Wanna Know How I Got These Scars?

~~~~~ 2009 ~~~~~

It didn’t matter that I’d yet to unpack. I knew where the black trunk was. I kept it under my bed, where it’d always been. I dragged it out in front of the fireplace in my bedroom. I kept the key to its lock on a necklace I wore. It had been a long time since I used it, but the lock popped open easily. Every part of my life that had been touched by Jack Napier was kept in this trunk. The photos, the sketches, diary entries and mementos. Everything except the necklace. I still wore that everyday. I knew it would be painful to open the trunk, but I did it anyway. The first thing I saw was the broken mirror. Tears welled in my eyes, and my heart literally ached. I knew then I had to see him. Actually, I’d known it the second I’d seen the article. I just hadn’t known if I was brave enough to reopen that chapter of my life. Our lives. It belonged to both of us.

Before I could lose my courage, I grabbed my purse and practically ran from my house. Most people in Gotham didn’t own a car. It wasn’t very practical, but at that moment I was glad to have one. The route to Arkham Asylum was a dangerous one. Not many cabs would take you there, and the rapid bypassed it as well. It was isolated on a small island known as The Narrows. Coming from the Gantry area in Downtown, I was closest to the southwest bridge, but I opted to take the southeast bridge instead. Arkham was on the northeast corner of the island, and by taking the southeast bridge I could avoid driving the entire length of the island. My thirties had brought about a cautiousness I didn’t have in my teens.

I was lost in my own past as I crossed the bridge to The Narrows. I was listening to the soundtrack to The Crow as I drove. ‘Golgotha Tenement Blues’ played as I lurched through the Narrows. I’d heard about the riots here, that it was lost, but it looked the same to me as it had back then. It was still dirty, still desolate and still populated. I did my best not to make eye contact with the people on the street. I just wanted to get to Arkham before I lost my nerve.

When the great hulking silhouette of Arkham came into view I couldn’t suppress the shiver that zipped through me. You’d think with all the problems over the years that stronger security measures would’ve been put in force. They hadn’t. I parked my car on the street and had to take a minute to compose myself. While I tried to figure out what to say to gain entrance, my mind wandered back to the first time I’d seen this accursed building.