Freak is an Ugly Word

Jessica awoke with a start quickly sitting up on the bed. A scream would have been heard if her throat had not been so sore. Gently as possible her fingertips brushed it causing her to wince. With slow movements she got off the bed and gazed about her. The normal white walls shown brightly with the florescent lighting of the room hurting her freshly opened eyes. The bed on which she had just gotten off of was the only one in the room letting her know it was not her room. Not that she minded that one bit. On the contrary, she doubted she could ever enter that room again after witnessing what she had.
Sighing, which made her cough lightly, she sat back down on the bed not knowing what else to do. Many questions piled high in her brain like an unsteady stack of books just waiting to topple over and out of her mouth. The main one was just who had saved her? As far as she was concerned no one had knew where she went. She had left Riddler and Joker with Reece and she presumed that was where they stayed. Crane and Mad Hatter had still been located in the Rec Room and Ivy and Croc had been a little preoccupied. She knew it had not been an orderly or she would have been taken to the medical wing and not sitting in a strange room.
The door flew open, slamming against the padded walls with a thunk, and in its wake stood Joker. A bright smile was placed on his blood red painted lips. It was the largest Jessica had ever witnessed from the man and it sent her on high alert. He was up to something; she could feel it in her bones. Her eyes narrowed at him with the suspicion she felt. “What are you planning?” she hastily asked him her voice harsh from the attempted strangulation she had previously experienced.
Slightly taken aback, not that he would show it, at her figuring out something so quickly, Joker stared at her with his head tilted to the side. He wondered briefly as to what could have given him away. Smacking his lips together he replied, “What makes you think I was ‘planning’,” he place air quotes around the word, “anything?”
“Just call it a hunch.”
Well, there went his plans. It appeared Jessica was smarter than he gave her credit for. Too bad, it would have been very entertaining and passed the time by very nicely. She could be such a party pooper. Looks like he would have to find something else to spend his time on.
Jessica heard him distinctly mutter the words “party pooper” under his breath. “I knew it!” she screamed sending her into a fit of harsh chest rattling coughs.
Clicking his tongue Joker rolled his eyes at her own stupidity. She could figure out that he was planning (he hated that word) something but she could not think to not use her vocals so harshly after being choked. Such a silly girl she was. “Poor, poor, Princess, did you get hurt?”
“I told you not to call me that,” she managed between coughs. Once the coughs receded she was left with a dull ache in her chest.
Clicking his tongue Joker flopped on the bed, nearly hitting her in the process, and somehow managing to take up most of the space only leaving a small bit for her to sit on. “You’re no fun,” he pouted with pursed lips.
With a hoarse voice Jessica snapped, “If you want to have fun, go play with Reece.”
“She’s no fun anymore. In fact, she’s rather dull. She’s too pre-dict-a-ble,” he pronounced the word as if it were foreign to him.
“Why don’t you just get rid of her then? Like you did me,” the last was said in a bitter whisper.
A smile full of mirth crossed Joker’s face; with her back turned toward him Jessica could not see it. It would appear she was still a little sore about the whole ordeal. Her bitterness and resentment only meant one thing to him. He could still somehow manage to get at her. To crawl under her skin like an insect and gnaw on her insides, mainly her mind. So, he could still have his fun with her, he would just have to go about it a little more cautiously than he had before. The old method he had used would no longer work her having experienced it before. No, he was going to have to go for a more indirect approach. Fine by him, he would still have his fun regardless.
An epiphany struck him and he sat up on the bed nearly bouncing up and down with joy. There was still one method that could work against her. To take the indirect root he was going to kill two birds with one stone. Toy with Jessica’s mind and the Healer’s as well. In his fit of joy he knocked Jessica off the bed with a hard kick in the back so that he could stand, her body lying between his feet. “Up we go!” he nearly screamed at her pulling her roughly up by her right arm.
“What the fuck?!” demanded Jessica as she rubbed her now sore back.
A loud cackle erupted from Joker as her mercilessly tugged on her arm and dragged her out of the room as like a tugboat pulls a stranded ship. It was only after they were out of the room and traversing down the hall that he decided to tell her half of the game he wanted to play. “We’re going to play with Healer,” he excitedly told her.
“Who the fuck is that?!”
Clicking his tongue and rolling his eyes Joker responded, “The man that just tried to kill you.” Upon hearing the answer Jessica’s mouth formed the little ‘o’ of understanding. With the prospect of just how much fun he was going to have he nearly squealed in joy. Finding it hard, he held it back nearly biting his tongue clean off. Instead small giggled escaped him, muffled with him keeping his blood red painted lips tightly closed.
The thought of having to go back down into the never-ending darkness made Jessica a little apprehensive. Going near the man that had what seemed like moments ago to her who had tried to kill her made that feeling even stronger. Lacking the physical strength to stop Joker she did nothing but let him lead her to through the corridors to the ominous flight of steps. Once they were in surround by the dismal darkness Jessica moved from being dragged by the man to clinging to him desperately.
Fear of the dark was encoded in human nature. It was in the DNA passed down from many generations tracing all the way back to the cave man era. The unknown was truly what was feared and the dark was filled with it. One could not see what was in it and so, they feared it with a strange awe-like manner. Anyone or anything could be hiding in such darkness just waiting for a chance to sneak up on an unsuspecting victim. Ready to attack at any given moment. Hunting what they thought they had ever right to.
Jessica was all too used to being the victim. It made her cautious to such things and avoiding the dark was one caution she took extra precautions to do so. She may have been used to the black void while living in the Narrows, but that did not mean that she liked it. It still frightened her to no end. Her heart raced, breath caught in her throat, and her body trembled violently as if it was the dead of winter and she walked out with no coat on.
“Aw, is Snow White scared?” Joker taunted.
Jessica dug her nails deep into his arm until she felt them push through a trickle of warm blood hit her finger tips. “Oh yes, very scared,” she answered with teeth gritted to the point of near cracking.
A low thunderous growl cut across the darkness like a knife and Joker stopped. Near in a state of panic Jessica stood still having no other option open to her. The growl grew closer accompanied by the sound of quick footsteps. When a set of fingers tips brushed her face Jessica’s heart jumped to her throat, choking her like the man caged before her had done before.
“Give her back!” the Healer cried. There was no mistaking his voice for any other. It would forever be imprinted on Jessica’s memory as would the feeling of his strong hands around her neck. “How dare you touch an angel with your evil tainted hands, Lucifer!”
As Joker cackled Jessica gripped him even tighter. The fact that the man behind the bars was a religious nut scared her even more then his attempted murder on her person. Many times during her stay in the Narrows religious fanatics would knock on her door preaching the word of God and throwing Bibles in her face, once literally. They would come in their freshly ironed suites or dresses looking down on her calling her every foul name they could think of. The word repent would leave their mouths multiple times after each dirty name they called her. Once Croc had answered the door they stopped coming to the building believing him to be a demon. It did not help that Croc had splashed an entire bottle of ketchup on himself and worked up saliva in his mouth causing him to drool. Jessica had laughed the hardest that day she had in a long time. That was the best waste of ketchup Jessica had ever had the privilege to witness.
“She’s mine now,” boldly Joker stated almost causing Jessica to scoff. He was playing a game with the man and a scoff would ruin it. With that knowledge, and the knowledge that Joker had a horrible temper, she held it back. The man had not harmed her before, physically at least, and she did not want to give him cause to do so then.
While Jessica still clung to him Joker continued his speech. “Why would she want you, hm?” he teasingly asked the man. “You tried to kill her. I saved her from you and she’s very grateful.” The arm Jessica had been clinging to was wrapped around her pulling her close to the attached body. Instinctively she snaked her arms around him afraid that if she let him go even for a second he would leave her alone in the pitch black and she would never find her way out again. “Do you want to see how grateful she is?”
The Healer did not reply. Just whimpered as he watched the painted face of the Devil lower his head until his lips captured the much smaller ones of the Angel. The pale angel let out a moan and eagerly returned the kiss. No, no, no, no. That is not what was supposed to be happening! She was supposed to reject the man. Refuse him. Instead, she was wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer to her. How could she do such a thing? Let such a creature touch her! It was blasphemy!
Oh, what a sight he was seeing! To have such eyes accustomed to such darkness. How much he wished they were the same as when he had been nothing more than fresh meat from the fridge. If only he could go back to that never seeing state he had once been in. Gouging his eyes out would have been the perfect solution but the Healer could do no such thing. How could he save all those poor souls if he could not see them? Watching the horrific scene before him was the only option he had. But he must watch for it was his punishment that God saw fit for him. His punishment for harming the gift his Lord had sent him.
Weeping seemed the appropriate thing to do. And weep he did. He wept as he watched the Devil used his slimy tongue to lick a trail down her neck only to lock his jaw tightly on the flesh at the crook of her neck. Her cry of pleasure hit him harder than the actions of the man. The sweet smell of her blood assaulted his nose and hung heavily in the air like an early morning fog. The grip the Healer had on the bars intensified as a shiver of delight coursed though him.
Cries and screams of the other patients locked in their own cells cut across the silence killing it easily. The all too feminine smell mixed with blood wafted through the hall and into their cells taunting them. It drove them to a primal state wanting nothing to sate their own urges but their cages were strong and held them in place. The sound of bone crunching against concrete faintly echoed in the darkness as the smell drove some of them to harm themselves in their attempt to free themselves by any means. Animalistic howls and cries came into the mix when the Devil started to remove Angel’s clothing.
It was worse on the Healer with the pair standing right before his cell. The smell, so strong he could taste it, washed over him in thick unrelenting waves driving him deeper into the insanity he had already reached. Knowing it to be a sin he refused to the urge to pleasure himself though his body screamed at him to do so. Only a woman was supposed to provide such pleasure and only after she was his wife. He was doing all he could to resist the temptation but it was becoming stronger with each passing second.
The Devil, Lucifer, the Lord of the Flies, forced the Angel onto her hands and knees. She lowered the upper half of her body to the ground, her left cheek resting against the cold cement floor, presenting herself even more to the man. Her eyes scanned the darkness and seemed to lock onto the eyes of the Healer. With her looking at him, though she could see nothing, his will was broken. He could no longer resist the need that had risen in his body.
With an ease Jessica thought not possible Joker slid inside of her. Gripping her hips tightly he pulled her closer pushing himself deeper within her. Already, Jessica was clawing at the concrete ground her fingers so close to her face she could hear the sound of her nails scraping at it. It had been all too long since she felt such a sensation. The sensation of long scraggily nails biting into the sensitive flesh of her hips and he knees scraping the ground Joker thrust in and out of her with a violent harsh pace.
Far too long it had been for her. So long, that she had not been able to refuse the man. Just the kiss alone had left her with the inability to think of anything or anyone else. All thoughts were on the man mercilessly pounding her from behind. Her knees scraping against the cold concrete floor cutting them open. It was the same for her elbows and she had a feeling her cheek was getting the same treatment.
Feeling her body come hastily to a climax Jessica bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out. Like that mattered. With the howls of the other patients adding in her own music would do make no difference. The sound would just be another instrument added to the cacophony of cries in the messed up symphony that had ensued.
Little by little Joker reached his own peak. When he could no longer contain himself, he trust deep within the girl spilling his seed inside of her. Panting he shook himself like a dog sweat flinging in all directions. Pulling out of Jessica he stood replacing his pants back to the position they were meant to be in, leaving Jessica alone to feel for her clothes in the dark.
The strangled cries of the Healer reached his ears. A sound that thrilled him more than anything he had ever experienced before. “I have sinned,” the man cried repeating the three words over and over again in an almost hysterical manner.
After finding her clothes Jessica dressed herself quickly trying to block out the sound of the Healer’s pain. It hurt her as well for reasons unknown to her. Tore at her heart as if the beating muscle was made of nothing more than paper. “I want to go now,” she harshly insisted to Joker barely above a whisper. Her voice was nearly drowned out by all the screams of the patients hidden deep within the all consuming darkness. It seemed now that they had started, they could not stop. The noises they made her feel ill and she could not stand the sounds of them any longer.
Giggling madly Joker led her out of the lower level and into the light. Not ready for such a change of lighting Jessica’s eyes felt as if they were burning. A small noise, resembling the yelp of a dog, fell from her mouth.
Clicking his tongue in disapproval Joker led her to the shower room. After what had just transpired she needed one and badly. Dirt and grime covered the left side of her face and his makeup on the right. Knowing the makeup on his own face was smeared did little to bother him. He could always go fix it up if he ever felt the need to. Jessica, on the other hand, would mind that there were still traces of him on her body and would want to remove all evidence as quickly as possible. She was, after all, the shiest prostitute to ever roam the streets.
When she was shoved into the shower room and under a random shower head Jessica was both grateful and surprised. Surprise was the stronger of the two emotions. How he was able to think of such a thing was beyond her. Joker was not the type of man that thought of the feelings of others. The fact that he had left to bring her a fresh pair of clothes and a towel amazed her even more. She did not know whether to thank him or inquire as to what was wrong with him. Instead she gawked openly at the man, watching his back as he left her alone to shower.
The shower was very nice. Dubbed the best one she had had in a long time. With warm water cascading down her back in streams relaxation took over her taut muscles. Taking the time to clean herself to the utmost perfection she could manage her thoughts rolled over of the things that had happened that day.
The walk with Riddler had been nice up until the moment Reece and Joker had made their appearances. She had not learned much of the man but had learned a great deal of herself. More than she wanted to know. Was she really like that? So used to abuse that she looked for it in everyone that passed her by? Jessica very well knew the answer to that. Yes, she was. Having suffered years of such a thing had left a large imprint on her mind. Everyone was a threat, anything could be used to hurt her, and she was not strong enough to stop them.
It was true that she had gained some strength after her first encounter with Joker. But she did not take credit for that. The game that Joker played with her had made Big Sister reappear. She had offered Jessica her strength and as weak as she was, she gladly accepted it. Now, with her gone, she had no clue as to where she would regain that strength. It was true that Joker brought out some anger in her, but other emotions followed suit. Lust being the strongest of them all.
Love, loyalty, and obsession? Those were things she could not feel for the man. Fiery passion and lust she could. Some mistaken lust for love, but she knew the difference. Love was of the heart and not the body. What she felt for the man was of the body and only the body. There was only one man she could possibly feel love for. Greg. He was the only one that had earned the right to her heart.
In the midst of washing her hair the realization of what she had done hit her. The one thing she had sworn she would never do, but it had happened. She had betrayed Greg. The man that took care of her, visited her, and that she cared for most in the world. A man she could safely say that she loved. A love she had not knew she felt up until that moment now faced with the prospect that she would lose him.
Having felt such heartbreak before Greg had told her upfront that if she ever were to sleep with another man he would leave her. He was not going to be made a fool of again. His pride and heart would not be able to take another blow such as that again.
Rinsing her hair quickly, making sure that all the suds vanished from the mass, she shut off the water. Her hands shook violently with the quilt and anger she was feeling at that moment making it very hard for her to get dressed. When she was fully clothed she walked out of the bathroom and headed into the Rec Room not bothering to dry her hair. Jessica was all to ready to confront the man.
Joker had once again played her. Played her like a fiddle and she just knew all the right notes to hit. Once again he was toying with her emotions, yet he did so discretely. So discretely she had not come to realize it until it was already too late. He had used the one thing against her she could not resist. Sex. It was too much a part of her to refuse it from any man, even one such as he. By making her betray Greg Joker had done the one thing he had set out to do. Break her.
Break her as he had never done before. Only this time, instead of her mind, it was her heart. The one thing that shattered so easily, and hers did. Shattered into a million pieces falling into her open hand like rain did on a stormy day. The only difference was she was not able to catch the pieces. They slid between the spaces of her fingers as if they were sand.
Throwing the door to the Rec Room open Jessica stormed in and did the one thing others would never dream of doing. She got in Joker’s face, her nose almost touching his. “You dirty slimy son of a bitch,” she hissed in a lowered tone.
“What’s the matter, Snow White?” he asked though he knew all to well what her problem was. “You seem a little, uh, upset.”
“’What’s the matter?!’” she nearly screamed backing up slightly. “You know what my fucking problem is.”
Much to her annoyance Joker started to cackle uncontrollably. “What? Can’t handle a little game? It seemed to me you were having a lot of, uh, fun when we were playing it.”
“Jessica, what’s wrong?” Ivy asked voice laced with strong traces of concern. When the younger woman’s head reeled toward her and their eyes met, Ivy knew she should have just kept her mouth shut. Jessica’s gray orbs were filled with such hostility that it sent a shiver down Ivy’s spine. Never had she seen such hate and malice in the girl’s eyes before.
“Now that you ask, you’re part of my problem.” Jessica’s dainty hands were placed on her hips. “I know you don’t like me,” she started, “and I don’t really care if you do. But your little discrete attacks against me are not found wanting. If you don’t like me, just tell me. You don’t have to go behind my back and suck off Croc on the bed you knew was mine. Stuff like is just petty and says more about you then it does me.”
At that point, Jessica had had enough. She was sick and tired of being pushed around, of being made into someone that was sickeningly weak. From that point forward, she was going to do something about it. She had finally worked up the nerve to fight back and it only took a little heartbreak to do so. “Any further hostility against me will only result in hostility from me,” she announced to all that could be heard. “I’m sick of this shit and I’m sick of all of you! Now, if you would excuse me, I’m going to go off somewhere to be by myself. If any of you,” she indicated to Joker, Ivy, and Croc with a sweeping motion of her hand, “comes near me I might just have to hurt you.”
And with that being said Jessica left the room. “Hm,” Crane started, “it seems to me Jessica needs a little time to cool down. Why don’t we all just leave her alone for the time being?”
All others were in the same boat as him. It would be best for them to leave her alone. Too bad Joker did not feel the same way. With a skip in his step, Crane rolling his eyes at the man, he went in search of the girl. She was just too much fun at the moment to be left alone.