My Ginger Maniac

We Need To Talk (Part 2)

I couldn't move. Or, well, at least it felt that way. It felt like my body was stuck in a human sized ice block, with shatters of glass all over the ground and a landline pressed to my ear. It took me a few moments to realize I had control of my muscles and bones, and that I wasn't in fact stuffed in an ice block, but there were, in fact, shattered pieces of glass all over the floor.

"Jerome?" I asked, speaking softly into the phone, yet still trying to maintain my cool. My mouth felt dry and rough, and I really wished I hadn't dropped my glass of water so I could wash this sickly taste out of my mouth. "How.. How'd you get my number?" That was my first question. It was a stupid one, but it was still my first question.

I heard him laugh over the phone. "Oh, princess, it wasn't that difficult. You know, there's this thing called a phone book. I just looked up your daddy's number and dialed it into his handy cell phone I have here. You know, the one I got when I was broken out of Arkham. Did you hear, princess, about the breakout?" I snarled and pressed the phone in between my shoulder and my ear, as I bent down and went to clean up the shards of glass scattered on the floor, before I forgot they were there and accidentally stepped on them.

"Don't. Call me. Princess." I breathed out, clenching my jaw. "I'm not anyone's princess, especially not yours. So why don't you tell me why you're calling, so that way we can get to the part where I hang up on you?" In my rushed anger, I felt one of the bigger shards of glass sink into my palm, and I grit my teeth to keep from shouting in pain. All that came out was a frustrated whimper, that Jerome seemed to hear.

"What's wrong, princess? Someone there?" I just shook my head, as if he could see me, and finished cleaning up the glass shatters, safely disposing of them in the trash bag, and then heading to the bathroom to find the tweezers to pull the shards of glass out of my hand.

"No. Just cut myself on something. Now, why don't you tell me why you called me, before my dad gets home and traces your call and drags your sorry ass back to Arkham?" He snickered over the phone, as I put the phone on speaker and set it down on the bathroom sink, beginning to pull the glass from my hand, letting blood pour out from underneath it.

"Ooh, playing the daddy card now, are we?" My anger was boiling despite my deepening crush for him, an I pulled out the next few shards with anger.

"Jerome!!!" I screamed at the phone in anger in frustration, so loud that probably the entire floor of the apartment could hear, and the return from the tiny phone was only a light laugh.

"Alright, alright. Meet me outside your balcony in five minutes, I'll tell you everything." I paused and looked up from my hand, looking around the bathroom, as if expecting to see him standing there, or in the window or something.

"How.. how do you know my address?" I asked, still looking around.

"Princess, come on. Everyone in Arkham knows your father's address. You don't think they've all wanted revenge? Now, meet me outside your balcony in four minutes, and I'll explain it all. Don't be late." And with that, he hung up. I quickly pulled out the last shard of glass and ran water over my bleeding hand, before running over and wrapping up my hand in gauze, and then slowly and hesitantly walking over to the door to the balcony.

I didn't know what to do- I wanted to walk over to the balcony, I did. I wanted to see Jerome, wanted to know why he'd risk calling me, wherever he was.. But I wasn't completely sure of how I'd act. Talking to him over the phone was easy, simply because I couldn't see his face. I couldn't see those scattered freckles, that slicked back ginger hair, or that insane look in his eyes I constantly was mesmerized in.. I couldn't see any of it over the phone. I could only here his psychotic, yet somehow soothing voice. I wasn't sure if I'd act scared, completely love struck, extremely defensive and bitchy, or just in my normal personality. But what I did know was the only way to find out was to go out on the balcony and see him in person.

I quietly unlocked the balcony door, in case anyone next door heard and called my dad to make sure he'd allowed me to go outside, which he hadn't, and I stepped outside and quickly and swiftly closed the door behind me, careful not to let in the cool, brisk air. Realizing I should've grabbed my sweater to wear while waiting, I rubbed my arms frequently to keep myself warm and I jumped up and down lightly, trying to keep the heat flowing in my body.

I was about to turn around and head back inside when I felt a faint tap on my shoulder, and a whisper of hot breath in my ear.

"Reyna."I jumped to what felt like two feet in the air, and I turned around to him standing there. The little 

ginger.

"Jeez.. Jerome, how the hell did you get up here??" I asked, and he smiled.

"Let's just say your balcony is not exactly the hardest to climb."

"You're insane." I shot back, wondering about how the wind didn't push him off the ledge while he was climbing.

"I know." He said, smirking. His eyes were the brightest thing that could be seen in the dark, and the twinkle that could be seen from them was not exactly a happy one, but it was definitely something.

"Jerome, my dad's gonna be home any minute.. what are you doing here?" He laughed and leaned against the railing. 

 "Don't worry. Your dad won't be home for a while. He'll be at the charity even tonight." I frowned, crossing my arms.

"But.. he wasn't planning on going. We were gonna spend the night together. How do you know he's gonna be there?"

"Because the entire NYPD's gonna be there after our little show tonight." He smirked and stifled a laugh. I just widened my eyes.

"Who.. you and The Maniax?" I asked, shifting my weight, still rubbing my arms in the cold. "What about you guys? What are you gonna do? Oh god.. please don't hurt my father." I said coldly, staring into his eyes pleadingly. He pushed himself off of the railing and began to walk towards me.

"Don't worry, princess. He'll be fine- well, if all goes well." I clenched my jaw and tensed up, causing the cut in my hand to reopen, blood soaking through the gauze. Jerome frowned and in the dim light saw the red liquid seeping from my hand, and he picked it up gently.

"You really hurt yourself.. didn't you?" He asked, gently unwrapping the gauze and examining the cut. I just stared into his eyes, searching for any sign of emotion until I finally found some. Was that- concern, in his eyes? I had never seen him show concern for anyone before- but he showed concern for me? I was about to confront him about it when he wrapped the gauze around my hand once more and gently let go.

"Look, Reyna, the reason I came here was to warn you. I don't want you anywhere's near that event tonight, do you understand me? No where's near." I frowned and crossed my arms, shifting my weight.

"Why? Why do you care if I get hurt? Why does it affect you?" He just laughed, and stepped closer to me, resting his fingers softly just right under my chin, his mouth so close I could taste his mint breath.

"Because, princess, believe it or not, but you're one of the very few people I have a shred of care for. And.." He rested his forehead on mine. "I know you feel the same about me." He paused before letting an evil smile cover his lips, and then he pulled away.

"Or, maybe you just don't want me to disrupt your plan." I countered, knowing he didn't have any real shred of respect for me. He couldn't have.He shrugged, as he made his way to the edge of the balcony again.

"Either way, I suggest you don't get in the way- you might not come out in one piece." He smirked and then started to laugh his little insane laugh. "Catchya later, princess!" He shouted before jumping over the edge of the balcony.

I ran over, to see if he could have possible survived the drop, but once I looked down, there was no trace of him anywhere.And once again, just as quickly as Jerome Valeska had snuck into my life, he'd snuck right out of it.Or at least, that's what I thought.