Freak is an Ugly Word

So I got another one out. I really really liked writing this chapter. One of my favorites by far. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After finishing in the shower, Princess shut off the water. Gazing about her, she came to realize that there were no towels. Just how in the hell was she supposed to dry off? Did Joker just expect her to stand there and drip dry in the cold air? Maybe he did. But he did say he was going to be back. She hoped it was soon, she was really cold.

Princess sat herself upon the cold tan tiled floor, trying desperately to hide as much of her naked form as possible. It was a precautionary measure just in case one of Joker’s men decided that they needed to take a shower. Having one of them walk in on her while she was cold and naked was not Princess idea of a good introduction.

With her knees curled up to her chest, she rested her head on top of them. She thought it strange how Joker did not know most of his men’s actual names. Even the mob bosses had taken the time to learn the real names of their subordinates. What exactly did that say about the man? Did he not care enough to learn their names? Princess did not believe so. She thought he might just be too busy to learn their names. He had been so nice to her, how could he be considered unfeeling?

A warm hand touched her shoulder and ripped Princess from her thoughts just as it ripped a scream from her lips. Her heart hammered in her chest so hard she feared it might burst from it and run away like a scared rabbit. Turing around, she spotted dirty brown shoes. Her racing heart started to slow as she began to relax. Not taking heed to the rest of his clothing, Princess skipped up to Joker’s face.

Bending at the waist, Joker peered down at her. “Did Joker scare Princess?” She nodded eyes still wide in fright. With a malicious grin on his face, Joker threw a towel in her face. “Here’s a towel so Princess can get herself dried off.”

Tearing the fluffy white towel from her face, Princess immediately started to dry off. She stood so that she could dry the water droplets off of her legs and backside. After she was finished, neglecting her hair, she wrapped the towel around her small frame and held the corners together firmly in her right hand. She looked up at Joker expectantly; ready to follow him where ever he may lead her.

“Now,” Joker started grinning at her puppy dog eyes, “let’s get Princess back to her room and under the covers before she freezes.”

Turing around, he walked away knowing that she would follow. Just as he knew he would, he heard the pitter patter of her little feet following closely behind him. She was proving to be such a good little pup. Following her master around like he was her whole world.

At that time, he was. Everything she did had started to revolve around him. Princess did not love him, she could not bring herself to love anyone, but she did care for him. It was similar to that of Croc. Only difference was Croc actually cared for her, and she knew so much about him. She knew nothing of Joker. Not how he got the scars on his face, his real name, or how he had earned the name Joker. And she found herself not caring for those facts. He was just Joker and he had rescued her from the mob. That’s all she cared about.

With Princess’ little feet pattering behind him, Joker opened the door to her room when they reached it. He allowed her to walk in first, and then shut the door behind him. He watched as Princess’ eyes roamed the room in amazement. There was nothing special about it. Just four concrete walls and a simple bed on the floor with an over hanging light on a wire and a pull string attached to it. There was a light switch on the wall for the light, but since the string was so much closer to the bed, it was easier to use it instead.

Princess crawled onto the bed, only losing the towel after she got herself under the new purple cover. She could tell that it was new, along with the sheets, because it was a darker shade than the first one she had crawled under. The pillowcases were purple as well instead of the original green she had first seen. “Why do you like purple so much?” It had been a question she wanted to ask all night and she finally had the time to ask it.

The only reply she earned was a shrug. Joker did not know why he liked the color so much. It had just caught his fancy. Purple, green, and red were just colors that the clowns in the circus wore. He wore face paint just like a clown; why not wear the same colors? He did not want to have to bother explaining it to Princess. She was too simple minded and would find it hard to comprehend.

Princess stared up at him, expectantly. She was wanted an answer, and did not consider a shrug a good one. Joker rolled his eyes. “Just like it.”

Princess giggled. A sound that was similar to that of a wind chime when the wind blew.
“You jus’ rolled your eyes,” she told him.

“Did Joker?” Princess nodded still giggling. He climbed onto the bed. Rolling Princess on her back, he rested his head on her stomach. “That’s because Princess got Joker all flustered asking silly questions.”

“I only asked one,” she proclaimed.

“Yeah, and it was silly, now wasn’t it?”

“I was jus’ curious.”

“Has Princess ever head to the sayin’ ‘curiosity killed the cat?’”

“Yeah,” she replied while nodding her head.

“We don’t want Princess to end up a dead cat on the side of the road, do we?”

“No,” she whispered hoarsely. He was frightening her and she did not like it.

“Then, she should stop asking silly questions.” He propped himself on his elbow and stared at her intently. Princess’ waist was entrapped between his side and elbow. “Is Joker scaring Princess?” She nodded in response. “That’s a good thing,” he said as he climbed on top of her. “Joker wants to hear Princess scream.”

A shudder ran through Princess’ body. She turned her face to the side her cheeks flushed, and bit her lip in embarrassment. A soft moan escaped her as Joker’s tongue flicked across the lobe of her ear. When his teeth met the tender flesh, she bit down harder on her lip trying hard not to cry out.

“Now, now,” chided Joker, “there’s no need to keep quiet. The other men won’t mind.” An airy chuckle released from his mouth.

Unexpectedly, Joker’s teeth sank into the flesh of the crook of her neck. Princess gasped a sharp intake of breath and her back arched. The urge to rip herself away from his teeth, just to see if the feeling of her flesh tearing away from her would be just as pleasurable, arose. Before she could work up the courage to do so, his teeth had left the spot as he sat up straddling her waist.

Sometime, while he was working on her lobe and neck, Joker had kicked the covers off of her. With her now laying completely bare underneath the man, Princess felt embarrassed. Even more so when his finger lightly traced the scar. “Now, where did Princess get this from?”

“I don’ remember,” she answered quietly. She had just woken up with stitches, lying on the bed in her apartment. It was during the time the mob still kept her drugged so that she would not run away. Those two years were a blur for her. Recalling anything from them was harsh on her mind, so it just pushed them away, forcing her to forget. Some nights, she wished she hadn’t let Croc talk her into quitting the drugs. The withdraws had been harsh on her body and lasted longer than they should have. And now, she remembered everything, except when Andy got a hold of her. She was glad that she could not remember her time with him.

“How is it Princess can’t remember? Ah, Joker sees,” he said when he spotted the remnants of old track marks, now scars, on her arms. “Those evil dirty men drugged up Princess, didn’t they?” On the verge of tears, she nodded. “How is it Princess came to be in the hands of those men?” He already knew the story, had heard it from Bib, but he wanted to hear her say it. See her reaction.

Princess wanted to roll over on her side, feeling vulnerable, but with Joker straddling her waist she could not do so. “My father gave me ta them. He had a debt he couldn’ pay off. I was supposed to do it for him.”

“Poor, poor, Princess. She’s so unloved. But that’s all about to change. Joker’s here ta take care of her.”

Princess had heard similar words before, but not from the man who was once again working on her neck. It had come from Croc. He had been holding her while they lay on the bed together.

“I’ll take care of ya, Princess,” he had told her.

“Why?” she had asked him.

“’Cause I love ya.” It had been the first time that he had said it to her. Joy, exhilaration, and sadness had flown through her like a flock of birds heading south for the winter. They came and went, all but the sadness, it had stayed with her. Forever lingering in her. A bird with a broken wing cannot fly, and sadness was her broken winged bird.

No! She did not want to remember that. Did not want to remember Croc’s goofy grin or the kiss he had planted on her forehead. That was in the past. She wanted to forget the past. The here and now is what mattered. And right then, Joker was plunging himself into her.

With each thrust, Princess slowly forgot everything else. Her memories became like sand slipping through her fingers. No matter how much she tried, it would continuously escape her. But she wanted that. Wanted to forget. Forget everything of her past and never look back. Just leave the sand on the beach and walk away, never turning to look back.

As she climaxed, a scream left her and so did her memories. The mind could be a horrible and dangerous thing. Made one forget the harsh reality that they had once lived. Wanted to keep itself sane by blacking out everything that would make it go mad. It would never come to realize that those things could benefit it. Never realize that forgetting could make it go mad. Leaving a blank slate could leave it vulnerable for someone to tamper with it. Someone like Joker who could shift the initial idea of right and wrong, which he was trying to do.

Hearing Princess’ scream once again brought Joker to his own climax. Hearing screams of any sort were pure ecstasy for him. His nails dug themselves into the flesh of her hips, catching his newly made mark on her. He smiled down looking at it. Possessions were a frivolous thing to him. He had just wanted to see if she would allow him to mark her in some way that was more permanent than the bite marks he had given her. And she didn’t disappoint. She had let him do it. Had let him take ownership over her. He already had her where he wanted, but now he had to see just how far he could take. See how much her fragile mind could take before it completely shattered. One day. He gave her one day before that would happen.

“My pretty, pretty Princess,” he spoke as he leaned over his face inches from hers. “It’s past her bedtime. She needs to get her sleep.” Pulling out of her, he zipped his pants back up. “Nighty night.”

Standing up, he made his way across the room. Donning himself in his long purple jacket, he exited the room. Princess was already asleep by the time that he opened the door. She was exhausted and had no energy to ask where he was going, much less pull the covers over her. It mattered little to Joker. He was just going to wake her up in a few hours. A tired mind was much easier to work with. It was slower and had a much harder time to process things. Much easier to implant new thoughts into it. She would have a hard time fighting him, just what he wanted.

Entering the “living room” he saw that only one man was still awake. The rest had fallen asleep where they sat. Joker recognized the man as Doc. Doc was the smartest of all the men, and is how he had earned that nickname. He was, also, a medical school drop out. Found a life of crime much more interesting, not to mention he had a demented way of taking care of his patients. He enjoyed giving pain rather than relieving it.

“Have fun, Boss?” Doc asked him. Joker shrugged his shoulders. Doc turned back to the simple television that was on. There was no sound, just picture. Doc had the amazing ability to read lips and was very good at it. “What do you want with her anyways? She’s useless.”

“Experimenting.”

“Ah.” Doc knew exactly what kind of experimenting Joker was doing. “Messing with her mind. Sounds interesting. Working out for you?” A mischievous grin spread across Jokers face as smoothly as butter on bread. “Figured. She isn’t exactly the brightest crayon in the box. Makes it easier to work with.”

Though he had only known the man for a short while, Doc felt that he understood the man. He knew he would never truly know what went on in his deranged mind, but he was the closest to knowing. It was a trick that he had picked up dating a psychiatrist. That man had taught him many things and the workings of the mind was one of them.

Doc did not consider himself homosexual in any way. He had slept with women before as well. Partaking in the flesh with someone that attracted him was the way he lived. Male, female, all the same to him. The only reason he had decided to join Joker was because the man attracted him. He never expressed it before out of knowing the man would most likely kill him. Death was not something Doc feared, it was what came before it, and Joker was a man to take his time with his victims.

“What do you plan to do with her when you’re finished?” Doc was staring intently at the television. A fear that if he looked at the man for too long his bodily impulses would take over made him focus all of his attention on the soundless moving pictures.
Joker shrugged. “I don’t plan, I just do things.”

Doc had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. That was a blatant lie. The man always had a plan. He was too smart not to. Joker just did not like to admit he had plans. Liked the image of being unpredictable. He did things that were out of the norm at seemingly random times, making him have the appearance of being unpredictable. But Doc knew that everything he did had a purpose. There was a message he was trying to send everyone, Doc just did not know what that message was.

“Are you going to kill her?”
Raising his eyebrows, Joker gazed at the man. “Why? You interested in her?”
A snort gave Joker his answer. “She’s too dumb for my taste. But she’s young. She has the potential to become a very attractive woman. Hate to see a bud killed before it blossoms.”

“So poetically put. You’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Even I don’t know what’s going to happen to her.” In this, Joker was telling the truth. He had not thought that far ahead. His experiment had been started on a whim. The decision had been made when he had first landed eyes on her.

It had been a random night a week ago. He had come across her being thrown around by her pimp, who he later learned from Bib had been Andy. Andy had been yelling at her and slammed her against the nearby brick wall. What caught interested Joker was that she was taking it all, never once fighting back. It wasn’t until he saw her eyes that he decided that he wanted to play with her. Hidden deep within the gray was fire. It was a small spark, but with some working, it could turn into a wildfire. Joker decided he wanted to poor gasoline on that spark and see how much it consumed.

Later, he would bring out that fire. At the moment, he was just testing her mind. Seeing just how easily it was to mold. So far, it had been a simple task. With just a few sweet words he had her groveling at his feet. Only problem he now had was bringing out that fire. Right now he had a whimpering puppy and he wanted a blood thirsty wolf. How was he going to accomplish that task? He mentally shrugged off the thought. He’s worry about that when the time came.

Looking out of the corner of his eyes, Doc studied Joker. Normally, he would have been disgusted at what the man was doing to such a young girl, but the attraction he felt for the man made that impossible. He was now genuinely interested in what the girl would turn out to be. From what he could tell so far, it would appear that Joker was making himself a pet. But that couldn’t be all that he wanted. Joker was not that simple of a man.

Something about Princess had caught his attention. It had to be more than her submissiveness. There had to be more to the girl than that. It was too obvious. Princess had to have something hidden deep within her that had attracted Joker. Doc guessed he would never know.

Glancing about the room, he studied the other men. He would hardly call most of them men. The group consisted of latter day teens, around the same age as Princess, and crazies. The teens had joined for the excitement, the crazies because they viewed Joker as a god. Doc would not go that far, but he admired the man. Admired that he had no fear and no regrets. If only there were more people like him in the world. It may not have been a safe world, but a more interesting one.

The reason Doc had first moved to Gotham was that he found it interesting. Never was there a dull moment in the city. Every day brought something different. A new terror. He happened to be in the league with the newest terror to hit the streets.

Once, he would have been repulsed, but no longer. “If you can’t fight them, join them,” an old saying his father had told him repeatedly. His father was the man that he had learned his thirst for adventure and blood from. That man, now dead and rotting, had taught him every trick that he knew. He had been a doctor just as sadistic as his son, maybe even more so. The apple doesn’t fall from the tree, but it rots underneath it.

Doc was a rotting apple. Rotting from the core out. All of the men there were. Bad seeds people would have called them. Doc had to disagree with them. Bad seeds insinuated that they could not give life and create something new. They could do that. They could turn people into something similar to themselves. Breathe new life into them with the sweet promise of glory and fame.

A rotting apple had the ability to give life. It fertilized the soil that it decayed upon. The grass would grow and the tree would become stronger, and have give fruit to more apples. More apples that could become like those rotting on the ground. Death and decay brought life and made the good apples look even better.

The world needed rotting apples. Without them, it would be hard to tell which ones were alive and good. Without evil, there would be no good. Without death, there would be no life. Without sin, the pure could not live. Without sadness, there could be no happiness. Without darkness, there would be no light. Everything had an opposite, an opposite that it thrived upon, that it fed on.

The world needed it’s rotting apples.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, there you have it. Chapter 8 all nice and done. I hope that you all found it interesting. Just let me know if you did or did not. Thank you for reading. Reviews and rates would be nice.