___

The week went by before I could even comprehend the days passing. Staring into a cracked wall does the trick. I did what I could to forget about where I was going. Daydreamed like I always did. That’s what I did to pass the time in Alpena. Making scenarios up in my head, of simple events in life that I would never get to experience outside of my imagination. Then I’d live in them. For seven days I imagined seven different scenarios. What it would be like if I went to school and graduated, moving on to college. Working a nine-to-five every day, my back aching after my shift. Getting a coffee, with as much sugar as I wanted. Walking in the park. Seeing a movie. Getting a dog. Maybe even making a friend. Or kissing a lover.

None of those things were going to happen, were they? I asked myself. None of my daydreaming would come true. It was never in my cards. Arkham Asylum was. What a terrible draw it all was.

My daydreaming was interrupted by my guard, Holden, unlocking my heavy and thunderous door. I always hated that noise. Every time I could hear its lock bang open, I would almost jump out of my skin.

“Alright O’Harren, you know the drill,”

I nodded, not speaking a word. Holden has been my guard since I got locked up in solitary. Not a word was spoken between us unless it was him giving me instructions. The occasional rowdy inmate would be locked in here. But they never spoke to me. It seems the guards used me as the local legend, using me to scare girls into behaving. When they eventually did get sent to solitary, it varied. The fragile, terrified ones usually cried softly through the night, and I could almost feel their muscles curl into a ball. Their eyes shut tight, trying to block out any bumps in the night. I knew how they felt, as I was in their shoes once upon a time. The others just called out to me, daring me to come out. I never answered, leaving them to believe I never existed. However, I remember one looking into my cell to see me through the small window. Her face went pale white, realizing she truly had been yelling to someone in the night. Never saw her again after that. Seems I helped her clean up her act.

I went up against the wall, putting my hands on its cold, callased surface. Holden then came up behind me, applying the waist chains, then the wrist chains. After finishing my feet, he then motioned his hand towards the door, as if saying, “After you.” I quietly gulped, before slowly exiting the cell that had been my home for five years. Cracked walls, crumbling ceiling. Filthy sink and toilet covered in rust. My white floor was never once mopped. The neglected solitary space, so riddled with filth, was my beautiful and peaceful safe haven. For five years, I worked so hard to make it that way. Now I had to leave it. Something I made into a comfort zone. My daydreaming fortress. I only hoped I could adjust quickly to my new cell in Arkham. I doubted it, though. Mental facilities usually weren’t as quiet as Alpena’s Solitary Cell.

Holden escorted me through the lime green halls, coated with a shiny finish, to portray its false cleanliness. The colors truly tried to encourage change for the unruly. The sleek and scrubbed tan floors echoed my footsteps, my last remnant remaining in this place. The last steps I’d ever take here. Every foreign twist and turn made my mind uneasy. The unknown never set well with me, but I had no power, no choice to go back. I was too old for this place, as it turned out.

We reached the checkpoint, a metal barred gate in our path to the outside. Holden pulled out his key card, and with a simple swipe, the heavy gate lifted. It’s deafening gears cranking and crashing together. Once the gate was open, Holden led me out the door, into the colors of the blinding sunset.

Up until now, I hadn't seen the sunset in years. I had my hour in the late morning sun like everyone else, except I was far away from the rest of the inmates during that time, but since the night I killed my parents, I’ve never been able to see the setting sky, exploding with all of its colors. Streaks of bright burning orange dashed across the lines of peach pink clouds, the two racing for victory. Cold, sophisticated purple danced elegantly with its moody blue counterpart, spinning and blending as one. Together, it was all rare, true beauty. Something so normal, so routine would probably not affect anyone else.

To me, it was everything. To say I almost cried is an understatement. A quiet gasp escaped my lips as I almost suffocated at its sight. My eyes, full of fear and uncertainty, were now mesmerized by the sky. She was my hypnotist, making my worries fade to nothing.

However, Holden broke my hypnosis, clearing his throat, and telling me to come along. I blinked, breaking my gaze from the clouds and its colors to look ahead. A slick black escort car awaited my arrival, to take me away to another cell. To a place where I would go without seeing the sky, the rain, the stars, ever again. I reluctantly walked to the police car, my feet dragging on the concrete. The chains around my feet clinking together to form a melancholy melody. My heart wanted to protest, wanted to run. I wanted to stay under the free sky forever. To see them every day. The contemplation bubbled up in me, but the voice that haunted me all my years came whispering.

“Trust in me. I will help you.”

No, I won’t let you, I thought.

Enough is enough. I suppressed my thoughts deep below, trying to not think about it. I picked up the pace to the patient escort car, getting into its rough, coarse back seat, sitting next to a lean man with tan skin and a buzzcut. Before Holden shut the door, I quietly thought my goodbyes to the sunset. Even though I’d love to run away to escape, I couldn’t. I can never be out in public again, I won’t ever allow myself. My monster inside won’t hurt anyone ever again. I need to be locked up. I can never be free.

As we drove off, I watched Holden’s figure get smaller. Then I watched the Alpena Youth Corrections Facility get smaller. Soon, the building I’d known for eight years was gone, and I was whisked away into a world I didn’t know. I could feel my heart pound slightly, my body alerting me that it didn’t like the unrecognizable situation I was in. I hadn’t been in a vehicle in years, and the feeling of being inside a moving car was extremely uncomfortable to me. As I said before, I don’t take foreign things and feelings well.

The driver and the passenger side escorts were chatting, talking about their plans after their shifts were over. The netted metal bars kept me from reaching them. The man in the backseat to the left of me cleared his throat, attempting to make an awkward situation better. Though he was unaware he was failing at doing so.

“So. What did you do to get sent to Arkham, kid?”

I sighed heavily, my breath beginning to shake. I didn’t want to talk to him, to anyone. I didn’t want to talk about anything, let alone my past. He asked me again, and I just simply took another breath.

“I don’t like to talk about it.”

My voice trembled. I just wanted to get the whole ordeal over with. Thinking about where I was heading made my breaths more rapid.

“Well must’ve been pretty bad to end up there. What did you do, carve someone up?”

I shut my eyes tightly.

Please stop talking, please just stop talking to me, I thought.

Before he could say anymore, the driver up front yelled sternly at my fellow back passenger.

“Ay Cole, leave her alone now, would you? I just wanna get this done so I can grab a cold one.”

“C’mon, aren’t you curious Willis? She doesn’t look like a killer.”

“No, I’m not. I don’t care. I just do my job and move on to the next.”

“Well that’s no fun at a-”

“Just CAN IT, Cole!”

The officer up front, muttered some words under his breath, before returning his eyes to the road. Silence then filled the car, the only sound remaining was the sounds of traffic and tires crunching against the abused roads of Gotham. The entire time, my gaze was fixed downward. I just wanted to fade away from this situation. Go into one of my daydreams. The silence allowed me to make it so I could build my scenario from the ground up:

I’m under the sunset, in the park I imagined last week. Colors swirl in the sky, then I reach down to touch the grass I’m sitting on. It felt like-

“Psst. Seriously, what did you do?”

A sharp whisper broke my imagination, bringing me back to the undesired present. I didn’t even answer, didn’t even blink before I heard the driver rev up his vocal cords, erupting out a viperous yell.

“Cole I said CUT IT-”

CRASH!

Before the driver could finish, the car we were in was forcefully jerked by a sudden impact. My eyes sharply opened after the brute force smashed against the right side of the escort vehicle. I screamed out, startled by the sudden violent reaction tossing my forward against my seatbelt. Loud, squeaking tires pierced my ears as the car I was in veered off to the side, almost losing control. The three escorts all yelled out too, clearly panicking. I looked outside my window at the assaulting mobile. Smooth grey paint shone in the fading light of the sunset. Three men hung out of the opened windows, brandishing guns. Very large guns. My eyes widened at a new revelation:

They were pointing those very large guns at us.

I gazed up at their faces, only to see their features were hidden behind masks. Cartoonish masks of clowns. It should have been funny to see these burly men in kid masks. Instead, it was all very horrifying.

Another larger car, a van, pulled up on the other side, adorning scratched black paint and similar men in clown masks. The dawning conclusion changed the stakes. We were trapped between two vehicles, each trying to ram us off the road, with guns pointed towards us on each side.

I heard our driver scream curses, telling both of the other escorts to draw their weapons to prepare to exchange fire. He then told me to duck down below the seat, and I happily obliged. I was unbuckled by the guard on my left, and squeezed myself down onto the car’s floorboard, covering my ears and bringing my knees tightly against my chest. Though I hated how crowded it was, and hated the restraints of my chains, it was the least of my concern. I closed my eyes, feeling the car justle around, each of us inside being bounced around like mere toys. I could hear the men yelling instructions at each other. They each sounded scared but tried to hide it by sticking each of their grounds. I cried out after another strong thrust against the car shook it violently. Just then, I heard the unmistakable exploding sounds of gunfire, causing me to scream out again. I tried so desperately to block out the noise of violent shots. It felt like I was crushing my skull with the force of my hands. Still, the noises of guns being fired blasted my ear drums. I closed my eyes again.

Please just make this stop, I thought. Why does this have to happen?

Just then, a giant thud blasted wind right by my face, followed by the feeling of a thud on the seat. I abruptly opened my eyes to the sheer terror of the escort in the backseat with me, dead. His eyes stared blankly into me, lifeless. Blood dripped from a fresh gunshot wound to the side of his temple. My being froze cold seeing this, my eyes wide with horror. He was shot down. For trying to escort me.

I heard the driver yell out, before going limp. With that, I witnessed the only remaining escort reach over the body of his partner, to try and take control of the wheel. In his failure, the car began to spin violently into the sidewalk. I winced, hearing the man’s screams too. With a turbulent final turn, the car sharply impacted the side of a building on its left, crushing the side of the car. Airbags deployed for the front, hitting the remaining man on the side of his jaw. I watched him slump in his seat, grunting in pain.

The escort then turned around to ask if I was okay. I could see blood leak down his face and busted lip, his caramel skin bruised and sweaty. Before I could respond, the other attacking vehicles drove up, their tires squealing as they came to a sharp halt. Each and everyone clown masked individual got out of their respective vehicles. I counted each one. Ten men in total. Dressed in blackened attire, the only color came from their unnerving clown masks. One man put his hand up, motioning for his men to stop in their tracks.

Stolen novel; please report.

The man held onto his large gun, looking deadset at our location. He was very muscular, just like the rest of his crew, like he was born for destruction. However, unlike the others, he was dressed in clothing bright enough to blind the visually impaired. Neon cerulean and bubblegum pink leather pants, boots, and a strange corset of sorts, exposing his bare scarred chest. A hefty chain was wrapped around his right leg, being kept in place with a large hook latched onto his spiked belt. His hair was styled with cornrows that were dyed magenta; matted, wild, and sloppy. His mask matched his brightly colored attire, only it had one black bullet hole fixed to the center of his mask’s forehead, most likely a demented cosmetic choice. The mask contained stains of gunpowder, with its white face and neon streaks coated in years of violence. Spikes adorned his attire, making one wonder how he could move freely without getting jabbed. Overall, I concluded something was very wrong about this man.

The bright jester-like man walked up to our vehicle on his own. Even though he was just one man walking to the car, it still felt like a tsunami of impending doom. His arms and gun excitedly moved with his footsteps, as if he was bouncing towards us. Happy to maim.

I heard the last escort grunt in pain and watched him try to find his fallen gun. It was a fruitless effort, as the now deployed airbag was blocking his view. Within a few seconds, the neon assailant was inches in front of the car. My eyes grew wide with fear, my heart pounding inside of my body, echoing in my bones. I could feel my breath shake, and my body tremble. I got up off of the floorboards, instead pushing myself as far back as possible onto the seats, hoping to gain more distance from myself, and the demented man in bright colors.

The man in the clown mask simply looked at me, playfully tilting his head. It was as if my heart stopped, and I was frozen in place. Encased in the icy grip of fear. The man then turned his head quickly to the struggling escort. The escort looked up at him, praying for his life. I could hear the despair in his voice. In response to the escort’s pleas, the man began giggling under his mask.

“What’s the matter, do you think I’m gonna hurt you?”

The man in the clown mask had a very shrill, high-pitched, and raspy voice. His voice was so playful. I understood what he was doing, he was taunting.

“P-P-Please don’t! I’ll do anything, please!”

The voice of my escort was shaking, quivering, stuttering out words to beg for his life. The man in the clown mask just laughed out loud, staring at his prey through the eye holes of his mask.

The escort muttered pitifully.

“Please just let me go!”

“Well, since you asked nicely!”

The man in the clown mask offered a hand to help the trembling escort out. The escort did a double take, before hastily taking the clown masked man’s hand and crawling out of the car. In a pitiful thud, he collapsed to the street, looking up at the man.

“Aw, you’re killing me here!”

The man said with a malicious and joyful tone. The man then helped him up, pulling him roughly up off of the asphalt. He then patted the escort’s back before motioning for him to leave. The escort stood there for a brief second, shocked at how easily his life was spared.

Lucky. I thought. I could only hope the same courtesy could be applied to me.

However, all of my hope for him was depleted when I saw the man in the mask stealthily slip something into his back pocket. I didn’t know what it was, but the sinking feeling in my gut told me it wasn’t anything good. Maybe a tracking device, to find him later, I thought.

The man then sharply glared at the escort through his mask.

“I suggest you run, bucko.”

His tone changed when he spoke his next words. Instead of joyful, he had a dark, foreboding voice.

Without another delay, that’s what he did. I watched the escort stumble to run, then sprint away from the group. He was maybe 12 feet from the group when I thought maybe he could make it. That was until -

BOOM!

A small explosion sent the last remaining escort falling like a ragdoll, parts of him scattering across the street. I screamed in horror as I saw this. The man in the clown mask was laughing hysterically, doubling over from his sick prank. His deadly prank. My heart began racing faster. I was the only one left.

Once his laughter subsided, the man in the mask fluffed his cornrows before turning back to me in the car. I could see his eyes piercing into the window, right into mine. His eyes were black. Empty and lifeless like an abyss. I could see his eyes squint, before abruptly ripping open the car door. I shrieked as he did so, startled by how quickly he did so.

“Well little lady, today’s your lucky day! We’re busting you out! Come with us and we’ll get you outta here.”

The man in the clown mask did a twisted little curtsey as if he thought he was being formal.

Oh hell no, I thought. If I go with this lunatic, it means a fate similar to the men who adorned had just perished around me.

I stood there, chilled to my bones. I tried to scoot myself back into the car as much as I could. Any amount of distance I could put between myself and this psychotic killer was enough, but to my dismay, my back was already against the door. There was no more distance to be had.

The man in the mask clicked his tongue a few times, shaking his head slightly.

“But that’s not the answer we need.”

With that, he lifted his gun, its lengthy barrel pointed directed at my face. I gasped as he did so. Like a deer in headlights, I couldn’t move a muscle. I could feel my lungs stop taking in air, too afraid to breathe in.

“See, we need a yes from you. We were paid by our boss to either whisk you away out of the clinger, or we’re supposed to introduce you to a very special man above!”

The man pointed his finger to the sky, and I felt my body tense up after realizing what he meant.

I either needed to go with him, or he would kill me.

I saw his finger slowly move onto the trigger, ready to pull. Ready to kill. I couldn’t understand. Why this, why again? The questions swirled in my head, corrupting my thoughts.

“Tick tock sweetheart. What’s it going to be?”

The man kept pulsing the trigger, aching to pull it. Aching to kill. He teetered from side to side, eager for destruction.

Compliance was my only option, I thought grimly. Without thinking, I felt my body slowly crawl from the backseat to the open door. I moved carefully like prey making subtle movements to avoid being eaten.

“There, that’s it!”

The man in the clown mask began clapping gleefully. Something so unsettling, that it made my face tighten with fear. He noticed this, and I could see the expression of malicious pride in his eyes. He liked being feared.

My feet finally touched the ground. There I stood, in front of the crashed escort vehicle, like a lamb to the slaughter of ten wolves. I saw the masked man motion his hands, and with that, three large men began approaching me. As they did, I looked beyond to see the mangled remains of the escort guard in the distance.

Then it dawned on me. If I went with these people, I would end up just like him. No matter what I chose, I was going to die. Either here, or in a place of their choosing.

Suddenly survival kicked in. I won’t go with him, and I won’t die. I knew there was one thing I could do. One way to possibly get out alive. The only option that yielded escape as an outcome. I could become the monster again.

I pleaded for the thing I’d been pushing away to come back. Deep in my being, I wanted to wield it again, this time more aware of what would happen. Truly, whatever would happen would be better than the alternative. Sure enough, the voice that went unheard for four years came through, reverberating through my skull.

“Whenever you call, I am here. I will help you.”

I closed my eyes, willing myself to submit to the voice and its monster within. I became engulfed in black smoke. Sure enough, as I quickly glanced down at myself I was nothing but darkness. Pure shadow. In a few swift moves, I managed to use all my strength to move my arms up and apart from each other, ultimately leading to my hip and arm chains breaking. Then, I stretched my feet apart, breaking the last of my restraints. I quickly looked up after hearing the clown men yell out their confused curses. Their guns raised at me, and sure enough, their leader in neon demanded they fire. Before they could, I appeared in the center of them. It was now kill or be killed.

I wasn’t going to die today. Not at their hands.

I paid no attention to who was in front of me. Instead, I sliced. Kicking one man down, I grabbed another, before throwing him into two of his comrades. One, two, three, four. Each of them went down with ease. I saw one of them try to grab the back of my neck, but somehow I knew how to change myself, changing out of existence almost, making his toned arm go through me. Turning around to face him, I headbutted him, changing my form again. He went down, blood spurting from his nose. That’s five. I turned to two men opening fire on me. I quickly changed my form again, thinking to avoid myself from being filled with holes. I watched as the bullets flew through me, breaking through my figure, each disappearing through me in tiny clouds of black smoke.

The gunshots blazed on, surrounding me in a storm of bullets. I then appeared in front of them swiftly, changing back into a solid form to kick one man back and grab the other to fling him aside. That’s seven men, down on the ground. I saw one of the crew begin running into the alleyway. He didn’t like what he was being paid to go up against, I imagine. The other yelled after him, calling him a coward, before turning to me. He desperately began swinging violently at me, adorning a brass knuckle ring. I swiftly dodged one punch but ended up getting socked in the cheek.

A learning curve for me, I thought. I can still be hit if I don’t change. I’d need to focus if I was going to protect myself against weapons and hits.

I then extended my arm out, somehow knowing that doing so would unleash the claws I had used before on past victims. The assailant landed another punch, before I began slashing and hacking, bringing him down to the ground lifeless. Blood poured from his wounds. After that, I turned back to normal, panting hard. Before I could think of my next move, I heard a gunshot, followed by pain in my shoulder. I panicked, thinking I was shot. I was relieved to see it was only a graze wound. Whoever shot me had thankfully missed, but if I didn’t move quickly I might not be so lucky next time. I whipped around sharply to see the man in the bright neon suit reloading his gun.

Crap, I thought. I forgot about him, standing right behind me.

He was behind me this whole time, just waiting while I took out his men. I tried to change back into the shadow form I had just been, but it wasn’t working. My brain was now too panicked. Just as the man in the clown mask pointed his gun at me, I got up quickly to run. I sprinted into the alleyways, as fast as I could. Ducking and weaving into the different ones. I could hear my pursuer behind me, calling to me in a haunting sing-songy tone.

“Now don’t think you can run from me! I’m catching up to you!”

Another thing that makes him more horrific in nature. His song-like taunts during a life-or-death chase.

I kept sprinting, the pain in my shoulder crying out to me. I could feel my lungs burning, the cold wind infiltrating my airways. The sun had finally set, making the alleys darkened. They were damp, and the shadows of the night were dancing gleefully in them. The fear was still rising inside me, but I kept going. Choosing the dark over someone who wanted me dead was the wiser choice.

As I ran, I took one final turn, only to jump back behind the wall out of sight. It was a dead end, and two people stood at the end of the path. I looked behind me, to see I wasn’t followed, then poked my head slightly into the open alleyway to see what was happening. I thought maybe some people could help. Instead, I heard shouting. I saw two figures in the night arguing with each other. One of them was the clown-masked man who fled my carnage earlier. I tucked myself around the corner, trying to obscure myself from his sight.

The other man was cornering him in the dead end. The unknown figure’s black and grey leather jacket shone in the dim moonlight. A symbol on his back was painted in red, almost like a bird or a bat. I trailed down to his legs and feet. Dark brown pants with holsters and wraps were tightly secured to his legs. Metal knee-high boots reflected the back alley off of them, glinting in the night. Finally, the last feature of this odd character was the red hoodie hiding his head. Overall, this man was dressed like a streetman in a non-existent war.

My analysis of him was cut short when I noticed the red hooded figure pointing a gun at the man in the clown mask. I pressed myself further against the wall, hopefully to evade detection while I listened in to the conversation.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t paint the walls with you, scum.”

The red-hooded figure had a very rough and strident voice. Without seeing him, I could tell he was fierce and grim.

“Look you gotta believe me we were just on a job but that thing-”

“The only thing you should focus on is me. Fear me.”

“You don’t scare me you son of a-”

Before he could finish, the sound of metal cracking his head rippled the surrounding area, combined with his yelp of pain. It was the sound of the red hooded man’s gun cracking against the clown-masked man’s head.

“Ah, you stupid bitch!”

The guy in the clown mask held his head, his mask sliding askew, revealing his intimidating features.

“You wanna say that again, asshole?”

The red hooded figure cocked his gun, then pointed it at his target's head. From the looks of it, he wielded a pistol, but it was too difficult from my distance. I could hear his hostage let out a whimper, before placing his hands up.

“Okay okay! Look, we were given instructions! Candyman didn’t say from who, but said he said someone important to us all was wanting someone. Some kid in Alpena that was getting transferred.”

“Someone important, hm? Is it your mental case boss, Harley?”

“No, no! She’s been MIA for years. We follow Candyman now.”

“Then who?”

The red-hooded figure pressed his pistol against the man's mask, as he asked his question in a grim voice, making the clown-masked man yell out in protest.

“Hey hey hey! I don’t know! Candyman didn’t tell us, just told us to keep quiet and follow orders. Then we’d get paid good cash. He told us it’d be an easy pickup! He fucking lied about that!”

“Elaborate.”

“I thought it was a piece of cake! We took out the officers, crashed the car, and there’s this broad shaking in her prison suit. Thought we had her, but then she turned into this… This freak! Took them all down within seconds. I told myself, ‘Gary fuck this,’ and I left. I ran. And just my luck I ran into you!”

“You sure did. And don’t beat yourself up, Gary. You boys were never too coordinated. Taking your clown asses was never hard.”

“Why you fucking-”

The red hooded then proceeded to brutally smack the man in the clown mask upside the head again, the red hooded man cutting him off.

“See you in Hell.”

Then within an instant, a piercing gunshot rang in the alleyway.

I yelped on cue, completely caught off guard by the ultimate murder. Almost instantly, regret and dread washed over my being, as I quickly covered my mouth. I don’t know why I thought that would take back the noise announcing my presence, but it was the best I could do. Before I could witness the red hooded figure turn my way, I ducked behind the wall, obscuring my view of the alleyway. Unrelenting silence filled the sky as if the both of us were waiting for the other to slip up or appear. I stood as motionless as I could, pressed against the freezing brick walls of an unknown building hoping the lack of any detections would deter the hooded figure from pursuing. My hopes were cut down, however, after I heard heavy boots slowly walk towards my direction, scraping against the pavement as his foot collided with its surface.

My skin turned ice cold as I realized he was coming my way. Without a second thought, I threw myself off of the brick wall and began running down the dark alleyway. Everything in me focused on making my legs run as fast as they could, because now I could hear those heavy footsteps get louder, and quicker behind me.

The figure was in pursuit.