Behind the Mask (A Batman and Robin Fanfic)

Chapter Thirty Two

Annie’s POV:

Months of literally being trapped inside my own head had boiled down to this. It was hard to understand--half of the time, I couldn’t tell what was happening. When they injected those chemicals into me, I expected to die but that’s not what happened to me. Those chemicals suppressed parts of my brain--the parts that made me who I was. They created Jester--my alter ego. I had become schizophrenic, fighting with Jester for control, and there was no way to stop it.

Here was my window. Two parts of my subconscious fighting each other for complete control. It was me or Jester--one of us had to go. She was savage and brutal. Her green eyes glared at me as she came to realize we were in a fight to the death. Her erratic breathing was intimidating as she looked for her next moment to lunge at me. There was one thing she did not understand; in the time that I had been trapped inside my own head, I had become savage too.

Quickly and abruptly, I turn on my heels and ran. She didn’t expect it but she chased after me as fast as she could.

“COWARD! YOU’RE RUNNING FROM A FIGHT!” She screamed.

Her taunting didn’t bother me, I knew what I was doing. The warehouse we were in was familiar to me, somehow I knew where I had to go. I sprinted as fast as I could, she was much faster than I was, and she was gaining on me. I knocked over a couple crates to block her way but she just plowed right through them. I made it to a big metal door and opened it up, expecting to find what I needed--a weapon.

When I opened the door, I was astounded by what I found. I expected there to be a room filled with industrial equipment--that was what my gut had told me--but the big room behind the metal door looked nothing like it should.

The walls were bright colors, light pinks and blues like cotton candy. Inside there was a small gang of people dressed up as clowns. They all turned to stare at me as soon as I opened the door. One of them grabbed me and pulled me inside.

Jester had finally caught up to me, casually strutting inside the room. She saw the clowns and began to laugh with a loud voice.

“Oh, Annie! This has got to be the greatest thing I’ve ever seen”

Each clown looked uniquely different. Some were girls and some were boys. Some were older and some were younger. Some had happy faces painted on with make-up and others had sad or scared expressions. They all had one thing in common: they were all people I knew.

My brother was the one who pulled me in the room. His clown expression was menacing. The bright clothing he was adorned in was covered in blood. His upper lip twitched in disgust as he looked at me.

The others were just as scary. It was like everyone I had ever known or been close with was suddenly throwing a scary clown surprise party for me. They each grabbed me and pulled me in different directions and I screamed as loud as I could.

“Oh please Annie, do us all a favor and shut up!”

The clowns quickly got out of her way as she walked. She sat down in front of a fun house mirror that had been turned into a makeup station. The clowns held me down as she spoke and I squirmed to be free. Jester began to put makeup on, touching up her look.

“Annie, sweetheart. You’re too innocent! When’s the last time you let loose and had fun? Wreaked a little havoc? C’mon, you know I made your life way better than it ever was before. Before me, you had nothing. Just lonely little Annie with her boring little life and no one to hold at night. Well look at me! I’m the new and improved you! Everyone here likes me better--just ask them”

The clowns began to nod vigorously in agreement. Some of them even began to sporadically shout out “We love you, Jester!”

“No, its not true” I yelled, squirming under the grips of a clown version of my brother and my best friends.