the man’s name Jessica felt a pang of guilt. She still felt horrible about leaving him without a word and it was made worse every time that she had to face Ivy, who constantly brought the man up. Jessica tried harder than ever to avoid that subject.
At the moment she was not worried about anything else but her necklace. All other matters were trivial and did not have her attention. Not even Ivy who was trailing after her. She had entered the room as soon as Jessica had exited and saw what state it was in. Having a feeling that something bad was about to happen, Ivy decided it best to follow the younger woman and make sure that she stayed out of trouble though she knew it would not help much. Trouble seemed to be a constant companion to Jessica.
With much force Jessica pushed open the swing doors to the Rec Room. Hitting the walls the doors flung back with the excessive force and nearly hit Ivy as they swung back. She was internally grateful for her natural reflexes. If it were not for those, she would have had some face time with the swinging objects.
With every muscle in her body twitching Jessica stomped up to the two men who were in an epic battle of checkers. “Where is it?” she asked with teeth gritted as soon as she was next to the table.
Looking up from the game, Crane eyebrows rose high on his forehead. “Where’s what?” he feigned innocence.
As quickly as a mouse trap snaps so did Jessica’s head to gaze at the man with narrowed eyes. “I wasn’t talking to you.” Just as quickly she turned back to Joker. “Now, where is it? I know you have it. I never take it off and you’re the only one with enough skill to sneak into my room while I was sleeping and take it. Give it back to me.” All of this was said in a loud whisper.
Finally taking notice of the girl next to him, Joker smiled devilishly. “Are you talking about this?” he questioned pulling out the necklace from under his shirt that was firmly clasped around his neck.
Jessica’s gray eyes widened in horror at the sight of her precious item around the man’s neck. “Give it back to me!” she demanded reaching for it only to have her hand slapped away by Joker.
“Ah ta ta ta,” chided Joker waggling his left forefinger in her face. “I can’t just give it back. You have to earn it first.”
Near tears Jessica stomped her foot in a childish manner. “Why can’t you just give it back to me?!” Losing all control of the volume of her voice in her anger she yelled the question louder than she had intended.
“I told you, you have to earn it.”
Folding her arms across her chest she started to pout. “How?”
Pretending to take consideration into her question Joker failed to answer for the passing of several heartbeats. It seemed too long to Jessica. “The day you can take it back from me without the help of anyone else,” his eyes shifted to Ivy momentarily and then back to Jessica, “you can have it back.”
“Fine,” Jessica relented. With a huff she flopped down in the empty seat next to Joker. Seeing as there was not going to be any trouble Ivy left the room in search of Mad Hatter who had taken it upon himself to hide himself in his room nearly all day. “Why are you two picking on me?”
“It’s simple,” Crane answered as he moved one of his red pieces on the bored, “we were bored. There’s really not much to do in here and messing with you passed the time.” He gazed up at Joker through his thin silver rimmed glasses. “It has appeared that I lost our little game. There is no way I can top the reaction you got out of her with the necklace or her haircut.”
Eyes narrowing dangerously low, Jessica glared between the two men. “This was just a game to you two? “ To confirm thing, both men grinned at her. “Assholes,” she muttered under her breath.
After almost an hour of watching Crane lose to checkers Jessica was started to feel the whims of boredom take over her. Sadly for her there really was not much else for her to do. Arkham Asylum was a very boring place and Jessica contemplated on leaving it several times. The only problem with that would be the cops would question her early departure. She would have to reside within the hospital for at least a couple of years before they would actually believe that she was cured and Greg had not just paid her way out.
From him Jessica had learned that Gotham P.D. was keeping close tabs on the amount of money that he was spending. When he had made the “donation” to Arkham they had arrested him and questioned him for hours on it. In the belief that he was paying off the doctors, which he was, they refused to release him until he had convinced them that he had only made the contribution in order to ensure that the facility Jessica was being held in had the resources to ensure that she would recover from her ordeal. That took several hours, his lawyer Norman, Gordon, and passing a lie detector test, Greg had learned how to control his heart beat so he had passed with ease. With nothing to hold the man on, they were forced to release him. It helped that Norman threatened to sue if they held him any longer without charges.
After that, Greg decided it was best to use the money that Joker had left behind in the hideout that had yet to be discovered. It had come to him that he could always use the funds that his father had left behind in the secret accounts off in various countries across the globe, but he did not want to have to deal with the hassle of that. It would have taken several weeks just to get that money. There was no need for him to use it anyways, he already had cash in hand and the best thing about cash was that it could not be traced quickly. It would not be until the money landed itself in the bank that anyone would discover it. With the mob owning most of the banks in Gotham, it would be believed that it was them and it would be left alone. One of the many reasons why Greg loved Gotham. Getting away with crimes was so much easier.
Several minutes after Jessica’s boredom had reached its peak and she was ready to toss the checkers game Crane and Joker were playing to the floor just for the hell of it, Ivy walked in. Her pine needle green eyes darted around the room anxiously as she made her way to where the three sat. When she reached them she just stood, shifting from one foot to the other, and wringing her hands together. Her dark shadow hovered over Crane and she gazed at him with such and intensity that he swore there would be a hole in his head. “What is it, Ivy?” he finally asked the woman.
“It’s Hatter. He won’t come out of his room. He’s started to talk in rhyme again and won’t stop reading those damn books. You remember what happened last time he was like that.”
“What happened?” inquired Jessica. She was very new to the place and had not heard anything about the man. It could be the fact that she did not talk to the man much. He did not seem to like her very much and tried to stay clear from her. The short times that she had come into contact with him did not lead to much talk. Normally he just ignored her completely.
“They took away his books,” explained Crane shifting one of his pieces across the board. “It caused him to become violent and he nearly killed one of the orderlies. They threw him into solitary confinement for several months to calm him down.” Jessica’s mouth formed a little ‘o’. “I’d go talk to him but currently I’m in the middle of something.”
Rolling her eyes and crossing her arms Ivy glared at the man. She knew she should not have come to him. Crane did not care about anyone but himself. Mad Hatter was a patient of his when the man was a doctor yet he could not bring himself to leave a simple game of checkers to go and speak with him.
“I’ll go!” volunteered Jessica. Being bored was no fun to her and she would do anything to cure herself of it. Before anyone could protest she was out of her seat and heading for the door.
With a satisfied smirk Ivy sat down next to Crane. “You know he doesn’t like her,” Crane pointed out. “He could hurt her. Why did you let her go?”
Joker was the one to answer the question. “Ivy wants Snow White to get hurt.” With one move he jumped four of Crane’s red pieces. “She’s still a little sore about the whole Croc thing.” The smirk stilled played on Ivy’s lips. She did not confirm nor deny the fact.
“I hope your vendetta against her will be settled when she’s hurt,” spoke Crane. “Especially since it’s going to cost Hatter his life.”
With confusion Ivy turned to the man. “What do you mean ‘cost Hatter his life’?”
“I thought it would be obvious that her man, whatever his name is, would kill him if he hurt her.”
Ivy scoffed. “Greg doesn’t look the type to kill anyone.”
“He doesn’t look the type to torture people either,” Joker pointed out, “but he does it. You should have seen the smile on his face as he cut into them. He always cut them so perfectly and knew exactly where to do it. He was the only one that I would allow to gather information. None of the people accidently died when he did it. Must have been those years in med school. Who would have thought that a pretty boy would enjoy hurting people? Not me.”
“Why did you hire him?” Ivy asked out of genuine curiosity.
Shrugging Joker answered, “He looked useful. It wasn’t until he took the knife from me and started to work the person that I discovered he had any talent. Never killed anyone, left that to me, except for one mercy killing after Snow White stabbed a man repeatedly and he didn’t have a chance at recovery.”
“Whatever,” Ivy stated folding her arms across her chest and leaning in the chair heavily. “I don’t care as long as the little bitch gets what’s coming to her.”
As the three were talking about her, Jessica was searching for Mad Hatter’s room. Having never been there before she had not a clue as to where it was located. It took her nearly half an hour to find it. When she entered the room she was horrified at what she saw. Having expected to see the man lying on his bed reading a book, she was shocked to see his arms held by two orderlies and Reece holding what was obviously his book practically teasing him with it.
Watching the scene for a moment Jessica decided on what to do. It was not until she saw Mad Hatter hang his head in defeat that she knew what to do. “Hey!” she screamed at Reece walking up to her. “Why don’t you leave him alone?!”
Staring at the girl with harden silver eyes Reece eyebrows furrowed in aggravation. She really did not like Jessica. The young woman was seen as nothing but a nuisance to her. She was not really bright and constantly got her way with her constant whining. Reece was almost positive that she had slept with Michaels and that was why the man was at her beck and call all hours of the day. Greg showered her with money and presents. It seemed to her that one had to only spread her legs for men to lavish her with such things.
Jealously was the main reason for Reece’s dislike of the girl, but she would never admit to it. Jessica having Joker as a constant companion irked the older woman to no end. He had claimed to love the woman, though he had never said it, but spent most of his time with the little whore. During their daily sessions he would talk about her and ignore Reece’s advancements. What she did not know was the deranged clown was doing it on purpose. Trying to see how far she would go in her jealousy. It was nothing but a game to him and one he was having a lot of fun with. He was just waiting for the day that Reece snapped and attacked Jessica. The outcome of the fight was unknown to him, but he was guessing Jessica would come out to be the victor considering she was mentally unstable and she did not shy away from death.
With a ‘humph’ Reece flung her long blond hair over her shoulder. “I don’t have time to deal with children. Why don’t you go back and play with your dolls.”
Jessica felt her body twitch in annoyance. There was a dislike in her at being treated as a child, though, she knew that she acted like one at times. That could be blamed on the fact that she lost most of her childhood and was forced to grow up before her time. Pretending to be a child again somehow made her feel that she really never lost it and that it was still there somewhere.
Pushing her anger away she deliberated on what she should do next. When it came to her she smirked at the woman. “Okay, I’ll go play with my dolls. Joker needs some attention anyways. It seems he’s not getting enough from someone so I have to do it. I would have never guessed that there were woman out in the world that didn’t know how to please a man. It’s really sad actually. When I meet whoever it is he’s screwing I might have to teach her a thing or two.”
Reece’s eyes widened in her surprise. Quickly regaining her composure they narrowed back into slits. “You little slut!” she spat in Jessica’s face. “If you touch him I swear I’ll strangle you.”
“Give me the book and leave along with those gorillas of yours and I won’t.”
Cocking her eyebrows Reece folded her arms across her chest and made her stand. There was no way she was going to follow the girl’s orders. She was not some weakling that could be commanded to do the whims of one of the patients. She was in control and would be in control. Arkham was her hospital and no one was going to take it from her especially one such as Jessica. No, she would not lose her command.
Seeing as the woman was not going to leave Jessica took the next step in her plan. “Fine, looks like I’ll be keeping Joker company.”
As she turned to leave Reece stepped forward and, gripping her shoulder tightly, spun Jessica to where they were facing each other. Being much taller than the younger woman, Reece had to look down at her. “Fine,” she relented through gritted teeth. “Here’s the fucking book.” Turning to the two men still holding Mad Hatter she ordered them to follow her out of the room with her.
“Stupid bitch,” Jessica muttered under her breath in her triumph. Turning to Mad Hatter, who was now sitting on his bed, she handed him the book never glancing at the title. As quickly as a snake striking its prey he took the book from her hands and clutched to his chest in a desperate attempt to keep it safe.
“Why did you help me?” Mad Hatter asked noticing that Jessica was not leaving.
“I don’t know,” answered she flopping on the bed next to him. He instantly scooted over to where he felt there was a more comfortable distance between the two.
Mad Hatter suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder and did not like when people where near him. It was hard to tell from his outward appearance with his long scraggly hair and long nails. If one took time to further investigate him they would notice that his hair was never greasy for he kept it clean and his nails, though long, were neatly trimmed and not a speck of dirt was underneath them. After touching anything he vigorously washed his hands and never used the same bar of soap more than once. Some of the doctors provided him with hand sanitizer and he was one of the few that were allowed to take showers by himself, which he stayed in for a lengthy period of time and insisted on wearing some form of footwear so his feet did not touch the tiled floor of the room. In fact, he was the only one that was allowed to wear footwear inside.
After being manhandled by those gorilla shaped men he wanted nothing more than to take a steaming hot shower and wash off the germs from them touching him. It would be impossible for him to do so. None of the doctors followed his whims as they did with Jessica. Somehow the girl knew how to work people to her benefit though she was evidently not that intelligent. For one reason or another Mad Hatter believed the girl to be smarter then she knew. He was almost positive that if she took the time to apply herself she would prove to be very cunning, as she had just proved with Reece.
“Th-thank you,” he stuttered. If there was one thing in the world he was not used to, it was thanking people. People rarely helped him and just turned the other cheek when Reece or one of the other doctors started to harass him, which they have done multiple times over the course of the ten years he had been in the facility.
A small smile graced Jessica’s face. “It was no problem. They shouldn’t have been picking on you in the first place. I don’t really like Reece. She’s a first class bitch with her high and mighty no one is better then her attitude. I hate people like that.”
Glancing around the room Jessica took quick note that there was only one bed. Mad Hatter was one of the lucky few that got his own room. Jessica was green with envy. It was a hope of hers that she would one day get her own room. Ivy was great and all, but she got the feeling that the woman did not really like her. That was a lie. It was not a feeling; Ivy had flat out told her that she did not like Jessica and the reasoning behind it. Maybe being with Croc had been a bad idea but one she would not change for the world. Not even for her red headed bitch of a roommate.
Lost in her own thoughts, Jessica never realized how uncomfortable Mad Hatter was becoming with her sitting so close to him. When he shifted on the bed causing it to move she was torn from her thoughts. “What’s it called?” she asked glancing at the book that was held securely in his arms.
“What?”
“The book you are reading. What’s the title of it?” Mad Hatter moved his arms just enough to where Jessica could read the title of the book. “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” she read aloud. “Is it any good?”
Mad Hatter’s eyebrows cocked up at the question. He could not fathom that no one had read the book before. The question in itself was foreign to him and he had never heard it before. He almost did not know how to answer it. “It’s the greatest book I have ever read,” he answered finally finding the words.
“Will you read it to me?” Jessica bit her lip ready for his refusal. So many times before she had been denied the simple request as a child. Her mother and father had been too busy fighting and her brother refused her for the simple fact that he did not like to read. Soon, she had given up asking anyone. One could imagine her shock when the man readily agreed.
Adjusting himself so that he was in a more comfortable position he opened the book to the first page. His back was touching the wall and his legs were sprawled out in front of him the tips of his shoes brushing the ground slightly. It made Jessica realize just how tall the man was. Never once that she had glanced at him had he been standing straight. His form was always slouched and only seemed to be just mere inches taller than her. Seeing him stretched out she guessed that he was maybe just an inch shorter than Greg.
When the man started to read Jessica was pleasantly shocked at the man’s voice. Normally it was quiet and hardly above a whisper. While he read it was strong and full of life and emotions he had never expressed before. Just the sound of it made her smile. It was the most magical voice that she ever heard. Every word that he read seemed to come to life and she could picture everything with such clarity she felt as if she were there herself in place of Alice.
Eventually she found herself leaning against his shoulder slowly being lulled to sleep by the sound of his magnificent voice. So lost in the telling of the story Mad Hatter never came to realize that the girl was leaning against him. It was not until she whimpered in her sleep did he notice such a thing. Ready to leap off of the bed and get as far away from Jessica and the germs she carried, he was stopped when one of her small hands clutched at his shirt causing him to stiffen.
Going through several options in his head he deliberated that it would be best if he woke the sleeping girl up and made her get off of him. Not too gently he shook her awake. As soon as he head lifted off of him he jumped up from the bed and compulsively rubbed the spots she had touched as if to try and rid himself of the germs he could “feel” crawling on him.
Through sleep lidded eyes she gazed at him. “I’m sorry; I didn’t realize that I fell asleep.” Rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hands to get rid of sleep, she pulled back shocked to find them moist. “I’m crying.” She let out a small laugh at the prospect and more tears built up. There was no reason for her tears, and knowing that only frustrated her further making more and more of the small droplets spill out of her cascading down her face as rain does when it hits a window. Bringing her knees up to her chest she buried her face within them, her body racked with hard sobs.
Not knowing what to do Mad Hatter took a step toward the door, and then stopped taking one back. He repeated the process several times and seemingly engaged himself in pseudo dance. Thoughts swirled around in his head as he calculated everything around him. Two options appeared within them. He could leave and get someone better qualified at handling such situations but that could prove fatal. Jessica could harm herself or someone could sneak into the room and do it for her, which there were many who would take the chance if so presented to them. The other option was he stayed and tried to comfort the younger woman himself.
That in itself could prove fatal not only for her but for him as well. The last person he had comforted had landed him in Arkham. It was his one and only friend. A girl that was as close to a daughter as he would have. She had been raped and become pregnant. Still in high school at the time, the girl had no clue as to what to do so she had turned to him. In retaliation Mad Hatter had blown up the locker room of the boy’s basket ball team while the team was still inside considering the boy who had committed the crime was a member of the team. Only later had he learned that the girl had lied, out of fear of her overbearing mother, to him and the act had been consensual.
The girl was horrified at the act and had called him a monster and a lunatic. He never saw her after that. In his depression he had turned himself in. Ten years had passed and he was still in Arkham wallowing in the self pity that he felt. After that he had vowed never again to get close to someone for it only led to nothing but pain and heartache. But Jessica’s crying was proving to be the undoing of that vow, one that he did not want to break. Having a weak spot for crying woman, it was hard for him to stand idly by and watch. He placed the blame on all the books he had read about damsels in distress, which there always seemed to be a plethora of.
Coming to a decision, Mad Hatter seated himself next to the girl on the bed. As soon as he was close enough Jessica buried her face into his chest. His right arm wrapped around her and pulled her closer to him. Her sobs deepened and she clutched his shirt desperately. Later, when she was finished crying, she would apologize for the awkward moment. He would just pat her on the head and tell her everything was fine. It would cause quite the stir when the man touched her. The doctors would go nuts over it and Reece would once again be peeved at the girl in the assumption that Jessica had slept with a man that was close to the same age as her father. Only the pair would know what had transpired between them. It would be their shared secret and one no one was privy to.

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Here you guys go! Another chapter for you all. If anyone has any question that they would like answered please contact me via email. moruzzie06@yahoo.com It is in my profile as well. Rate and Review. Would love to know what you guys think about what has been happening so far.